SteelEye is a compliance platform used globally. If you’re evaluating SteelEye competitors or looking for a SteelEye Alternative for SEC or FINRA compliance, this page compares Comma Compliance and SteelEye across architecture, channel coverage, and exam readiness.
At a Glance
SteelEye is a broad compliance platform: communications archiving, trade surveillance, and regulatory reporting. Comma Compliance is purpose-built for communications archiving and supervision, with flat pricing, open-source transparency on key capture modules, and exam-ready case management included.
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Comma Compliance | SteelEye |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | End-to-end — capture, archive, supervision, policy matching, and exam-ready case management, with open source transparency. | End-to-end — capture, archive, communications surveillance, trade surveillance, and regulatory reporting |
| Built-in archive | Yes — included in platform | Yes |
| WORM storage | Yes — written at point of capture | Yes |
| iMessage capture method | Point-of-delivery — not iCloud-dependent | Capture methodology not publicly detailed |
| WhatsApp capture | Captures both WhatsApp Business and personal WhatsApp | SteelEye has historically partnered with TeleMessage for WhatsApp capture; its current capture methods are not fully documented |
| Signal capture | Yes — open-source capture code published on GitHub | SteelEye has historically partnered with TeleMessage for Signal capture; its current capture methods are not fully documented |
| 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. | Email, voice, chat/mobile, financial messaging, and collaboration channels |
| 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 |
| Free trial | Yes | Not publicly offered |
| Personal vs. business separation | Automatic contact-based filtering — personal contacts can be excluded automatically | On BYOD, iMessage and Signal capture is tied to the device’s number, so personal messages are included. SteelEye recommends consent or dedicated business devices. |
| Policy processing | Yes — built in | Yes |
| Custom policy matching | Yes | Yes |
| Case management | Exam-ready — built for regulatory examination prep | eDiscovery, legal hold, and trade reconstruction |
| AI compliance monitoring | Real-time policy scanning; human validation before escalation; no client data used for training without consent | Compliance CoPilot |
| Data ownership | Client retains full ownership; never sold or shared outside authorized sub-processors | Not publicly detailed |
Competitor feature descriptions reflect publicly available documentation and may not capture all capabilities. Information is reviewed periodically.
When SteelEye may be a better fit
- Teams correlating communications with market data and price activity
- Firms requiring trade reconstruction across orders and executions
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)
See why firms switch from SteelEye to Comma.
A 20-minute walkthrough — real capture, real-time flagging, transparent pricing.
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