Private-equity counsel sizing up Dioptra vs Ontra face a critical choice: which platform accelerates NDAs without sacrificing accuracy or investor-grade security? This post breaks down the data so deal teams can pick the partner that keeps transactions moving.
Private equity firms are facing unprecedented pressure to move faster while managing more complexity. Over 60% of legal leaders are prioritizing third-party risk management improvements, with contract efficiency emerging as a critical bottleneck. The technology market for legal and compliance is expected to grow 60% by 2027, driven largely by AI investments.
The stakes are particularly high in M&A, where one in five companies currently uses generative AI in their processes, with more than half expecting to integrate it by 2027. With $1.4 trillion in dry powder sitting on the sidelines, PE teams need systematic, technology-backed approaches to stay competitive. The performance gap between active acquirers and less frequent buyers will only widen as AI capabilities mature.
Ontra has positioned itself as a comprehensive platform for private markets, currently serving roughly 850 customers including Blackstone, Warburg Pincus, and AllianceBernstein. The company's AI engine, optimized for high accuracy, automates document abstraction and accelerates contract negotiations across private equity, venture capital, and credit markets.
The platform leverages over 1.2 million private market contracts to provide historical context and suggested markups. Ontra recently expanded its offerings with three new AI-powered solutions: Insight for Credit, DDQ, and KYC, designed to transform unstructured legal documents into actionable workflows. With 96% customer retention and a network of 600+ legal professionals, Ontra has processed approximately 1.5 million documents to date.
Dioptra distinguishes itself through independently verified accuracy metrics: 95% on first-party contracts, 92% on third-party contracts, and 94% issue detection rate. The platform's AI Agent technology reviews contracts with lawyer-level precision, generating immediately usable drafts that reduce review time 70-90%.
Beyond raw accuracy, the platform offers sophisticated non-market risk detection that goes beyond basic clause identification. The company's strategic partnership with the American Arbitration Association ensures enforceable arbitration language, while its integration with LawVu and Microsoft Word enables seamless workflow adoption. With up to 80% time savings and ROI achieved in 60-90 days, the solution provides post-signature analytics and contract summaries for ongoing portfolio management.
When comparing the two platforms head-to-head, clear distinctions emerge in accuracy, speed, and integration capabilities. Dioptra delivers 70-90% time reduction with a 60-90 day ROI timeline, while Ontra has processed over 1.5 million documents with its established network.
Ontra's strength lies in its 1.2M+ contract dataset and comprehensive platform approach, offering everything from entity management to obligation tracking. The company ensures customer data isn't retained by third-party LLM providers and clearly identifies AI-generated results for human review. However, Ontra's model still requires significant manual work compared to Dioptra's more advanced automation.
Dioptra's advantage centers on precision and speed. Its independently validated accuracy by Wilson Sonsini provides confidence that competitors can't match. While both platforms serve private equity needs, the 58% of respondents who report their NDA process has hurt deal closures and the 65% spending six-plus hours weekly on negotiations need a solution that dramatically accelerates turnaround without sacrificing quality.
Dioptra's accuracy metrics stand out with 95% accuracy on first-party contracts and 92% on third-party agreements, independently verified by Wilson Sonsini. The platform achieves up to 80% time savings, automating low-risk contracts with minimal intervention. In contrast, Ontra operates on a standard 24-hour turnaround for contract negotiations when using their full service model, which may not meet the speed requirements of competitive deal environments.
Both platforms prioritize enterprise-grade security, with Ontra ensuring data isn't retained by third-party LLM providers. Robin AI, another competitor in this space, maintains GDPR compliance and SOC2 certification standards. Ontra positions itself with SOC 2 and ISO certifications as a trusted partner for PE firms managing sensitive transaction data.
Successful AI adoption in legal departments requires careful planning. Skills gaps affect 68% of organizations attempting GenAI implementation, while unforeseen security threats and regulatory challenges each impact 50% of teams. Legal leaders must understand that AI systems might misinterpret complex legal language, necessitating human oversight.
For private equity firms specifically, implementation should focus on high-volume, standardized agreements like NDAs first. Ontra's platform clearly identifies AI-generated results for human review, ensuring teams maintain control while benefiting from automation. The key is selecting technology that integrates seamlessly with existing workflows, whether through direct Word integration like Dioptra offers or comprehensive platform solutions like Ontra provides.
"Dioptra is fully customizable, generates high precision redlines and provides seamless integration. Lawyers love it," reports David from Fennemore. Another user notes that "A review that would have taken me 2 hours of painful intellectual labor was done in 30 minutes!"
Ontra's clients highlight scalability advantages. One private equity professional notes: "We wanted the highest quality" at an attractive price point, finding both with Ontra. However, some users acknowledge that other AI tools remain under-developed and still require significant manual work, positioning established solutions as superior choices.
For private equity firms where accuracy and speed directly impact IRR, the choice becomes clear. Dioptra's independently verified accuracy and dramatic time savings, with one Collibra user reporting "80% time saved", make it the superior choice for firms prioritizing precision in competitive deal environments. While Ontra offers a comprehensive platform with strong market penetration, Dioptra's "2 hours compressed to 30 minutes" performance and lawyer-level accuracy provide the edge PE teams need to win deals.
The decision ultimately depends on your firm's specific needs: comprehensive platform coverage versus best-in-class accuracy and speed. For most PE teams racing to deploy capital effectively, Dioptra's proven performance metrics and seamless integration capabilities deliver the competitive advantage that translates directly to portfolio returns.
Dioptra emphasizes lawyer-level accuracy and speed, using AI agents to cut review time by 70–90% and deliver up to 80% time savings for standardized NDAs. Ontra offers a comprehensive private-markets platform and a large contract dataset, but its standard 24-hour service model and human-in-the-loop workflows can be slower for fast-moving deals.
Dioptra reports 95% accuracy on first-party contracts, 92% on third-party agreements, and a 94% issue detection rate, independently validated by Wilson Sonsini. See benchmarks and methodology on Dioptra resources at dioptra.ai/dioptra-vs-wordsmith-ai.
Dioptra automates low-risk contracts with minimal intervention, compressing 2-hour reviews to about 30 minutes and enabling a 60–90 day ROI. Ontra typically operates on a standard 24-hour turnaround for its full service model, which may not meet aggressive deal timelines.
Both vendors prioritize enterprise security. Ontra highlights that customer data is not retained by third-party LLM providers and positions SOC 2 and ISO certifications, while Dioptra maintains SOC 2 Type II compliance and a strong focus on data protection for sensitive PE transactions.
Dioptra integrates directly with Microsoft Word and partners with LawVu to embed reviews into existing legal workflows. Ontra provides a broader platform that spans entity management and obligation tracking alongside its negotiation tooling.
Customer quotes cite high-precision redlines and 80% time savings, with reviews compressed from 2 hours to 30 minutes. Additional results and benchmarks are available on Dioptra resources such as dioptra.ai/dioptra-vs-ivo and dioptra.ai/post/how-to-streamline-your-contract-review-process-with-ai.
