Very Good Security, commonly known as VGS, is a data security and compliance platform that helps businesses handle sensitive information without the burden of storing it themselves. Designed for modern organizations that process payment data, personally identifiable information, or health records, VGS allows companies to operate securely and remain compliant by intercepting and tokenizing data before it reaches their systems.
Headquartered in San Francisco, VGS provides a unique approach to data protection called zero data architecture. Instead of storing sensitive information within company infrastructure, VGS collects the data, replaces it with aliases or tokens, and stores the original securely in its vault. This method significantly reduces liability and streamlines compliance with standards like PCI DSS, SOC 2, HIPAA, and GDPR.
Features
VGS provides a suite of features that enable secure data handling, compliance automation, and business continuity. The platform’s core feature is its data aliasing engine. When sensitive information is entered through an application or website, VGS captures it before it touches the customer’s backend systems. It then replaces that data with a token or alias that retains the structure and functionality of the original, allowing systems to process and analyze information without ever exposing the actual sensitive content.
Another key feature is VGS Vault. This highly secure storage environment is where the original sensitive data resides. Businesses never touch the real data directly, which significantly lowers their breach exposure. Access to the real data is controlled, logged, and governed through strict access policies.
VGS also includes built-in compliance workflows that help businesses meet regulatory standards more quickly. For example, VGS simplifies achieving PCI compliance by removing systems from PCI scope. The platform handles encryption, access controls, logging, and auditing in line with regulatory requirements.
The routing and redaction capabilities allow customers to define which data is collected, where it is routed, and how it is tokenized. This makes the platform highly flexible for integration into payment flows, user onboarding processes, or data analytics pipelines.
How It Works
Very Good Security operates as a proxy layer that sits between user inputs and the company’s internal systems. When a customer enters sensitive information—such as credit card details, personal data, or healthcare records—this data is intercepted by VGS before it reaches the application’s backend.
At this point, VGS tokenizes or aliases the data and forwards only the placeholder to the customer’s systems. The actual sensitive data is stored in VGS Vault, where it remains encrypted and protected. This design ensures that the customer’s infrastructure is never in possession of the original sensitive data, which dramatically reduces risk and compliance overhead.
When a company needs to perform operations on the sensitive data—such as processing a payment or retrieving a customer’s record—VGS handles the secure interaction on their behalf. The tokens can be mapped back to the original data within VGS Vault when needed, but only through authorized and logged requests.
The entire data flow is transparent and configurable, with full audit logs and policy controls that let companies determine who can access what, under which conditions, and how data is protected in transit and at rest.
Use Cases
Very Good Security is ideal for organizations in fintech, healthcare, e-commerce, and any industry where sensitive data needs to be handled securely. A common use case is storing and processing payment card data. Instead of building and maintaining PCI-compliant infrastructure, businesses can use VGS to collect and tokenize cardholder data, removing themselves from PCI scope and reducing operational complexity.
Healthcare providers and digital health platforms also use VGS to protect patient information and comply with HIPAA regulations. By proxying sensitive data, they can operate securely without the need to build out their own data protection systems.
In the identity verification and onboarding space, companies use VGS to secure personally identifiable information such as Social Security numbers, government IDs, and biometric data. VGS ensures that this data is tokenized and stored securely, making onboarding processes faster, safer, and easier to audit.
Startups and SaaS platforms that need to prove compliance to enterprise customers use VGS to quickly implement strong security controls without delaying product development or go-to-market timelines.
Pricing
VGS offers tiered pricing that scales with usage and specific business needs. While the company does not list fixed pricing on its public website, it provides custom plans based on factors such as data volume, regulatory requirements, and the type of data being protected.
Customers typically start with a consultation to evaluate their security and compliance goals. Based on this discovery process, VGS delivers a tailored pricing model that aligns with the customer’s architecture and scale.
