11 Data Room reviews
11 virtual data room providers, reviewed and scored
We did not try to cover every company in this space. These are the 11 that cleared our bar on features, security, ease of use, pricing and technology, in that order of importance.
Ellty is one of the newer names on this list, launched in 2020 in Australia, but it already has the full set of tools a deal team expects: permissions, a Q&A box, watermarks and a log of who opened what. Best for: Fast setup, clear pricing.
Datasite is a name most people in investment banking already know. Best for: Investment banking deals.
Ansarada, out of Australia, built its name on helping companies get ready for a sale, not just hosting documents during one. Best for: Deal readiness, AI-assisted Q&A.
iDeals has been doing this since 2008 out of the UK and is one of the most established names in the business. Best for: Big deals, strict compliance.
Drooms is a German company that is especially popular in Europe for real estate deals, though it handles company sales too. Best for: European deals, real estate.
Intralinks has been in this business since 1996, making it one of the oldest names here. Best for: Capital markets, big companies.
Firmex, a Canadian company founded in 2006, is popular with mid-size companies and the law firms and accountants who work with them. Best for: Mid-market M&A, easy to learn.
SmartRoom, founded in 2004, is used a lot for M&A and real estate deals in the US. Best for: Responsive support during a live deal.
ShareVault has been around since 2003 and is especially known in life sciences and licensing deals, on top of regular M&A work. Best for: Life sciences, licensing deals.
DealRoom, based in the US, is a bit different from the others on this list: it is built to manage the whole deal process, not just hold documents. Best for: Managing the whole deal process.
Digify, out of Singapore, is not trying to be a full deal room the way the others on this list are. Best for: Simple document sharing on a budget.
Prices are estimates; check the company's own website for the current number. We last rechecked these scores in October 2026.
Why each one is on the list
A short explanation for every spot, pulled from the full review of each company.
- 1 Ellty
Ellty is one of the newer names on this list, launched in 2020 in Australia, but it already has the full set of tools a deal team expects: permissions, a Q&A box, watermarks and a log of who opened what. The big difference is the price is posted right on the website at $69 a month, there is a 14-day free trial, and you can have a room open the same day without waiting on a sales call. It also has AI built in for finding and searching documents, which most of the older companies on this list do not offer yet.
- 2 Datasite
Datasite is a name most people in investment banking already know. It has been around since 1999 and is used heavily on Wall Street and in big merger deals. It has a deep set of tools built specifically for deal teams, including AI assistance and a mobile app, which several of the older names on this list still do not offer, plus strong security.
- 3 Ansarada
Ansarada, out of Australia, built its name on helping companies get ready for a sale, not just hosting documents during one. It added AI tools early, to help sort through questions and track how ready a deal actually is, and it is one of the few on this list that offers a free trial without the deal being quote-only in other respects.
- 4 iDeals
iDeals has been doing this since 2008 out of the UK and is one of the most established names in the business. It is built for law firms, banks and big companies that need every box checked: SOC 2, ISO 27001 and GDPR are all covered, and support is available around the clock. It has the full feature set, including the ability to black out sensitive text right inside a document (redaction) without having to re-upload a new file.
- 5 Drooms
Drooms is a German company that is especially popular in Europe for real estate deals, though it handles company sales too. It takes European data rules seriously and holds a full set of certifications, including GDPR. It also has AI tools built in to help with document work.
- 6 Intralinks
Intralinks has been in this business since 1996, making it one of the oldest names here. It is used a lot in capital markets and big corporate deals, and it has a long track record with regulators and compliance teams. It covers the full set of deal tools, including redaction and single sign-on for company logins.
- 7 Firmex
Firmex, a Canadian company founded in 2006, is popular with mid-size companies and the law firms and accountants who work with them. Like most of the companies on this list it does not post a price online, but it is well reviewed for being simple to set up and it covers the core tools a mid-size deal needs, including redaction.
