How much does a virtual data room cost for a lower middle market sell-side deal?
For a lower-middle-market sell-side deal, a published-price virtual data room is $250/month on SecureDocs 12-month, $399/month on CapLinked Team, or $395/month to $1,195/monthon FirmRoom by storage, each read on the vendor’s own page on 2026-10-10. Firmex, Datasite and Intralinks stay quote-only. Per-page and per-GB billing grows with the CIM, QoE workbooks and contract scans.
LMM sell-side VDR cost (definition). What you pay for one lower-middle-market company sale is the pricing model, not a blog median.
Published-price rooms print a monthly line. Firmex, iDeals, Datasite and Intralinks stay quote-only.
Per-page and per-GB rooms grow with a thorough packet. A third-party median is not their price.
What one LMM sell-side actually pays
This is one company sale, not a year of mandates. The boutique M&A firm shortlist covers several live rooms. The Datasite and Intralinks model table covers how each vendor bills. Figures below were read 2026-10-10.
| Vendor | How it bills | One-deal figure (dated) | The catch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Drive | $0 folder, already set up | $0 for a bilateral after exclusivity (2026-10-10). | No NDA gate, no per-buyer wall, no page-level log. Fine for one trusted party. |
| SecureDocs | Flat plan fee | $250/month on 12 months billed annually. 400 USD per month on 3 months billed quarterly (2026-10-10). Unlimited users and documents. | The 3-month plan re-bills if exclusivity slips. SOC 2 is on their page, not ours. |
| CapLinked | Flat Team fee | Team $399/month, 5 GB, unlimited guests, no long-term contract (2026-10-10). Enterprise from $500/month or $5,000/year. | Team storage is 5 GB. A CIM plus QoE workbooks and contract scans can fill it. |
| FirmRoom | Per GB / per room | 2 GB $395/month (1 active room). 5 GB $795/month (up to 3). 10 GB $1,195/month (up to 5). Overage $150/GB/month, prorated by day (2026-10-10). Unlimited users. Month-to-month. | Storage and active-room caps move the line. One LMM sale usually fits 2 GB. |
| Ansarada | Per GB, free until live | 5 GB is $2,614/month on 3 months, $1,834/month on 12 months, labeled on their page for mid-market M&A and lower mid-market sale processes. 50 MB Essentials $69/month on 12 months. Prices as of May 2026, retrieved 2026-10-10. | Ansarada is free until an external guest, or 90 days. Extra data bills at peak for the rest of the term. |
| Firmex | Quote-only | GET A QUOTE (2026-10-10). Single project: one-time fee by data and length. Subscription: unlimited projects, priced by data stored over the year. | Wins several live mandates and Q&A routing. No public dollar for one deal. |
| iDeals | Quote-only | Get price (2026-10-10). Core, Premier, Enterprise. Premier lists unlimited preparation for M&A sell-side. | A pricing URL with no dollar. You cannot budget from the website. |
| Datasite / Intralinks | Quote-only. Intralinks also bills pages. | No public dollar. Datasite: customized per transaction (2026-10-10). Intralinks: quote-only; page math is public as of 2025-07-01. | Win a banker-run auction and the name PE counsel asks for. A third-party median is not their price. |
| Cashpian | Flat plan fee | $100 / mo per company, or $1,000 / yr. Unlimited rooms, viewers, and documents. | Outsiders are not paid seats. Not the brand a PE buyer's counsel asks for. No SOC 2 claim. |
Per-page and per-GB grow with the packet
A lower-middle-market sell-side packet is a CIM, three to five years of financials in Excel, a QoE with add-back support, and contract scans. See the sell-side data room index. Per-page billing counts those files as usage. Per-GB billing counts them as storage. A thorough packet costs more than a thin one.
Intralinks’ page calculations (retrieved 2026-10-10, conversion rates as of 2025-07-01): a PDF page is one page; Word, Excel, text, zip, and unknown files count 7.5 KB as one page; other types count 50 KB as one page. That is usage tracking, not a list price. QoE workbooks and scanned contracts still add pages.
FirmRoom overage is $150/GB/month, prorated by day (firmroom.com/pricing, retrieved 2026-10-10). Ansarada extra data bills at peak usage for the rest of the term; reducing the room mid-deal does not cut the overage (Ansarada pricing guide, prices as of May 2026, retrieved 2026-10-10). Ansarada is free until an external guest, or 90 days.
