Intralinks vs. Datasite: A UK Buyer’s Comparison Guide

Choosing between Intralinks and Datasite VDR is a decision many deal teams face when looking for the best VDR for UK M&A. Both are long-established data room providers with a proven track record in the virtual data room market, and both are used in complex financial transactions. But they do differ in certain things, and those differences matter once your deal is live.

So if you’re searching for a Datasite vs. Intralinks virtual data room comparison, this guide provides details. It walks UK M&A professionals, legal and finance advisors, and deal leads through a comprehensive comparison of the two platforms, whether you’ve used virtual data rooms before or this is your first deal. 

You’ll find a verdict-led structure throughout: what each provider does well, where they fall short, and which one fits which type of deal.

Overview of Intralinks and Datasite

Both platforms have shaped the virtual data room industry for decades, but they come from different starting points and have grown in different directions.

Intralinks Overview

Intralinks was founded in 1996 and is widely credited as one of the pioneers of virtual data room technology. It’s headquartered in New York, with offices in 35 countries, and it was acquired by SS&C Technologies in 2018, after which it began operating as SS&C Intralinks. 

Intralinks’ data room core offering, VDRPro, is built for high-stakes processes such as M&A due diligence, capital raising, audits, and other sensitive transactions. Alongside VDRPro, the wider Intralinks suite includes DealCentre AI and FundCentre, plus supporting tools such as Intralinks VIA and Security Hub. It remains a familiar name across global banking and advisory firms handling cross-border deals.

Datasite Overview

Datasite has a longer corporate history than its current name suggests. The business traces back to Merrill Corporation and rebranded as Datasite in 2020 after shifting away from its legacy financial printing operations to a pure SaaS model for dealmaking. That heritage is why you’ll still see it referred to as Merrill Datasite in some circles. 

Datasite was acquired by CapVest, a London-based private equity firm, in 2020, and it has since bought several complementary businesses, including Firmex and Ansarada. 

The Datasite virtual data room sits within a wider platform that spans deal preparation, marketing, buy-side workflows and post-merger integration. The Datasite data room serves investment banking, private equity, and corporate development teams on capital markets deals such as M&A, restructuring, capital raising, and IPOs.

Intralinks vs. Datasite: Quick Comparison Table

Here’s how the two platforms compare at a glance, covering key features, pricing plans and support.

Category	Intralinks VDRPro	Datasite
Best for	Complex M&A, capital raising, and audits where dedicated account support matters	Sell-side and buy-side M&A, restructuring, and capital markets deals that need AI-assisted document review
Pricing model	Custom quote, tailored to data volume, project duration, users, and features	Custom quote, tailored to the scope and timeline of each transaction
Security	ISO 27001 and SOC 2 certifications; GDPR and HIPAA compliance; two-factor authentication; five data hosting regions	ISO/IEC 27001, 27017, 27018, 27701, and 42001 certified; SOC 2 Type II attestation; GDPR compliant
Support	Dedicated customer service manager per project	24/7/365 support in 20+ languages, plus a named Project Pro through Datasite Assist
UK availability	Available to UK dealmakers; no dedicated UK office listed on Intralinks’ site	UK offices in London and Manchester, operating as Datasite UK Ltd.

Security Features Compared

Data security is the first thing any UK deal team should scrutinise, since a data room is only as useful as the confidentiality it guarantees for sensitive data and confidential documents. Both providers publish advanced security features and detailed data privacy compliance credentials, but they emphasise slightly different things.

Intralinks Security Features

• AI redaction. Uses artificial intelligence to redact sensitive data, such as personally identifiable information, across documents.
• Dynamic watermarking. Adds a user’s individual details, such as IP address or email, to every document view, download, or print.
• UNshare. Allows administrators to retract document access after the fact, even once a file has been shared.
• Five data hosting regions. In-region data storage across the US, Germany, the UK, Japan, and Australia supports regional compliance needs.
• Granular permissions. Four levels of access permission let administrators control exactly who can view, edit, download, or print each file or folder.
• Two-factor authentication. Every user verifies their identity with an SMS code before entering the room.
• ISO 27001 and SOC 2 certification, plus GDPR and HIPAA compliance. These give a formal, audited basis for the platform’s information security controls.

