We Needed a Data Room for 3 Weeks and Everything Costs $300/Month

Last fall we went through a due diligence process with a potential acquirer. The whole thing lasted about three weeks from first data request to final decision. We needed a secure data room where we could share financials, contracts, IP documentation, and employee records with their legal and finance team. So i started looking at virtual data room providers. And honestly, the pricing made me want to close my laptop and go for a walk. Intralinks: custom pricing but reviews suggest $400-$1,500/month depending on features. Firmex: starts around $300/month. Datasite (formerly Merrill DataSite): enterprise pricing that starts in the thousands. iDeals: $300-$500/month range. For three weeks of use. Maybe four if things stretched. We ended up using a combination of Google Drive with restricted sharing and a bunch of manual access tracking in a spreadsheet. It worked, technically. But it was a mess and i was embarrassed handing that to a professional due diligence team. The data room pricing p