Vault Rooms is a long running VDR, over 15 years serving business brokers, M&A advisors, accountants, and attorneys, with a focus on secure chain of custody for transaction documents. It operates under Cool Life CRM, whose primary business is CRM and marketing software, and it does not publish pricing.
The evaluation for a broker or boutique advisor comes down to three questions. Is the platform's center of gravity the data room. Is the pricing knowable before a sales call. And does the per deal math work across a multi listing year. Those are the three places a modern flat rate VDR argues its case.
Why firms look at Vault Rooms alternatives
- Unpublished pricing. Cost planning across a year of listings requires a quote cycle instead of a rate card.
- The vendor's center of gravity is CRM software. Vault Rooms lives inside Cool Life CRM. A dedicated VDR vendor ships data room improvements first, not as a side product.
- Modern workflow expectations. In browser viewing across pdf, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, four level watermark and download permissions per buyer group, and audit exports are now table stakes buyers expect.
Vault Rooms vs LockRoom
| Feature | Vault Rooms | LockRoom |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Custom quote, not published | Published flat: $6,000/yr unlimited, $375/mo single room |
| Published pricing | No | Yes |
| Operated by | Cool Life CRM | LockRoom LLC, independent, founder owned |
| Rooms / users / storage | Plan dependent | Unlimited on the annual plan |
| In browser viewer | Basic document handling | PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, images, with formatting preserved |
| Permission levels | Standard access controls | 4 levels per buyer group, folder, and file |
| Audit log export (PDF/CSV) | Activity tracking | Yes, supports SEC 17a-4 / FINRA 4511 retention, 7 year archival |
| White labeling | Plan dependent | Included |
| Free trial | 14 day trial listed | 14 days, full access, no credit card |
| Support | Support team | Founder direct |
Where Vault Rooms still wins
- Long track record with brokers, accountants, and attorneys, over 15 years of M&A transactions.
- Chain of custody focus that fits practices already standardized on it.
- CRM adjacency for firms that also run Cool Life CRM and want one vendor.
How switching actually works
The right time to switch is between deals, not mid deal. Export your documents, drag the folder tree into a new LockRoom room (structure is preserved), invite buyer groups by email, and set permissions before anyone enters. A room is live in under 5 minutes, and the 14 day trial means you can run the evaluation on a real deal setup before paying anything.
Run the numbers on your own deal volume
Use the live cost calculator on our comparison page, or start a free 14 day trial and set up a real room in 5 minutes.