Ideagen Internal Audit vs Workiva

Updated July 30, 2026 · How we score

Ideagen Internal Audit (established internal audit management (Pentana)) and Workiva (connected reporting, SOX and audit) both compete in audit management software. Overall, Workiva scores higher in our evaluation (7.6 vs 7.5), while Ideagen Internal Audit is the stronger regional fit for GCC organisations. The right choice depends on your context — the table below shows exactly where they differ.

Side-by-side comparison

Ideagen Internal Audit compared with Workiva, attribute by attribute

Attribute	Ideagen Internal Audit	Workiva
Overall score	7.5	7.6
Functionality	8.0	8.7
Ease of use	7.2	8.2
Value	7.7	7.0
Support	7.6	8.2
GCC fit	6.8	5.8
HQ	Nottingham, UK	Ames, USA
Deployment	Cloud, On-premise	Cloud
Pricing model	Per-auditor licensing; mid-range	Solution-based subscription (premium)
Free trial	No	No
Data residency	On-premise available; UK/EU SaaS	US/EU hosting
Arabic support	No	No
Regional presence	Regional partners in UAE and KSA; established bank installed base	Growing via EMEA team; partners for ESG reporting
Framework content	IIA standards, ISO 27001, COSO	SOX, ESG (ISSB/GRI), IFRS reporting

Ideagen Internal Audit: strengths and trade-offs

• ✓Mature, complete audit lifecycle coverage
• ✓On-premise option for strict residency requirements
• ✓Aligned tightly to IIA methodology
• ✕Dated interface compared with AuditBoard-generation tools
• ✕No Arabic UI

Workiva: strengths and trade-offs

• ✓Unrivalled connected document-spreadsheet reporting
• ✓Strong SOX and ESG content
• ✓Excellent multi-author control and audit trail
• ✕Not a full GRC suite — risk and audit depth is limited
• ✕Premium pricing

Bottom line

Choose Ideagen Internal Audit if: traditional internal audit departments wanting a proven, methodology-aligned audit tool at sensible cost.

Choose Workiva if: listed companies and SOX/ESG reporting teams needing controlled, multi-author documents linked to live data.