Best social media archiving software for advisers
Seven tools that keep LinkedIn, X, Facebook and Instagram activity for financial advisors and broker-dealers, read against the SEC and FINRA record rules. Five are archives, one is a supervised posting tool, and one approves posts before they go live. Each cell says what the vendor's own pages state, and where they are silent.
Reviewed October 2026
Best overall
Archive Intel
Its own pages state capture of posts, comments and messages with the original kept after an edit or deletion, retention by channel, WORM storage and review of posts before publication.
Read the review of Archive IntelBest for a broker-dealer that needs an undertaking
Smarsh
The only vendor here whose own pages offer letters of undertaking, with posts, comments and direct messages captured beside more than 100 other channels.
Read the review of SmarshBest for pre-approving advisers' posts
Hearsay Social
Approval workflows, pre-approved content libraries and lexicon review sit inside the tool advisers post from.
Read the review of Hearsay Social
The comparison table
| Vendor | Posts, comments, DMs, edits and deletions204-2(a)(7); 17a-4(b)(4) | Networks named on its pages | Retention set per rule204-2(e); 17a-4(b) | Audit trail or non-rewriteable storage17a-4(f)(2)(i) | Supervisory review and flagsFINRA 3110(b)(4) | Approval of posts before useFINRA 2210(b)(1)(A) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Archive IntelSEC and FINRA archive | Meets Original kept after an edit or deletion | Meets LinkedIn, X, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube | Meets By channel and record type | Meets WORM cloud storage; access audit trail | Partial AI surfaces risk; review evidence not stated | Meets Reviews social content before publication |
SmarshFinancial-services archive | Partial Posts, comments, DMs, edits; deletions not stated | Meets Ten, YouTube and TikTok among them | Meets Policy-based, by group or message type | Meets WORM and audit-trail methods named | Partial Review workflows; review evidence not stated | Not stated |
Hearsay SocialSupervised posting tool | Check with vendor Says interactions are archived; content not listed | Check with vendor No network named on the page | Not stated | Check with vendor Audit trails named; storage mode not stated | Meets Lexicon review, keyword flags, audit trails | Meets Approval workflows; pre-approved libraries |
Global RelayMulti-industry archive | Partial Posts, comments, DMs; LinkedIn edits redlined; deletions not stated | Meets LinkedIn, X, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube | Meets Retention schedules, legal hold | Meets WORM-compliant, tamper-proof | Meets Lexicon tools; proof-of-review reports | Not stated |
MirrorWebFinancial-services archive | Partial Posts, comments, replies; DMs, edits, deletions not stated | Meets LinkedIn, X, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok | Check with vendor Retention settings not described | Meets Write Once, Read Many | Partial Scored alerts; review evidence not stated | Not stated |
PagefreezerWeb and social archive | Partial Posts, comments, edits, deletions; DMs not stated | Meets LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok | Meets Customisable retention periods | Meets WORM storage; signed, time-stamped records | Partial Keyword alerts; review evidence not stated | Not stated |
Proofpoint PatrolEnterprise governance suite | Partial Published posts, profile changes; comments, DMs not stated | Meets LinkedIn, X, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube | Meets Retention in Proofpoint Archive | Meets WORM preservation in Proofpoint Archive | Meets Lexicons, escalation; supervisory actions kept | Meets Approves content before it goes live |
Which social content is a record
The record rules follow what a message says and who it reaches, not the app it was typed in. FINRA's social media notice put it simply: before a broker-dealer lets its people use a site for business, it “must first ensure that it can retain records of those communications” (Regulatory Notice 10-06). The broker-dealer rule then reaches every business communication, sent or received:
For an adviser two parts of Rule 204-2 apply. Paragraph (a)(7) keeps written communications about advice, funds and securities, orders and performance. Paragraph (a)(11) keeps a copy of each advertisement, and the Marketing Rule defines an advertisement as a communication “to more than one person” that offers the adviser's services to prospective clients. A public LinkedIn post that describes your services fits that definition; a post wishing followers a happy holiday likely does not. The table sorts the four kinds of social content.