Datasite Security Features

• Redaction AI. Automatically identifies and redacts more than 120 types of personally identifiable information across sensitive documents before they go live to buyers.
• Permission-aware AI. Every AI-generated answer or summary is scoped to the individual buyer’s access level, so nobody sees more than they’re entitled to.
• Data encryption. Documents are encrypted in transit and at rest, with enterprise-grade security backed by Datasite’s certified infrastructure.
• ISO/IEC 42001 certification. Datasite says it’s the first data room provider certified to this AI governance standard, alongside ISO/IEC 27001, 27017, 27018 and 27701.
• SOC 2 Type II attestation and GDPR compliance. Covers operational controls and EU data protection requirements.
• Granular, page-level audit trails. Tracks exactly who viewed, downloaded, or printed which document, and when.

Pricing: Intralinks vs. Datasite (GBP)

Neither Intralinks nor Datasite publishes pricing information or an official GBP rate card up front. Both work on a custom-quote pricing model rather than transparent pricing, so the figure you’re given will depend on your deal.

Category	Datasite	Intralinks
Pricing model	Custom quote per project	Custom quote per project
Published rate card	None	None
Free trial	N/A	N/A

Datasite Pricing

Datasite doesn’t publish fixed prices. Its own FAQ states plainly that “Datasite pricing is customised for every transaction,” with quotes tailored to the scope, requirements and timeline of the deal. 

You can purchase Datasite as an ongoing subscription or buy individual applications, such as Diligence or Prepare, on a project basis. If your firm runs multiple projects at once, the subscription route gives you multi-project management capabilities that a single per-project quote doesn’t, which is worth raising with your rep if multi-project management is a priority. 

If Datasite pricing is a concern for a smaller deal, it’s worth asking directly about project-based options rather than a full subscription, since that distinction isn’t obvious from the marketing pages.

Intralinks Pricing

Intralinks pricing works the same way: no published rate card and a quote built around your specific project. Cost typically depends on data volume, project duration, number of users, and which features you need. If you want a realistic Intralinks pricing figure for your transaction, the only reliable route is to contact the Intralinks sales team directly and ask for a breakdown by these factors before you commit.

Usability and User Experience

Security and pricing matter, but an intuitive interface and robust features are what your deal team will actually feel, day to day, during a live transaction.

Interface and Onboarding

Datasite’s own G2 reviews put it at 4.4 out of 5 from 418 reviews as of August 2026, with users repeatedly praising the clear document organisation and intuitive navigation. The most common complaint is the learning curve for advanced features and slower performance on very large uploads. 

Intralinks VDRPro sits at 3.8 out of 5 on G2 based on 29 reviews, with users highlighting a fluid interface once they’re familiar with it, though onboarding and initial setup are cited as friction points in earlier reviews.

Mobile and Collaboration Tools

• Intralinks: Q&A section. A built-in tool for asking and answering document-related questions, keeping the thread in one place instead of scattered emails.
• Intralinks: Zoom integration. Links video calls, such as management presentations, directly into the data room workflow.
• Datasite: Mobile app. Gives your team direct access to documents from iOS or Android, keeping app data encrypted whether you’re reviewing files at your desk or on the move, with recent updates adding AI-powered assistance.
• Datasite: Blueflame AI search. Generates responses to buyer questions grounded in the data room’s own content, with citations, so your team edits rather than writes from scratch.
• Datasite: Full document translation. Translates entire documents across 17+ languages while preserving formatting, useful for cross-border UK deals.

Customer Support Comparison

Intralinks

• Customer support for Intralinks virtual data room includes a dedicated account manager assigned per project.
  
• Support available to global clients, though Intralinks does not list dedicated UK support hours on its own site.
  
• Users on G2 rate the quality of support at 8.4 out of 10, based on 18 responses.
  
• Advisors managing multiple projects at once should confirm upfront whether the same account manager will remain assigned to all of them.

