Built for boutique M&A teams.Not enterprise platforms changing owners.
EthosData was acquired by Ideals in 2024, gates AI to its Premier plan, and requires a sales call for pricing. Peony gives mid-market advisory teams AI-powered Q&A, screenshot protection, page-level analytics, and transparent pricing at $40/admin/month — with 5-minute self-serve setup.
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Side-by-side comparison
EthosData is an M&A-focused VDR now owned by Ideals. Peony is a modern data room with transparent pricing, AI on every Business plan, and page-level analytics EthosData does not offer.
PeonyWhy boutique M&A teams choose Peony over EthosData
EthosData was built for M&A transactions and now operates under Ideals ownership. Boutique advisory teams switching to Peony cite four reasons.
Transparent pricing
EthosData requires a sales call and uses storage-based billing that scales unpredictably. Peony Business is $40/admin/month with unlimited data rooms — no surprise invoices or hidden overages.
Page-level analytics
EthosData tracks which documents were opened. Peony shows which pages each bidder read, how long they spent on your financials versus your management section, and who is seriously engaged.
Active screenshot blocking
EthosData offers fence view that restricts screen capture in supported environments. Peony actively blocks screenshots across all devices — a meaningful difference when your CIM contains sensitive deal terms.
Intuitive permissions
EthosData reviewers call the permissions system "a nightmare of gratuitous complication." Peony lets your associates manage buyer groups, folder access, and NDA gating without training.
Pricing comparison
Peony publishes its pricing. EthosData requires a sales call.
Peony
Business
$40/admin/mo
1 TB — data rooms, AI, full security
Pro
$20/admin/mo
200 GB — e-signatures included
Free
$0
2 GB — for evaluation
Business includes data rooms, AI chat, screenshot protection, watermarks, NDA gating, and custom branding. Analytics on all plans.
EthosData
Core
Quote
1 project, up to 5 admins, 0.5-2 GB
Premier
Quote
1 project, unlimited admins, AI features
Enterprise
Quote
Unlimited projects, SSO, API
No published pricing. Storage-based billing. Sales call required for all plans. Now owned by Ideals.
What Peony gives you that EthosData does not
Know exactly what bidders read and for how long
EthosData tracks which documents were accessed and downloaded. Peony goes further with page-by-page analytics showing exactly which pages each bidder read, how long they spent on your financial projections versus your management section, and which counterparties are seriously engaged — so your follow-up calls are informed by real engagement data.
Block screen captures, not just restrict them
EthosData's fence view restricts screen capture in "supported environments" — meaning it may not work on every device or browser. Peony actively blocks screenshots across all devices on the Business plan, and stamps every page with dynamic watermarks tied to the viewer's identity for leak traceability.
Let bidders ask your documents questions directly
EthosData offers AI features — semantic search, automated redaction, and translation — but only on the Premier plan, which requires a sales call to price. Peony Business ($40/admin/month) includes AI document chat, Smart Q&A for structured diligence workflows, AI Rooms with completeness scoring, and auto-indexing with OCR — all at a transparent price your boutique firm can budget for.
"Peony is a standout for data rooms and gated file sharing — intuitive, secure, and beautifully designed. The AI actually adds value, not just a checkbox feature."
Michael Hui
Managing Director, Piton Partners
Frequently asked questions
I run a 4-person boutique M&A advisory firm and we handle five $30M-$100M sell-side mandates per year — is Peony a better fit than EthosData?
Yes. For your $30M-$100M mandates, Peony Business ($40/admin/month) gives your 4-person team unlimited data rooms with AI document chat, Smart Q&A, screenshot protection, dynamic watermarks, NDA gating, and page-by-page analytics — for $160/month total. EthosData requires a sales call for pricing, uses a storage-based billing model that becomes unpredictable as your deal documents grow, and gates AI features to its Premier plan. Since EthosData's acquisition by Ideals in mid-2024, the product's roadmap and support structure are shifting under new ownership — your boutique firm may not be the priority customer for a platform now focused on scaling through the Ideals enterprise base. Peony was purpose-built for mid-market advisory teams like yours.
Our 3-person deal team just won a $75M sell-side mandate and the client wants the data room live by Wednesday — how fast can we set up Peony versus EthosData?
Your team can have a Peony data room live in under 5 minutes — verified median setup time is 4 minutes 19 seconds from account creation to first document shared. Sign up, create your room, drag in your CIM and diligence files, configure NDA gating and watermarks, and share a branded link with your bidders. EthosData claims a similar setup speed, but their Premier and Enterprise plans require sales onboarding and dedicated coordinators, and multiple reviewers report that the admin interface has a steep learning curve — one Capterra reviewer called the permissions system 'a nightmare of gratuitous complication.' For your $75M mandate with a Wednesday deadline, Peony's self-serve setup means your bidders are accessing the room the same hour you win the mandate.
We're running a $150M competitive auction with 12 bidders and separate buyer groups — does Peony match EthosData's security for mid-market M&A?
Peony matches and exceeds EthosData on security for your $150M auction. Business ($40/admin/month) includes AES-256 encryption, screenshot protection that actively blocks screen captures of your CIM and financial exhibits, dynamic watermarks stamped with each bidder's identity, NDA-gated access requiring signed agreements before any counterparty views your room, controlled redaction for sensitive deal terms, and full audit trails. EthosData offers 'fence view' which restricts screen capture in supported environments — but this is not the same as active screenshot blocking across all devices. For a 12-bidder competitive auction, the difference between restricting and blocking screen captures is the difference between hoping your CIM stays confidential and knowing it does.
