This guide compares four parts of the diligence stack: a data room (also called a virtual data room, or VDR) to share documents, a cap table investors can trust, a place to run the board, and a way to model a round or an exit before you agree to it. If you buy them from different providers, here is how each one is usually priced.
Key facts
- Per-page data room: priced by page count, so the bill grows with the documents. Published guides from data room vendors put typical rates at about $0.40 to $0.85 a page.
- Cap table tool: can be its own plan, often billed yearly and sized by how many stakeholders you have.
- Board portal: often priced per board member or per board, usually on an annual contract.
- Scenario modeling: often a higher plan tier, a separate tool, or a spreadsheet.
- Diligence Ready: one plan. Founders is free forever: 3 users, one data room (3 guests), one board (5 invitees), and 1 scenario. Standard is $99/mo for up to 10 users. The data room is part of your plan, not a separate charge.
How much does a virtual data room cost?
It depends on the pricing model. Some providers charge by page or document volume. Others charge by user or by plan. Before you sign, ask what counts as a page and whether adding a reviewer raises the price. On Diligence Ready, the data room is part of your plan, not a separate charge. See pricing for current plans.
Per-page bills are hard to predict: follow-up requests add documents, reviewers join late, and some contracts charge for extra users or for going over an included amount. The questions to ask before you sign are listed below.
Data room pricing at a glance
Published guides describe four common pricing models. The ranges below come from pricing guides published by data room vendors, checked in October 2026. Actual quotes vary by provider, contract and deal.
| How it's billed | Range in the vendor's guide | What raises the bill |
|---|---|---|
| Per page | FirmRoom, SmartRoom and Govern 365 guides: about $0.40 to $0.85 a page. SmartRoom's guide says some providers go up to $1.00. | More pages uploaded |
| Per user | Govern 365's guide: about $15 to $75 per user a month for standard users and $100 to $250 per user a month for admin seats. SmartRoom's guide: about $15 to $25 per user a month. | More people invited |
| Flat monthly | FirmRoom and SmartRoom guides: about $400 to $1,000 a month, often with unlimited users. | A higher plan tier |
| Storage | SmartRoom's guide: about $60 to $77 per GB a month. | More data stored |
| Diligence Ready | Founders is free (3 users, 1 data room, 3 guests). Standard is $99/mo (10 users, up to 5 data rooms, 25 guests). | A higher plan tier. No per-page data room fees. |
Source type: published pricing guides from data room vendors FirmRoom, SmartRoom and Govern 365. Diligence Ready figures are from our pricing page.
How per-page data room fees work
Typical per-page data rooms charge by document volume, so the invoice can grow with the deal. Published guides from data room vendors (FirmRoom, SmartRoom and Govern 365) put typical rates at about $0.40 to $0.85 a page. Actual quotes vary by provider and contract. Some contracts count every page added to the room, not only the pages a reviewer opens.
That makes the final bill hard to predict. Diligence requests keep adding documents after the room opens. New reviewers join partway through. Some contracts also add charges outside the page rate, such as fees for extra users or for going over an included amount.
The rest of the stack, priced separately
Cap table tool
The cap table can be a separate tool from the data room. Many cap table tools bill yearly, and the price often rises with the number of stakeholders on the table. Some keep features like round modeling for higher tiers.
Board portal
A board portal is usually its own subscription. Portals are often priced per board member or per board, usually on an annual contract, and some only share a price after a demo.
Scenario modeling
Modeling a priced round or an exit waterfall often means paying for a higher cap table tier, buying a separate modeling tool, or using a spreadsheet.
What a separate stack adds up to
Each tool can make sense on its own. Bought separately, they mean several contracts, several renewals and several logins. The numbers also live in different places, so the cap table in one tool has to be checked against the copy in the data room before anyone else sees it.
Questions to ask before you sign
- What counts as a page? Are spreadsheets and scanned files counted differently?
- Is there a minimum, an included amount or an overage rate?
- Does adding a reviewer or a user raise the price?
- Are the cap table, board and modeling tools included, or are they separate contracts?
- Where do the files live, and what happens to them when the deal closes?
- Is the price listed, or do you have to ask for a quote?
How Diligence Ready prices it: one plan
On Diligence Ready, the data room is part of your plan, not a separate charge. See how the Diligence Ready data room works, from the checklist to gated access. The cap table and checklist are both included on every plan. Board management and scenario modeling are in each plan's limits:
- Founders is free forever: 3 users (internal and investor), the full cap table, 150 AI credits a month, one data room, one board, and 1 scenario.
- Standard is $99/mo for up to 10 users. Data rooms: 5 rooms, 25 guests. Board management: 3 boards. Scenario modeling: up to 5 scenarios. Annual billing is two months free. Standard works out to $82.50/mo, billed as $990/year.
- Growth ($250/mo, 25 users) and Scale ($500/mo, 100 users) are coming soon.
No per-seat fees, up to your tier's user limit. No per-page data room fees on any plan. Page count never changes the price.
Your documents stay in your Google Drive or OneDrive. Investors open them in the app, watermarked with their name and email, and never get a link into your Drive. See full pricing for what's in each tier.
FAQ
How much does a virtual data room cost per month?
It depends on how the provider bills, and vendors' own pricing guides give different ranges. Govern 365's guide puts per-user pricing at about $15 to $75 per user a month for standard users. FirmRoom's and SmartRoom's guides put flat monthly plans at about $400 to $1,000 a month. All three put per-page pricing at about $0.40 to $0.85 a page. On Diligence Ready, Founders is free for 3 users with 1 data room (3 guests), and Standard is $99/mo for up to 10 users with up to 5 data rooms (25 guests).
What does a 10,000-page data room cost with per-page pricing?
At the $0.40 to $0.85 a page published in data room vendors' pricing guides, 10,000 pages comes to about $4,000 to $8,500, before any user, overage or storage fees. Actual quotes vary by provider and contract.
Is per-page or per-user data room pricing cheaper?
It depends on the deal. Per-page pricing can suit a small room with a fixed set of documents. Per-user pricing can suit a short, known list of reviewers. When the document count or the reviewer list keeps growing, a flat plan is usually easier to predict, because neither one changes the bill within the plan's limits. Check what storage and how many users the plan includes.
What hidden data room fees should I ask about?
Ask whether spreadsheets, scans and images count as extra pages, whether re-uploading a file is billed again, what the overage rate is, what admin seats cost, and whether storage is charged per GB. One vendor guide puts storage pricing at about $60 to $77 per GB a month.
How much does a data room cost per page?
Published guides from data room vendors put typical per-page rates at about $0.40 to $0.85 a page, and one says some providers go up to $1.00, before any user or overage fees. Actual quotes vary by provider and contract.
Why is a per-page bill hard to predict?
Because the page count keeps growing during diligence. Follow-up requests add documents, reviewers join late, and some contracts charge for extra users or for going over an included amount.
Does a data room include a cap table tool?
Ask the provider. Some data rooms don't include one, and a cap table tool can be a separate plan with its own renewal. On Diligence Ready, the cap table and checklist are both included on every plan, and the data room is part of your plan, not a separate charge.
How are board portals priced?
Board portals are often priced per board member or per board, usually on an annual contract, and some only share a price after a demo. On Diligence Ready, board management is in each plan's limits: 1 board, 5 invitees on Founders and 3 boards on Standard.