Four kinds of social content and the rule that reaches each
| Content | Broker-dealer (FINRA member) | SEC-registered adviser |
|---|---|---|
| A post or profile anyone can see | Retail communication if it reaches more than 25 retail investors in 30 days; kept under 2210(b)(4) | An advertisement if it offers advisory services to prospective clients; kept under 204-2(a)(11) |
| A comment or reply in a thread | Interactive forum content: no prior approval, but supervised like correspondence; kept under 17a-4(b)(4) | A record under 204-2(a)(7) if it concerns advice, funds, orders or performance |
| A direct message to a client | Correspondence (25 or fewer retail investors): reviewed under 3110(b)(4), kept for the 17a-4(b) period (3110.09) | A record under 204-2(a)(7) on the same four subjects |
| An edit or a deleted post | Our reading: the version first used is the record, so the archive should hold the original | Our reading: the version clients saw is the one to produce |
FINRA Rules 2210(a), 3110(b)(4); 17 CFR 240.17a-4(b)(4); 17 CFR 275.204-2(a)(7), (a)(11)
The last row is our reading rather than a rule sentence. An archive that only keeps the current state of a page loses the version a client may have relied on. That is why the first column of the comparison table asks about edits and deletions, and why a weekly screenshot is not an archive. The full adviser list is in Rule 204-2, the adviser books and records rule.
Approval before a post goes up
Broker-dealers: static content needs a principal first
Notice 10-06 applied that to social sites: “a registered principal of the firm must approve all static content”, such as a profile or a standing post. Interactive content is the exception. For comments and replies, “firms are not required to have a registered principal approve these communications prior to use”, and the rule text now exempts “any retail communication that is posted on an online interactive electronic forum”. The notice adds: “Of course, firms still must supervise these communications.”
The approval is itself a record. Rule 2210(b)(4) keeps each retail communication with “the name of any registered principal who approved the communication and the date that approval was given”, for the 17a-4(b) period and “in a format and media that comply with SEA Rule 17a-4.” A pre-approval workflow that stores the approver and date beside the post answers both duties at once. The whole rule is set out in our FINRA Rule 2210 and social media guide.
Advisers: a review step your own policies set
By our reading, the Marketing Rule sets what an advertisement may not say but names no approver. Advisers still have to “Adopt and implement written policies and procedures reasonably designed to prevent violation” of the Advisers Act (Rule 206(4)-7), and most write a review step for posts into them, because testimonials, endorsements and performance figures carry their own conditions. The Marketing Rule ad review checklist walks one post through those conditions, and advertising review software compares tools built around the approval queue rather than the archive.
How social capture works, and what it misses
Every archive on this page collects from the networks themselves rather than from screenshots. Archive Intel and Global Relay both name LinkedIn's compliance API on their own pages, and Global Relay's connector says it covers “personal and company accounts”. That distinction matters more than the logo count: most adviser business on LinkedIn happens on personal profiles, in comments and in messages, not on the firm's page.
The four things to check
- 01Posts and profiles. Six of the seven name posts; Hearsay says every interaction is archived without listing them. The network list is the first filter, and the finder further down runs it for your own mix.
- 02Comments and replies. A recommendation made in a comment thread is as much a record as one in an email. Five name comments; Hearsay and Proofpoint Patrol do not on the pages we read.
- 03Direct messages. A LinkedIn message to a client is correspondence. Archive Intel, Smarsh and Global Relay name messages; MirrorWeb, Pagefreezer and Proofpoint Patrol do not on the pages we read.
- 04Edits and deletions. Only Archive Intel and Pagefreezer say in plain words that an edited or deleted post stays in the archive as first captured. Smarsh shows edits in the thread; Global Relay flags LinkedIn edits with redlines.
Personal accounts used for business are where firms get caught out. If a rep can message clients from a network the archive does not cover, the firm needs a written rule that says so and a way to check it. The off-channel communications policy builder drafts that rule, and off-channel communications for small firms explains why regulators started asking.
How long a post is kept, and how
An adviser's advertisement has its own clock. Rule 204-2(e)(3)(i) keeps it “not less than five years, the first two years in an appropriate office of the investment adviser, from the end of the fiscal year during which the investment adviser last published or otherwise disseminated” it.
Year 0: the end of the fiscal year it was last disseminated
- In an appropriate office of the adviser2 years
- Rest of the period3 years
17 CFR 275.204-2(e)(3)(i)
The words “last published or otherwise disseminated” matter on social media. By our reading, a post left visible on a profile is still being made available, so its five years may not start until it comes down. Agree the start date with your compliance counsel, and prefer an archive that keeps a post without an end date until you set one.
- In an easily accessible place2 years
- Rest of the period1 year
17 CFR 240.17a-4(b), (b)(4); FINRA Rules 2210(b)(4), 3110.09
Rule 17a-4(b) states the length and the two-year window but not the event the period runs from, so the start point is a setting to confirm with counsel. For keep-until dates on other records, use the books and records retention calculator.
