Best text message archiving software for financial firms
Your advisers already text clients from phones and numbers the firm did not pick. Text message archiving software copies those texts at the carrier or on the phone and keeps them as records. We read seven SMS archiving tools against the adviser and broker-dealer rules, from each vendor's own pages, including where those pages are silent.
Reviewed October 2026
Best overall
Smarsh
Captures texts from carriers it names, AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile among them, on firm and BYOD phones, into an archive whose own pages state WORM storage, undertaking letters and named export formats.
Read the review of SmarshBest for a firm that already has an archive
CellTrust
A capture layer only: carrier, app and stacked capture deliver texts to the archive the firm already runs, with native Microsoft Purview integration, so nothing is bought twice.
Read the review of CellTrustBest for firm-issued Android phones
Global Relay
Captures SMS, MMS and RCS from the default Android texting app on existing corporate numbers, and reviews them in an archive that reports proof of review.
Read the review of Global Relay
The comparison table
| Vendor | Carrier capture on the existing number17a-4(b)(4); 204-2(a)(7) | Capture on the phone (BYOD or firm)17a-4(b)(4); 204-2(a)(7) | iMessage and WhatsApp | Audit trail or non-rewriteable storage17a-4(f)(2)(i) | Retention set per rule204-2(e)(1); 17a-4(b) | Supervisory review and evidenceFINRA 3110(b)(4) | Export for an exam17a-4(f)(2)(iv); 204-2(g) | Delivers to an archive you already have |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SmarshCarrier capture and archive | Meets AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile named | Meets Corporate-owned and BYOD | Partial iMessage where supported | Meets WORM; undertaking letters | Meets By user group, message type | Partial Evidence of review not stated | Meets PST, EML, HTML, XML | Meets Or your existing archive |
CellTrustCapture layer, no archive | Meets AT&T and Verizon, firm lines | Meets Firm-owned business number | Partial WhatsApp; iMessage not stated | Check with vendor Held in your archive | Partial Applied in your archive | Partial Portal supervision; no evidence | Check with vendor Format not stated | Meets Archiving-agnostic; Purview |
Global RelayAndroid capture and archive | Check with vendor Existing carriers; on-device | Partial Firm-issued Android only | Partial WhatsApp; iMessage not stated | Meets Audit trails; optional WORM | Meets Retention terms, legal hold | Meets Lexicon; proof-of-review reports | Partial Formats not named | Not stated Its own archive |
Archive IntelOn-phone capture and archive | Not stated Captures on the phone | Meets Mobile profile; same number | Meets In the native apps | Meets WORM cloud; access audit trail | Meets By channel and record type | Partial AI flags; evidence not stated | Meets Formatted export without IT | Not stated Its own archive |
IntradynEmail and text archive | Partial Carriers not named | Meets Android or BYOD app | Meets iMessage and WhatsApp named | Check with vendor Says either mode; not which | Meets Custom retention policies | Partial Scheduled term searches | Meets Native or PDF | Not stated Its own archive |
JatheonMulti-route capture and archive | Meets AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile named | Meets App or enterprise number | Meets iMessage, WhatsApp, WeChat | Check with vendor Audit trails; WORM not stated | Meets Retention policies enforced | Partial Keyword alerts; no evidence | Meets Exam-ready; formats unnamed | Not stated Its own archive |
MirrorWebOn-phone capture and archive | Not stated Not on its mobile page | Meets BYOD or firm; Trusted Contacts | Meets iMessage, SMS, WhatsApp | Meets Write Once, Read Many | Check with vendor Settings not described | Partial Scored alerts; no evidence | Meets For exams; formats unnamed | Not stated Its own archive |
Three places a text can be captured
Text message archiving software does two jobs: it copies each text as it is sent and received, and it keeps that copy where it cannot be lost or changed. The first job decides whether you get every text at all, so start there. A text can be copied in one of three places, and each one sees a different slice of what advisers send.
