Before diving in, an important clarification: Diligent is not a dedicated EHS (environmental, health, and safety) software platform. It’s the world’s largest governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) SaaS company, built primarily around board management software, with broader risk, audit, and compliance capability added through acquisitions. If you’re comparing it against dedicated EHS platforms like SafetyCulture or VelocityEHS expecting incident management, safety inspections, or environmental compliance tracking, you won’t find that here.

This Diligent review breaks down what the platform actually does, how its pricing works, and where it genuinely fits — and doesn’t — for organizations researching EHS and broader risk software. It’s based on Diligent’s official website, its public acquisition history, and verified user reviews on G2, Capterra, TrustRadius, and PeerSpot. Because software pricing and features change, always confirm current details directly with Diligent before making a purchasing decision.

Key Takeaways

• Diligent is primarily a board governance platform (Diligent Boards), which accounts for the large majority of its revenue, plus a broader GRC platform (Diligent One, formerly HighBond/Galvanize) covering audit, risk, and compliance.
• It is not built around dedicated EHS workflows like incident reporting, safety inspections, or environmental compliance tracking; its relevance to EHS searches comes mainly through general enterprise risk management and ESG-adjacent capability.
• Diligent grew primarily through acquisition, most notably a $1 billion purchase of Galvanize (itself formed from ACL Services and Rsam) in 2021, and is currently private-equity-backed.
• Pricing is not published and is consistently described by reviewers as high, with at least one reviewer specifically calling it “prohibitive” for small and mid-sized organizations.
• It’s best suited to boards, executives, and audit/risk/compliance professionals needing enterprise-wide governance and risk oversight, rather than EHS or safety managers needing workplace-specific tools.

What Is Diligent?

Diligent is a governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) software company whose flagship product, Diligent Boards, provides secure digital board portals for document sharing, meeting management, and director collaboration. This board governance capability represents the large majority of Diligent’s business. Its broader Diligent One platform, built from the 2021 acquisition of Galvanize (formerly ACL Services and Rsam), adds audit management, IT risk management, compliance tracking, and analytics capability aimed at internal audit and enterprise risk teams.

For organizations specifically researching EHS software, it’s important to understand that Diligent’s risk and compliance tools are general-purpose, covering financial, IT, operational, and governance risk rather than dedicated workplace safety, incident, or environmental management. Some organizations use Diligent One’s broader risk and compliance framework to house EHS-adjacent policy or ESG data at a governance level, but it does not include the safety inspection, incident investigation, or chemical management tools found in dedicated EHS platforms.

Diligent Company Overview

Diligent Corporation was founded in 1994 in New York City, where it remains headquartered, originally focused on board portal software that replaced paper-based board communications with secure digital alternatives. The company grew significantly through acquisition, most notably completing a $1 billion purchase of Galvanize in April 2021, alongside Steele Compliance Solutions, an ethics and compliance software provider. Galvanize itself had a layered history: it began as ACL Services, founded in 1987, acquired Rsam in 2019, and rebranded as Galvanize before Diligent’s acquisition, backed by a $70 million investment from Norwest Venture Partners starting in 2017.

Diligent has been private-equity-backed since 2016 and reported annual recurring revenue exceeding $500 million, with a valuation explored at nearly $7 billion in a potential 2024 sale process. The company serves more than 1 million users across 25,000+ organizations in over 130 countries, with more than 2,000 employees globally, including a significant product and engineering hub in Vancouver, Canada, inherited from the Galvanize acquisition. Diligent states it empowers 62% of the Fortune 500, 90% of the FTSE 100, and 83% of the ASX 200, reflecting its deep penetration into large-enterprise board and governance functions specifically.

Quick Verdict: Is Diligent Worth Considering?

Diligent is worth considering if your organization needs a genuinely comprehensive board governance platform, or enterprise-wide audit, IT risk, and compliance management, backed by a company with deep resources and a long track record serving the world’s largest boards. Reviewers consistently praise the platform’s ease of use and the strength of its audit and analytics tools inherited from ACL.

