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Exterro vs Google Vault comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Exterro
Ranking in eDiscovery
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
5.1
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Google Vault
Ranking in eDiscovery
3rd
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
13
Ranking in other categories
Email Archiving (5th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the eDiscovery category, the mindshare of Exterro is 2.9%, down from 4.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Google Vault is 4.5%, down from 12.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
eDiscovery Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Google Vault4.5%
Exterro2.9%
Other92.6%
eDiscovery
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2844027 - PeerSpot reviewer
Assistant Professor of Cybersecurity and Digital Forensics at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
Hands-on forensic training has bridged academic learning and real-world investigation practice
Speed has been an issue, but at the same time, I wasn't sure if that is particularly something that could be improved because I understand that there are large forensic images and can take a significant amount of time to process. That has been one thing with my students. Usually when they're doing a lab, they have to take a lot of time to actually process the image. Sometimes I actually give them processed images for the latter labs, but when it comes to creating the disk images themselves and processing the images, it takes a lot of time. At the same time, sometimes the memory and hardware requirements could be demanding as well, specifically for lower-spec machines that students usually have. Although we do have lab machines that FTK runs on smoothly, for machines that students use, sometimes they can't be very high-end, so that is a real constraint. Since I am in academia, I would actually think more in terms of the academic pricing and licensing model. I would really appreciate if Exterro actually has an academic pricing or licensing model. Sometimes the cost could be a barrier. If Exterro has an academic program where it could partner up with universities to even give out exam vouchers or have some students sit for the exam with a reduced price and work with the institution, that would be really great.
Rahul Gill - PeerSpot reviewer
GWS/M365 Consultant at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Has supported data retention and export tasks while leaving room for greater automation and feature expansion
If we can have more APIs open for Google Vault, that would be great, and instead of doing it manually, it would be better to do it programmatically. I think there is an API available with Google Vault, though I'm not certain about it. I have never used Vault programmatically, but if APIs exist, then it's beneficial, and if there aren't any, we should have the capability for programmers to create some sort of scripting so they can fetch the data. I assess the export feature in Google Vault in terms of ease and efficiency as quite efficient because most of the data we want to see is available in MBOX and PST formats. If possible, I would want to see Google Vault support additional formats such as iCal, iCad, or CardDAV, which are for iPhone users.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"In my opinion, the best feature Exterro offers is the in-depth imaging process it provides."
"We like the reporting functionality. It just seems very clean."
"The biggest positive impact on students of Exterro has been readiness, as they actually graduate with hands-on experience in an industry-standard platform that employers use, which essentially bridges the gap between academic learning and real-world practice."
"Exterro has had a positive impact on my organization by bringing many conveniences and delivering quick answers so that the board can make the best decision between terminating someone or even finding out if the person under investigation is or is not guilty in that incident."
"Exterro has positively impacted my organization by providing many features that aid in fast investigations of images, machines, systems, or files."
"In my opinion, the best features Exterro offers are complete, cheap, and free solutions."
"As a forensic science student, I can realistically use Exterro for all of my academic work."
"It takes a lot of manual processes out, saves time, and lowers overall organizational risks."
"In my opinion, the search functionality is the best feature."
"Google Vault is a solution we can use for the data export of end-users."
"What I appreciate about Google Vault is that one of the best features is the ability to use retention policies; it covers mail, chat groups, calendars, sites, Drive, and Google Voice, and the data will remain in Google Vault even if it gets deleted by the user accidentally or intentionally."
"One of the noteworthy aspects is that nothing ever gets deleted, which is convenient."
"My impression is that the initial setup process is not that difficult."
"The most valuable feature of Google Vault is its reliability."
"Overall, I would rate Google Vault a ten out of ten."
"Google Vault acts as a great method for retrieving files from Google Drive and Gmail."
 

Cons

"Exterro can be improved by adding more sandboxing plugins or features since investigations increasingly require finding malicious files, processes, or any kind of DLLs or EXEs."
"In my opinion, Exterro can be improved with more accessible prices."
"Sometimes the memory and hardware requirements could be demanding as well, specifically for lower-spec machines that students usually have."
"I think one of the pain points I had was the number of emails that had to be sent out. If there was a way to just maybe reduce the bulk — that would be great."
"Exterro could be improved because the documentation seems to be very short, and sometimes the kickoff setup is very tricky and confusing."
"Searching could be improved. There's a lot of limitations when searching with Google Vault."
"Google Vault lacks speed."
"One thing I've noticed is that it splits the data files into multiple parts, like the PFT files. For example, when there is a large data size of any account, the backup process splits it into many files. This can be confusing and not very efficient when trying to manage the backups."
"Although it does a good job of searching through data and exporting it, I feel that Google Vault should have more export options available to the user. As a reseller, our customers demand a lot from their Google products, and exporting is one area where there's a lot of improvement needed."
"So, when doing a search, perhaps in some instances when you use terms, the information is not very precise in the sense that I'm not getting what I'm looking for. And in some instances, the information, not all the time, but in some instances, it might not be accurate. For example, when doing a search, if you use too many terms, it might not return any results."
"Compared to Microsoft, they have more features in terms of compliance and retention policies."
"Google Vault needs to improve its data export timing because sometimes, it takes a very long time to export the data."
"EDiscovery could be improved. It's used for searching, holding, and exporting data for Vault and I believe it should be updated."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"Google Vault comes as part of a package deal for us."
"Last year, the price was randomly increased and our customers were really facing a challenge around this. Google launched new pricing under different plans, where formerly there were only three plans, and now there are four, each with their own separate usage allowances. I think it's good, though. The basic plan is now the Business Starter plan, and many customers find this plan very convenient and minimal in price. Overall, the pricing for all the plans is good."
"The pricing is fairly cheap."
"The solution is expensive."
"Google Vault is a cheaply priced product. Monthly payments are to be made towards the licensing costs attached to the solution. There are no extra costs apart from the licensing costs attached to the solution."
"If you have Google Enterprise, then Google Vault is free to use."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
University
10%
Outsourcing Company
10%
Construction Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Educational Organization
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Large Enterprise4
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise3
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Exterro?
The pricing for me is acceptable, though not comfortable considering I live in Brazil. The exchange questions for the dollar make it quite difficult.
What needs improvement with Exterro?
I am not frustrated with Exterro; I appreciate the changes, but I think it could enhance by continuing to evolve. The perfect score does not exist, but giving it a nine reflects that it is not perf...
What is your primary use case for Exterro?
My main use case for Exterro is to conduct forensics about fraud in payments and identify fraud in transactions while supporting federal policies in Brazil regarding fraudsters. It helps me identif...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Google Vault?
There is no setup cost; it's only the pricing which one needs to pay upon subscribing to Google Vault services.
What needs improvement with Google Vault?
If we can have more APIs open for Google Vault, that would be great, and instead of doing it manually, it would be better to do it programmatically. I think there is an API available with Google Va...
What is your primary use case for Google Vault?
A few use cases for Google Vault involve using it for custodian purposes where we have to store their mails, calendars, and mostly the mails, which we have done as a custodian process in order to s...
 

Also Known As

Exterro Fusion
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Allstate, Statoil, AOL, Nike, Citgo, Target, UnitedHealth Group, Microsoft, MetLife, VISA, Oracle, American Express
Broadcom, Dr. Agarwal’s Eye Hospital, Globeflight, Maven Wave, McClatchy, NII Holdings, Safetec, Sheboygan County
Find out what your peers are saying about Exterro vs. Google Vault and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
909,725 professionals have used our research since 2012.