Storage: two modes for a broker-dealer, neither required of an adviser
A broker-dealer's system can meet Rule 17a-4(f) by non-rewriteable, non-erasable storage, or by a complete time-stamped audit trail that includes:
That audit trail is about changes to the archived copy, not to the post on the network; the edits-and-deletions column covers the network side. Rule 204-2(g) asks an adviser for indexed, promptly producible records, a separate duplicate copy, and safeguards “from loss, alteration, or destruction”. It does not require WORM. Both modes are compared in Rule 17a-4 and WORM storage, explained.
Supervising what was posted
Approval covers a post before it goes up. Supervision covers everything after: the replies a rep writes under it, the messages that follow, the comment that turns into a recommendation. For a broker-dealer the duty is in Rule 3110:
The supplementary material says what that evidence holds: the reviewer, the communication, the date of review and any action taken, and “Merely opening a communication is not sufficient review.” A firm decides by risk how much correspondence to review, but what it reviews must leave that trail. So the review column reads Meets only where a vendor names both the flags and something that records the review: Global Relay's proof-of-review reports, Hearsay's audit trails on every supervised interaction, Proofpoint Patrol's preserved supervisory actions. Flags alone read Partial. The whole duty is laid out in FINRA Rule 3110 supervision for small firms.
Social records at a glance
- Broker-dealer static postPrincipal approves firstFINRA 2210(b)(1)(A)
- Broker-dealer comment or replySupervise, no prior approvalFINRA 2210(b)(1)(D)(ii)
- Broker-dealer social records3 years17a-4(b); FINRA 2210(b)(4)
- Adviser advertisement5 years204-2(e)(3)(i)
- Adviser written communications5 years204-2(e)(1)
- WORM or audit trailBroker-dealers only17a-4(f)(2)(i); 204-2(g)
Which vendors name your networks
Tick the networks your people use for business. The list sorts the seven by how many of them each vendor's own pages name, and shows the capture and approval columns from the table when you need them. A network missing from a vendor's list means its pages did not name it, not that it cannot capture it: ask for the channel list before you rule a vendor out. For email, texts and chat, the archiving requirements matcher covers every channel at once.
6 of 7 name all 2 on their own pages
- Archive IntelNames every network you tickedCaptureMeets
- SmarshNames every network you tickedCapturePartial
- Global RelayNames every network you tickedCapturePartial
- MirrorWebNames every network you tickedCapturePartial
- PagefreezerNames every network you tickedCapturePartial
- Proofpoint PatrolNames every network you tickedCapturePartial
- Hearsay SocialNames no network on the page we readCaptureCheck with vendor
Most firms that archive social media also need email in the same place. The email archiving comparison reads five of these vendors against the email rules, and firms weighing a move off the largest archive can start from Smarsh alternatives for small firms.
Each vendor, read against the rule
Archive Intel
SEC and FINRA archive- What it is
- An archive and supervision service for SEC and FINRA firms. Its FAQ lists LinkedIn capture of “messages, posts, comments, reactions, InMail, profile activity” through LinkedIn's compliance API, plus X, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, and says “The original content is preserved even if the sender later edits or deletes it.” Its AI Marketing Review “helps compliance teams review social content before publication”.
- Who it fits
- Small advisers and broker-dealers that want posts reviewed before use and kept after: its FAQ names firms “from solo RIAs and independent advisory practices” up to large broker-dealers.
- What the rule requires, and whether it meets it
- Posts, comments, DMs, edits and deletionsMeetsOriginal kept after an edit or deletion
- Networks named on its pagesMeetsLinkedIn, X, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube
- Retention set per ruleMeetsBy channel and record type
- Audit trail or non-rewriteable storageMeetsWORM cloud storage; access audit trail
- Supervisory review and flagsPartialAI surfaces risk; review evidence not stated
- Approval of posts before useMeetsReviews social content before publication
- Not verified by us
- Its 17a-4(i) undertaking (the FAQ speaks of a third-party custodian arrangement instead), whether each supervisory review records the reviewer, date and action, and the export format for social records.
Smarsh
Financial-services archive- What it is
- A capture, archive and supervision platform. Its social page captures “posts, comments, direct messages, reactions, images, videos, metadata, conversation history”, and its supported platforms list ten, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X, YouTube and TikTok among them. It shows edits in the thread, and can deliver the capture to “your existing archive”. Its 17a-4 page offers to “Provide letters of undertaking to applicable regulatory bodies”.
