Data room software for restructuring and insolvency
Distressed sales, insolvency and restructuring processes that need a room live within days. Process, documents, security points, a ranking of 18 platforms and cost guidance. Updated October 2026.
Restructuring work runs against the clock. An administrator or adviser may need a room live within a day, with creditors, lenders and buyers each seeing a different slice of the company. Records are often incomplete, so the software has to make messy archives readable quickly.
Workflow coverage leads the weights, with admin experience and pricing close behind: in a distressed process nobody wants a long procurement cycle or an open-ended bill.
How the process runs
Restructuring work moves fast. An administrator, restructuring adviser or company may need a room live within a day or two, with lenders, creditors and potential buyers each seeing a different slice of the business. Records are often incomplete and spread across systems.
Because the process may be challenged later, the room is also a record that every party received the same information at the same time. Short procurement, clear groups and a solid audit trail matter more than advanced features.
Stages of a typical restructuring process
Appointment
Adviser or administrator appointed; room opened fast.
Stakeholder access
Lenders and creditors given their views.
Accelerated sale
Buyers review a condensed room under tight deadlines.
Close and defend
Archive kept for possible challenges.
What the software has to do
- Same-day setup
- Self-serve room creation and bulk upload, without waiting for a vendor onboarding call.
- Stakeholder groups
- Separate permission groups for creditors, lenders, buyers and the court, each with its own view.
- Defensible records
- An audit trail and Q&A log that show every party received the same information.
- Messy archive help
- AI indexing or search that helps make sense of incomplete records quickly.
Documents the room usually holds
A starting point for the index. Number the top-level folders and keep the numbers stable once guests are in.
- Financial position and cash flow forecasts
- Facility agreements and security documents
- Creditor lists and claims
- Key contracts and termination rights
- Employee records and liabilities
- Asset registers and valuations
- Court or regulatory filings
- Sale process letters and offers
Security and compliance points
- Stakeholder groups
- Separate groups for lender classes, creditors, buyers and the court where relevant.
- Equal information
- Records showing that parties in the same class received the same documents.
- Rapid access control
- Quick removal of parties who drop out.
- Retention
- Archive kept for the period in which the process could be challenged.
Ranking for restructuring
All 18 platforms, scored on the six criteria with this page's weights (deal workflow coverage 30%, security controls 20%) plus up to 0.3 for vendor positioning.
| # | Platform | For restructuring | Overall fit score | Workflow | Security | Entry price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  ElltyVirtual data room | 8.97 | 8.7 | 9.0 | 8.4 | $149/mo | Visit Ellty |
| 2 |  DatasiteVirtual data room | 8.77 | 8.5 | 9.7 | 9.7 | Quote | Profile |
| 3 |  iDealsVirtual data room | 8.62 | 8.3 | 9.7 | 9.7 | Quote | Profile |
| 4 |  AnsaradaVirtual data room | 8.47 | 8.2 | 9.0 | 9.4 | Quote | Profile |
| 5 |  DroomsVirtual data room | 8.28 | 7.9 | 9.3 | 9.4 | Quote | Profile |
| 6 |  FirmexVirtual data room | 8.08 | 7.5 | 9.0 | 9.2 | Quote | Profile |
| 7 |  IntralinksVirtual data room | 8.03 | 7.7 | 9.6 | 9.7 | Quote | Profile |
| 8 |  BoxFile-sharing platform | 7.88 | 8.1 | 5.3 | 9.2 | $15/user | Profile |
| 9 |  CapLinkedVirtual data room | 7.88 | 7.4 | 8.3 | 7.5 | $299/mo | Profile |
| 10 |  SmartRoomVirtual data room | 7.65 | 7.2 | 9.3 | 9.4 | Quote | Profile |
| 11 |  SecureDocsVirtual data room | 7.54 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 7.1 | $250/mo | Profile |
| 12 |  DealRoomVirtual data room | 7.48 | 7.1 | 8.6 | 9.0 | Quote | Profile |
| 13 |  Citrix ShareFileFile-sharing platform | 7.45 | 7.6 | 5.7 | 9.0 | $55/mo | Profile |
| 14 |  ShareVaultVirtual data room | 7.26 | 7.1 | 8.3 | 9.2 | Quote | Profile |
| 15 |  Venue by DFINCapital markets room | 7.09 | 6.7 | 8.8 | 8.8 | Quote | Profile |
| 16 |  OnehubFile-sharing platform | 6.54 | 6.6 | 4.7 | 6.8 | $15/mo | Profile |
| 17 |  DigifyDocument tracking tool | 6.12 | 6.0 | 5.1 | 6.8 | $120/mo | Profile |
| 18 |  DocSendDocument tracking tool | 5.55 | 5.5 | 3.4 | 6.3 | $45/user | Profile |
Values out of 10 plus the positioning bonus. Criterion scores out of 10. Prices in USD, indicative.
