Ellty vs Box
A purpose-built diligence room against the content cloud many companies already pay for.
The question behind this matchup is usually practical: the company already has Box, so does it need a separate data room for the sale, the raise or the audit? Box (founded 2005) is a general content platform with a deep integration story, and its entry in our facts file is long: native mobile app, public API and single sign-on all appear there, along with SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA and GDPR. Ellty (founded 2020) is built for the transaction itself, and lists buyer Q&A and document rights (view, print, download) that Box does not.
Overall, Ellty sits first of eighteen on our leaderboard with 92/100 and Box ninth of eighteen with 81/100, a gap of eleven points. Most of that distance comes from the diligence toolkit criterion (9.5 against 8.0), which asks whether a room can run a live deal without side channels. Box earns back ground on checklist breadth, where its nine of twelve items beat Ellty's eight.
Bottom line
For a transaction with outside bidders or investors, Ellty comes out ahead: the buyer Q&A queue and the view, print and download controls are the two things a content cloud cannot fake, and both are native here. Box is the reasonable choice when the exchange is internal or friendly, the files already live in Box, and IT wants single sign-on, a mobile app and an API on a platform it has already vetted.
Choose Ellty if
- Buyers or investors will send questions that need routing, answering and logging in one place
- You need to stop recipients printing or downloading specific files, not only watermark them
- A flat $149 a month with a 14-day free trial is easier to approve than another seat-based licence
Choose Box if
- The documents already live in Box and the counterparties are known and trusted
- Your IT team requires native mobile app, public API and single sign-on
- Compliance asks for SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA and GDPR by name
Scores side by side
Ellty against Box, mark by mark
Ellty 92 Box 81 Feature checklist: where they differ
- Q&A threads
- Print and download rights
- Access history
- Live watermarks
- Signing in the room
- 2-step sign-in
- Bulk uploads
- Built-in AI
- Phone app
- Integration API
- Corporate SSO
What a content cloud leaves out of a deal
Both products cover the plumbing: audit trail, dynamic watermarking, e-signature, two-step login, bulk folder upload and AI features. The difference is in two features that only matter once strangers are reading your files. The first is a structured Q&A module. In a sale, dozens of questions arrive per week; without a queue, they travel by email and the audit trail loses the thread. Box lists no Q&A in our facts file. The second is document rights management, which lets an admin allow viewing but block printing or downloading per file or group. Ellty lists it and Box does not, so in Box the realistic control is whether someone can open a folder at all.
Where Box is the stronger platform
Box carries more of our twelve-item checklist, and the extras are mostly about IT fit: native mobile app, public API and single sign-on. A firm that routes every tool through its identity provider will find Box easier to approve, and reviewers who work from phones get a native app. The certification list is longer too (SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA and GDPR), which matters if the files include health data. Ease of adoption is not level either: Ellty scores 9.8 and Box 8.5 on our scale, and the gap shows mostly when outside reviewers have to find their way through a folder tree once or twice.
Per-user licences against a flat room price
Box publishes $15 per user per month, so the bill tracks headcount; Ellty publishes $149 a month at entry, so it tracks months. On the lowest published tiers, a six-month project with five paid Box users comes to $450, and the same six months of Ellty to $894. The lines cross once you need roughly ten or more paid Box seats. Both numbers are floors: higher Box tiers carry more features and storage, and the real Ellty plan depends on room size. Run your own user count through the calculator below.
What each costs for your term
Move the sliders to your expected term and user count. Published entry prices only; quote-only providers show a labelled market range.
Worked out from each vendor's lowest published tier in US dollars. Bigger plans, extra storage, more admins and sales tax all lift the real figure, so read it as a floor and get the vendor's own number. Budgeting detail is on the pricing page.
Specs
| Ellty | Box | |
|---|---|---|
| Overall score | 92/100 (No. 1) | 81/100 (No. 9) |
| Entry price | $149 a month | $15 per user/mo |
| Trial | 14-day free trial | Free trial offered |
| Attestations | SOC 2 (infrastructure) | SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, GDPR |
| Checklist features | 8 of 12 | 9 of 12 |
| Top lists it makes | 13 of 13 | 12 of 13 |
| Founded | 2020 | 2005 |
| Head office | Australia | United States |
| Deployment | Cloud | Cloud |
From the shared provider facts file, checked monthly. Prices in USD, indicative; confirm with each provider.
Ellty vs Box: questions
Can we run M&A due diligence in Box?
You can share the files, but Box lists no Q&A module and no document rights controls in our facts file, so questions move to email and you cannot block printing on a single file. For a friendly or internal exchange that may be fine. For a contested sale with several bidders, a dedicated room is the safer setup.
Is Box more secure than Ellty?
Box publishes SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA and GDPR; Ellty lists SOC 2 for its hosting infrastructure. Box also adds single sign-on. Ellty's strength is control after access: watermarks plus view, print and download rights on each document. Which matters more depends on whether your risk is who logs in or what they do with a file once they have it.
Which costs less for a short project?
It depends on seats. Box starts at $15 per user per month and Ellty at $149 a month. With a handful of paid users Box can be cheaper; as the user count grows, the flat room price wins. Both are entry figures, so check the tier that carries the features you need.
Do both offer AI features?
Yes. AI features appear on both entries in our facts file. Ask each vendor what the AI does with deal documents specifically, where processing happens and whether it is included at your tier.