Where the copy is made
| Capture point | How it works | What the adviser changes | What it misses | In this table |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| At the carrier | The carrier copies each SMS and MMS on the line and sends it on to be archived | Nothing: same phone, same number, same texting app | iMessage and WhatsApp; lines on carriers the vendor does not support | Smarsh, CellTrust, Jatheon, Intradyn |
| On the phone | A profile, app or connector on the device reads the phone's own messaging apps | Enrols the phone once and keeps the number; picks business contacts if there is a whitelist | Phones that were never enrolled | Archive Intel, MirrorWeb, Jatheon, Intradyn, Global Relay (Android) |
| On a second number | A business number the firm owns runs in an app beside the personal line | Clients must text the new number | Texts clients still send to the adviser's own number | CellTrust App Capture; the texting apps on our texting page |
The second number is the design most compliant texting apps for advisers use, and those apps are compared on their own page. This page reads the other two: capture that leaves the adviser's phone, number and habits as they are, and the archive the copies end up in.
Blue bubbles, green bubbles: what a carrier sees
An iPhone sends three kinds of message from the same Messages app, and a carrier feed does not see all of them. Apple's own support page sets out the difference.
The carrier capture pages we read name SMS and MMS; none of them names iMessage. So a carrier feed on an adviser's iPhone keeps the green bubbles and misses a client conversation that runs in blue. If your advisers and clients are mostly on iPhones, the iMessage column matters more than the carrier column: capture on the phone, or a written policy that keeps business off iMessage, and someone who checks. WhatsApp is the same case, and both apps are read vendor by vendor in our WhatsApp and iMessage archiving comparison.
RCS is the open question for the next year. CellTrust names RCS capture, Global Relay captures RCS from the default Android app, and Intradyn lists RCS among its channels. Ask any vendor in writing whether it captures RCS on your carriers today, and what changes once your carrier encrypts RCS end to end.
Firm phones, personal phones and the method that fits
The phone decides the method. CellTrust's carrier page describes the firm-issued, business-only phone (it calls it COBO, “Corporate Owned Business Only”) as the setup where carrier capture fits, because everything on that line is business. A personal phone is the opposite case: the firm must keep the business texts and should leave the rest alone, which is what the whitelists at Archive Intel, Jatheon and MirrorWeb, and CellTrust's separate business number, are for.
- A firm-paid line, business only
- Carrier capture, if the vendor supports your carrier. CellTrust names AT&T and Verizon in North America; Smarsh and Jatheon each name more.
- The adviser's own phone and own number
- Capture on the phone with a business-contact whitelist. Ask what the enrolment can see on the device.
- A mix of both
- A vendor that offers more than one route: Jatheon, Intradyn and CellTrust (Stacked Capture puts carrier and app capture on one device).
Answer four questions and the picker reads the table for you.
The method that fits
Capture on the phone
Personal phones need capture that keeps business texts and leaves personal ones out.
- Archive IntelCapture on the phone (BYOD or firm)MeetsiMessage and WhatsAppMeets
- IntradynCapture on the phone (BYOD or firm)MeetsiMessage and WhatsAppMeets
- JatheonCapture on the phone (BYOD or firm)MeetsiMessage and WhatsAppMeets
- MirrorWebCapture on the phone (BYOD or firm)MeetsiMessage and WhatsAppMeets
- SmarshCapture on the phone (BYOD or firm)MeetsiMessage and WhatsAppPartial
- CellTrustCapture on the phone (BYOD or firm)MeetsiMessage and WhatsAppPartial
- Global RelayCapture on the phone (BYOD or firm)PartialiMessage and WhatsAppPartial
Listed: vendors whose own pages state each need in full (Meets) or in part (Partial), most Meets first.
The archive side: where the record ends up
Capture is half the job. The copy has to sit somewhere that keeps it for the full period, finds it on request and produces it readable. Six of the seven vendors here capture and archive in one product, and one of them, Smarsh, will also deliver to an archive you already run. CellTrust only captures and hands the texts to an archive you pick. Which shape suits you depends on what you already pay for: our email archiving comparison covers the archives most firms start with.