Plans often include access to core data aliasing, vaulting, compliance toolkits, support, and optional add-ons like enhanced SLAs or dedicated environments. For startups and fast-growing companies, VGS also offers accelerator programs that provide access to enterprise-grade tools at a reduced cost during early growth phases.
Strengths
Very Good Security’s most compelling strength is its zero data architecture. By intercepting and tokenizing sensitive data before it enters customer infrastructure, VGS eliminates a major source of liability and risk. Companies no longer need to build expensive compliance systems or expose themselves to the consequences of a data breach.
The platform’s flexibility and ease of integration make it highly attractive to engineering teams. With only a few lines of code, companies can route and tokenize data without disrupting existing workflows. This allows teams to implement strong data protection without slowing down development.
Another significant strength is VGS’s impact on compliance. By offloading sensitive data to a trusted third-party vault, companies can remove themselves from the scope of regulations like PCI DSS or HIPAA, drastically reducing audit preparation time and compliance costs.
VGS also supports scalability. As a cloud-native platform, it grows with businesses, whether they are processing thousands of transactions or millions. Its ability to integrate with APIs, SDKs, and major infrastructure providers makes it well suited for modern, fast-moving companies.
Drawbacks
While VGS offers powerful capabilities, its enterprise-level approach may not be suitable for all businesses. Smaller companies with simple data security needs might find the platform’s architecture more than they require, especially if they don’t process large volumes of regulated data.
The initial integration phase, while straightforward for developers, can still require careful planning to map data flows, configure tokenization policies, and ensure full compliance with internal data governance standards.
Another consideration is the learning curve for teams unfamiliar with proxy-based data protection. Understanding how VGS replaces and routes data requires some orientation, particularly for companies with complex legacy systems or siloed data architectures.
Pricing transparency is also limited. Organizations must engage in a consultation before receiving a quote, which can delay decision-making for companies comparing multiple solutions.
Comparison with Other Tools
Compared to traditional data vaulting or tokenization solutions, VGS provides more flexibility and automation. While legacy tools often require hosting data infrastructure internally, VGS handles everything as a managed service. This removes the burden of managing hardware, securing access, and maintaining compliance over time.
When compared to platforms like TokenEx or Skyflow, VGS stands out for its full zero data model and real-time data routing features. TokenEx provides similar tokenization and vaulting services but may not offer the same degree of operational automation or developer-friendly APIs. Skyflow, with its privacy vault architecture, is also a strong alternative for startups, but VGS’s maturity and integrations with payment and compliance systems often make it a better fit for enterprise use.
Unlike cookie-based or perimeter-focused security tools, VGS embeds directly into the data flow. This means companies can address risks at the point of collection, offering more robust and proactive protection.
Customer Reviews and Testimonials
Very Good Security is trusted by leading fintechs, health tech companies, and SaaS providers. Customers consistently praise its ability to simplify complex compliance challenges and speed up go-to-market timelines. On platforms like G2 and Capterra, users highlight how VGS helped them achieve PCI or HIPAA compliance without building costly infrastructure from scratch.
Engineering teams appreciate the clean API documentation, responsive support, and flexibility to adapt VGS to different use cases. Security officers and compliance managers value the audit trails, detailed logs, and built-in security best practices that come with the platform.
Several customer success stories on VGS’s website point to significant reductions in compliance overhead, faster deployment of payment workflows, and improved customer trust. The company’s reputation for reliability and innovation in data protection is a common theme in both public reviews and case studies.
Conclusion
Very Good Security offers a modern, intelligent approach to data protection that helps businesses avoid the cost and complexity of storing sensitive information. By replacing sensitive data with secure tokens and vaulting the original content, VGS allows companies to stay compliant, reduce liability, and focus on innovation.
Whether you’re building a fintech platform, launching a healthcare application, or scaling an e-commerce business, VGS provides the tools to handle sensitive data responsibly. Its zero data architecture, flexible APIs, and compliance automation make it a valuable partner in any privacy-first digital strategy.
