Communications archiving vendors
Archiving vendors capture a firm's email, texts, social posts and chat and keep them so they can be searched, reviewed and produced later; storage layers hold the records but capture nothing. This is AdviserDeck's own index, built from each vendor's own website as we read it on October 22, 2026. It is not a regulator's list: FINRA retired its Compliance Vendor Directory effective March 19, 2024, and no regulator endorses the vendors named here. A listing is not a recommendation: vendors appear in alphabetical order, with no ranking, ratings or prices, and our verdicts, with each vendor read against the rule, live on the comparison pages linked from each vendor's card. For the rule itself, read our guide to Rule 17a-4 and WORM storage.
Read October 2026
Archives and capture tools
Archive Intel
Communications archiving and supervision
An archive and review tool its site says is built for SEC- and FINRA-regulated firms, from solo RIAs to large broker-dealers, capturing email, social, collaboration apps and texts from the phone's own messaging apps.
Compared on
- Best email archiving software for advisers (SEC and FINRA)
- Best FINRA-compliant texting for advisers
- Best social media archiving software for advisers
- Global Relay alternatives, and what drives an archiving quote
- Smarsh alternatives for advisers and small broker-dealers
- Best text message archiving software for financial firms
- Best WhatsApp and iMessage archiving for financial firms
Also fits
- Compliant texting and messaging appsTexting capture on the phone's own apps
CellTrust
Mobile capture layer (SL2)
A mobile capture layer that records business texts and calls through an app number or directly at the carrier and passes them to whichever archive the firm already uses.
Also fits
- Compliant texting and messaging appsSL2 business number and carrier capture
Global Relay
Archive, capture, supervision, eDiscovery
A communications archive with capture connectors, supervision and eDiscovery that names finance among the industries it serves, from growing businesses to global enterprises.
Compared on
- Best email archiving software for advisers (SEC and FINRA)
- Best social media archiving software for advisers
- Best compliance software for small broker-dealers
- Smarsh alternatives for advisers and small broker-dealers
- Global Relay alternatives, and what drives an archiving quote
- Best text message archiving software for financial firms
- Best WhatsApp and iMessage archiving for financial firms
Also fits
- Compliant texting and messaging appsGlobal Relay App
Intradyn
Email and text archiving
An email and text archive whose financial page names broker-dealers and investment advisers, capturing texts through an app, at the carrier, or from iMessage and WhatsApp.
Jatheon
Cloud or on-premises archiving
A cloud or on-premises archive for email, social media, texts, collaboration tools and websites that lists financial services among the industries it serves.
MirrorWeb
Communications supervision and archiving
A supervision and archiving platform whose financial-services page names investment advisers, broker-dealers, hedge funds and private equity firms, covering texts, chat, social media and websites.
Compared on
- Best email archiving software for advisers (SEC and FINRA)
- Best social media archiving software for advisers
- Global Relay alternatives, and what drives an archiving quote
- Smarsh alternatives for advisers and small broker-dealers
- Best text message archiving software for financial firms
- Best WhatsApp and iMessage archiving for financial firms
Pagefreezer
Website, social media and chat archiving
Website, social media and chat archiving software that lists financial services among the industries it serves.
Proofpoint
Archive, Capture, Patrol, Supervision
A communications governance suite (archive, channel capture, social media supervision with Patrol, and review) for regulated organizations, including small and midsized ones.
Smarsh
Capture, archiving, supervision, surveillance
A capture, archiving and supervision platform whose financial-services pages name wealth managers, broker-dealers, RIAs and banks, with separate pages for small, scaling and large firms.
Compared on
- Best email archiving software for advisers (SEC and FINRA)
- Best FINRA-compliant texting for advisers
- Best social media archiving software for advisers
- Best compliance software for small broker-dealers
- Global Relay alternatives, and what drives an archiving quote
- Smarsh alternatives for advisers and small broker-dealers
- Best text message archiving software for financial firms
- Best WhatsApp and iMessage archiving for financial firms
- Best software for financial advisors: the compliant stack
- Best advertising review software for advisers
Also fits
- Compliant texting and messaging appsCapture Mobile
Storage for 17a-4(f), not message capture
Cloud storage features and document vaults that a firm or its archive vendor builds on. None of them captures email or texts by itself.
Amazon S3 Object Lock
Object storage feature (AWS)
An Amazon S3 feature that keeps stored objects in a write-once-read-many mode; AWS's page links an assessment by Cohasset Associates for SEC 17a-4 use.
Azure immutable Blob Storage
Object storage feature (Microsoft)
A Microsoft Azure storage feature with time-based retention and legal holds that its page says serves financial institutions and, in particular, broker-dealers.
FutureVault
Document vault and client portal
A digital vault and client document portal for broker-dealers, RIAs, family offices and banks; it stores documents and does not capture messages.
Google Cloud Storage Bucket Lock
Object storage feature (Google)
A Google Cloud Storage retention policy that, once locked, cannot be reduced or removed; Google's SEC compliance page cites a Cohasset Associates assessment.
IBM Cloud Object Storage
Cloud object storage (IBM)
Cloud object storage with immutable storage features that IBM's page aims at broker-dealers and other financial firms keeping records on electronic media.
Wasabi Hot Cloud Storage
Cloud object storage
Cloud object storage with an Object Lock compliance mode; Wasabi's pages link a Cohasset Associates assessment against SEC Rule 17a-4(f).