Data rooms employ a variety of models to determine their pricing. Some data rooms charge per page, and others charge based on the size of the storage. Some charge a flat fee per month. It is important that M&A professionals know the average VDR pricing for each pricing type to make informed decisions regarding the most suitable vendor to fit their budget and requirements.
The amount of files stored in the dataroom is a popular method of determining the cost. This is a great option for teams that don’t need a lot flexibility in the size of files they upload. However, it might not work well for large collaborative projects.
Another method that vendors determine the price for the data room is by counting the number of admin users. This method is suitable for data room services aiding in risk assessment and management teams that have limited needs for document sharing and collaborative work, but can be expensive for projects that require more sophisticated tools, like security visual analytics, security collaboration.
Some vendors have a flat monthly fee model, which is ideal for extended M&A transactions that be a bit unpredictable in terms of timeframes and are difficult estimate. This pricing model could also be utilized by businesses who want to avoid the cost of scanning and uploading a huge number of physical documents. Another thing to consider with this model is whether or not the provider provides customer service in its pricing. For example, some providers provide support via a dedicated coordinator on weekends and after office hours. This can be useful when working with documents that are time-sensitive.