Weights for Restructuring against the default
Key features for this work
- Q&A workflow
- Buyers post questions inside the room; the seller routes, answers and publishes them with a full record.
- Activity log
- A log of who opened, downloaded or printed which file and when, exportable for the deal record.
- Bulk import
- Drag whole folder trees into the room with structure and numbering kept.
- File-level access rights
- Per-file control over view, print and download, sometimes with view-only or expiring access.
- Viewer watermarks
- Each page carries the viewer name, email or time, so a leaked copy points back to its source.
- AI assistance
- Machine assistance listed by the vendor, such as auto-indexing, summaries, document search or Q&A help.
4 of 18 platforms list all 6 of these features: Ellty, Datasite, Ansarada, Drooms.
Key features, ten highest ranked for restructuring
| Q&A | Audit log | Bulk upload | Rights | Watermark | AI | Listed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ellty | 6/6 | ||||||
| Datasite | 6/6 | ||||||
| iDeals | 5/6 | ||||||
| Ansarada | 6/6 | ||||||
| Drooms | 6/6 | ||||||
| Firmex | 5/6 | ||||||
| Intralinks | 5/6 | ||||||
| Box | 4/6 | ||||||
| CapLinked | 5/6 | ||||||
| SmartRoom | 5/6 | ||||||
| Platforms listing it | 9 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 5 |
Questions to ask the vendor
- Can we create the room ourselves today without a sales call?
- How many stakeholder groups can we run in one room?
- Is the audit trail detailed enough to show equal treatment?
- Is there a short-term monthly price?
- How is the archive delivered and kept?
Evaluation checklist
Run these in a trial room or a demo with a folder of real documents.
- Create the room in an hour
Test self-serve setup and bulk upload of a messy folder.
- Set up stakeholder groups
Create lender, creditor and buyer groups with different views.
- Check the audit trail
Confirm it shows who opened which file and when.
- Use search on poor records
Search scanned documents and spreadsheets for key terms.
- Check billing terms
Confirm month-to-month billing for a short process.
- Plan the archive
Agree the archive format and retention period in advance.
Mistakes to avoid
- Spending a week on procurement for a room that needed to be live on day one.
- Giving all creditors the same access when different classes need different information.
- Losing the audit trail at the end of the process, when challenges to the sale may still come.
What it costs
Distressed processes are short and urgent. A published monthly plan avoids a procurement cycle; a quote-based platform may be worth it for a large, complex estate.
| Pricing model | Platforms | Total for 3 months | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flat monthly plan | 6 | $45 to $897 | Published entry price scaled for a focused room, 3 months |
| Per user | 2 | $180 to $540 | Published seat price x 4 seats, 3 months |
| Quote per project | 10 | $2,100 to $6,600 | Our market band for a focused room, 3 months (estimate) |
Indicative USD. Published prices come from vendor pages; quote-only platforms are shown as our labelled market band, never as a vendor price. The calculator below starts from this page's typical room; change any input.
USD estimates for planning; each vendor confirms its own figure. Flat plans grow with room size from the listed starting price. Platforms that quote per project show the middle of our market band for that size, labelled "estimate", and never an invented vendor price.
More on models, hidden costs and negotiation in the pricing guide.
Frequently asked questions
Why are data rooms used in insolvency?
To give buyers, creditors and lenders controlled access to company records during a distressed sale or restructuring, with a record of exactly what each party saw.
How fast can a restructuring data room be set up?
With self-serve software and a clean folder template, within a day. Quote-based platforms may need a sales and onboarding step first.
What happens to the room after the process ends?
Agree an archive in advance: a read-only export of documents, Q&A and the audit log, kept for the period your advisers recommend.
Who runs the data room in an insolvency?
Usually the appointed administrator or restructuring adviser, sometimes with the company's finance team supplying documents.
Why does equal access matter in restructuring?
Creditors and bidders may challenge the process later. A record showing that each party in a class received the same information helps defend it.