Email is one of the most widely used methods of communication in business and personal contexts. The high volume of emails sent and received daily makes it impractical to store all these communications long-term in live mail servers. This is where email archiving comes in.
What is Email Archiving?
Email archiving involves systematically capturing and storing email messages and attachments for future reference and retrieval. The archived data is stored outside the primary mail server in a separate storage system.
There are several reasons why organizations and individuals should be archiving business and personal emails:
Benefits of Email Archiving
- Frees up storage space on mail servers
- Facilitates eDiscovery for legal requirements
- Streamlines regulatory compliance
- Enables data analytics for historical trends
- Provides insurance against data loss
- Allows searching through archived mail
- Boosts productivity by decluttering inboxes
To leverage these benefits, you need a dedicated email archiving solution that takes care of capturing, indexing, storing and retrieving your email data reliably.
This guide covers the top 15 email archiving software tools to help you find the right fit for your needs:
Best Email Archiving Software Comparison
| Software | Starting Price | Storage Options | Search Capabilities | Compliance Standards |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ArcTitan | $3 per user/month | Cloud-based | Fast search with queries and filters | GDPR, HIPAA etc. |
| Mimecast | Custom quote | Cloud archive | Keyword, date range filters | SEC 17a-4, FINRA etc. |
| MailStore Home | Free | Files/Cloud drives | Boolean operators, wildcards etc. | n/a |
| Email Archive Pro | $360 per year | Cloud or on-premise | Tags, AI-search | GDPR, SOX etc. |
| Barracuda | $4 per user/month | Public/Private cloud | Boolean, proximity search | SEC 17a-4, HIPAA etc. |
| Jatheon | Custom quote | On-premise | Boolean, pattern search | SEC 17a-4, GDPR etc. |
| Quest | $20 per user/year | On-premise/Hybrid | Keyword, metadata search | Various compliance standards |
| Libraesva | $3 per user/month | Cloud SaaS | Intelligent search UI | GDPR, SEC 17a-4 etc. |
| N-Able | $2 per seat/month | Cloud archive | Quick keyword search | HIPAA, SOC2 etc. |
| Smarsh | Custom quote | Cloud/On-premise | Tags, AI-assisted search | FINRA, MiFID II etc. |
| MailMeter | $6 per user/month | Cloud/On-premise/Hybrid | Advanced search operators | GDPR, ISO etc. |
| Arcserve | Custom quote | Public/Private cloud | Advanced search functionality | Various standards |
| Cryoserve | Custom quote | Cloud SaaS/On-premise | Quick search operators | HIPAA, GLBA etc. |
| Intradyn | $3 per seat/month | Cloud | Boolean operators, filters | GDPR, SEC 17a-4 etc. |
| MicroFocus | Call for pricing | Cloud/On-premise/Hybrid | Keyword, boolean, pattern search | Various regulations |
Now let‘s look at an in-depth review of each email archiving software solution:
ArcTitan
Pricing: Starts at $3 per user/month
Highlights:
- Fast search with advanced query options
- Cloud-based unlimited storage
- Lightning fast search even for large archives
- Reduces mail server storage by up to 75%
Best For: All sizes of organizations looking for a secure cloud archive with powerful eDiscovery capabilities.
ArcTitan is a full-featured cloud email archiving service that offers convenient unlimited storage for your email data…
Mimecast
Pricing: Custom quotes
Highlights:
- Minimizes email infrastructure costs
- Encrypted archive for security
- Outlook add-in for easy access
- Native Office 365 integration
Best For: Larger enterprises that want a cost-effective and robust cloud archiving solution…
MailStore Home
Pricing: Free
Highlights:
- Consolidates archives from multiple email sources
- Allows backups to local drives or cloud
- Easy search even in large archives
- Can export emails in standard formats
Best For: Individuals and microbusinesses that want a simple free email archiving solution…
Email Archive Pro
Pricing: $360 per year
Highlights:
- One-click email and folder archiving
- Outlook addon for easy archive access
- GDPR-ready with export features
- AI search finds emails intelligently
Best For: Solopreneurs and small teams that want an affordable email archive with intelligent search.