It’s the wrong tool if you’re specifically looking for EHS software: workplace safety inspections, incident reporting, environmental compliance tracking, and chemical management are not part of Diligent’s core capability. Even reviewers from EHS-adjacent organizations describe using Diligent purely for board-level governance (documents, meetings, scheduling) rather than for operational safety management. Pricing is also consistently described as high, particularly for smaller organizations.

Key Features of Diligent

Digital Inspections and Checklists

Diligent does not offer dedicated digital inspection or checklist tools for workplace safety, health, or environmental use cases. Its closest adjacent capability is within Diligent One’s audit module, which supports structured audit procedures and testing, but these are built for financial, IT, and operational audits rather than safety walkthroughs or environmental inspections.

Audits and Observations

Audit management is a genuine strength of the Diligent One platform, inherited from ACL’s decades of audit analytics expertise. Reviewers describe structured audit procedures that capture risks and ensure assignments are individualized, along with hybrid audit automation that enables complex data gathering and full population testing without heavy overhead, though this is oriented toward internal/financial audit rather than EHS-specific compliance audits.

Incident Reporting

Diligent does not include dedicated workplace incident or near-miss reporting tools. Its “Robot” and “Results” features, carried over from ACL Analytics and ACL Robotics, are instead built for exception detection and verification in financial and operational data, such as identifying deceased retirees still receiving benefits or reconciling data discrepancies across systems, not safety incidents in the field.

Corrective Actions

Issue management and triggered workflow remediation are supported within Diligent One, letting organizations track identified risks or audit findings through to resolution. This functions similarly in spirit to CAPA tracking in EHS platforms, but is designed around audit findings, compliance gaps, and IT/operational risk rather than workplace safety corrective actions specifically.

Risk Assessment

Risk assessment is one of Diligent One’s core, genuinely strong capabilities, supporting a centralized view of risk and associated controls with pre-built and customizable templates and dashboards for board and executive reporting. This is enterprise risk management in the broad sense (financial, operational, strategic, reputational risk) rather than occupational health and safety risk assessment specifically.

Training and Team Communication

Diligent offers board education content as part of its governance suite, helping directors stay current on governance best practices, but this is not a workforce safety training or certification-tracking tool. Organizations needing EHS training delivery and course libraries will need a separate, dedicated platform.

Asset and Issue Management

Diligent One includes applications for sustainability and diversity management as part of its broader ESG capability, which can touch on environmental data at a reporting level. However, it does not include the physical asset, equipment, or facility management tools found in dedicated EHS or CMMS platforms.

Reporting and Analytics

Reporting and dashboards are a genuine strength across Diligent’s platform, with AI-powered analytics that aggregate data from over 100 third-party providers alongside internal systems like HRIS, ERP, and CRM. Reviewers specifically praise the ability to translate raw, technical compliance data into formats that boards and executives can understand and act on, a core part of Diligent’s value proposition.

Mobile App Capabilities

Diligent offers mobile apps for iOS and Android supporting board meeting access and governance functions on the go. Reviewers generally find the mobile experience serviceable for reviewing board materials and agendas, though some specifically request improvements like full-page agenda views and better multi-user editing support.

Integrations

Diligent One integrates with a wide range of enterprise systems, including Salesforce, SAP, Workday, Jira, Splunk, MongoDB, and many others, reflecting its positioning as a data-aggregation layer for enterprise risk and governance reporting. An API is available for custom integrations, and the platform is designed to pull data from HRIS, ERP, and CRM systems to enrich risk analytics.

Diligent Ease of Use

Ease of use is one of Diligent’s most consistently praised attributes, particularly for the Diligent One platform, with reviewers describing an intuitive interface and efficient navigation that provides clear notifications. Users specifically credit the platform’s professional support resources and templates for making the system more approachable.

That said, a genuine learning curve exists, especially for advanced audit analytics features inherited from ACL, which rely on scripting and data-analysis logic that reviewers describe as challenging for new users without a coding or data-analysis background. Several reviewers also specifically flag limited functionality or features as a theme, suggesting some organizations find gaps relative to their expectations.

