polara labs

CMMC Level 1 for startups. Run by a firm.

The annual self-assessment and executive affirmation a defense solicitation now requires. A CMMC Level 1 self-assessment and senior official affirmation is yours to submit and affirm. We build the program, the policies and the evidence behind it, and never sign on your behalf.

Get matched with a firm for CMMC Level 1What it costs

Made in the USA · Featured at Startup Grind

Run by a firm
An independent firm, working in Polara Enterprise
Self-validation
a CMMC Level 1 self-assessment and senior official affirmation
Early access
How you start
You submit it
Submitted to the supplier risk system, where a senior official at your company affirms it

What you get for CMMC Level 1.

The same platform every framework runs on, pointed at this one, with a practitioner from a partner firm making the judgment calls.

The 15 safeguarding requirementsLevel 1 covers federal contract information and nothing more. Fifteen requirements, assessed against your environment, with the evidence behind each one.
Every requirement fully metLevel 1 allows no remediation plan. A requirement is met or the assessment fails, so the gap work happens before the affirmation, not after.
Submission and annual affirmationThe results are assembled for the supplier risk system and a named senior official affirms continuing compliance, which has to be repeated every year.

How CMMC Level 1 runs here.

Four steps, in this order, with the handoff at the end.

  1. Step 1

    Confirm Level 1 is your level

    Level 1 applies to federal contract information. If you handle controlled unclassified information you are at Level 2, and the platform routes you to the 800-171 program instead.

  2. Step 2

    Assess the 15 requirements

    Access control, media protection, physical security and the rest are checked against how your systems actually work, and evidence is captured for each.

  3. Step 3

    Close every gap

    Anything short of met becomes remediation work in the platform, with policies and evidence generated, until all fifteen are genuinely satisfied.

  4. Step 4

    Submit and affirm

    You submit the self-assessment to the supplier risk system and your senior official signs the affirmation. The platform holds the evidence for next year.

What CMMC Level 1 costs.

The firm scopes and prices the engagement, so there is no Polara figure on this page to quote at you.

Scoped by the firm that runs it.

Tell us what your buyer asked for and we find you a firm to run CMMC Level 1. They scope it, they price it, and they sign whatever gets signed. Polara Labs is the platform underneath, not a party to the engagement.

Defense compliance firms publish $3,000 to $15,000 for a Level 1 self-assessment.

Third-party assessment at the higher levels is performed by an authorised assessment organisation. Polara Labs is not one and does not certify anyone.

You submit and affirm this one yourself. Polara Labs prepares and evidences it and never signs on your behalf.

CMMC Level 1 questions.

What buyers ask, and what the work actually involves.

A partner firm scopes and prices it. Level 1 is self-assessed, so there is no assessor to pay on top of the firm that prepares it with you.
Level 1 self-assessment is unaffected and remains fully in force, along with the underlying contract clause. What was suspended in July 2026 is the phase that would require third-party assessment at Level 2, so no honest vendor should be promising you a Level 2 certification date right now.
Not at Level 1. Every one of the fifteen requirements has to be met at the time you affirm. That is why the gap work comes first and the affirmation last.
A named senior official at your company, and they are affirming continuing compliance rather than a snapshot. Polara Labs prepares and evidences it and never signs on your behalf.

Unblock the deal.

Tell us where you are with CMMC Level 1 and we will tell you what is left.

Get matched with a firm for CMMC Level 1See every framework
polara labs

Polara Labs builds both sides of the audit: the readiness platform startups use to earn a SOC 2 report, an ISO 27001 certificate or whatever their buyers ask for, and the practice OS audit firms use to run the examination. Every price is published on the page it belongs to.

© 2026 Polara Labs Inc. All rights reserved.Contact: founder@polaralabs.com

Polara Labs is not a CPA firm. SOC 2 examinations are performed by independent licensed U.S. CPA firms in our network; the audit opinion is theirs alone and is not regulated by Polara Labs. We generate custom policies, evidence checklists, and remediation guidance. You remain responsible for implementing controls and owning audit outcomes. Replace placeholders with your actual controls and have final documents reviewed by qualified professionals before your audit.