Best Data Room exists for one reason: picking a virtual data room is usually done in a hurry, by someone who has a deal to run and no time to sit through six sales demos.
We do that legwork for you. We open trial rooms, upload real document sets, invite test users with different permission levels, ask support awkward questions, and read the pricing pages line by line. Then we write down what we found, score it, and keep it current.
Who runs the site
Best Data Room is run by a small independent editorial team that spends its time inside data room software: setting up rooms, stress-testing permissions, timing support replies and tracking price changes. We test with the questions a real deal raises in mind, such as what happens when a buyer’s lawyers start firing off requests at 11pm.
We publish under the team name rather than individual bylines. Every page is researched, drafted, checked and signed off by the team as a whole, and the process behind that is written down on our editorial policy page. If you want to know who did what on a specific page, ask us through the contact page and we will tell you how that page was put together.
What you will find here
Most comparison sites give you one long list and leave you to work out which entry fits your situation. We think that is the wrong starting point. A founder raising a seed round and a private equity fund running a competitive auction need very different things from a data room, and the “best” provider for one can be a poor fit for the other.
So the site is built around the deal:
- The overall ranking. Our best virtual data rooms list scores every provider we cover out of 100, using the same five weighted checks for each.
- Use-case shortlists. Under use cases you will find short ranked lists for specific scenarios, such as selling a business, startup fundraising, real estate and restructuring and insolvency. Each one explains what that kind of deal needs and why the picks fit it.
- Provider reviews. Every provider has its own review with a verdict, the situations where it is a good choice, and the situations where you should skip it.
- Pricing in one place. The data room pricing page collects starting prices and explains how the different billing models work. Prices are indicative and in USD; always confirm the current figure with the provider.
- Guides. Practical guides on setting up a room, building an index, security features and what due diligence teams expect to see.
- A quick quiz. If you would rather answer a few questions than read, the quiz narrows the field for you.
How we score providers
Every provider is rated on five checks: Deal features, Security, Ease of setup, Pricing clarity and Support. Each check carries a fixed weight, and together they produce a score out of 100. The weights, the criteria under each check and how often we re-test are all set out in full on how we rate.
We do not aggregate user reviews from third-party sites, and we do not let vendors see or approve their scores before they go live.
How the site is funded
Running this kind of testing takes time, and the site has to pay for itself. It does that through partner links: when you click a labelled partner link and later buy from that provider, we may earn a commission. You never pay more because of it.
That income does not decide anything editorial. A provider cannot buy a higher score, a better position in a ranking or a place on a use-case shortlist, and providers we have no commercial relationship with are scored exactly the same way as those we do. The full details are on our affiliate disclosure page.
What we are not
We are not a broker, a law firm or a financial adviser. We do not sell data rooms ourselves, take part in your deal or handle your documents. What we publish is general information to help you build a shortlist; the final choice, and the contract terms that come with it, are between you and the provider.
Get in touch
Spotted something out of date? Think a score is wrong? Want to suggest a provider we have not covered yet? Use the contact page. We read every message, and corrections that check out are made quickly and noted on the page.