Diligent Implementation and Onboarding

Reviewers generally describe implementation support positively, with specific praise for knowledgeable, skillful teams handling knowledge transfer and stakeholder training from initial demo through go-live. One long-tenured customer specifically credited the onboarding and ongoing post-go-live support as reasons they remained a customer for four-plus years.

Some reviewers note that changes to report templates must be requested through Diligent rather than being self-service, even though this is provided at no additional cost, which is worth understanding if your organization anticipates needing frequent report customization. Organizations switching from legacy on-premise systems (like older Archer or in-house audit tools) generally describe migration as smoother than expected.

Diligent Customer Support

Customer support receives generally positive feedback, with reviewers describing Diligent’s team as skillful and helpful throughout implementation and ongoing use. Support channels include 24/7 live representatives, email, phone, and chat.

A specific limitation noted by at least one reviewer: there aren’t many independent sources of user stories or community discussion outside official Galvanize/Diligent channels, which can make self-service troubleshooting or peer learning harder than with more widely adopted platforms. This is worth factoring in if your team values a large, active independent user community.

Diligent Pricing

Diligent does not publish pricing for either its board governance or Diligent One platforms. Pricing is subscription-based, typically structured per user or per organization, with tiers depending on module selection, user count, and level of access to specific governance, risk, compliance, and audit functionality.

A few things worth understanding before you request a quote:

• No published pricing calculator exists. You’ll need to engage Diligent’s sales team directly, and reviewers consistently describe this as a premium-priced platform.
• Small and mid-sized organizations report affordability concerns. At least one reviewer specifically described the pricing model as prohibitive at smaller scale, so weigh this against your organization’s size and budget.
• Modules are priced and scoped separately. Board governance, audit/risk (Diligent One), and ethics/compliance capabilities are distinct offerings; clarify exactly what you’re licensing.
• Confirm this is actually the tool you need. Given Diligent’s focus on board governance and general enterprise risk rather than EHS, make sure your core requirement genuinely matches its capability before entering a sales process.

Diligent Pros and Cons

Who Should Use Diligent?

Diligent tends to be the strongest fit for:

• Boards of directors and executive teams needing secure, digital board portal and meeting management
• Internal audit, IT risk, and enterprise risk management teams needing analytics-driven audit tools
• Large enterprises with existing Fortune 500-scale governance and compliance requirements
• Organizations needing to aggregate ESG, ethics, and compliance data for board-level reporting
• Teams already familiar with ACL Analytics wanting a modern, cloud-based evolution of that toolset

Who Should Consider Alternatives?

A different platform may be a better starting point for:

• Organizations specifically needing dedicated EHS functionality: incident reporting, safety inspections, or environmental compliance tracking
• Safety managers and EHS professionals whose core need is workplace, not boardroom, risk management
• Small and mid-sized organizations for whom Diligent’s pricing has been specifically described as prohibitive
• Teams wanting transparent, published, self-serve pricing without an enterprise sales process
• Organizations wanting a large, active independent user community for peer troubleshooting

Buyer’s Checklist: Questions to Ask Before You Commit

• [ ] Is your core need board governance, general enterprise risk/audit, or dedicated EHS management? Diligent covers the first two, not the third.
• [ ] Which specific Diligent modules (Boards, Diligent One/audit, ethics & compliance) does your organization actually need?
• [ ] What does realistic total pricing look like for your organization’s size, given reviewer feedback on cost?
• [ ] Does your team have the data-analysis or scripting background needed for advanced ACL-derived audit analytics features?
• [ ] How will you handle report template customization, given this currently requires a request to Diligent?
• [ ] If EHS-specific functionality is also needed, what complementary platform will you pair with Diligent?

Diligent vs. Other EHS Software

Diligent is fundamentally a different category of product than most platforms in this review series: it’s a board governance and general GRC platform, not an EHS suite, though it’s sometimes evaluated alongside enterprise risk-oriented EHS platforms that also touch governance and ESG. The table below summarizes how it compares with commonly evaluated alternatives.