How long the texts are kept is set by the rule, not the vendor. An adviser keeps written communications on the subjects Rule 204-2(a)(7) lists, advice and recommendations among them; a broker-dealer keeps all communications relating to its business as such under Rule 17a-4(b)(4).
Year 0: End of the fiscal year of the last entry
- In an appropriate office of the adviser2 years
- Easily accessible place, rest of the period3 years
17 CFR 275.204-2(e)(1)
- Easily accessible place2 years
- Rest of the period1 year
17 CFR 240.17a-4(b); FINRA Rule 3110.09
Rule 17a-4(b) states the length and the easily accessible window but not the event the three years run from, so set that start point with your compliance counsel. Our retention calculator works out the adviser date. A dual registrant can lean on Rule 204-2(h)(1), which deems a record kept under the broker-dealer rules, if it is substantially the same, to be kept under the adviser rule as well.
The form of storage differs too. A broker-dealer's system must keep a complete time-stamped audit trail or keep records in a non-rewriteable, non-erasable format, and must be able to download a record in a human readable and a reasonably usable electronic format. Where a vendor owns and operates the servers, it must file a written undertaking that the records are the firm's and will be surrendered promptly on request. An adviser's rule, 204-2(g), has no WORM requirement; it asks for an index, a duplicate copy, safeguards against loss, alteration or destruction, and prompt production. The detail is in our guides to Rule 17a-4 and WORM storage and Rule 204-2 books and records.
Reviewing texts once they are archived
A broker-dealer must review incoming and outgoing written (including electronic) correspondence under written procedures, and FINRA lets it decide by risk how much to review, provided it trains its people, documents the training and runs surveillance and follow-up (Rule 3110.06). Keyword flags are the surveillance. The record of the review is the part most text archives leave unsaid.
FINRA Rule 3110.07 says that evidence must identify the reviewer, the message, the date and the action taken, and that merely opening a message is not review. That is why the review column reads Meets only for Global Relay, whose page names proof-of-review reports; every other vendor here names flags or alerts but not the review record. An adviser has no FINRA review rule, but must adopt and implement written policies and procedures reasonably designed to prevent violation of the Advisers Act and its rules (Rule 206(4)-7(a)); check with your compliance counsel how those policies should cover client texts. Our guide to FINRA Rule 3110 supervision covers the procedures.
Auto-delete on the phone is not retention
Without capture, the firm's retention schedule for texts is whatever each phone is set to. Capture copies a text as it is sent and received, and Jatheon and MirrorWeb both say on their own pages that edited and deleted messages are kept; ask every vendor how its capture handles a message the adviser later edits or deletes. In April 2026 the SEC said the earlier off-channel cases rested on “a misinterpretation of the federal securities laws” (press release 2026-34), but the record rules quoted above did not change. Our guide to off-channel communications covers the cases, and the off-channel policy builder drafts the written policy.
What to ask before you sign
Each vendor card below ends with a Not verified by us line. These seven questions sit behind those lines; ask them in writing, because the answer becomes part of your record too.
Questions for a text archiving vendor
- Which carriers and plans cover our advisers' linesCarrier capture
- What the enrolment profile or app can see on a personal phoneOn-phone capture
- iMessage, WhatsApp and RCS: captured today, on our phonesChannel list
- Storage mode for our texts: audit trail or non-rewriteableBroker-dealers17 CFR 240.17a-4(f)(2)(i)
- Who files the outside recordkeeper's undertakingBroker-dealers17 CFR 240.17a-4(i)(1)
- Each review records reviewer, message, date and actionPer reviewFINRA Rule 3110.07
- Export formats, human readable and reasonably usableIn writing17 CFR 240.17a-4(f)(2)(iv)
No regulator approves archiving vendors; the recordkeeping and review duties stay with the firm. Not sure which records your firm type keeps? The archiving requirements matcher lists them.
