Pricing
Investor data room pricing
6 of 16 rooms publish a price. For the other 10, we show the market band for your kind of deal. Checked October 2026.
Short answer
- A seed round on a published-price room costs from about $298 for two months.
- Quote-only rooms start around $500 a month for a small raise and pass $5,000 a month for a large auction or IPO.
- The biggest cost drivers are months open, number of users and, on older contracts, page or data volume.
Estimate your data room cost
Pick your project, team size and how long the room stays open.
| Data room | Pricing | Total for the period |
|---|---|---|
 Citrix ShareFile | Flat | $165 |
 Digify | Flat | $360 |
 Ellty | Flat | $447 |
 DocSend | Per user | $675 |
 SecureDocs | Flat | $750 |
 CapLinked | Flat | $897 |
 iDeals | Estimate | ~$2,700 to $7,500 |
 Datasite | Estimate | ~$2,700 to $7,500 |
 Ansarada | Estimate | ~$2,700 to $7,500 |
 Firmex | Estimate | ~$2,700 to $7,500 |
 Drooms | Estimate | ~$2,700 to $7,500 |
 Intralinks | Estimate | ~$2,700 to $7,500 |
 SmartRoom | Estimate | ~$2,700 to $7,500 |
 DealRoom | Estimate | ~$2,700 to $7,500 |
 ShareVault | Estimate | ~$2,700 to $7,500 |
 Venue by DFIN | Estimate | ~$2,700 to $7,500 |
Flat and per-user totals use each vendor's published entry price. "Estimate" rows do not publish a price; the range is our market band for the project you picked, not a quote from that vendor. All prices in USD, indicative, before tax.
Published prices
| Data room | Entry price | Model | Trial |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ellty | $149 a month | Flat monthly | 14-day free trial |
| Citrix ShareFile | $55 a month | Flat monthly | Free trial |
| CapLinked | $299 a month | Flat monthly | Free trial |
| SecureDocs | $250 a month | Flat monthly | Free trial |
| Digify | $120 a month | Flat monthly | Free trial |
| DocSend | $45 per user a month | Per user | Free trial |
Quote only: iDeals, Datasite, Ansarada, Firmex, Drooms, Intralinks, SmartRoom, DealRoom, ShareVault, Venue by DFIN.
Published monthly prices
Entry price per month. Per-user plans are shown for a team of three.
Quote only, no published price (10): iDeals, Datasite, Ansarada, Firmex, Drooms, Intralinks, SmartRoom, DealRoom, ShareVault, Venue by DFIN. Prices are indicative and change; check the vendor before you buy.
Pricing models explained
| Model | How you pay | Good for | Watch for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flat monthly | One price for the room and your team | Raises and deals you run yourself | Storage or room limits on lower plans |
| Per user | A seat for each sender on your side | One or two people sharing decks | Costs rise fast as the team grows |
| Per page | A rate per uploaded page | Small, document-light deals | Large overage bills on heavy deals |
| Per GB | A rate per gigabyte stored | Image-heavy rooms with few documents | Video and scans push volume up |
| Per project | A quote for one deal and term | Auctions, IPOs, adviser-led sales | Minimum terms and extension fees |
Data room cost by stage and deal type
The type of project sets the timeline, the number of people on your side and the document volume, and those three set the price. The table shows what quote-only vendors typically charge for each kind of investor project, next to the cost of a flat published plan for the same months.
| Project | Typical length | Your team | Quote-only, total | Flat $149/mo, total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-seed or seed round | 2 months | 3 people | $1,000 to $3,000 | $298 |
| Series A or B round | 3 months | 5 people | $2,700 to $7,500 | $447 |
| Fund raise with LPs | 6 months | 6 people | $7,200 to $21,000 | $894 |
| PE buyout or M&A sale | 4 months | 8 people | $8,000 to $24,000 | $596 |
| Large auction or IPO | 6 months | 15 people | $30,000 to $72,000 | $894 |
Pre-seed and seed. The room is short, often under a hundred files, and open for a month or two. Most founders run it themselves, so there is no reason to pay for a vendor project manager. A published monthly plan or a tracked deck covers it.
Series A and B. The first full diligence with lawyers. The room grows to several hundred files and stays open for two to four months, sometimes longer when the round is slow. A Q&A module starts to save real time, which is where cheaper link-sharing tools fall short.
