What is the best email archiving for small RIAs?

Turret makes one of the products compared here.

Turret fits a small RIA on Google Workspace or Microsoft 365: published price, no setup fee, sent and received mail archived, outbound review with a written reason per flag.

$99/mo for 5 mailboxes · no setup fee · 15-day free trial

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Built by an RIA, for RIAs.

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Turret vs Smarsh, Global Relay

Smarsh and Global Relay beside Turret
	Turret	Smarsh, Global Relay
Publishes a price
States its setup fee up front
Advertises a free trial
Captures mobile messaging and chat apps

✗ for Smarsh and Global Relay means not stated on the pages we cite; for Turret it means not offered. Sources

Free tools you can use online

Both are free, and neither needs an email address:

Marketing Rule checklist

SEC email readiness self-check

What Turret's archive search looks like

Turret keeps a searchable copy of each monitored mailbox's sent and received mail, Trash included. This is the archive search screen. Spam, drafts and chats are not captured.

From Turret's demo firm; example data.

The seven options side by side

Seven email archiving options side by side. Checked October 27, 2026.

Option	Who it's for / who can buy	Published price	Setup fee	Contract term and leaving	Free trial or self-serve start	Email platforms	Beyond email	Review of email
Turret	Built for 2–20 person RIAs; sign up on your own	$99/mo for 5 mailboxes, then $25 each	None	Cancel anytime; kept 60 days after; export on request	15-day free trial; card at end of setup	Google Workspace and Microsoft 365	Website archive; no texts, chat apps, social or voice	Outbound mail only: pattern checks, AI triage, queue
Google VaultPlatform tool	In Business Plus and Enterprise; add-on via Google Sales	Included in some editions; add-on price not stated	Part of your Workspace plan; setup fee not stated	Export as PST or mbox; export files last 15 days	Part of your Workspace plan; separate trial not stated	Google Workspace only	Gmail, Drive, Calendar, Chat (when history is on)	None described in Google's Vault documentation
Microsoft PurviewPlatform tool	Licensed per user inside Microsoft 365 plans	Business Premium: $22/user/mo, yearly; not a Purview price	Part of your Microsoft 365 plan; setup fee not stated	Export as PST or .msg; page names E3 or E5 licenses	Part of your Microsoft 365 plan; separate trial not stated	Exchange Online and other Microsoft 365 services	Other Microsoft 365 locations, e.g. Teams, Viva Engage	Inbound, outbound, internal; E5-tier or E3 add-on
XYPN Archive	XYPN members (fee-only); non-members: contact for pricing	Basic included with membership; Archive+ $150/mo	Not stated on the pages we checked	Closure at month end; export up to a year at a time	Trial not stated; help-center steps to add accounts	Help-center setup for Google Mail and Microsoft Mail	Social media, website; lists text-message tools	Keyword flags on sent or received content
RIA in a Box (now Comply for RIA)	RIAs, SEC and state-registered; no size threshold stated	Not stated on the pages we checked	Not stated for the RIA product on the pages we checked	Not stated for the RIA product on the pages we checked	Demo only; no free trial stated	2021 release names Google G Suite and Microsoft 365	Texts via partners, social posts, website; voice not listed	Keyword flags, sample sizes, filters by channel
Global Relay	Says it scales from tens of users to tens of thousands	Not stated on the pages we checked	Not stated on the pages we checked	Per order form, 2-year renewals; export is fee-based	Not stated on the pages we checked; demo offered	Microsoft 365 Exchange Online and Google Workspace	Messaging, collaboration, mobile, voice, social, website	Lexicon analysis, AI explains why an alert is raised
Smarsh	Solo advisers to multi-location firms; SMB offer	Not stated on the pages we checked	Not stated on the pages we checked	Per order form, 12-month renewals; paid export after exit	Not advertised; agreement mentions order-form trials	Microsoft 365, Google Workspace and others	Texts, chat, social, voice and web	AI supervision that flags risks for review

'Not stated on the pages we checked' means the page is silent; it never means the vendor has no such thing. Google Vault and Microsoft Purview are platform tools, not archive vendors.

