Boardwise vs Diligent · $200/month

Boardwise vs Diligent: a modern alternative for mid-market boards

Diligent is the category leader for a reason — they built the enterprise board portal that the Fortune 500 buys. But most mid-market boards don't need everything Diligent built for the Fortune 500. Boardwise is the modern alternative: passkey-verified consents, cryptographic audit trails, and a flat $200/month for the entire organization.

No annual contract. No per-seat fees. We handle migration — no charge until your Diligent contract ends.

A fair comparison, not an attack

Diligent is a serious product built by a serious company. If you are a Fortune 500 board with thirty entities, an internal audit team, and a GRC program that sits next to the board portal, Diligent will likely keep beating us on breadth.

If you are a mid-market board — between fifty and five thousand employees, one or two entities, and a corporate secretary who wants modern software that directors actually open — that is who Boardwise is for. Read on for the specifics.

At a glance

The differences that matter when you are evaluating a board portal for a mid-market organization.

  Boardwise Diligent Boards
Published pricing $200 / month flat
Entire organization
Not published
Third-party sources report five-figure annual contracts
Per-seat fees None Scales with board size
Contract term Monthly
Cancel anytime
Annual
Multi-year discounts
Primary authentication Passkey (WebAuthn)
Biometrics or hardware key
Password + TOTP/SMS/email 2FA
SAML SSO available
Written-consent signing Passkey-verified
SHA-256 integrity digest, downloadable audit package
eSignature workflow
Within Diligent platform
Communication channel Isolated from email
Encrypted in-platform messaging
In-platform messaging
Diligent Messenger
Retention policies Org / folder / document / meeting level Available on appropriate plans
Setup time Same-day
White-glove migration included
Multi-week onboarding
Reviewers commonly cite a learning curve
Native iOS & Android apps Yes Yes
Entity management / GRC modules Not offered Diligent One Platform
Infrastructure AWS, Canada (Montreal)
ISO 27001, SOC 2
Diligent platform
ISO 27001:2013 certified
Migration assistance Included, no double-paying
No charge until existing contract ends
Onboarding services
Inbound migration scope varies

Pricing for Diligent based on third-party reports (G2, Vendr marketplace, Capterra). Diligent does not publish pricing publicly. Last reviewed May 2026.

Where Boardwise wins

Four places we are genuinely a better fit for a mid-market board than Diligent.

Predictable, published pricing

Boardwise is $200 per month, flat, for the entire organization. Unlimited board members, unlimited committees, no per-seat charges, no setup fees, no annual contract.

Diligent does not publish pricing. Third-party sources (G2 reviews, the Vendr marketplace) report annual quotes that scale with board size and feature set — typically in the five-figure range for mid-market deals. Customers in public reviews also report renewal increases that require active negotiation.

Passkey authentication, not passwords

Every Boardwise account is secured with a passkey (WebAuthn): biometrics (Face ID, Touch ID) or a hardware security key. There is no shared secret to phish, reuse, or leak in a breach.

Diligent's published authentication options are password plus TOTP, SMS, or email-based 2FA, with SAML SSO available on appropriate plans. Both are reasonable; passkeys are categorically stronger and ship by default on every Boardwise account.

Cryptographic audit trail on every consent

When a director signs a written consent in Boardwise, the signature is authenticated by passkey and the resulting document includes a SHA-256 integrity digest. The full audit package is downloadable. If the document is altered after signing, the hash will not match.

This is the standard of proof you can show to opposing counsel in a due-diligence process or to a regulator. It is not legal advice — but it is the technical evidence those audiences will ask for.

Modern UI directors actually open

Boardwise was built in 2024 with native iOS and Android apps, a rebuilt PDF viewer with highlighting, typed notes and freehand drawing, "My Notes" hub across every board, and a single passkey login for directors who serve on multiple boards.

Diligent users in G2 and Capterra reviews routinely describe the interface as "dated" and cite a learning curve for new directors. The Diligent platform predates the iPad. Boardwise was designed mobile-first.

Where Diligent might be the better fit

If any of these describe your organization, Diligent is likely the right answer and you should keep evaluating them.

