Head-to-head · Internet Archiving Software
ArchiveBox vs Heritrix
ArchiveBox leads on 0 checks, Heritrix on 0, and 2 are even. Who comes out ahead on the 2 yes/no, price and count checks where we have data for both products. The editor score weighs everything else too.
Our verdict
- Highest scoreArchiveBox · 8.2/10
- Free planboth
- Most featuresHeritrix · 1 of 2
ArchiveBox scores higher on our rubric for internet archiving software: 8.2 against 8.0 out of 10; our editors rank them #5 and #6.
ArchiveBox is the better fit for teams wanting free, self-hosted web archiving. Heritrix is the better fit for technical teams building configurable crawl workflows.
- ArchiveBox fits best
Teams wanting free, self-hosted web archiving
- Heritrix fits best
Technical teams building configurable crawl workflows
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Side by side
| Feature | ArchiveBox 8.2/10 Visit ↗ | Heritrix 8.0/10 Visit ↗ |
|---|---|---|
| At a glance | ||
| Editor score | 8.2 | 8.0 |
| Ranking | #5 in Internet Archiving Software | #6 in Internet Archiving Software |
| Best for | Teams wanting free, self-hosted web archiving | Technical teams building configurable crawl workflows |
| Pricing model | Free | Free |
| Starting price | Free plan | Free plan |
| Free plan | ✓ | ✓ |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Deployment | Self-hosted | Self-hosted |
| Platforms | Web, Linux, macOS | Linux, Windows |
| Built for | Solo, Small business, Mid-market | Mid-market, Enterprise |
| Features ArchiveBox 0/2 · Heritrix 1/2 | ||
| Scheduled crawls | Not checked yet | Not checked yet |
| API access | Not checked yet | ✓ (best) |
| Specs | ||
| Capture scope | Not checked yet | Website |
| Capture frequency | Not checked yet | Not checked yet |
| Archive export | Not checked yet | Warc |
| Retention period | Not checked yet | Not checked yet |
| Our review | ||
| Pros |
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| Cons |
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| Our verdict | ArchiveBox saves URLs and web pages into a local archive, making it a fit for individuals, researchers, and organizations that want to preserve online material on infrastructure they control. Its open-source model and self-hosted… Read the review → |
Heritrix is an open-source web crawler developed by the Internet Archive for archival-quality crawling. It is aimed at technical teams and organizations that operate their own web-archiving infrastructure, rather than buyers seeking a… Read the review → |
Strengths and trade-offs
ArchiveBox — where it wins
- Captures pages as HTML, PDFs, screenshots, and WARC files
- Imports URLs from command-line and batch sources
- Keeps archived data on user-controlled infrastructure
Where it doesn't
- Requires users to manage their own installation and hosting
- Browsing archives depends on its self-managed web interface
- Support is through community resources and documentation
Heritrix — where it wins
- Set crawl scope, inclusion and exclusion rules, and resource limits
- Manage jobs through a web interface or REST API
- Write crawled content with WARC writer components
Where it doesn't
- Requires teams to operate their own infrastructure
- Job configuration and crawl policies require technical oversight
- Recurring schedules and retention depend on deployment and configuration
- ArchiveBox8.2/10 · Free plan
A free, self-hosted tool for capturing URLs in several archival formats.
Visit ArchiveBoxFull verdict → - Heritrix8.0/10 · Free plan
A configurable crawler for teams operating their own web-archiving infrastructure.
Visit HeritrixFull verdict →
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- Pagefreezer vs ArchiveBox
- Pagefreezer vs Heritrix
All internet archiving software comparisons → · Full ranking →
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
Last updated · How we research and update