Diligent’s core advantage is unmatched depth and market share in board governance, backed by genuinely strong audit and analytics tools for enterprise risk teams. Its fundamental limitation for EHS buyers is that it simply isn’t built for workplace safety or environmental compliance workflows, unlike Enablon or Sphera, which combine genuine EHS depth with their broader GRC capability.

If you’re building a shortlist and EHS is your actual need, it’s worth pairing this review with more targeted research: a look at Wolters Kluwer Enablon or Sphera for platforms that genuinely combine EHS and GRC, a broader roundup of the best enterprise GRC software if governance is your real priority, and a general EHS software buyer’s guide covering common mistakes to avoid when selecting EHS software.

Best Diligent Alternatives

Wolters Kluwer Enablon is the better choice if you need genuine EHS depth combined with operational risk and GRC capability in one platform.

Sphera similarly combines real EHS&S functionality with broader ESG and risk management for asset-intensive industries.

MetricStream competes directly with Diligent One for general enterprise GRC and integrated risk management use cases.

Resolver is worth considering for organizations wanting risk and incident management with stronger security and investigations capability.

EHS Insight is the right choice if your actual, primary need is dedicated, affordable EHS program management rather than board governance or general GRC.

Final Verdict

Diligent earns its position as the world’s largest GRC SaaS company through genuine strength in board governance, backed by deep enterprise resources and audit/analytics capability inherited from ACL’s decades of experience. For boards, executives, and enterprise audit/risk teams, particularly at large organizations, it’s a credible, well-resourced, market-leading choice.

For EHS-specific buyers, though, the verdict is straightforward: Diligent is not the right tool. It doesn’t offer incident reporting, safety inspections, environmental compliance tracking, or chemical management, and even reviewers from safety-adjacent organizations describe using it purely for board-level governance rather than operational EHS work. Pricing is also consistently described as high, adding further reason for smaller organizations or pure-EHS buyers to look elsewhere.

If board governance or general enterprise risk and audit management is genuinely your need, Diligent deserves serious consideration. If you searched for this review because you need EHS software specifically, redirect your evaluation toward Wolters Kluwer Enablon, Sphera, or a dedicated platform like EHS Insight or SafetyCulture instead.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Diligent used for?

Diligent is used primarily for board governance: secure digital board portals, meeting management, document sharing, and director collaboration. Its broader Diligent One platform, built from the Galvanize acquisition, adds audit management, IT and enterprise risk management, and compliance tracking for internal audit and risk teams. It is not used for dedicated workplace safety, incident reporting, or environmental compliance management.

Is Diligent an EHS software platform?

No. Diligent is a governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) software company focused primarily on board governance, with additional audit, risk, and ethics/compliance capability. It does not include dedicated EHS functionality like incident reporting, safety inspections, chemical management, or environmental compliance tracking. Organizations researching EHS software should look at platforms like Wolters Kluwer Enablon, Sphera, or EHS Insight instead, or use Diligent alongside a dedicated EHS tool if board-level GRC reporting is a separate, genuine need.

How much does Diligent cost?

Diligent does not publish pricing for either its board governance or Diligent One platforms. Pricing is subscription-based, typically per user or per organization, and depends on which modules and level of functionality you need. Reviewers consistently describe pricing as high, with at least one specifically calling it prohibitive for small and mid-sized organizations. Request a direct quote from Diligent to understand actual costs for your organization.

Is Diligent good for small businesses?

Generally, no. Diligent is built and priced for large enterprises, particularly Fortune 500 and similarly large boards and risk teams, and reviewers specifically describe its pricing model as prohibitive for small and mid-sized entities. Small businesses needing board governance or basic compliance tools, or EHS management specifically, will typically find better value in a more affordably priced, purpose-built alternative.

What are the best Diligent alternatives?

If you need genuine EHS capability, look at Wolters Kluwer Enablon or Sphera, both of which combine real EHS depth with broader GRC and risk management. If your need is general enterprise GRC similar to Diligent One, MetricStream and Resolver are commonly evaluated alternatives. If board governance specifically is your need, alternatives include Nasdaq Boardvantage and other dedicated board portal providers. The right choice depends heavily on whether your actual requirement is board governance, general enterprise risk, or dedicated EHS management.