Each vendor, read against the rule
Smarsh
Carrier capture and archive- What it is
- Smarsh Mobile Capture & Archiving takes SMS, MMS, WhatsApp Business and iMessage (where supported) straight from carrier networks it names, AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile and US Cellular among them, and from apps on corporate-owned and BYOD phones, with no step for the employee. Texts go to the Smarsh archive or to an archive, records system or data lake the firm already has. Its archive page states immutable WORM storage for SEC 17a-4 and exports in PST, EML, HTML and XML; its 17a-4 page says it provides letters of undertaking.
- Who it fits
- A broker-dealer or dual registrant whose advisers text on firm-paid lines with a major US carrier, and that wants capture, storage, review and export from one vendor.
- What the rule requires, and whether it meets it
- Carrier capture on the existing numberMeetsAT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile named
- Capture on the phone (BYOD or firm)MeetsCorporate-owned and BYOD
- iMessage and WhatsAppPartialiMessage where supported
- Audit trail or non-rewriteable storageMeetsWORM; undertaking letters
- Retention set per ruleMeetsBy user group, message type
- Supervisory review and evidencePartialEvidence of review not stated
- Export for an examMeetsPST, EML, HTML, XML
- Delivers to an archive you already haveMeetsOr your existing archive
- Not verified by us
- Ask for: the carriers and plans that cover your advisers' lines, how iMessage is captured on your devices (its page says where supported), and how each supervisory review is recorded.
CellTrust
Capture layer, no archive- What it is
- A capture layer, not an archive. Its SL2 Enterprise platform captures texts four ways: Carrier Capture on corporate-liable phones, where the carrier copies SMS and MMS from the phone's own messaging app with no extra app (AT&T and Verizon in North America); App Capture, which puts a separate business number the firm owns on a personal phone; Stacked Capture, both on one device; and RCS Capture. Messages then go to the archive the firm chooses, with native Microsoft Purview integration.
- Who it fits
- A firm that already pays for an archive, or keeps its records in Microsoft 365, and needs advisers' texts added to it rather than a second archive to run.
- What the rule requires, and whether it meets it
- Carrier capture on the existing numberMeetsAT&T and Verizon, firm lines
- Capture on the phone (BYOD or firm)MeetsFirm-owned business number
- iMessage and WhatsAppPartialWhatsApp; iMessage not stated
- Audit trail or non-rewriteable storageCheck with vendorHeld in your archive
- Retention set per rulePartialApplied in your archive
- Supervisory review and evidencePartialPortal supervision; no evidence
- Export for an examCheck with vendorFormat not stated
- Delivers to an archive you already haveMeetsArchiving-agnostic; Purview
- Not verified by us
- Ask for: the archives it delivers to for your account, the export format of anything it holds itself, carrier coverage beyond AT&T and Verizon, and whether its portal records each review (reviewer, message, date, action).
Global Relay
Android capture and archive- What it is
- Global Relay for Android Messages captures SMS, MMS and RCS from the default texting app (Google Messages or Samsung Messages) on corporate-issued Android phones, keeps the existing corporate numbers and works with the firm's existing carriers. Texts land in the Global Relay archive with automated audit trails, optional WORM-compliant storage, retention terms and legal holds, and supervision with AI and lexicon tools whose reports cover proof of review.
- Who it fits
- A firm that issues Android phones to its advisers and wants texts reviewed in the same archive as its email and chat.
- What the rule requires, and whether it meets it
- Carrier capture on the existing numberCheck with vendorExisting carriers; on-device
- Capture on the phone (BYOD or firm)PartialFirm-issued Android only
- iMessage and WhatsAppPartialWhatsApp; iMessage not stated
- Audit trail or non-rewriteable storageMeetsAudit trails; optional WORM
- Retention set per ruleMeetsRetention terms, legal hold
- Supervisory review and evidenceMeetsLexicon; proof-of-review reports
- Export for an examPartialFormats not named
- Delivers to an archive you already haveNot statedIts own archive
- Not verified by us
- Ask for: iPhone coverage (the Android page does not state it), the export formats, and whether WORM storage is switched on for your account.
