Ellty vs CapLinked

CapLinked, founded in 2010 in the United States, made its name with funds, lenders and brokers who open data rooms over and over: one room per asset, per loan sale or per listing. Its public API and published price fit that rhythm. Ellty, founded in 2020 in Australia, is a full transaction room with AI tools and e-signature built in, aimed at M&A, fundraising and due diligence. Both cover the deal essentials, structured Q&A included, and both let you see the price before you talk to sales. The real question is whether your organization runs one deal at a time or a steady stream of them.

Facts compared

Prices are indicative; confirm with the provider.

The scoring

Ellty’s weighted score is 9.545 out of 10 against CapLinked’s 7.915. The biggest single gaps are ease of use and value, 2.2 and 2.1 points, followed by support at 1.7. Security and deal features are each just over a point apart. Details of the weighting are on the methodology page.

Common ground

It is worth starting with what the two share, because it is more than in most pairings across price levels. Both run a structured Q&A module, so bidder questions can be routed, answered and logged inside the room. Both apply dynamic watermarking to every view, offer document rights control to stop printing or downloading after a file is opened, keep a full audit trail and support two-factor login. Both support bulk upload for building the index, and both list SOC 2.

That shared core means either room can run a genuine diligence process. The decision turns on the extras and on how the room will be operated.

The API against AI and e-signature

CapLinked’s API lets an organization create rooms, add users and move documents from internal systems by script. For a lender selling a series of loan portfolios, a real estate fund disposing of individual assets, or a broker with several listings live at once, that removes repeated manual setup. An API is not common at this price level, and for the right buyer it is the deciding feature.

Ellty’s AI features and e-signature help inside a single deal. AI tools support reviewing documents and drafting consistent answers when the same question comes from several bidders. E-signature lets NDAs, side letters and closing documents be signed in the room where they were reviewed, with the signature events in the same audit trail.

A useful test: count how many rooms you expect to open in the next twelve months. One or two rooms point toward the in-deal tooling; a dozen point toward the API, provided someone on your team will build and maintain the integration.

Security posture

Both list SOC 2, Ellty as SOC 2 Infrastructure. Neither holds ISO 27001, offers single sign-on or includes built-in redaction according to our records. So the certification answer to a counterparty is broadly the same, and an institution that requires ISO/IEC 27001 or SSO will look beyond both.

Ellty’s 1.2-point lead on security in our model is an editorial judgment on the overall control set in day-to-day use. Before signing with either, ask for the SOC 2 report and read which systems the auditor examined. If documents contain personal data that must be masked, plan redaction before upload with either room.

Day-to-day use

Ellty scores 9.8 for ease of use and CapLinked 7.6. Ellty’s room can be built and opened to outside parties quickly, and occasional reviewers find their way without guidance. CapLinked’s users are often repeat operators who learn the platform once and reuse it, which narrows the gap in practice for those teams; one-off sellers and first-time bidders will notice it more.

Costs over a process

Both publish their entry price, so budgeting starts from real numbers. Ellty starts at $149 per month and CapLinked at $299 per month, a gap of $150 a month at entry level. Over a nine-month sale, that is $1,350 on the published entry prices alone. For an organization running several rooms in parallel, multiply by the number of rooms, then ask each provider whether multi-room or annual terms change the picture. The estimator above lets you set your own timeline and seats.

Ask both what the entry tier includes, how storage and users are counted, and how a room that stays open past its planned close is billed. The pricing guide explains how to compare monthly models over a full deal.

Support

Ellty scores 9.2 and CapLinked 7.5. Support carries the lowest weight in the model, but the gap is wide enough to ask both vendors specific questions: staffed hours in your bidders’ time zones, response times during a bid deadline, and whether a named contact is assigned to your account.

Which fits your organization

Choose Ellty when you run one deal at a time and want a full-featured room, AI help with documents and answers, signatures inside the platform, a lower published entry price and an interface outside parties pick up immediately.

Choose CapLinked when you open many similar rooms a year, have developers who will use the API to automate setup, and treat the data room as a recurring operating tool rather than a project expense.

Pick Ellty or CapLinked: the deciding conditions

Pick Ellty if

1. 1You run one transaction at a time and want a full deal room
2. 2AI help with document review and repeated questions saves real time
3. 3Closing papers should be signed in the room
4. 4The published entry price of $149 a month suits the budget

Pick CapLinked if

1. 1You open many similar rooms each year
2. 2Developers will connect room setup to internal systems through an API
3. 3Repeat operators will learn the platform once and reuse it
4. 4Automation of setup matters more than in-deal tooling

Look elsewhere if you need ISO 27001, single sign-on, built-in redaction or a mobile app. Neither lists them in our records.

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How it plays out in practice

A lender selling a series of loan portfolios

Six portfolio sales in a year, each with its own bidder list, documents exported from the loan servicing system. CapLinked’s API can create each room and push the tape and loan files straight from internal systems. The setup saving repeats with every sale, which is where the higher monthly price pays back.

A family business sold through a boutique adviser

One sale, a dozen interested buyers, management doing much of the document gathering. Ellty fits this better. The adviser can build the room in a session, management can answer repeated questions with AI help, and the purchase agreement can be signed in the room. The published price fixes the line in the sale budget from the start.

A venture fund running diligence on several targets

Several targets at once, each with its own data request and a short window. Both rooms support Q&A and permissions. Ellty’s AI tools help analysts get through document sets faster on each target; CapLinked’s API helps only if the fund builds its own process around it. Most investment teams without in-house developers will lean to Ellty.

A real estate fund disposing of single assets

Ten building sales over two years, each a small, similar room. This is CapLinked’s typical customer: the asset sales are alike, the API template can be reused, and the operations team knows the platform. If the fund has no developer time, the advantage shrinks, and Ellty’s lower entry price and faster manual setup come back into play.

Trial both with the same script

Both offer a free trial. Use it to run the same mock process: upload a sample index, create two buyer groups, send three questions through Q&A, apply document rights control to one sensitive folder and export the activity log. In Ellty, also try the AI tools on a sample document and sign a dummy NDA. In CapLinked, ask the team for API documentation and have a developer judge how long the integration would take. That last estimate often settles the choice.

Switching between them

Switch between deals, not during one. Export documents, the Q&A log and activity records from the old room, keep the same index numbering and rebuild groups from a written access matrix. Moving off CapLinked, retire any scripts that called its API; moving onto it, budget the developer time before the first room opens.

Read the full profiles of Ellty and CapLinked, and see the private equity and real estate shortlists for how both rank more widely.