Competitor details are from each vendor's public pages as of October 27, 2026 and may have changed. Confirm pricing and terms with the vendor.

Where a cell says not stated, ask in writing. Then find your firm:

If you want a published price, no setup fee and a self-serve trial, look at Turret; the table shows only Turret stating all three.
If you license Google Business Plus or Microsoft 365 E5, look at what Vault or Purview already give you.
If you are an XYPN member, look at XYPN Archive.
If you want a compliance program too, look at RIA in a Box.
If you use texts or social media, look at RIA in a Box, Global Relay or Smarsh; XYPN members, see the XYPN line.
If you are a dual registrant, look at Global Relay or Smarsh; their pages name Rule 17a-4.

The details

By Nick Cianci, founder of Turret. He runs Muse Capital Management LLC, an SEC-registered investment adviser.

Last reviewed October 27, 2026

The short answer

Choose on five things: your mail platform, the channels your people use for business, how review works, what each vendor states about price and terms, and how you leave. Turret fits a small RIA whose business runs on email in Google Workspace or Microsoft 365. Texts or social media, XYPN membership, a compliance suite or a broker-dealer registration point to other options.

Whether any option meets Rule 204-2 for your firm is for your CCO and counsel.

What this means for your firm

Write down which channels your firm uses for business (email, texts, chat apps, social media) before you read a vendor page.
Ask each vendor you shortlist for price, setup fee, contract term, renewal notice and export terms in writing.
Check that the vendor's own page names your mail platform, Google Workspace or Microsoft 365.
Decide who reviews flagged mail and how often, and put it in your written policy: how to review RIA email.

Turret archives sent and received email and reviews outbound mail, from $99 a month with no setup fee.

Six questions about how your firm keeps and reviews email: take the SEC email-readiness self-check.

In short

Retention floor: Five years from the end of the fiscal year in which the last entry was made on the record, the first two years in an appropriate office of the adviser (Rule 204-2(e)(1); Cornell LII, 17 CFR 275.204-2)
Review direction: Turret pattern-checks outbound mail only. Microsoft says Communication Compliance policies can cover inbound, outbound and internal messages (Microsoft Learn, Manage Communication Compliance policies)
Setup fee: Turret charges none. Smarsh and Global Relay: not stated on the pages we checked (Smarsh, investment advisers page; Global Relay, finance solutions page)

What Rule 204-2 asks of an archive

Paragraph (a)(7) names the mail to keep, received and sent:

"Originals of all written communications received and copies of all written communications sent by such investment adviser relating to: (i) Any recommendation made or proposed to be made and any advice given or proposed to be given;"

17 CFR 275.204-2(a)(7)(i)

Items (ii) to (iv) add funds and securities, orders, and performance. Paragraph (e)(1) sets a floor of "not less than five years from the end of the fiscal year during which the last entry was made on such record". Paragraph (g)(2) asks that records be indexed, produced promptly in the stored format and as a printout, and duplicated in a separate store. The rule names outcomes, not a product. See which emails an RIA must keep and how long Rule 204-2 records are kept.

What should a small RIA compare in an email archiving vendor?

Compare five things: your mail platform, the channels you use beyond email, how review works, what each vendor states about price, setup fee, term and trial, and how you leave and what export costs.

Mail platform. Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 or both. Confirm the vendor's own page names yours.
Channels. Texts, chat apps, social media and voice are separate from email. Choose for the channels your firm really uses for business.
Review. Ask which direction is checked (inbound, outbound or both), whether flags are keyword, AI or both, and what record of each review is kept.
Price, setup fee, trial and term. Per mailbox, per user, by membership or by quote; whether a price, a setup fee and a trial are stated; the initial term, the auto-renewal length and the notice window.
Leaving. Export format, cost and time limits. See switching email archiving vendors and what email archiving costs a small RIA.

Where Turret fits

Turret fits a small RIA on Google Workspace or Microsoft 365. It copies each monitored mailbox's sent and received mail and keeps it searchable under your retention policy while you subscribe. Outbound mail gets pattern checks; flagged mail gets AI triage with a written reason and goes to a reviewer queue. Email is $99 a month for 5 mailboxes, $25 per extra mailbox, no setup fee, 15-day free trial. Mail deleted before Turret copied it cannot be recovered.

