- Email archiving software compared
- Eleven email archives worth a look
- Which email archive suits your business
- How long you might need to keep email
- Simple archives versus compliance platforms
- Questions for an email archiving vendor
- Signs you need an email archive
- My plain advice on choosing email archiving software
- Frequently asked questions
The best email archiving software keeps a tamper-proof copy of every email your business sends and receives, so you can find old messages quickly and prove what was said. Some are simple archives for small and mid-size businesses, while others are compliance platforms that capture email, chat, text and social for regulated firms. Eleven options follow in no particular order.
Email is where most business decisions get written down. When a customer disputes an order, an employee leaves, or a regulator asks a question, the answer's usually in an inbox somewhere, if it hasn't been deleted.
The eleven email archiving tools below are listed alphabetically and in no particular order, and every description comes from the vendor's own website, read this week. If you're unsure whether you need an archive or a backup, my explainer on email archiving versus email backup sets out the difference.
Email archiving software compared
I checked the free plan column on each tool's own website, as of Oct 2026. Yes means the site names a free plan, a free version, a free allowance or an open source version. Trial only means a time-limited trial. Not stated means the pages I read named neither, even where there's a button inviting you to start for free, so check the vendor's page before you sign up.
| Tool | Type | Good for | Free plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Archive360 | Data management, compliance and discovery platform | Archiving many data types together | Not stated |
| ComplyKEY | Compliance and data retention platform | Retention rules plus complaints handling | Not stated |
| Global Relay | Communications archiving and intelligence | Banks and heavily regulated firms | Not stated |
| Hornetsecurity | Microsoft 365 security with email archiving | Microsoft 365 users wanting security plus archiving | Not stated |
| Intradyn | Compliance archiving for email, text and social | Archiving texts and social too | Not stated |
| Jatheon | Data archiving for compliance and ediscovery | Public bodies handling records requests | Not stated |
| MailArchiva | Email archiving and ediscovery software | Very small companies starting out | Yes |
| MailStore | Email archiving software | Small and mid-size businesses | Trial only |
| Proofpoint | Digital communications governance | Enterprises wanting security and archiving together | Not stated |
| Smarsh | Digital communications governance and archiving | Financial firms capturing every channel | Not stated |
| Vaultastic | Cloud information archival and discovery | Cloud archiving with fast discovery | Trial only |
Eleven email archives worth a look
Archive360
Best for: Larger organisations that want email kept in a unified archive alongside other data types, with governance and discovery built in.
ComplyKEY
Best for: Firms that want content retention and compliance controls in one platform, with complaints management included.
Global Relay
Best for: Heavily regulated organisations such as banks that want secure, structured capture of every communication channel.
Hornetsecurity
Best for: Microsoft 365 businesses that want audit-proof email archiving bundled with spam filtering, encryption and backup.
Intradyn
Best for: Organisations that need email, text messages and social posts archived together for compliance and records requests.
Jatheon
Best for: Government, education and finance teams that want archiving with ediscovery and public records request handling.
MailArchiva
Best for: Small companies that want on-premise or hosted email archiving, with a free option for the smallest mailbox counts.
MailStore
Best for: Small and mid-size businesses that want simple email archiving on their own server, starting with a 30-day free trial.
Proofpoint
Best for: Enterprises that want archiving and communications governance from the same vendor that already handles their email security.
Smarsh
Best for: Financial services firms that want capture, governance and archiving across their communication channels, including call recording.
Vaultastic
Best for: Mid-size firms that want cloud archiving with fast discovery and data resilience, starting with a free trial.
Which email archive suits your business
- Small and mid-size businesses: MailStore or MailArchiva.
- Microsoft 365 with security bundled in: Hornetsecurity.
- Cloud archiving with fast discovery: Vaultastic.
- Email, text and social together: Intradyn or Jatheon.
- Banks and heavily regulated firms: Global Relay, Smarsh or Proofpoint.
- Archiving many data types: Archive360 or ComplyKEY.
How long you might need to keep email
The Internal Revenue Service says to keep records that support an item of income, deduction or credit until the period of limitations for that return runs out, and the general rule it gives is 3 years.
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Email that supports those records can fall under the same rules, and other laws or contracts may ask for longer. Set your archive's retention to the longest rule that applies to you, because a deleted email can't be brought back for an auditor.
Simple archives versus compliance platforms
A simple archive is right for most small and mid-size businesses. It captures every message, keeps it safe from deletion and lets you search years of email in seconds.
Compliance platforms go further. They capture chat, text and social messages too, apply supervision rules and produce records for regulators, which financial firms and public bodies often need.
Questions for an email archiving vendor
- Does it capture every email automatically, including deleted ones?
- How quickly can I search and export results?
- Can I set different retention rules for different mailboxes?
- Does it support Microsoft 365, Google Workspace or both?
- Can it hold legal holds on specific mailboxes?
- Where is the archived data stored?
Signs you need an email archive
- Staff delete email to free up space. Keep a copy automatically.
- An ex-employee's inbox is gone. Archive before accounts close.
- Disputes turn on who said what. Search the record.
- Clients ask about your record keeping. Show your retention rules.
Do you make email archiving or compliance software? Tool makers can ask to be considered for a featured place on this list.
My plain advice on choosing email archiving software
Decide your retention rules before you choose a tool, ideally with your accountant or lawyer. The software's easy to set up once you know what you're keeping and for how long.
Then test a search and export the way you'd need it in a dispute. Good records go beyond email too, and my guide to keeping impeccable financial records covers the rest.
Related: lawyer: guidelines and how to pitch.
Frequently asked questions
What is email archiving?
Email archiving keeps a secure, searchable copy of every email a business sends and receives, separate from users' mailboxes.
Is email archiving the same as backup?
No. A backup restores data after a loss, while an archive keeps a searchable, tamper-proof record over time.
How long should a business keep email?
It depends on the records involved. The IRS gives a general rule of 3 years for records that support a tax return, and other rules can be longer.
Is there free email archiving software?
One tool in this list says it's free for very small businesses, and others offer free trials.
Do small businesses need email archiving?
It's useful for any business that may need to prove what was agreed, or recover email after staff leave.
Can email archives include Teams or Slack messages?
Some compliance platforms capture chat and text as well as email, so check each vendor.
