The Best Email Archiving Software in 2026
We researched email archiving software through official pricing pages, plan tables, and product documentation. Rankings reflect each product’s core archiving capabilities, value for money, and verified features for compliance, legal discovery, retention, search, and records management.
Our top picks
-
Top ranked
Proofpoint Enterprise Archive#1 of 279.4/10A cross-channel archive for regulated organizations with demanding legal and compliance workflows.
Pricing on request
-
Runner-up
Barracuda Message Archiver#2 of 279.3/10A flexible archive for enterprises managing complex email retention and discovery requirements.
Pricing on request
-
Top-ranked free plan
DArcMail#15 of 277.9/10A local tool for preserving and searching MBOX collections, not live email archiving.
Free plan
Advertiser disclosure: iTechGuides is reader-supported. Vendors can pay for top positions in our rankings and for a place on other products' pages, and we may earn a commission when you click some links. Bought places stand at the number bought; this page and our disclosure say so. Paying vendors may get a fuller, more detailed review from our editors, and that review can change their score. How we rank.
The full ranking 27 tools, best first
-
Best forRegulated enterprises archiving many channels
A cross-channel archive for regulated organizations with demanding legal and compliance workflows.
- Journal capture
9.4/10★★★★★Visit Proofpoint -
Best forHybrid enterprises with complex infrastructure
A flexible archive for enterprises managing complex email retention and discovery requirements.
- Journal capture
9.3/10★★★★★Visit Barracuda -
Best forCloud-first teams needing resilient archiving
A cloud archive for policy-based retention, rapid search, legal discovery, and collaboration capture.
- Journal capture
9.2/10★★★★★Visit Mimecast -
Best forTeams needing flexible compliance capture flows
Flexible capture and compliance controls for cloud and on-premises email environments.
- Journal capture
9.1/10★★★★★Visit Zoho eProtect -
Best forIBM-centric on-premises environments
A focused on-premises archive for IBM, Exchange, and compliance-driven email governance.
- Journal capture
9.0/10★★★★☆Visit IBM -
Best forOrganizations needing unified email and mobile archives
A broad communications archive for compliance, investigations, and email-system migration.
9.0/10★★★★☆Visit OpenText -
Best forEnterprises needing AI-assisted archive review
A cloud archive for regulated teams that need AI-assisted review, eDiscovery, and export controls.
- Journal capture
8.9/10★★★★☆Visit Jatheon Cloud -
Best forLarge firms needing communications compliance
Enterprise-grade capture, preservation, search, and eDiscovery for regulated organizations.
- Journal capture
8.9/10★★★★☆Visit Global Relay -
Best forRegulated teams needing surveillance workflows
A compliance-focused archive for regulated teams managing email retention, surveillance, and eDiscovery.
- Journal capture
8.8/10★★★★☆Visit Smarsh -
Best forBudget-conscious teams needing unlimited archiving
Affordable email archiving with unlimited storage, retention, legal hold, and eDiscovery.
- Journal capture
8.8/10★★★★☆Visit Intermedia -
Best forWindows organizations seeking a low-cost archive
A Windows-based archive with compliance controls and a $259 one-time Starter Kit.
- Journal capture
8.7/10★★★★☆Visit MailStore -
Best forTeams wanting simple cloud journaling
A focused cloud archiver for searchable, tamper-resistant email records.
- Journal capture
8.6/10★★★★☆Visit NinjaOne -
Best forTeams prioritizing storage capacity and recovery
A cloud archive for teams that need long retention, search, recovery, and export.
8.5/10★★★★☆Visit Hornetsecurity -
Best forCompliance teams needing broad capture and exports
A compliance-focused archive with journal capture, legal holds, eDiscovery, and broad exports.
- Journal capture
8.4/10★★★★☆Visit ArcTitan -
Best forResearchers preserving and searching MBOX collections
A local tool for preserving and searching MBOX collections, not live email archiving.
7.9/10★★★★☆Visit DArcMail -
Best forTechnical teams wanting free self-hosted archiving
A capable open-source archive for teams that can manage their own infrastructure.
- Journal capture
7.9/10★★★★☆Visit Open Archiver -
Best forOrganizations wanting a free, broad archive
A broad archive with legal holds, eDiscovery, long retention and flexible deployment.
- Journal capture
7.9/10★★★★☆Visit MailArchiva -
Best forTeams wanting archive APIs and classification
A broad email archive for teams that need classification, legal holds, and archive APIs.
- Journal capture
7.9/10★★★★☆Visit SOLIXCloud -
Best forTeams needing advanced review workflows
A compliance-focused archive with advanced search, legal holds, review workflows, and hybrid deployment.
- Journal capture
7.9/10★★★★☆Visit Intradyn -
Best forOrganizations with many legacy mail systems
A broad archive for legacy mail environments, retention policies, and legal discovery.
- Journal capture
7.9/10★★★★☆Visit site -
Best forIndian-market SaaS archiving and compliance
A tiered cloud archive for organizations managing retention, discovery, and historical data.
- Journal capture
7.8/10★★★★☆Visit Vaultastic -
Best forHybrid archiving with restoration flexibility
A flexible archive for organizations needing broad compatibility and multiple restoration paths.
- Journal capture
7.8/10★★★★☆Visit MailVault -
Best forTeams archiving email and collaboration data
A compliance-focused archive for email, messages, legal holds, and eDiscovery.
