FedRAMP vs StateRAMP (now GovRAMP): Federal vs State Cloud Compliance

FedRAMP authorizes cloud services for U.S. federal agencies; StateRAMP — rebranded to GovRAMP in 2025 — does the same job for state, local, and education (SLED) governments. Both are built on NIST SP 800-53, both require a third-party (3PAO) assessment and continuous monitoring, and both use Low, Moderate, and High impact levels. The difference is who runs the program and who buys from you: FedRAMP is a federal government program, while GovRAMP is an independent nonprofit serving the public sector outside the federal space.

Key takeaways

• StateRAMP is now GovRAMP. The nonprofit announced the rebrand on February 14, 2025; "StateRAMP, Inc." remains the legal entity operating as GovRAMP, so existing memberships and authorizations carry over unchanged.
• FedRAMP = federal buyers; GovRAMP = state, local, tribal, and education buyers. Pick based on who pays you.
• Both rest on NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 and use Low / Moderate / High impact levels with a 3PAO assessment and continuous monitoring (ConMon).
• Reciprocity flows one direction cleanly: a FedRAMP authorization can be leveraged toward GovRAMP Ready status with minimal extra effort. GovRAMP also satisfies Texas TX-RAMP with full reciprocity.
• A key structural difference: GovRAMP Ready statuses do not expire and do not require a government sponsor to obtain, whereas FedRAMP requires an agency relationship to reach an authorized state.

What is the difference between FedRAMP and StateRAMP/GovRAMP?

FedRAMP (the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program) is the U.S. government's program for standardizing the security assessment and authorization of cloud products used by federal agencies. It is funded through the federal government and managed by the FedRAMP Program Management Office.

StateRAMP — now GovRAMP — is an independent 501(c)(6) nonprofit that standardizes cloud security verification for state, local, tribal, and education governments. It was created in 2020 and modeled in part on FedRAMP, but it serves the SLED market that FedRAMP does not cover.

The two programs share a technical foundation but differ in governance, transparency, and how a provider reaches an authorized state:

Dimension	FedRAMP	StateRAMP / GovRAMP
Governing body	U.S. federal government program (FedRAMP PMO)	GovRAMP, an independent 501(c)(6) nonprofit (legally StateRAMP, Inc.)
Who it serves	U.S. federal agencies	State, local, tribal, and education (SLED) governments
Underlying framework	NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5	NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5
Impact levels	Low, Moderate, High	Low, Moderate, High (High Impact expanding in 2026)
Independent assessment	3PAO required	3PAO required
Continuous monitoring	Required after authorization	Required to maintain status
Sponsor to authorize	Agency relationship required	Government sponsor or Approvals Committee for Authorized; Ready needs no sponsor
Status expiration	Ready window is time-bound; sponsorship needed to advance	Ready status does not expire
Documentation visibility	Visible to sponsoring federal agencies	SLED governments can view security posture and ConMon reporting
Cost ballpark	Six to seven figures over the lifecycle	Generally lower; nonprofit provides templates and PMO support

Source: How Does GovRAMP Compare to FedRAMP? — govramp.org and FedRAMP.gov

For a wider view that also covers SOC 2 and CMMC, see FedRAMP vs SOC 2 vs CMMC vs StateRAMP.

Is StateRAMP now GovRAMP?

Yes. On February 14, 2025, StateRAMP announced it would rebrand to GovRAMP. The organization explained that the name "StateRAMP" no longer captured the full scope of its mission, which supports a "whole-of-state" approach spanning state, local, tribal, and education entities — not just states.

A few practical points that matter for providers:

• The legal entity did not change. StateRAMP, Inc. continues to exist and now operates as (dba) GovRAMP. Every existing contract, membership, and authorization remains valid.
• Branding rolled out gradually through 2025, which is why you may still see "StateRAMP" in older PDFs, templates, and third-party references. The current program name on govramp.org is GovRAMP.
• Search both names. When researching state participation, reciprocity, or the authorized product list, "StateRAMP" and "GovRAMP" refer to the same program.

If you built a compliance plan around "StateRAMP" before 2025, nothing about the technical requirements changed — only the name.

Which do you need: FedRAMP or GovRAMP?

Choose based on who your customer is, not on which sounds more rigorous.

• Sell to federal agencies → FedRAMP. If a U.S. federal civilian or defense agency is buying your cloud service, FedRAMP is the gate. There is no GovRAMP substitute for a federal contract.
• Sell to state, county, city, K-12, or higher-ed buyers → GovRAMP. SLED procurement increasingly asks for a GovRAMP Ready or Authorized status to shorten security reviews.
• Sell into Texas → GovRAMP covers TX-RAMP. Texas law requires cloud vendors serving the state to be TX-RAMP authorized, and TX-RAMP grants full reciprocity to GovRAMP. A GovRAMP Ready or Authorized status automatically satisfies TX-RAMP.
• Sell to both federal and SLED → do FedRAMP, then leverage it into GovRAMP. The reuse path is efficient (covered below).

Some providers pursue GovRAMP first because it has no agency-sponsor requirement for Ready status and the nonprofit PMO actively supplies templates and support — a lower barrier to a verifiable status than federal authorization. If federal demand later materializes, the control work transfers heavily to FedRAMP.