  • You need enterprise GRC, audit, or entity management alongside the board portal. The Diligent One Platform bundles board management with internal audit, third-party risk, ESG, and entity management. Boardwise is a board portal — we do not currently sell those adjacent modules.
  • You are a Fortune 500 with thirty subsidiary boards. Boardwise serves multi-board organizations very well, but a global parent with thirty wholly-owned subsidiary boards and centralized entity reporting is squarely in Diligent's strongest territory.
  • You need dedicated white-glove account management. Diligent assigns customer success managers and onboarding consultants. Boardwise offers direct access to the people who built the software — that suits some organizations and not others. If you want a named account team, Diligent's is mature.
  • You have a procurement process that rewards incumbents. Diligent has been selling to boards for two decades. If your evaluation committee weights "tenure in market" heavily and your CFO is not pushing on cost, that incumbency advantage is real.

Switching from Diligent

We handle the migration end-to-end. You do not need to export anything, map anything, or reconstruct your board structure. We do it with you — and you do not pay us until your Diligent contract ends.

1
Intro call

We understand your current Diligent setup: boards, committees, document organization, access controls, retention.

2
We map your structure

Your boards, committees, members, roles, and folder hierarchy are replicated exactly in Boardwise.

3
We migrate your documents

Historical board books, meeting materials, minutes, and resolutions — exported from Diligent, transferred, and organized in Boardwise.

4
Optional parallel run

Keep Diligent live until your contract expires. No forced cutover. Run both until you are ready.

5
Go live on your board calendar

We align launch to your meeting cycle — not mid-cycle.

The "no double-paying" guarantee

You are paying Diligent until your contract ends. We are not going to charge you on top of that. Boardwise billing starts when your Diligent contract expires — or whenever you cut over, whichever comes first.

In practice, that means most organizations evaluate Boardwise in parallel for a quarter or two, then switch when the renewal date arrives.

Start the conversation

Common questions

The questions corporate secretaries actually ask when comparing Boardwise to Diligent.

Boardwise is a flat $200 per month for the entire organization — unlimited board members, unlimited committees, no per-seat fees, no setup fees, no annual contract. Diligent does not publish pricing; third-party sources (the Vendr marketplace, G2 reviews, Capterra) report annual quotes that scale with board size and feature set, typically in the five-figure range for mid-market deals. Public reviews also note renewal increases that benefit from active negotiation.

Yes. Every Boardwise account is secured with a passkey (WebAuthn) — biometrics (Face ID, Touch ID) or a hardware security key. Passkeys cannot be phished or reused across sites. Diligent's published authentication options are password plus TOTP, SMS, or email-based 2FA, with SAML SSO available on appropriate plans.

Yes. We handle migration end-to-end: board and committee structure, members, documents, and folder hierarchy. We do not charge until your existing Diligent contract ends, so there is no double-paying period. We align go-live to your board calendar — not mid-cycle.

Boardwise covers the core board-portal workflows that most organizations use: meetings, agendas, minutes, document distribution, annotations, written consents, COI declarations, surveys, audit logs, retention policies, and multi-board single sign-on. We do not currently offer the enterprise-GRC, internal-audit, third-party-risk, or entity-management modules that sit alongside Diligent's board portal in the Diligent One Platform. If those are central to your evaluation, Diligent is the more complete answer.

Boardwise written consents are signed using passkey authentication and produce a downloadable audit package containing a SHA-256 integrity digest. The signing method and audit trail are designed to support the evidence requirements of unanimous written consent under statutes such as Delaware General Corporation Law §141(f) and Model Business Corporation Act §8.21. We describe what the product does technically; ultimate legal sufficiency in your jurisdiction is a determination for your counsel.

Most organizations are operational in Boardwise in a few days for a fresh start, or a few weeks if a full historical document migration from Diligent is in scope. Public Diligent reviews on G2 and Capterra describe a multi-week onboarding and learning curve, especially for new directors. We aim for "your next meeting runs in Boardwise" as the test.

Boardwise Software Corp. is independently held. We are not a portfolio company of a private-equity rollup, and we are not for sale to one of the legacy board portal companies. The pricing model and product direction reflect that.

Comparing other board portals?

Other comparisons in this series.

Sources & further reading

Diligent pricing is not published. Ranges cited reflect third-party reports as of May 2026. Boardwise pricing is published at boardwise.co/#pricing.

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