Smarsh is one of the most recognized names in communications compliance. If you’re evaluating Smarsh competitors or looking for a modern Smarsh alternative for SEC or FINRA compliance, this page compares Comma Compliance and Smarsh across capture, security, pricing, and exam readiness.
At a Glance
Smarsh is an enterprise platform built for large financial institutions. It acquired TeleMessage in 2024 to power its mobile capture: the same TeleMessage that was breached in May 2025 and has not resumed service. Comma Compliance is purpose-built for banks and broker-dealers with flat pricing, point-of-delivery capture, and open-source transparency on key capture modules.
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Comma Compliance | Smarsh |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | End-to-end — capture, archive, supervision, policy matching, and exam-ready case management, with open source transparency. | Modular capture, archive, supervision, and review workflows across multiple systems |
| Built-in archive | Yes — included in platform. Option to push to 3rd party. | Yes |
| WORM storage | Yes — written at point of capture | Yes |
| iMessage capture method | Point-of-delivery — not iCloud-dependent | iCloud backup-based |
| WhatsApp capture | Yes: captures both WhatsApp Business and personal WhatsApp. Open-source. | Via TeleMessage infrastructure as of 2026: services suspended as of 2025. |
| Signal capture | Yes — open-source capture code published on GitHub | Via TeleMessage. |
| Transparency | WhatsApp and Signal capture code published openly on GitHub — no NDA, no request required | Proprietary; capture methodology not publicly disclosed |
| Channels supported | 35+ channels where conversations happen: iMessage, WhatsApp, Signal, SMS, Voice, Microsoft 365, Teams, Exchange, OneDrive, Gmail, Google Workspace, Slack, Zoom, Webex, Bloomberg Chat, Salesforce, Telegram, and more | 80+ channels including email, mobile, social, voice, collaboration |
| Pricing model | Flat monthly pricing, all platforms included. No per-connector fees, no storage overages, no export fees. $33/user active, $15/user archival. | Not publicly listed; enterprise contract required; per-connector add-ons common; export fees may apply per contract |
| Free trial | Yes | Not publically offered. |
| Personal vs. business separation | Automatic contact-based filtering — personal contacts can be excluded automatically | Structural separation via separate compliant app, MDM containerization, or carrier-level capture |
| Policy processing | Yes — built in | Yes — via enterprise platform |
| Custom policy matching | Yes | Yes |
| Case management | Exam-ready — built for regulatory examination prep | eDiscovery and litigation-oriented, integrating with 3rd party Vendors. |
| AI compliance monitoring | Real-time policy scanning; human validation before escalation; no client data used for training without consent | ”AI-powered supervision” |
| Data ownership | Client retains full ownership; never sold or shared outside authorized sub-processors | Enterprise terms |
| Infrastructure | AWS and Azure, multi-AZ clustering. | AWS-based |
Competitor feature descriptions reflect publicly available documentation and may not capture all capabilities. Information is reviewed periodically.
When Smarsh may be a better fit
- Compliance programs built around legacy supervision and review workflows
- Firms already standardized on Smarsh’s ecosystem or long-term contracts
- Teams that require tight integration with eDiscovery platforms like Relativity
What Happened to Smarsh’s WhatsApp and Signal Capture
Smarsh acquired TeleMessage in February 2024 to power its WhatsApp, Signal, and Telegram capture. In May 2025, TeleMessage was breached and suspended all services. A CVE was published confirming that archived messages were stored as plaintext despite end-to-end encryption claims. As of October 2025, the service remains non-functional, and new user registration is not possible. For firms evaluating Smarsh for WhatsApp or Signal archiving today, the status of that capability is a direct question worth asking before signing a contract
Smarsh users: your archive will look different
If your Comma archive looks lower volume than your Smarsh archive, that’s not a gap. That’s the difference between capturing signal and capturing noise.
Legacy archivers built around email create duplicates by design: every reply appends the prior thread, every forward duplicates the chain. Smarsh shipped Echo Cancellation in December 2024 specifically to reduce that review load.
Comma’s architecture doesn’t create the problem in the first place.
The iMessage Capture Problem
Smarsh captures iMessages via iCloud backups, requiring backup enabled, available storage, power, and a locked device. Messages are only archived after Apple’s daily backup runs, so edits or deletions beforehand are reflected in the archive. Comma captures at point of delivery, writing messages to WORM storage immediately with no dependency on iCloud.
See why firms switch from Smarsh to Comma.
A 20-minute walkthrough — real capture, real-time flagging, transparent pricing.
Due Diligence
Questions to Ask Any Compliance Vendor
- 01
Where exactly is the message first captured - at the point of delivery, or after a backup or sync cycle?
- 02
What conditions must be true for a message to be captured? What happens if any of those conditions aren't met?
- 03
If a user edits or deletes a message before capture occurs, what version gets archived?
- 04
Can you show documentation - architecture diagrams, code, or an independent audit - of how your capture actually works?
- 05
Where are encryption keys stored, and who controls them?
- 06
Are all channels included in the base price, or are there per-connector fees?
- 07
Are there export or egress fees?
- 08
Does your case management workflow support regulatory examination prep?
- 09
Can cases be opened directly from flagged message threads?
- 10
Is any client data used to train your models? Under what conditions?
- 11
Can we adjust, refine, or contribute feedback to my policy models? (e.g., different languages, customer-complaint responses)
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