EthosData was acquired by Ideals in 2024 — should our mid-market advisory firm be concerned about the platform's future?
It is worth evaluating. When Ideals acquired EthosData in mid-2024, they positioned it as expansion into India's growing M&A market. But acquisitions like this typically mean the acquired product's roadmap gets absorbed into the parent company's priorities — and Ideals is focused on mid-to-enterprise deals globally. For your boutique advisory firm running $30M-$150M mandates, the question is whether your deal size and team size will remain a priority for a platform now governed by Ideals' strategy. Peony is independently operated, purpose-built for mid-market deal teams, and ships new features monthly. Your data room provider should be investing in the segment you operate in, not consolidating away from it.
Our deal team fields 30+ buyer diligence questions per week on a live $60M mandate — does Peony have AI features that EthosData lacks?
Both platforms offer AI features, but the scope and availability differ significantly. EthosData gates AI (semantic search, automated redaction, translation, smart summaries) to its Premier plan — which requires a sales call to price. Peony Business ($40/admin/month) includes AI document chat that lets your bidders ask questions about your CIM and get instant, cited answers 24/7, Smart Q&A with a structured workflow where your counterparties submit diligence questions and AI drafts responses for your team to approve, AI Rooms that score your data room's completeness and flag missing materials, and auto-indexing with OCR across every file. For your $60M mandate with 30+ weekly questions, Peony's AI turns a manual email burden into a streamlined process — at a transparent price you can see before you sign up.
I'm a VP at a boutique bank evaluating VDRs for our $50M-$200M deal pipeline — what is the biggest difference between Peony and EthosData?
For your $50M-$200M pipeline, the biggest difference is transparency and analytics. EthosData requires a sales call for pricing and uses storage-based billing that scales unpredictably as your deal documents grow — multiple reviewers report surprise costs. Peony Business is $40/admin/month with unlimited data rooms, unlimited storage within your 1 TB allocation, and no per-page, per-viewer, or per-deal fees. On analytics, EthosData provides document-level activity logs (who opened which files), while Peony provides page-by-page analytics showing exactly which pages of your CIM each bidder read, how long they spent on your financial projections versus your management section, and which bidders are seriously engaged. For boutique banks running mid-market mandates, that engagement intelligence drives better follow-up calls and faster deal closings.
Our law firm manages 8 active M&A matters in the $40M-$120M range — EthosData's permissions system seems complicated. Is Peony easier to manage?
Yes. EthosData reviewers consistently flag the permissions interface as confusing and difficult to manage — one reviewer called it 'a nightmare of gratuitous complication' and another said 'only computer scientists have a chance.' For your 8 concurrent matters, permissions management is a daily task, not a one-time setup. Peony's permissions are intuitive: create buyer groups, assign view/download/upload rights per folder or document, and adjust access in one click as your deal team evolves. Your associates and paralegals can manage permissions without training, and changes take effect immediately. Peony Business ($40/admin/month) includes granular per-bidder controls, NDA gating, and full audit trails showing exactly who accessed what — without the complexity that makes EthosData a productivity tax on your legal team.
We need 10 bidders to sign NDAs before accessing our $90M carve-out data room — does Peony have built-in e-signatures like EthosData?
Yes. Peony has built-in e-signatures with AI-powered field detection, reusable templates, and tamper-evident audit trails — available on Pro ($20/admin/month) and above. For your $90M carve-out with 10 bidders, you can gate your entire data room behind a signed NDA so each counterparty's counsel must execute your confidentiality agreement before viewing a single page. EthosData also offers in-room signing, but the feature requires navigating the permissions system that reviewers describe as unintuitive. With Peony, your NDA workflow is seamless — sign, access, track — with zero friction for your bidders.
We had a document leak on a $80M sell-side process last quarter — how does Peony protect confidential deal materials compared to EthosData?
For your next deal, Peony Business ($40/admin/month) provides the security layers that would have prevented that leak. Screenshot protection actively blocks screen captures of your confidential financials across all devices — not just 'supported environments' like EthosData's fence view mode. Dynamic watermarks stamp every page with the bidder's identity and timestamp, so if a document surfaces outside your data room, you trace the leak to the specific person who accessed it. NDA gating requires signed agreements before any counterparty views your room. AI-powered redaction permanently blacks out sensitive deal terms and customer data before sharing with buyer counsel. For an $80M process where a single leak can kill your auction dynamics and destroy your client's trust, active screenshot blocking versus environmental restrictions is a meaningful security difference.
Our boutique PE fund runs 3-4 portfolio exits per year averaging $100M each — is Peony or EthosData better for our deal volume?
For your fund's 3-4 annual exits at $100M each, Peony Business ($40/admin/month) gives you unlimited data rooms at a flat per-admin rate — so your cost is the same whether you run one exit or four simultaneously. EthosData's Core plan limits you to one project with a 0.5-2 GB storage cap, which means your fund would need to upgrade to Premier or Enterprise for concurrent exits — both requiring a sales call with no published pricing. Your LPs and co-investors expect a professional, secure data room with audit trails and watermarks. Peony delivers that with AI document chat so your bidders self-serve answers from your CIM, page-level analytics showing which bidders are seriously engaged, and screenshot protection — capabilities EthosData either does not offer or gates to higher tiers. At $480/year per admin versus an unknown annual EthosData commitment, the economics are clear for a lean PE operation.