- Who it fits
- A broker-dealer, RIA or dual registrant that wants social media in the same archive as email, texts and Teams. Its navigation names RIAs, broker-dealers and dual BD and RIA firms, with pages for small firms.
- What the rule requires, and whether it meets it
- Posts, comments, DMs, edits and deletionsPartialPosts, comments, DMs, edits; deletions not stated
- Networks named on its pagesMeetsTen, YouTube and TikTok among them
- Retention set per ruleMeetsPolicy-based, by group or message type
- Audit trail or non-rewriteable storageMeetsWORM and audit-trail methods named
- Supervisory review and flagsPartialReview workflows; review evidence not stated
- Approval of posts before useNot stated
- Not verified by us
- Whether deleted posts and comments are kept, how retention is set for social records, the undertaking letter for your account, and a pre-approval step for posts (none is stated).
Hearsay Social
Supervised posting tool- What it is
- A social publishing tool for advisers' own profiles, now presented on Yext's platform pages. Its FAQ names “Automated supervision, lexicon-based review, approval workflows, and detailed audit trails”, pre-approved content libraries and templates, and says “Every social interaction is supervised, archived, and auditable”. It is a posting tool with supervision, not a general archive.
- Who it fits
- A firm whose advisers post from their own profiles and whose principal must approve static content first. Its page speaks to banks, asset managers and insurers, so a small firm should ask about its minimum size.
- What the rule requires, and whether it meets it
- Posts, comments, DMs, edits and deletionsCheck with vendorSays interactions are archived; content not listed
- Networks named on its pagesCheck with vendorNo network named on the page
- Retention set per ruleNot stated
- Audit trail or non-rewriteable storageCheck with vendorAudit trails named; storage mode not stated
- Supervisory review and flagsMeetsLexicon review, keyword flags, audit trails
- Approval of posts before useMeetsApproval workflows; pre-approved libraries
- Not verified by us
- Which networks it connects, whether comments and direct messages are archived, where the archive sits and in which 17a-4(f) mode, the retention settings, and whether records export to your own archive.
Global Relay
Multi-industry archive- What it is
- A multi-industry archive with a connector per network. The LinkedIn connector says it can “Capture LinkedIn messages, posts, and engagement activity across personal and company accounts” and that “edited content changes are flagged via redlines and highlights”; the X connector adds direct messages. Content is stored “in a WORM-compliant, tamper-proof format”.
- Who it fits
- A broker-dealer whose principals must show their reviews: its archive reports cover “proof of review” and reviewer activity. RIAs and broker-dealers are not named on the pages read.
- What the rule requires, and whether it meets it
- Posts, comments, DMs, edits and deletionsPartialPosts, comments, DMs; LinkedIn edits redlined; deletions not stated
- Networks named on its pagesMeetsLinkedIn, X, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube
- Retention set per ruleMeetsRetention schedules, legal hold
- Audit trail or non-rewriteable storageMeetsWORM-compliant, tamper-proof
- Supervisory review and flagsMeetsLexicon tools; proof-of-review reports
- Approval of posts before useNot stated
- Not verified by us
- Whether deleted posts and comments are kept, which network connectors your plan includes, its 17a-4(i) undertaking, and a pre-approval step for posts (none is stated).
MirrorWeb
Financial-services archive- What it is
- A supervision and archiving platform that also archives websites. Its social page says “Every post is archived exactly as it was published” and that threads keep “comments, replies, and reactions”; its financial page says records are stored “immutably (Write Once, Read Many)”. Its home page says MirrorWeb and Red Oak (advertising review) combine; the pages we read do not say how.
- Who it fits
- Advisers and broker-dealers that want their website and social pages archived together; it names investment advisors and broker-dealers among the firms it serves.
- What the rule requires, and whether it meets it
- Posts, comments, DMs, edits and deletionsPartialPosts, comments, replies; DMs, edits, deletions not stated
- Networks named on its pagesMeetsLinkedIn, X, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok
- Retention set per ruleCheck with vendorRetention settings not described
- Audit trail or non-rewriteable storageMeetsWrite Once, Read Many
- Supervisory review and flagsPartialScored alerts; review evidence not stated
- Approval of posts before useNot stated
- Not verified by us
- Whether direct messages, edits and deletions are captured, how retention periods are set, its export formats, and its 17a-4(i) undertaking.
Pagefreezer
Web and social archive- What it is
- A website, social media and chat archive. Its social page captures “every edit, deletion, comment, and reaction as it happens”, says it “digitally signs and timestamps every archived record”, and offers retention periods that are “fully customizable”. Its home page says it “Uses WORM storage”.
