Datasite is the name many bankers reach for without thinking. Its roots go back to 1999, its head office is American, and bank deal teams know it well. Ellty arrived in 2020 with the same transaction toolkit and a different idea of how a room should be bought and used. Comparing them is less about whether each can run a deal (both can) and more about what kind of process you are running and who controls the vendor choice.
Security posture
Datasite scores 9.6 and Ellty 9.4. Datasite holds SOC 2 and ISO 27001 and supports single sign-on. Ellty lists SOC 2 (infrastructure) without ISO 27001 and has no SSO. Day to day protection inside the room matches closely: both watermark every page with the viewer’s details, both control printing and downloading through document rights control, both require two-factor login and both log every view in an audit trail.
Datasite also includes native redaction, which helps on deals with large volumes of employee or customer records. With Ellty, redact before upload.
Deal workflow
Both score 9.5. A structured Q&A module, granular permissions by group, bulk upload and reporting on bidder activity are present on both sides. Datasite’s breadth shows in coverage: ten of our twelve checklist features, including a native mobile app, which suits bankers who check activity between meetings. Ellty answers with native e-signature, which Datasite does not list, and with AI features that sit in the same workspace as the documents.
Both rooms list AI features, so the question is not whether AI is present but how much friction there is in using it. Ellty includes its AI features in the room itself and lists a published price, so you can check during the 14-day free trial exactly what they do with your documents. With Datasite, ask in the demo which AI features are included at your tier and see them run on your own sample files.
Who picks the room?
On many large auctions the sell-side bank chooses the data room and often defaults to Datasite. If you are the seller and want a say, raise it when the mandate is signed, not when the teaser goes out.
Everyday usability
Ellty 9.8, Datasite 7.8: the widest gap in this comparison. Datasite has deep functionality, has no free trial and is typically introduced through a demo and vendor onboarding. Ellty’s self-serve setup is designed so a deal team can build the index, invite a first buyer group and open a Q&A round in the same afternoon. For outside reviewers, fewer clicks to the right file means fewer support calls during diligence.
Pricing
Ellty publishes a flat entry price of $149/mo with a 14-day free trial. Over a nine-month process that is about $1,341 at entry rate. Datasite quotes on request and does not list a free trial. Its pricing clarity score is 8.3 against Ellty’s 9.7, which reflects predictability rather than the absolute cost.
When comparing a quote with a flat monthly figure, ask Datasite to price the exact term, user count and data volume you expect, and ask what happens to the bill if the process runs three months longer than planned. The pricing guide has a calculator that helps frame that conversation.
Service and support
Close: Ellty 9.2, Datasite 9.3, a gap of a tenth of a point. Investment banking is one of Datasite’s stated focus areas, and its service model is described around deal teams on live mandates. Ellty’s service score is almost level, and a room that is simpler to set up tends to generate fewer support requests in the first place. For either vendor, confirm in writing how out-of-hours help is reached, because the moment that tests support is a guest locked out the night before a bid deadline.
Feature coverage in detail
On our twelve-item checklist, Datasite ships ten and Ellty ships eight. The shared core is the part that carries a process: Q&A, audit trail, dynamic watermarks, document rights control, two-factor login and bulk upload are present on both, and both list AI features. The differences sit at the edges. Datasite adds redaction, single sign-on and a native mobile app. Ellty adds e-signature, which Datasite does not list. Neither lists a public API, so if your documents need to flow in automatically from a document management system, both will need a manual upload step or a conversation with the vendor.
How much the edges matter depends on the deal. Redaction is the one that most often changes a workflow: without it, the sell side prepares a cleaned copy of every HR and customer file before upload, which adds days on a large census. Single sign-on matters when the buyer is a corporate whose IT team will not approve outside logins. E-signature matters at the other end of the process, when NDAs, clean team agreements and process letters need to be executed quickly without another vendor.
Certifications and procurement
Datasite lists SOC 2 and ISO 27001, and states GDPR alignment. Ellty lists SOC 2 (infrastructure). For most private company sales, a SOC 2 report answers the counterparty’s security questionnaire. Where a buyer, lender or regulator asks for ISO 27001 by name, Datasite clears that requirement without discussion. In either case, ask for the current report or certificate and confirm which entity, systems and period it covers.
How the two fit a live auction
Picture a sale with eight bidders, two rounds and a Q&A budget of several hundred questions. Investment banking is one of Datasite’s focus areas, so on a bank-led sale it is often the room the advisers propose, and its full Q&A module and bidder permissions are built for a growing question log. Bidder reporting, redaction and the mobile app all earn their keep in that setting.
On Ellty, the seller’s own team can usually run the room without the bank’s help. Bulk upload builds the index fast, permission groups keep each bidder in its own lane, and the Q&A module handles routing and approvals. The AI features sit inside the same access-controlled workspace, so associates can use them on room content without exporting files. E-signature means NDAs and process letters can be executed inside the same space.
The difference is less about capability than about who operates the room. Datasite is typically run by a trained operator after vendor onboarding; Ellty is designed so anyone on the deal team can be the operator.
What to ask before you choose
From Datasite, ask for a quote that covers your expected term plus a three-month buffer, the cost of extra storage, and whether the archive at closing carries a separate fee. Ask whether AI features are included at your tier or priced separately. From Ellty, ask which plan suits your expected guest numbers, confirm where data is hosted, and check how long the closing archive remains available. Ask both how quickly a locked-out guest can be restored during a bid deadline, since that is when support actually matters.
Which one for which team
| Situation | Better fit |
|---|---|
| Bulge-bracket bank running a broad auction | Datasite |
| Corporate development team buying a business with a fixed budget | Ellty |
| Procurement needs ISO 27001, SSO and redaction | Datasite |
| Deal team wants AI tools and e-signature without extra vendors | Ellty |
| Reviewers mostly on phones | Datasite |
| Room must be built and populated today | Ellty |
If the bank already has a Datasite contract, the switching cost may decide it. If you are choosing freely, run Ellty’s free trial alongside a Datasite demo and compare how long each takes to reach a working room.