- 8 SmartRoom
SmartRoom, founded in 2004, is used a lot for M&A and real estate deals in the US. It has a reputation for strong, responsive customer support, which matters when a deal is moving fast and something needs fixing right away. It covers the full set of deal tools, including redaction and bulk upload.
- 9 ShareVault
ShareVault has been around since 2003 and is especially known in life sciences and licensing deals, on top of regular M&A work. It is built for situations where you need to control exactly who can see which document and log into the room with company credentials, which matters when you are sharing early research or patent data with a partner.
- 10 DealRoom
DealRoom, based in the US, is a bit different from the others on this list: it is built to manage the whole deal process, not just hold documents. It adds project-management style tools so a team can track tasks and timelines alongside the actual files. Like most of this list it is quote-only, but it does offer a free trial.
- 11 Digify
Digify, out of Singapore, is not trying to be a full deal room the way the others on this list are. It is a lighter tool built for tracking and watermarking documents you send out, like a pitch deck or a proposal, and it is priced for smaller budgets at $120 a month. It does not have a built-in Q&A box, so it is not the right fit for a formal deal process with lots of back-and-forth questions, but for simple document sharing with tracking, it does the job well and cheaply.
What tools does each one have?
The six tools that count for the most in our features score, company by company.
Deal controls, provider by provider
| Provider | Q&A | Audit log | Watermark | Redact | Rights | Bulk upload |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ellty | ● | ● | ● | ○ | ● | ● |
| Datasite | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● |
| Ansarada | ● | ● | ● | ○ | ● | ● |
| iDeals | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● |
| Drooms | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● |
| Intralinks | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● |
| Firmex | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● |
| SmartRoom | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● |
| ShareVault | ● | ● | ● | ○ | ● | ● |
| DealRoom | ● | ● | ● | ○ | ● | ● |
| Digify | ○ | ● | ● | ○ | ● | ● |
| Total | 10/11 | 11/11 | 11/11 | 6/11 | 11/11 | 11/11 |
Starting prices, side by side
Entry price, low to high
Ellty $69/mo Digify $120/mo Quote-only, no published entry price: Datasite, Ansarada, iDeals, Drooms, Intralinks, Firmex, SmartRoom, ShareVault, DealRoom.
Teal bars are flat monthly plans, clay bars are priced per user. See our pricing guide for the full breakdown and a cost calculator.
How we score each one
Five things, each weighted and scored out of 10, combined into one number. The full formula is on our scoring page.
| What we check | Weight | The question it answers |
|---|---|---|
| Features | 27% | Does it have everything you need to run a deal from start to finish, without plugging in other software? |
| Security | 22% | Has an outside auditor checked this company, and can an admin control exactly what each person can see and do? |
| Ease of use | 17% | Can someone who has never used it before get a room set up and running the same day? |
| Pricing | 16% | Can you see what it costs on the website, or do you have to call and ask? |
| Technology | 18% | Does it work with the other software and logins you already use, and does it save you time with AI? |
Not sure which one fits your deal?
Answer five questions about your deal, your setup and your must-have feature, and we will give you three matches.
Find my matchFrequently asked questions
Why only 11 companies?
A company earns a spot by running a full deal from start to finish, not by being the biggest name people have heard of. We would rather keep the list short and checked than list every company that has ever called itself a data room. See our scoring page.
How often do you update the list?
We recheck the scores whenever a company changes its price, its security certification or its feature list. We also look at whether a company still belongs on the list or a new one should take its place.
Can a company pay for a better spot?
No. The same formula runs for every company, described in full on our scoring page.
Is #1 the right choice for every deal?
Usually a good default, but not always; a life sciences licensing deal or a European real estate deal might be better served by a specialist a few spots down. Check the "best for" line on each review.
Why is a well-known name not at the top of the list?
Brand recognition is not one of our five criteria. An older, well-known company can score lower if it does not post a price, lacks a free trial, or has not added AI tooling that newer rooms ship by default.
Can a company be removed from the list?
Yes. If a company stops meeting the bar for a complete deal-room workflow, or a stronger alternative appears, we swap it out; see our our story page for how we think about this.