Is there reciprocity between FedRAMP and GovRAMP?

Reciprocity exists and is strongest in the FedRAMP → GovRAMP direction. Because both programs sit on the same NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 baseline, an organization holding a FedRAMP authorization can leverage its existing package and documentation to obtain GovRAMP Ready status with minimal additional effort.

What that means in practice:

• A completed FedRAMP package is most of a GovRAMP package. The SSP, boundary diagram, policies, and 3PAO evidence map across, since the underlying control set is shared.
• GovRAMP feeds state-level reciprocity. GovRAMP statuses satisfy Texas TX-RAMP with full reciprocity, and a growing list of participating governments recognizes GovRAMP as their accepted standard — so one GovRAMP effort can clear multiple state requirements.
• Reciprocity is not automatic in reverse. A GovRAMP status does not by itself produce a FedRAMP authorization; federal authorization still runs through the FedRAMP process and (under the 2026 rules) a chosen Certification Class. But the evidence you built is reusable.

One transparency difference worth noting: FedRAMP documentation is visible only to the sponsoring federal agencies, while GovRAMP gives participating SLED governments visibility into a provider's security posture and continuous monitoring reporting. That openness is part of why GovRAMP works as a shared marketplace for state buyers.

How GovRAMP and FedRAMP statuses actually work

Both programs use verified "Ready" and "Authorized" states, but the path to each differs — and this is where teams most often plan wrong.

GovRAMP statuses progress through Ready, In Process, Provisional, and Authorized:

• Ready signals a provider meets minimum requirements. It does not expire and does not require a government sponsor or contract to obtain.
• Authorized is the highest verification level. It requires a complete security package (SSP, boundary diagram, full policies and procedures) approved by either a Government Sponsor or the GovRAMP Approvals Committee.

FedRAMP requires an agency relationship to move toward an authorized state, and the path now runs through a Certification Class (A, B, C, or D) under the 2026 consolidated rules, ending in a single FedRAMP Certified designation.

Because the documentation engine is the same NIST 800-53 control set, the smart play is to build evidence once and map it to whichever program your buyers require. This is exactly the problem Boundera's copilot is built for: connecting your systems, pulling control evidence consistently, and mapping that evidence to either a FedRAMP package or a GovRAMP package without rebuilding from scratch. For where FedRAMP statuses are published, see our FedRAMP Marketplace explained guide; for budgeting the federal path, see FedRAMP cost.

Frequently asked questions

Did StateRAMP change its name to GovRAMP?

Yes. StateRAMP announced the rebrand to GovRAMP on February 14, 2025. The legal entity remains StateRAMP, Inc., operating as GovRAMP, so all existing authorizations and memberships continue without disruption. The current program name is GovRAMP.

Why did StateRAMP rebrand to GovRAMP?

The organization said "StateRAMP" no longer captured the full scope of its mission. GovRAMP supports a whole-of-state approach across state, local, tribal, and education governments — not just state agencies — so the broader "Gov" name reflects the wider public-sector audience it serves.

Is GovRAMP the same as FedRAMP?

No, but they are closely related. Both are built on NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5, require a 3PAO assessment, use Low/Moderate/High impact levels, and require continuous monitoring. FedRAMP is a federal government program for federal agencies; GovRAMP is an independent nonprofit serving SLED governments.

Can a FedRAMP authorization be used for GovRAMP?

Largely, yes. A FedRAMP-authorized provider can leverage its existing documentation to reach GovRAMP Ready status with minimal additional effort, because both programs share the same NIST 800-53 baseline. The reverse is not automatic — GovRAMP alone does not grant FedRAMP authorization.

Does GovRAMP satisfy Texas TX-RAMP?

Yes. TX-RAMP recognizes GovRAMP with full reciprocity. If you hold GovRAMP Ready or Authorized status, you are granted the corresponding TX-RAMP certification, which is required for cloud vendors serving the state of Texas.

Who needs GovRAMP instead of FedRAMP?

Providers selling cloud services to state, county, city, K-12, or higher-education buyers typically need GovRAMP rather than FedRAMP. FedRAMP is required only when selling to U.S. federal agencies. Many providers selling to both pursue FedRAMP and leverage it into GovRAMP.

Does GovRAMP Ready status expire?

No. Unlike the time-bound FedRAMP Ready window, GovRAMP Ready statuses do not expire, and a provider does not need a government sponsor or an active government contract to obtain Ready status. (Note: beginning January 1, 2026, GovRAMP's Progressing Snapshot Program added requirements to keep listed products actively advancing toward a verified status.)

Is GovRAMP based on NIST 800-53?

Yes. GovRAMP has adopted NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 as the foundation for its standards — the same control catalog FedRAMP uses — which is why evidence and documentation transfer so readily between the two programs.

Sources

• GovRAMP — official program site (formerly StateRAMP)
• StateRAMP Announces Rebrand to GovRAMP — govramp.org
• How Does GovRAMP Compare to FedRAMP? — govramp.org
• GovRAMP for State and Local Governments & Education — govramp.org
• FedRAMP — fedramp.gov
• FedRAMP Consolidated Rules for 2026 (Public Preview) — fedramp.gov
• NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 — NIST

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Last updated: June 2026. Written by the Boundera team.