Fund raises. A fund room stays open for six to eighteen months while LPs come and go. Duration drives the cost, so annual contracts and flat pricing usually beat per-project quotes. Institutional LPs also check the vendor's certifications.
Buyouts and M&A sales. Several bidders, staged disclosure and hundreds of questions. Quote-only vendors price on volume and support; per-page contracts can run far above the first quote when the room grows. Ask for a flat or capped price.
Large auctions and IPOs. Many parties, heavy volume and a long timetable. Here enterprise vendors' support teams are part of what you pay for; budget for extension months, as listings and large sales often slip.
What a published price includes
Entry prices are only comparable if the plans include the same controls. This table shows which investor features each published-price room lists, from the vendors' own documentation.
| Data room | Price | Q&A module | Viewer watermarks | View and download rights | Activity log | 2-step login | Redaction in the room | Certifications |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ellty | $149 a month | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | SOC 2 (hosting) |
| Citrix ShareFile | $55 a month | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA |
| CapLinked | $299 a month | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | SOC 2 |
| SecureDocs | $250 a month | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | SOC 2 |
| Digify | $120 a month | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | SOC 2 |
| DocSend | $45 per user a month | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | SOC 2, GDPR |
A lower entry price often means a narrower product: deck tracking without Q&A, or file sharing without view-only rights. Check the features your process needs before comparing prices, and confirm the plan you are quoted includes them.
The cost as a share of your round
Founders sometimes hesitate over a few hundred dollars for a data room in a raise worth millions. Set against the round, the cost is small. Here is a three-month room at a flat $149 a month, and at the middle of the Series A quote band, as a share of the money raised.
| Round size | Flat, 3 months | Share | Quote band middle, 3 months | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $500,000 | $447 | 0.089% | $5,100 | 1.02% |
| $2,000,000 | $447 | 0.022% | $5,100 | 0.26% |
| $10,000,000 | $447 | 0.004% | $5,100 | 0.051% |
| $50,000,000 | $447 | 0.001% | $5,100 | 0.010% |
The bigger cost is time. A messy room adds weeks to diligence, and every extra week of a raise is a week the founders are not running the company.
Data room or a general file-sharing tool?
Cloud drives are cheap and familiar, and many founders start there. The gap shows when a lead investor starts diligence: drives rarely offer page-level watermarks, view-only access without download, a per-investor activity log or a Q&A module. Without those, you cannot tell which investor read the model, you cannot stop a file being forwarded, and every question lives in email.
A practical path is to share the deck with a tracked link at first and move to a full room when a lead asks for diligence. The cost difference over a round is usually a few hundred dollars.
Annual contracts for funds and serial users
Fund managers, PE firms, corporate development teams and advisers who always have a room open should price a year, not a project. Annual contracts on quote-only platforms often include several rooms and a block of storage; flat monthly plans can simply run all year. Compare the cost of twelve months against the number of projects you expect, and ask whether rooms can be reused or archived without extra fees.
How to negotiate a data room contract
- Get two quotes. Quote-only vendors expect it; a published price from another vendor is a useful anchor.
- Ask for a flat or capped price. Replace per-page or per-GB overage with a fixed monthly fee or a cap.
- Agree the extension price now. Deals slip. Fix the cost of each extra month in the contract.
- Include the archive. The closing export or read-only period should be part of the price.
- Check the minimum term. A three-month minimum on a one-month raise doubles the real cost.
- Confirm what support is included. Indexing help and 24/7 support are often extras.
Questions to ask before you sign
- What is the total price for my timeline?Including users, storage, support and the archive.
- What happens if the deal runs long?The price per extra month and any notice period.
- Which features are in this plan?Q&A, watermarks, view-only, redaction, two-step login, activity export.
- Which certifications cover the platform?SOC 2 and ISO 27001 reports on request, and where data is hosted.
- How do I get my data out?Format of the final archive and how long the vendor keeps it.
Three worked examples
| Project | Flat ($149/mo) | Per user ($45/user/mo) | Quote-only band |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seed round, 2 months, 3 people | $298 | $270 | $1,000 to $3,000 |
| Series A, 3 months, 5 people | $447 | $675 | $2,700 to $7,500 |
| PE buyout, 4 months, 8 people | $596 | $1,440 | $8,000 to $24,000 |
Flat pricing gets cheaper per person as the team grows; per-user pricing is cheapest for one sender. Quote-only bands are our own indicative ranges for that kind of project, not a price from any named vendor.