- Who it fits
- A firm whose risk is the public page: deleted posts and comments on a company account. Most of its stories are government agencies; it lists financial services firms archiving posts for SEC and FINRA compliance.
- What the rule requires, and whether it meets it
- Posts, comments, DMs, edits and deletionsPartialPosts, comments, edits, deletions; DMs not stated
- Networks named on its pagesMeetsLinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok
- Retention set per ruleMeetsCustomisable retention periods
- Audit trail or non-rewriteable storageMeetsWORM storage; signed, time-stamped records
- Supervisory review and flagsPartialKeyword alerts; review evidence not stated
- Approval of posts before useNot stated
- Not verified by us
- Whether direct messages are captured, how a principal's review is recorded (keyword alerts are stated, review evidence is not), and its 17a-4(i) undertaking.
Proofpoint Patrol
Enterprise governance suite- What it is
- Proofpoint's social supervision product. Patrol lets teams “Review and approve content before it goes live” on LinkedIn, X, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, can “block, delete, or roll back content”, and sends “normalized content and supervisory actions to Proofpoint Archive or a 17a-4 compliant archive of your choice”.
- Who it fits
- A firm that already runs Proofpoint email security or its archive and wants posts approved and supervised in the same suite. Its pages speak to regulated organisations generally.
- What the rule requires, and whether it meets it
- Posts, comments, DMs, edits and deletionsPartialPublished posts, profile changes; comments, DMs not stated
- Networks named on its pagesMeetsLinkedIn, X, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube
- Retention set per ruleMeetsRetention in Proofpoint Archive
- Audit trail or non-rewriteable storageMeetsWORM preservation in Proofpoint Archive
- Supervisory review and flagsMeetsLexicons, escalation; supervisory actions kept
- Approval of posts before useMeetsApproves content before it goes live
- Not verified by us
- Whether comments and direct messages are captured, what Patrol keeps for each network, and the 17a-4(i) undertaking for the archive it delivers to.
How we read these vendors
Questions firms ask
Does a FINRA firm have to approve every LinkedIn post before it goes up?
Static content, yes: a profile, a standing post, anything that reads as a retail communication needs a registered principal's approval “before the earlier of its use or filing”. FINRA's 2010 notice said a principal “must approve all static content” on social sites.
Interactive content, no: comments and replies in a thread are exempt from prior approval as content “posted on an online interactive electronic forum”, but the firm must still supervise them.
FINRA Rule 2210(b)(1)(A), (b)(1)(D)(ii); Regulatory Notice 10-06
Do registered investment advisers have to archive social media?
Where the content is a record, yes. A public post that offers the adviser's services to prospective clients is an advertisement, and Rule 204-2(a)(11) keeps a copy of each one. A message to a client about advice, funds and securities, orders or performance is a written communication under 204-2(a)(7). Neither part names a network, so the test is the content, not the platform.
17 CFR 275.204-2(a)(7), (a)(11); 275.206(4)-1(e)(1)
Are LinkedIn direct messages records?
For a broker-dealer, a message about the business is one of the “communications received” or “communications sent” that Rule 17a-4(b)(4) keeps, and as correspondence it falls under the review duty of Rule 3110(b)(4). For an adviser it is a record when it concerns one of the four 204-2(a)(7) subjects. Three of the seven vendors here name direct messages on their own pages.
17 CFR 240.17a-4(b)(4); FINRA Rule 3110(b)(4); 17 CFR 275.204-2(a)(7)
Does a social media archive have to be WORM?
For a broker-dealer, the archive must either keep records in a non-rewriteable, non-erasable format or keep a complete time-stamped audit trail of every change. For an adviser, Rule 204-2(g) asks for indexed records, prompt production, a separate duplicate copy and safeguards “from loss, alteration, or destruction”; it does not require WORM. A dual registrant's broker-dealer records still need one of the two modes; Rule 204-2(h)(1) lets such a record count for the adviser rule when it is substantially the same, and which records that covers is a question for compliance counsel.
17 CFR 240.17a-4(f)(2)(i); 17 CFR 275.204-2(g), (h)(1)
Is any social media archiving tool approved by FINRA or the SEC?
No. Neither regulator approves archiving vendors, and FINRA retired its Compliance Vendor Directory effective March 19, 2024. “Built for SEC and FINRA” is a vendor's own claim; the record and review duties stay with the firm, which is why each card above names the document to ask for.
finra.org/industry/cvd; 17 CFR 240.17a-4(f)(3)(v)