Quote-only rooms stay quote-only
Datasite’s own FAQ, How much does Datasite cost? (retrieved 2026-10-10), says pricing is customized for every transaction. A sibling FAQ, How much does a data room cost? (retrieved 2026-10-10), lists per-page, per-user, storage-based, and flat monthly models and publishes no figure.
Intralinks’ How much does Intralinks cost? guide (retrieved 2026-10-10) is quote-only, customized by volume, users, duration, and features. The public number is the page math, not a dollar.
Firmex is GET A QUOTE (retrieved 2026-10-10). iDeals is Get price (retrieved 2026-10-10). A pricing page that asks you to talk to sales is not a budget. Firmex alternatives for a boutique M&A advisor covers the Q&A-routing row Firmex still wins.
SecureDocs is $250/month on a 12-month plan billed annually, or 400 USD per month on a 3-month plan billed quarterly (retrieved 2026-10-10). Unlimited users and documents. Room up in about 10 minutes. The 3-month line is the short-deal trap: exclusivity slips, the plan re-bills.
CapLinked Team is $399/month with no long-term contract; Enterprise from $500/month or $5,000/year (caplinked.com/pricing, retrieved 2026-10-10).
FirmRoom publishes $395/month / $795/month / $1,195/month for 2 / 5 / 10 GB on its homepage (retrieved 2026-10-10). Overage $150/GB/month on firmroom.com/pricing. Unlimited users. Month-to-month.
Cashpian Standard is $100 / mo per company, or $1,000 / yr, unlimited rooms, viewers, and documents. See pricing and What is Cashpian?.
FAQ
Do Firmex, iDeals, Datasite or Intralinks publish a dollar I can put in an engagement letter?
No.
Firmex is GET A QUOTE.
iDeals is Get price.
Datasite's cost FAQ says pricing is customized per transaction.
Intralinks is quote-only and bills usage in pages.
Does a 3-month published plan cover a slipped exclusivity?
Often not.
SecureDocs' 3-month plan is 400 USD per month billed quarterly.
If exclusivity slips past the term, it re-bills.
A 12-month published plan covers the slip.
Quote-only per-project rooms re-quote when the term ends.
Will PE counsel reject a room that is not Datasite or Firmex?
Sometimes they ask for the brand they know.
That is a relationship fact, not a security fact.
Datasite and Intralinks win a banker-run auction.
Firmex wins several live mandates and Q&A routing.
When is Google Drive enough for the sale?
For one trusted party after exclusivity, Drive is $0 and already set up.
Once several bidders must not see each other, Drive has no NDA gate, no per-buyer wall, and no page-level log.
Sources
- SecureDocs (Onit), product page, retrieved 2026-10-10. $250/month on 12 months; 400 USD per month on 3 months. Unlimited users and documents.
- CapLinked, pricing, retrieved 2026-10-10. Team $399/month, 5 GB, no long-term contract. Enterprise from $500/month or $5,000/year.
- FirmRoom, homepage, retrieved 2026-10-10. 2 / 5 / 10 GB at $395/month / $795/month / $1,195/month.
- FirmRoom, pricing, retrieved 2026-10-10. Overage $150/GB/month, prorated by day. Month-to-month. Unlimited users.
- Ansarada, Virtual data room prices in 2026, prices as of May 2026, retrieved 2026-10-10. 50 MB Essentials $69/month on 12 months; 5 GB $2,614/month on 3 months, $1,834/month on 12 months. Free until an external guest, or 90 days.
- Firmex, pricing, retrieved 2026-10-10. GET A QUOTE.
- iDeals, Virtual data room pricing, retrieved 2026-10-10. Get price. Core / Premier / Enterprise.
- Datasite, How much does Datasite cost?, retrieved 2026-10-10. Quote-only. Customized per transaction.
- Datasite, How much does a data room cost?, retrieved 2026-10-10. Quote-only. No public dollar.
- Intralinks, How much does Intralinks cost?, retrieved 2026-10-10. Quote-only.
- Intralinks, Understanding page calculations in Intralinks, retrieved 2026-10-10. Conversion rates as of 2025-07-01.
- Cashpian, pricing. One company line from the public catalog. Not per seat.
If the files are already in a folder, grade which row they are on. Cashpian is a gated room for that packet. It is not a listing portal. It does not sell the company or run the deal.