A leaderboard is the most compressed view a ranking site offers. Eighteen providers, one row each, a score out of 100 and a handful of columns. It is useful for orientation and easy to misread, because the most prominent number, the overall score, is also the one that hides the most.
This guide walks through our provider leaderboard column by column, explains how to read close scores, and shows which column to sort by for common deal types.
What does each column on the leaderboard show?
Every column comes from one model, described in full on our ranking method page. Here is what each one means and how to use it.
| Column | What it is | Source | How to use it |
|---|---|---|---|
| # (rank) | Position by overall score | Computed | Orientation only; see ties below |
| Score | Weighted average of six criteria, out of 100 | Computed | Compare bands, not single points |
| Toolkit | Diligence toolkit, 0-10, weight 26% | Facts file rating | Q&A, permissions, indexing, reporting |
| Protection | Data protection, 0-10, weight 21% | Facts file rating | Attestations and document controls |
| Adoption | Ease of adoption, 0-10, weight 17% | Facts file rating | Setup speed and guest learning curve |
| Predictability | Cost predictability, 0-10, weight 15% | Facts file rating | Published price and bill stability |
| Breadth | Checklist breadth, 0-10, weight 12% | Native features out of 12 | How many checklist features ship |
| Support | Deal support, 0-10, weight 9% | Facts file rating | Published support hours and help |
| Entry price | Published entry price or quote only | Facts file | Budget filter; indicative USD |
| Lists | Number of our 13 top lists the room appears on | Computed | Breadth of fit across buyer types |
Two columns behave differently from the rest. Breadth is mechanical: it counts native features on our twelve-item checklist and converts the count to a mark out of ten, so a room with 8 of 12 features scores 6.7. Lists is also mechanical: it counts how many of our top lists include the provider in their top 10.
What does an overall score hide?
An average hides its spread. Two providers can reach a similar overall score by very different routes, and the route matters more than the destination when your deal stresses one criterion.
Take two rooms from the current leaderboard. Ansarada scores 86 overall, with marks of 9.4 on Toolkit, 9.3 on Protection and 8.0 on Adoption. Firmex scores 84 overall, with 8.3 on Toolkit, 9.0 on Protection and 9.0 on Adoption. On the overall score Ansarada leads by two points. For a lean team that needs outside reviewers comfortable on day one, Firmex’s Adoption mark may matter more than that gap.
Or take Box at 81 and SmartRoom at 81. Box reaches its score with a 7.5 Breadth mark from nine checklist features and no Q&A module. SmartRoom reaches the same score with an 8.9 Toolkit mark and a structured Q&A module but only seven checklist features. For an auction, they are not interchangeable at all.
When are two scores really a tie?
Our scores are whole numbers, with ties in rank broken by the unrounded value. That makes the order exact, but exactness is not the same as meaning. The inputs are editorial marks to one decimal place; a tenth of a point on one criterion moves an overall score by up to a quarter of a point.
Overall scores before rounding, current top 10
A useful rule: if two rooms are within two points, the leaderboard has told you they are peers. Open both profiles and compare the criteria that matter for your deal. If they are five or more points apart, the gap usually reflects a real difference on at least one heavily weighted criterion.
What do the score bands mean?
Each score falls into a band, shown on profiles and in the leaderboard’s score distribution. Bands are coarser than scores and often a better level at which to compare.
| Band | Score range | Providers in band now |
|---|---|---|
| Top tier | 90 and above | Ellty, iDeals |
| Excellent | 85 to 89 | Datasite, Ansarada, Intralinks |
| Strong | 80 to 84 | Firmex, Drooms, SmartRoom, Box, Citrix ShareFile |
| Solid | 75 to 79 | DealRoom, CapLinked, SecureDocs, ShareVault |
| Mixed | 70 to 74 | Onehub, Venue by DFIN |
| Narrow fit | below 70 | Digify, DocSend |
Narrow fit is not a verdict of poor quality. Digify and DocSend are built for document tracking and sharing, and they score low on a model that weights a full diligence toolkit at 26%. For a single deck shared with a few investors they may be exactly right.
Which column should you sort by?
Sort by your hardest constraint, then read the overall score as a tiebreaker.
| Your situation | Sort by | Then check |
|---|---|---|
| Competitive auction with many bidders | Toolkit | Protection, and whether Q&A is listed |
| Regulated buyer or strict security review | Protection | Certifications on each profile |
| Small team, outside reviewers new to data rooms | Adoption | Support |
| Fixed budget or long, uncertain timeline | Predictability | Entry price |
| IT requires SSO, API or a mobile app | Breadth | The checklist on each profile |
| Unsure what matters | Lists | The finder |
What does a leaderboard not show at all?
Some things that matter a great deal cannot fit in a column. A leaderboard does not show the scope behind a certification, which can cover the vendor’s product or only the cloud host. It does not show the price you will actually be quoted, only whether an entry price is published. It does not show hosting regions, contract length, overage rates or the hours support is really staffed in your time zone. And it does not show how a room behaves under your own documents, your own bidder count and your own deadline.
Those gaps are not a flaw in the format; they are the limits of comparing eighteen products on one screen. They are why every row links to a profile with strengths, watch-outs and a facts table, and why the last step of any shortlist is a set of written questions to the vendors themselves.
How should you move from leaderboard to shortlist?
From leaderboard to a three-room shortlist
- 1Name your hardest constraint
Security policy, budget, team size or deal complexity. Pick one.
- 2Sort by the matching column
Use the table above, and note the top six on that column.
- 3Drop rooms that fail a hard requirement
Missing Q&A for an auction, missing SSO for an enterprise buyer, quote-only for a fixed budget.
- 4Read the overall score as a tiebreaker
Among what remains, prefer the higher band, and treat scores within two points as equal.
- 5Open the profiles
Read strengths, watch-outs and the facts table for your final three before booking demos or trials.
If you would rather answer questions than sort columns, the finder does a similar job in five steps. For the ranked view with reasons for each place, see the overall top 10.
Related top list Top 10 virtual data rooms overall Our main list: the ten rooms with the highest overall score across all six criteria. 1
Ellty2
iDeals3
Datasite See the full list →
Frequently asked questions
What is a VDR leaderboard?
A table of virtual data room providers ranked by a score, with columns for the criteria behind it. Ours covers 18 providers, six criteria, entry price and the number of top lists each appears on.
How should I read close scores on a leaderboard?
Treat scores within about two points as a tie and compare the criteria columns instead. The overall score is a weighted average and small gaps can come from a tenth of a point on one criterion.
Which leaderboard column matters most?
The one that matches your hardest constraint: Toolkit for complex auctions, Protection for strict security reviews, Adoption for small teams and Predictability for fixed budgets.
Why does a file-sharing tool rank close to a deal room?
Because it can score well on protection, adoption and checklist breadth while lacking deal features such as Q&A. Check the Toolkit column and the profile's feature checklist before treating them as equivalent.
What does the Lists column mean?
It counts how many of our 13 top lists include the provider in their top 10. A high count means a broad fit across buyer types; a low count usually means a specialist.