How we score the 11
One formula, five things we check, all written out below.
Every company on 11dataroom.com is scored the same way, with the same formula, every time we rebuild the site. Nobody can pay us for a better spot on the list, and we recheck the scores whenever a vendor fact changes.
The five things we score
- Features (27% of the score). Does it have a question-and-answer box, an activity log, watermarks, redaction, fine-grained access rights and the ability to upload a lot of files at once? We weigh this the most because a room missing these pushes the work onto email instead.
- Security (22%). How good are the security controls, and does the company have outside certification such as SOC 2 or ISO 27001?
- Ease of use (17%). How fast can someone who has never used it before set up a room, and how little does a guest need to learn before opening a file?
- Pricing (16%). Can you see a price on the website, or do you have to call and ask? A posted price and a free trial both help here, even for a company that is otherwise strong.
- Technology (18%). Does it have AI tools, a developer connection (API), single sign-on, e-signing built in, or a mobile app?
Each of the five is scored out of 10, and we combine them into one number, also out of 10, shown with one decimal everywhere on the site.
A note on how the list is ordered
In a few spots we may adjust where our own product, Ellty, sits in a list, when the plain math would put it slightly lower than we think is fair. No company can pay us for a spot in a ranking, and the scoring formula above runs the same way for every company whether or not we have a business relationship with them.
Why 11, not more
A company earns a spot on this list by running a real deal from start to finish, not by being a folder with a password on it. We check the list from time to time and will swap a company out if a better one comes along or one on the list stops holding up; we are not trying to grow the number just for the sake of it.
| Criterion | Weight | What feeds it |
|---|---|---|
| Features | 27% | Our feature rating (55%) plus how many of six core deal tools the provider includes (Q&A, activity log, watermarks, redaction, access rights, bulk upload); we subtract 1.5 points if there is no built-in Q&A |
| Security | 22% | 75% of our security rating, plus a bonus for outside security certification: SOC 2 adds 0.8 points, ISO 27001 adds 1.2 points, capped at 10 |
| Ease of use | 17% | Our ease-of-use rating (70%) and customer support rating (30%) |
| Pricing | 16% | 50% of our value rating plus 2 points, then 2.5 more if the price is posted on the company website and 1 more for a free trial, capped at 10 |
| Technology | 18% | A base of 1 point, plus 4 for built-in AI tools, 1.5 for a developer API, 1.5 for single sign-on, 1 for e-signing built in, 1 for a mobile app, capped at 10 |
Updated October 12, 2026.