Archive Intel
On-phone capture and archive- What it is
- An archive and supervision platform for SEC- and FINRA-regulated firms that captures texts on the phone rather than at the carrier: iMessage, WhatsApp and Android texting in the native apps, on personal and firm phones. Its FAQ says personal-phone capture typically needs a lightweight mobile profile, and a contact whitelist keeps personal texts out. It states WORM-compliant cloud storage, an access audit trail, retention by channel and record type, and a formatted export without IT.
- Who it fits
- An RIA or broker-dealer whose advisers text clients from their own iPhones and want to keep their own number.
- What the rule requires, and whether it meets it
- Carrier capture on the existing numberNot statedCaptures on the phone
- Capture on the phone (BYOD or firm)MeetsMobile profile; same number
- iMessage and WhatsAppMeetsIn the native apps
- Audit trail or non-rewriteable storageMeetsWORM cloud; access audit trail
- Retention set per ruleMeetsBy channel and record type
- Supervisory review and evidencePartialAI flags; evidence not stated
- Export for an examMeetsFormatted export without IT
- Delivers to an archive you already haveNot statedIts own archive
- Not verified by us
- Ask for: what the mobile profile can see on a personal phone, the export formats, and how a review records the reviewer, the date and the action taken.
Intradyn
Email and text archive- What it is
- An archive for email, social media and texts. Its text page offers a lightweight Android or BYOD app, carrier-level capture, iMessage, WhatsApp, or any combination, on company or personal phones, with SMS, MMS and RCS named. Its financial page names broker-dealers and investment advisors, custom retention policies and exports in native or PDF format, and says it supports tamper-proof retention under either 17a-4 storage mode. Scheduled searches flag terms the firm defines.
- Who it fits
- A small firm that wants email and texts searched in one plain archive and will settle the storage mode in writing before it signs.
- What the rule requires, and whether it meets it
- Carrier capture on the existing numberPartialCarriers not named
- Capture on the phone (BYOD or firm)MeetsAndroid or BYOD app
- iMessage and WhatsAppMeetsiMessage and WhatsApp named
- Audit trail or non-rewriteable storageCheck with vendorSays either mode; not which
- Retention set per ruleMeetsCustom retention policies
- Supervisory review and evidencePartialScheduled term searches
- Export for an examMeetsNative or PDF
- Delivers to an archive you already haveNot statedIts own archive
- Not verified by us
- Ask for: which 17a-4(f) mode your texts are kept in, which carriers its carrier-level capture covers, and how a review is recorded.
Jatheon
Multi-route capture and archive- What it is
- An archive, in the AWS cloud or on a hardware appliance or VM behind the firm's firewall, whose text page names three capture routes: app-based capture, enterprise numbers, and direct carrier integrations with AT&T, Verizon, Vodafone, O2, T-Mobile and TELUS for corporate-owned iOS and Android phones. It keeps SMS, MMS, iMessage, WhatsApp, WeChat, voicemail and call logs as threaded conversations, leaves personal contacts out with whitelists and blacklists, and alerts supervisors on keywords.
- Who it fits
- A firm with a mix of firm-issued and personal phones that wants one vendor to pick the capture route device by device.
- What the rule requires, and whether it meets it
- Carrier capture on the existing numberMeetsAT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile named
- Capture on the phone (BYOD or firm)MeetsApp or enterprise number
- iMessage and WhatsAppMeetsiMessage, WhatsApp, WeChat
- Audit trail or non-rewriteable storageCheck with vendorAudit trails; WORM not stated
- Retention set per ruleMeetsRetention policies enforced
- Supervisory review and evidencePartialKeyword alerts; no evidence
- Export for an examMeetsExam-ready; formats unnamed
- Delivers to an archive you already haveNot statedIts own archive
- Not verified by us
- Ask for: its 17a-4(f) storage mode (immutable audit trails are stated, WORM is not), the export formats, and the carriers that cover US lines.