- Journal capture
7.8/10★★★★☆Visit Cryoserver -
Best forMicrosoft 365 teams archiving whole mailboxes
Enterprise archiving for complete mailboxes and Microsoft 365 collaboration data.
7.8/10★★★★☆Try Netmail Archive -
Best forTeams wanting long-term cloud retention
A cloud archive for long-term email retention, eDiscovery, and legal hold.
7.7/10★★★★☆Visit SYNAQ -
Best forLow-cost Windows desktop archiving
A low-cost Windows archive for searchable, automated email storage.
7.7/10★★★★☆Visit MailShelf Pro -
Best forGoogle Workspace administrators
A Workspace-native archive and eDiscovery service for administrators and legal teams.
- Journal capture
7.6/10★★★★☆Visit Google Vault
No tools match those filters.
Compare at a glance
| # | Tool | Paid from | Legal hold | eDiscovery tools | Journal capture | Deployment | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Proofpoint Enterprise Archive | Yes | Yes | Yes | Cloud | 9.4 | |
| 2 | Barracuda Message Archiver | Yes | Yes | Yes | Hybrid | 9.3 | |
| 3 | Mimecast Cloud Archive | Yes | Yes | Yes | Cloud | 9.2 | |
| 4 | Zoho eProtect | Yes | Yes | Yes | Cloud | 9.1 | |
| 5 | IBM Content Collector for Email | Yes | Yes | Yes | On-premises | 9.0 | |
| 6 | OpenText Retain Unified Archiving | Yes | Yes | 9.0 | |||
| 7 | Jatheon Cloud | Yes | Yes | Yes | Cloud | 8.9 | |
| 8 | Global Relay Archive | Yes | Yes | Yes | Cloud | 8.9 | |
| 9 | Smarsh Email Archiving | Yes | Yes | Yes | 8.8 | ||
| 10 | Intermedia Archiving | Yes | Yes | Yes | Cloud | 8.8 | |
| 11 | MailStore Server | $259 one-time | Yes | Yes | Yes | On-premises | 8.7 |
| 12 | NinjaOne | Yes | Yes | Yes | Cloud | 8.6 | |
| 13 | Hornetsecurity Email Archiving | Yes | Cloud | 8.5 | |||
| 14 | ArcTitan | Yes | Yes | Yes | Cloud | 8.4 | |
| 15 | DArcMail | Free | On-premises | 7.9 | |||
| 16 | Open Archiver Enterprise | Yes | Yes | Yes | 7.9 | ||
| 17 | MailArchiva | Yes | Yes | Yes | 7.9 | ||
| 18 | SOLIXCloud Email Archiving | Yes | Yes | Yes | 7.9 | ||
| 19 | Intradyn Email Archiving | Yes | Yes | Yes | Hybrid | 7.9 | |
| 20 | MessageSolution Enterprise Email Archive | Yes | Yes | Yes | 7.9 | ||
| 21 | Vaultastic | ₹21,750/yr | Yes | Yes | Yes | Cloud | 7.8 |
| 22 | MailVault | Yes | Yes | Yes | Hybrid | 7.8 | |
| 23 | Cryoserver | Yes | Yes | Yes | 7.8 | ||
| 24 | Netmail Archive | Yes | Cloud | 7.8 | |||
| 25 | SYNAQ Archive | Yes | Yes | Cloud | 7.7 | ||
| 26 | MailShelf Pro | €39.99/device one-time | On-premises | 7.7 | |||
| 27 | Google Vault | $22/user/mo | Yes | Yes | Yes | Cloud | 7.6 |
Head-to-head All 28 comparisons →
- Proofpoint Enterprise Archive vs Barracuda Message Archiver
- Proofpoint Enterprise Archive vs Mimecast Cloud Archive
- Proofpoint Enterprise Archive vs Zoho eProtect
- Proofpoint Enterprise Archive vs IBM Content Collector for Email
- Proofpoint Enterprise Archive vs OpenText Retain Unified Archiving
- Proofpoint Enterprise Archive vs Jatheon Cloud
- Proofpoint Enterprise Archive vs Global Relay Archive
- Barracuda Message Archiver vs Mimecast Cloud Archive
- Barracuda Message Archiver vs Zoho eProtect
Explore other topics All topics →
- AI Tools 303 directories · 8,269 tools ranked AI Writing Tools · AI Video Generators · Text-to-Speech Software
- Web Hosting & Domains 275 directories · 6,107 tools ranked Shared Web Hosting · Managed Cloud Hosting · Dedicated Server Hosting
- Productivity 157 directories · 4,948 tools ranked Note-Taking Apps · Calendar Apps · Project Management Software
- Marketing 135 directories · 3,977 tools ranked SEO Tools · Influencer Marketing Platforms · Email Marketing Software
- Sales & CRM 152 directories · 4,161 tools ranked Real Estate CRM Software · CRM Software · Proposal Software
- Customer Service 55 directories · 1,547 tools ranked Chatbot Builders · Knowledge Base Software · Call Center Software
How we rank email archiving software
Every tool on this page was researched by iTechGuides Editors from its official website — pricing pages, plan tables and product documentation. We rank on how well each one does this category's core job, what the free or entry plan includes, and where it falls short. Where we have enough verified facts, the score out of 10 is a rubric — job fit, value and how much we could verify — shown with its breakdown on every tool's page; a tool we have not verified enough to score yet shows its rank without a number. Scores are re-checked when a product changes its plans. Read the full editorial policy, or submit a tool we missed.
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
Last updated · How we research and update