From “a client asked” to ready to submit
ReadyCert turns the Cyber Essentials questionnaire into plain questions about how your business actually works, shows you what would fail today, and drafts the paperwork. Six stages, in order — the first three are free.
1Scope: a wizard builds your inventory
Plain questions about where people work and what they use build your asset and cloud-service list — with the current scope rules (personal phones, home routers, social accounts) applied for you as you answer.
2The check: plain questions. honest answers.
Answer questions about how your team actually works. ReadyCert maps each one back to the official control and tells you, as you go, which answers would fail today.
3Gaps: ranked worst-first, auto-fails on top
Every gap ranked worst-first, each with a click-by-click fix guide for the tools you already use — and a “done when” you can actually check off.
4Paperwork: drafted from your answers
Scope statement, asset register, password policy, joiner-and-leaver process — drafted from your own answers, yours to edit, alongside a draft answer or a clear to-do for every question in the official portal.
5Hand-off: you buy the assessment
Certification stays where it belongs — with an IASME-licensed certification body. You choose one, pay the IASME-set fee for your size, and transfer answers that are already true.
6All year: staying ready
A renewal runway with 90-, 60- and 30-day checkpoints, quarterly re-checks that take one click when nothing has changed, and a readiness picture that stays current.
What’s free, what’s paid
Free, forever: scoping wizard & inventory; full readiness check & verdict, re-run any time; complete gap list. The paid plan — one plan, billed annually — adds: click-by-click fix guides for every gap; your 11 policy documents, drafted for you; answer pack: a draft answer or a clear to-do for every official question; quarterly re-check reminders, year-round status & renewal reminders. Cancel any time; the free parts stay free.
Built for the tools you already use
Fix guides are written for the tools small businesses actually run on — Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Xero, Windows, macOS, iPhone and Android — with the real menu names, in the order you’ll click them. Two of them are free on this site as tasters: Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace.
Prefer to poke around first? The checklist, cost calculator and MFA gap checker are free and need no account at all.
Frequently asked questions
Does ReadyCert connect to my systems?
No. You describe your own setup in plain English — the same self-attestation the official assessment uses. ReadyCert never connects to your Microsoft, Google or other accounts and never stores credentials.
How does ReadyCert stay accurate when the scheme changes?
Every question maps to an official Danzell v3.3 question number, and the rules are stored as data rather than buried in code — so when IASME updates the scheme, the product updates with it. Where genuine human judgement is needed, ReadyCert says so instead of guessing.
Is the readiness check really free?
Yes — the wizard, the full check, your verdict and the complete gap list, free, no card. The paid plan adds the fix guides, the drafted documents, the answer pack and the year-round layer.
Does ReadyCert certify me?
No. Only an IASME-licensed certification body can assess and award Cyber Essentials. ReadyCert prepares you and hands off; it cannot guarantee a pass, and neither can anyone else outside the certification body.