What drives the cost
- Months open. Most raises take one to four months, sales three to six, IPO work six to twelve.
- Users on your side. Investors and bidders are usually free; admins and contributors may not be.
- Data volume. Matters on per-page or per-GB contracts; flat plans often include a storage limit.
- Support level. A vendor project manager, 24/7 phone support or white-glove indexing costs extra.
- Archive. Some vendors charge for an export at closing or for keeping the room read-only afterwards.
Hidden costs to ask about
- Overage rates for pages, gigabytes or extra rooms
- Minimum term and the price of each extra month
- Charges for extra admins or contributor seats
- Fees for the closing archive or a read-only period
- Price changes at renewal
How to estimate a budget
- Set the timelineAdd a month to your plan; diligence nearly always runs over.
- Count people on your sideFounders, finance, lawyers and advisers who upload or answer questions.
- Estimate volumeA seed room is often a few hundred pages; a buyout can pass 20,000.
- Price two modelsRun the calculator above for a flat room and a quote-only band, then ask vendors to beat it in writing.
How to save
- Prepare documents before the room opens, so paid months are spent on diligence, not on uploading.
- Choose a flat price when more than two or three people on your side need access.
- Use a free trial to build the index, then start the paid plan when investors arrive.
- Close or archive the room as soon as the round or deal completes.
Pricing terms in plain English
- Flat monthly
- One price per month for the room and your team, regardless of pages or investors.
- Per user (per seat)
- A charge for each person on your side who shares or manages documents; guests usually do not count.
- Per page
- A rate per uploaded page, common on older contracts. Spreadsheets and scans can count as many pages.
- Overage
- Charges once you exceed the pages, gigabytes or rooms in your plan.
- Minimum term
- The shortest period you pay for, even if the deal closes sooner.
- Archive
- A copy of the full room, Q&A and activity log at closing, on a download or a drive.
Pricing FAQ
How much does a virtual data room cost for investors?
Published plans run from $45 per user a month (DocSend) to $299 a month (CapLinked); Ellty is $149 a month. Quote-only rooms usually cost $500 to $1,500 a month for a seed round and $2,000 to $6,000 a month for a buyout.
Why do most data rooms not publish prices?
Enterprise vendors price each project on users, data volume, term and support level, and negotiate. That makes budgeting harder; ask for the full price in writing before you start.
What hidden costs should I check?
Overage fees for pages or gigabytes above the plan, extra admin seats, a minimum term, charges to keep the room open after closing, archive exports on USB or as a download, and premium support.
Is monthly or annual billing better?
For a single raise or sale, monthly billing avoids paying for idle months. Funds and serial acquirers that always have a room open usually save with an annual contract.
What does a free trial cover?
11 of the 16 rooms offer a free trial. Use it to build your index, invite a test investor, check watermarks and view-only, and export the activity log. Do not upload live deal files until you sign the vendor's terms.
Who pays for the data room in a fundraise?
The company raising money pays. In M&A the seller or its adviser pays for the sell-side room; buyers pay for any room they run for their own lenders and committee.
Is a data room worth it for a small raise?
For a few hundred thousand dollars, a tracked deck may be enough at first. Once a lead investor starts diligence, a room at $149 a month is a tiny share of the round and saves days of email.
Can I pay for a data room only for the months I use it?
Monthly plans let you do that. Quote-only contracts often have a minimum term of three months or more; ask what each extra month costs before you sign.
Do investors pay to access my data room?
No. Investors, bidders and their advisers are invited as guests. Vendors charge the party that runs the room.
How much storage does an investor data room need?
A seed room is usually under 1 GB; a Series A room a few GB; a buyout or real estate portfolio can reach tens of GB, mostly scans and plans. Check storage limits on flat plans.
Are data room costs tax deductible?
In many countries, transaction costs such as a data room are business expenses or part of deal costs, but treatment differs. Ask your accountant.
What does it cost to keep a room open after the deal?
Some vendors offer a cheaper read-only or archive mode; others charge the full monthly price or a one-off export fee. Plan an archive export at closing either way.
Are the prices on this page exact?
No. They are entry prices from vendor pages, checked October 2026, and our own market bands for vendors that only quote. Taxes, discounts and plan changes are not included.