Datasite

• 24/7/365 support in more than 20 languages through Datasite Assist.
  
• A named Project Pro provides ongoing, proactive help at no extra cost, alongside the standard support desk.
  
• Physical offices in London and Manchester support UK and EMEA clients directly, and Datasite UK Ltd. is registered at 15 Bonhill Street, London.
  
• Users on G2 rate the quality of support at 9.1 out of 10, based on 288 responses.

Best Use Cases: Which VDR Fits Your Deal?

• If your transaction is one of the larger, more complex deals, a multi-party sell-side or buy-side M&A process where your team will lean on AI to speed up document review and Q&A drafting, Datasite’s tools are built for that scale. The same applies if you expect the deal to run for many months and want a single Project Pro managing the relationship throughout.
  
• If you’re running a capital raise, audit, or restructuring where a dedicated account manager and a more traditional, feature-dense VDR fit your existing process, Intralinks remains a solid choice, particularly for teams already familiar with its permissioning model from previous deals.

For smaller UK mid-market transactions where budget and a fast, intuitive setup matter more than enterprise-scale AI tooling, it’s worth comparing both against other Datasite and Intralinks competitors, including options built specifically around transparent pricing (see Alternatives below).

Intralinks vs Datasite: Pros and Cons

	Pros	Cons
Intralinks	Strong security posture for high-stakes dealsDedicated customer service manager per projectEstablished Q&A and Zoom integration	Pricing isn’t published and isn’t confirmed as cost-effective for smaller dealsNo e-signature built inSome G2 reviewers note a steeper initial learning curve
Datasite	High G2 ratings for ease of use and document organisationAI-assisted redaction, search, and translationUK offices with 24/7/365 support	Consistently flagged as expensive on smaller or shorter dealsLarge-file uploads can be slowAdvanced features take time to learn

Alternatives to Consider

If neither vendor is quite right for your deal size or budget, a handful of other VDR providers are active in the UK market:

• Ideals, which G2 reviewers rate at 4.7 out of 5 from over 800 reviews, scoring higher than Datasite Diligence on usability, ease of setup, and support quality according to G2’s own side-by-side comparison.
  
• Ansarada, another established provider with strong usability ratings among reviewers.
  
• Firmex, which focuses on straightforward, secure document sharing for a broad range of deal sizes.
  
• DealRoom, positioned more toward small and mid-market deal teams who want a centralised workspace.

Each of these sits among the more commonly cited Intralinks competitors, so it’s worth requesting a demo from at least one alongside your Intralinks and Datasite conversations.

Final Verdict: Intralinks vs. Datasite

For large, AI-heavy sell-side and buy-side M&A processes with extensive document management needs, Datasite’s higher G2 ratings, broader certification set, and UK office presence make it the stronger default. 

For capital raises, audits, or deals where a dedicated account manager and an established permissioning model matter more than AI tooling, Intralinks remains a credible choice. 

Neither publishes pricing, so get like-for-like quotes from both before deciding, and weigh those quotes against your deal’s size, timeline, and how much your team will rely on AI-assisted Q&A and redaction.

If you want to try other providers, explore the selection of the best virtual data rooms on our main page.

FAQ

Is Intralinks or Datasite better for UK M&A?

It depends on the deal. Datasite scores higher on G2 for usability and support and has a direct UK office presence in London and Manchester, which suits larger, AI-assisted M&A processes. Intralinks suits teams that want a dedicated account manager and are already comfortable with its permissioning and Q&A tools from prior deals.

How much does Datasite cost in the UK?

Datasite doesn’t publish a rate card in GBP or any other currency. Datasite pricing is quoted per project, based on the deal’s scope, timeline, and requirements, and you can also purchase it as a subscription or on a per-application basis. Contact Datasite sales directly for a quote specific to your transaction.

What are the top Intralinks competitors?

The most commonly cited Intralinks competitors include Datasite, Ideals, Ansarada, Firmex, and DealRoom. Each differs in pricing transparency, AI tooling, and average G2 user ratings, so it’s worth comparing at least two or three before shortlisting a provider for your deal.