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When is Turret the wrong pick for a small RIA?

Turret archives email and reviews outbound mail only, so it is the wrong pick if your firm needs texts, chat apps or social media in one archive, Rule 17a-4 features, a full compliance-program suite, or inbound mail reviewed.

Texts, chat apps, social media or voice. Smarsh lists all four; Global Relay, messaging, mobile, voice and social media; RIA in a Box, texts through partners and social posts; its page does not list voice.
Rule 17a-4 features. Smarsh says its platform "supports immutable WORM storage for SEC 17a-4". Turret makes no Rule 17a-4 claim; see Does SEC Rule 17a-4 apply to RIAs?
A compliance-program suite. RIA in a Box lists drafting a Code of Ethics, managing personal trading and filing Form ADV; Turret has none.
Inbound review. Turret checks outbound mail only. XYPN Archive flags content "sent or received"; Communication Compliance can cover inbound.
XYPN members. Basic is included with membership.

Choose Turret for email archiving with outbound review, a published price and no setup fee.

Can Google Vault or Microsoft Purview be enough on their own?

For retention, sometimes. Both keep mail inside your platform under rules an administrator sets, and what you get depends on your edition or plan. The Vault pages we checked describe no review, and Purview's Communication Compliance is listed for E5-tier plans or E3 with an add-on.

Google Vault. Choose it if your edition includes it and your CCO reviews mail another way. Asked if it is a backup or archive tool, Vault's FAQ answers "No. Vault isn't designed to be a backup or archive tool." Google's Vault overview lists Business Plus (not Business Starter or Standard) among the editions that include it; for other editions it says to contact Google Sales about an add-on. See Is Google Vault enough for SEC Rule 204-2?

Microsoft Purview. Fits a firm on Microsoft 365 whose administrator will build the retention policies. Communication Compliance can review inbound, outbound and internal messages; Microsoft lists it for E5-tier plans or Office 365 E3 with the Advanced Compliance add-on, and Business Premium is not listed. Microsoft's pages differ on which plans can export. See Is Microsoft 365 retention enough for SEC Rule 204-2?

When XYPN Archive or RIA in a Box fits

XYPN Archive. For XYPN members: Basic is included with membership, which has its own fee; Archive+ is $150 a month for members. XYPN's blog calls the archive "available only to XYPN members", and its help page describes a non-member option for firms that leave. It covers email, social media and website, with keyword flags on content "sent or received". See XYPN Archive compared with Turret.

RIA in a Box. Choose it if you want a compliance program alongside archiving: its pages list drafting a Code of Ethics, managing personal trading and filing Form ADV, and Comply's tier charts (PDFs) list a marketing review tool in every software tier. It states no price (the call to action is a demo), and says typical onboarding takes "approximately 6-8 weeks". A 2024 brochure for the RIA in a Box private-fund product states a one-time set-up fee; we found no setup fee stated for the RIA product.

When Global Relay or Smarsh fits

Global Relay. Choose it if you want email plus messaging, mobile and voice from one vendor and a sales-led purchase suits you. Its investment-advisors page describes "a total recordkeeping, supervision, and audit solution for RIAs". Unless the order form says otherwise, its Master terms renew in two-year terms, notice is due 90 to 120 days before the initial term ends, and export is for a fee.

Smarsh. Suits a firm that wants email, texts, chat apps, social media and voice in one archive and a sales-led purchase. No price is stated on the pages we checked. Unless the order form says otherwise, the posted agreement renews in 12-month terms. Smarsh says Professional Archive has self-service export at no cost; the agreement says that after termination, export is paid professional services.

Ask either for the order form's term, renewal notice and export terms before you sign. More in Global Relay compared with Turret and Smarsh compared with Turret.

Sources

Sources opened October 27, 2026. Each link is the company's own page unless the label says otherwise.

The rule

Smarsh

Global Relay

XYPN Archive

RIA in a Box (now Comply for RIA)

Google Vault

Microsoft Purview

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