MirrorWeb
On-phone capture and archive- What it is
- A communications archiving and supervision platform for financial firms. Its mobile page captures iMessage, SMS and WhatsApp on BYOD or corporate phones with no wrapped apps and no second numbers, and its Trusted Contacts list archives only work conversations. Its financial-services page states Write Once, Read Many storage for SEC Rule 17a-4, and its supervision flags messages with an explained reason.
- Who it fits
- An adviser, from a one-person firm up, whose clients text iPhones and who wants texts, email and social media reviewed in one place.
- What the rule requires, and whether it meets it
- Carrier capture on the existing numberNot statedNot on its mobile page
- Capture on the phone (BYOD or firm)MeetsBYOD or firm; Trusted Contacts
- iMessage and WhatsAppMeetsiMessage, SMS, WhatsApp
- Audit trail or non-rewriteable storageMeetsWrite Once, Read Many
- Retention set per ruleCheck with vendorSettings not described
- Supervisory review and evidencePartialScored alerts; no evidence
- Export for an examMeetsFor exams; formats unnamed
- Delivers to an archive you already haveNot statedIts own archive
- Not verified by us
- Ask for: how capture works on a personal phone without an app or a second number, the retention settings, and the export formats.
How we read these vendors
Questions firms ask
Can carrier capture archive iMessage?
Not on the pages we read. Apple says iMessage travels between Apple devices over Wi-Fi or cellular data and is encrypted end to end, while the carrier capture pages name SMS and MMS. To keep iMessage, firms use capture on the phone (Archive Intel, MirrorWeb, Jatheon and Intradyn name it) or a written policy that keeps business off it. The record rules do not name any app; they cover the message.
17 CFR 275.204-2(a)(7); 17 CFR 240.17a-4(b)(4)
Does an adviser's text archive have to be WORM?
No. Rule 204-2(g) lets an adviser keep records electronically if it indexes them, keeps a duplicate copy, safeguards them from loss, alteration or destruction and can produce them promptly. It has no WORM requirement.
A broker-dealer's system must keep either a complete time-stamped audit trail or a non-rewriteable, non-erasable copy.
17 CFR 275.204-2(g); 17 CFR 240.17a-4(f)(2)(i)(A)-(B)
Who files the undertaking when a vendor holds our texts?
For a broker-dealer, an outside service that owns and operates the servers must file a written undertaking with the SEC that the records are the firm's property and will be surrendered promptly on request. Ask the vendor whether it files one for your account; Smarsh's 17a-4 page says it provides letters of undertaking. The rule has no such step for an adviser.
17 CFR 240.17a-4(i)(1)
How long must archived texts be kept?
An adviser keeps them not less than five years from the end of the fiscal year of the last entry, the first two years in an appropriate office. A broker-dealer keeps communications not less than three years, the first two in an easily accessible place, and FINRA ties correspondence retention to that same period. Check with your compliance counsel before setting any shorter schedule.
17 CFR 275.204-2(e)(1); 17 CFR 240.17a-4(b); FINRA Rule 3110.09
Can personal texts stay out of the archive?
The rules ask for business records, and vendors offer two ways to leave the rest out: a business-contact whitelist on the adviser's own number (Archive Intel, Jatheon and MirrorWeb describe one), or a separate business number the firm owns (CellTrust App Capture). Carrier capture copies everything on the line, which is why it suits a firm-issued, business-only phone.
17 CFR 275.204-2(a)(7); 17 CFR 240.17a-4(b)(4)
Is any text archiving software FINRA approved?
No. Neither FINRA nor the SEC approves vendors, and FINRA retired its Compliance Vendor Directory effective March 19, 2024. A vendor's compliance claim describes its product; the recordkeeping and review duties stay with the firm.
finra.org/industry/cvd