Email Archive Pro makes it extremely simple to archive important business emails at the click of a button…
Barracuda
Pricing: Starts at $4 per user/month
Highlights:
- Reduces email server storage costs significantly
- Automated retention policies based on keywords
- Powerful legal hold for eDiscovery requests
- Simple flat-fee predictable pricing
Best For: Growing enterprises that want an affordable, full-featured cloud archiving solution…
Jatheon
Pricing: Custom quotes
Highlights:
- On-premise deployment for total data control
- Usage analytics for historical email trends
- Automated data retention rules
- Fully auditable chain of custody
Best For: Regulated industries like healthcare and banking that prefer keeping archives on-premise…
Quest
Pricing: Starts at $20 per user/year
Highlights:
- Reduces email server storage load substantially
- Easy legal holds for eDiscovery
- Automates migration of PST files
- Allows archiving of social media data
Best For: Enterprise IT teams that want greater control with an on-premise email archive aligned to company retention policies…
Libraesva
Pricing: Starts at $3 per user/month
Highlights:
- Intuitive user interface
- Outlook add-in for quick access
- Automated ingestion from mail servers
- GDPR-ready with export tools
Best For: Growing companies that want an easy-to-use cloud-based email archiving solution…
N-Able
Pricing: Starts at $2 per seat/month
Highlights:
- Affordable pricing for MSPs
- Centralized dashboard across client sites
- Direct API access capabilities
- Storage dashboard to track usage
Best For: MSPs and IT service providers looking to offer a white-label email archiving service to clients…
Smarsh
Pricing: Custom quotes
Highlights:
- Unified archiving across communication channels
- Market-leading chain of custody
- Advanced analytics for historical insights
- End-to-end encryption for security
Best For: Heavily regulated enterprise firms needing centralized archiving encompassing email, IM, social media and mobile messaging…
MailMeter
Pricing: Starts at $6 per user/month
Highlights:
- Deployment flexibility across models
- Automated ingestion from mail servers
- Access controls allow self-service access
- DSAR and audit reporting
Best For: Organizations wanting archiving with controls allowing selective user access…
Arcserve
Pricing: Custom quotes
Highlights:
- Unifies archives across email platforms
- Legal hold support for eDiscovery
- Automated retention rules
- Usage dashboard and alerts
Best For: Enterprise IT environments with disparate mail platforms (Exchange, Office 365, G Suite etc.) needing centralized compliance archiving…
Cryoserve
Pricing: Custom quotes
Highlights:
- Encrypted archive for security
- File analysis for early warning
- Dark data remediation features
- Access controls by content types
Best For: Organizations wanting deep analysis around risky unstructured data like emails…
Intradyn
Pricing: Starts at $3 per seat/month
Highlights:
- Affordable simple email archiving
- Automated sync from mail servers
- Legal hold support
- Usage analytics reporting
Best For: Growing companies needing affordable email archiving aligned to compliance needs…
MicroFocus
Pricing: Call for pricing
Highlights:
- Unifies siloed archives organization-wide
- Retains full message fidelity natively
- Automated policies to move data across tiers
- Over 500 file type conversions
Best For: Heavily regulated global enterprises needing to unify archives from across the organization…
Choosing the Best Email Archiving Software
With the wide range of solutions available, selecting the ideal email archiving tool for your specific needs can appear challenging.
Here is a checklist of key factors to consider when evaluating solutions:
Business Size
Opt for affordable tools like MailStore for smaller teams, while enterprises need more advanced solutions like MicroFocus.
Email Volume
The number of mailboxes and overall volume of email data to be archived daily impacts storage needs.
On-premise vs SaaS
Assess whether you want to manage archives internally on-premise or prefer a secure cloud-based Software-as-a-Service option.
Search Functionality
The ability to quickly retrieve emails later relies heavily on the search and filters offered.
Compliance Mandates
Regulated industries have strict archival rules like SEC 17a-4, HIPAA, GDPR etc. that solutions must enable.
Support Availability
Look for responsive customer support via phone, email and ticketing options in case of usage questions.
By carefully factoring in these criteria against business objectives, you can determine the best email retention and archiving solution matching your needs and budget.
Getting the Most from Your Email Archiving Software
Once you have deployed your email archiving solution, here are tips to maximize value:
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Take time to properly setup policies, retention rules, search permissions etc.
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Train employees on appropriately tagging or sending emails for archiving
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Test search efficiency to ensure emails can be quickly retrieved
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Monitor your archive index and storage costs
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Keep the software updated and maintain system health
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Leverage reporting to showcase ROI to leadership
Following best practices around usage and administration of your email archiving system lets you reap the benefits over the long haul.
The Future of Email Archiving
As email continues to be a mission-critical communication tool at organizations worldwide, email archiving will keep evolving with technology innovations:
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Expanded integration with cloud collaboration apps beyond email
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Increased automation of capture, classification and retention processes through AI
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Enhanced analytics providing visibility into historical communication data trends
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New security models like blockchain-backed immutable proof of email authenticity
By selecting a modern scalable solution, your email data capture and preservation strategies can stay ahead of the curve.
Final Thoughts
Email archiving is a pivotal capability for businesses and regulated entities today for ensuring information availability and compliance. Choosing the right archiving solution saves time by letting you focus on unlocking value from email data rather than just storing it reactively.
This guide has aimed to equip you with an independent and unbiased expert perspective on all key facets of email archiving systems currently available.
As next steps, I recommend shortlisting solutions matching your functional and budget needs for trials before making an informed buying decision. Reach out in case any questions come up during your evaluation process.
