Virtual Vaults

Overview

Virtual Vaults brings deal preparation and due diligence into one platform, with Workspaces for organizing a deal and Data Rooms for controlled information sharing. Its strongest fit is a deal team that needs both stages under one roof and can accommodate the cost and sell-side seat limits of its Data Room tiers.

The split between preparation and execution is practical: teams can collect documents, questionnaires and tasks before exporting material to a Data Room. That makes Virtual Vaults more than a document-sharing destination, but its free Workspace option is limited to deal advisors and three Workspaces.

Key features

Workspaces supports document collection, interactive questionnaires, task assignment, chat, redaction and export to a Data Room. Together, these tools cover preparation work that can otherwise sit apart from the room itself. Workspaces Plus includes five Workspaces, with additional Workspaces available; the Free plan stops at three and is exclusive to deal advisors.

Data Rooms provide controlled document access, buyer groups, Q&A, audit trails, reporting and native Excel viewing. Audit trails and document watermarking support oversight of shared materials, while the 2 GB maximum file size is a meaningful constraint for unusually large files. Storage is unlimited on the three priced Data Room plans, and buy-side users are unlimited; the limiting factor is the sell-side team size.

The API can synchronize files that a connected user has permission to download through approved external applications. Room administrators can disable integrations. API access must be requested, and Virtual Vaults offers sandbox testing, documentation and direct engineering support. That makes the API relevant to teams with a defined integration need, but not an open, self-serve route.

Virtual Vaults says it is ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certified, uses 256-bit AES encryption in transit and at rest, and stores data with geographic redundancy on Microsoft Azure. It also says independent auditors and external penetration testers periodically assess its software and infrastructure. Those controls are relevant for sensitive deal documents, though they do not remove the need to assess a provider against an organization’s own requirements.

Pricing

Virtual Vaults uses a freemium model. Workspaces Free costs nothing for deal advisors and permits up to three Workspaces. Its 24/7 personal support is a notable inclusion, but the advisor-only eligibility and Workspace cap make it a narrow starting point rather than a general-purpose free Data Room.

Workspaces Plus is €360 /Month billed annually, with monthly billing also shown at €520 /Month. It includes five Workspaces and allows additional Workspaces to be added. This is the paid preparation option for teams that have outgrown the free cap; it does not itself represent a Data Room plan.

Data Room Basic costs €452 /Month billed annually and allows up to three sell-side users, unlimited buy-side users, Basic Q&A and unlimited storage. It fits a small sell-side team that can work within the Basic Q&A tier. Standard costs €548 /Month billed annually and raises the sell-side cap to seven with Standard Q&A; it is the more suitable tier when the deal team needs more seats or that Q&A level. Advanced costs €904 /Month billed annually and provides up to 15 sell-side users, unlimited buy-side users, Advanced Q&A and unlimited storage. Enterprise has custom pricing, unlimited sell-side and buy-side users, and all features, making it the tier for teams that exceed the Advanced cap or need the full feature set.

Basic, Standard and Advanced also show quarterly, semi-annual and monthly billing rates, but the annual prices are the clearest stated figures above. Data Room plans include 24/7 email and phone support. A 15 GB encrypted USB archive with Comfort Letter costs €199.00 / £199.00 per drive; a cloud archive is €50.00 / £50.00 per recipient. These are additional charges to account for when a deal needs an archive.

Platforms

Virtual Vaults is available on the web and through an API. The API is an integration channel rather than a general app platform: access is requested, and synchronization is limited to files the connected user may download.

Who it's for

Virtual Vaults suits deal advisors, private equity teams and corporate M&A groups that want preparation tools and a controlled Data Room in one service. Its unlimited storage and buyer seats are useful when sharing with many prospective buyers, while sell-side caps make the Basic, Standard and Advanced plans straightforward to size against the internal deal team.

It is a weaker fit for an advisor who needs more than three free Workspaces, a team that requires more than 15 sell-side seats without moving to custom pricing, or users seeking a broadly available free Data Room. The 2 GB file ceiling also makes it less suitable for workflows centered on larger individual files.

Pros and cons

• Pros: Workspaces handles preparation tasks, including questionnaires, redaction and export to a Data Room, reducing the gap between deal setup and controlled sharing.
• Pros: Data Room tiers combine unlimited storage and buy-side users with audit trails, Q&A and reporting, so buyer volume does not consume the stated seat allowance.
• Pros: 24/7 support is included on both the free Workspaces plan and Data Room plans, with personal support on Free and email and phone support for Data Room customers.
• Cons: The free Workspace plan is only for deal advisors and stops at three Workspaces, so it is not a broad free option for every deal team.
• Cons: Priced Data Room tiers cap sell-side users at 3, 7 or 15, while larger teams must ask for Enterprise pricing.
• Cons: Individual files are capped at 2 GB, and the USB and cloud archive options add per-drive or per-recipient charges.

Alternatives

For a wider category comparison, browse Data Room Software.

Drooms is worth considering when a free entry point with a stated 150 MB storage allowance, two user licenses and three data room projects is a better match than Virtual Vaults’ advisor-only Workspace free tier. Ansarada offers free preparation until the room goes live or 90 days after creation, whichever comes first, which may suit a time-bounded preparation phase.

Ellty is another web-based alternative with a free Standard plan that includes one user, 50 GB per user, a 2 GB maximum upload and 200 assets per room. Plox offers a free plan capped at 50 documents, 100 MB per upload, 30 days of analytics history and one seat, useful when those smaller limits suit the project.

netfiles Deal Room is a paid option with a free trial and a Deal Room Premium plan priced at €1.19 per month, a minimum term of three months, one project per data room and unlimited users. FORDATA VDR is another paid, trial-available option; its LITE plan is €275 per month on the yearly plan and includes 1 GB storage and 15 users.

iDeals Virtual Data Room is a paid alternative with a free trial; its Premier plan includes a single project, unlimited administrators and users, and tailored storage. Peony may suit a smaller document-led need, with a free plan for up to 50 documents and a Business plan at $30 per month billed annually for up to 1,000 documents and three data rooms per admin.

Verdict

Choose Virtual Vaults if your deal team wants preparation and controlled due diligence sharing together, values unlimited storage and buyer seats, and fits within the tier’s sell-side cap. The main reason to look elsewhere is the combination of a restricted free Workspace plan, paid Data Room entry at €452 /Month billed annually, and a 2 GB file limit.