Microsoft Purview eDiscovery vs Smarsh Enterprise Platform comparison

Microsoft and Smarsh are both solutions in the eDiscovery category. Microsoft is ranked #1 with an average rating of 7.8, while Smarsh is ranked #8. Microsoft holds a 10.7% mindshare in eD, compared to Smarsh’s 4.5% mindshare. Additionally, 87% of Microsoft users are willing to recommend the solution.

Microsoft Purview eDiscovery

Read 8 Microsoft Purview eDiscovery reviews

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1,838 Comparison Views

87% willing to recommend

Smarsh Enterprise Platform

460 Views
460 Comparison Views

Microsoft Purview eDiscovery

Smarsh Enterprise Platform

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 18, 2026

Smarsh Enterprise Platform and Microsoft Purview eDiscovery compete in compliance and risk management. Microsoft Purview eDiscovery is noted for its comprehensive feature set, which justifies its cost.

Features: Smarsh captures and archives communication across various channels, ensuring compliance in regulatory environments. Microsoft Purview eDiscovery focuses on data collection, processing, and analysis, providing robust tools for legal and compliance tasks. Smarsh emphasizes extensive communication capture, while Purview offers advanced analytics.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Smarsh offers an intuitive deployment process with dedicated customer support during onboarding. Microsoft Purview eDiscovery facilitates streamlined integration with other Microsoft services, benefiting existing Microsoft users. Smarsh is recognized for personalized assistance, and Purview's strength is its compatibility within Microsoft environments.

Pricing and ROI: Smarsh's competitive pricing yields a quick return on investment for organizations focused on communication compliance without extensive analytics. Microsoft Purview eDiscovery, despite higher setup costs, provides substantial value for comprehensive eDiscovery solutions. Smarsh focuses on cost-effectiveness, while Purview offers justified advanced features at a premium.

To learn more, read our detailed eDiscovery Report (Updated: January 2026).

Buyer's Guide

eDiscovery

January 2026

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Helped 880,745 peers since 2012

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

Microsoft Purview eDiscovery

Ranking in eDiscovery

1st

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Microsoft Security Suite (22nd)

Smarsh Enterprise Platform

Ranking in eDiscovery

8th

Average Rating

0.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the eDiscovery category, the mindshare of Microsoft Purview eDiscovery is 10.7%, down from 26.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Smarsh Enterprise Platform is 4.5%, up from 3.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

eDiscovery Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Microsoft Purview eDiscovery	10.7%
Smarsh Enterprise Platform	4.5%
Other	84.8%

eDiscovery

Featured Reviews

reviewer2595618

Senior System Engineer at a sports company with 5,001-10,000 employees

Has made it significantly easier to handle rare litigation requests

The speed of it is valuable. I am able to search even 10,000 mailboxes for specific content. It helps search and accommodate the often limited information provided by users regarding what they need. It provides a solid starting point, and then we are able to refine the data from there. That has been very helpful because we do not always get enough information from our users to know what to look for. For example, a user is missing an email from x date but does not know anything else. In such a case, I give them a list of emails to look at so that they can tell me what they are missing. It is not a lack of the tool. It is more of a lack of the user providing info.

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Government

13%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	3
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	3

No data available

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Purview eDiscovery?

The setup process was very straightforward. We acquired pricing through our reseller in NASDAQ, eliminating the need to search for prices ourselves.

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What needs improvement with Microsoft Purview eDiscovery?

The query language can be time-consuming to figure out if you don't know it initially. While there are options with dropdowns to select criteria, having a natural language feature would be benefici...

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What is your primary use case for Microsoft Purview eDiscovery?

I sometimes use it for legal holds or to find lost items, and to determine what is going on. However, most of the time, my use case is legal-related.

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Comparisons

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Compared 27% of the time

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Compared 9% of the time

Varonis Platform vs Microsoft Purview eDiscovery

Compared 7% of the time

Exterro vs Microsoft Purview eDiscovery

Compared 6% of the time

Nuix eDiscovery vs Microsoft Purview eDiscovery

Compared 3% of the time

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Epiq eDataMatrix vs Smarsh Enterprise Platform

Compared 33% of the time

Casepoint vs Smarsh Enterprise Platform

Compared 12% of the time

Exterro vs Smarsh Enterprise Platform

Compared 9% of the time

OpenText eDiscovery and Investigations vs Smarsh Enterprise Platform

Compared 9% of the time

IBM eDiscovery Manager vs Smarsh Enterprise Platform

Compared 7% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Purview eDiscovery

January 2026

Download Microsoft Purview eDiscovery product report

Buyer's Guide

eDiscovery

January 2026

Download Smarsh Enterprise Platform product report

Also Known As

No data available

Micro Focus eDiscovery, Autonomy eDiscovery, HPE Autonomy eDiscovery, HPE eDiscovery, Actiance

Overview

Efficiently respond to legal matters or internal investigations with intelligent capabilities that reduce data to only what’s relevant. Discover data where it lives. Discover and collect data in place, within your Microsoft Purview boundary. Manage workflows efficiently. Streamline your eDiscovery process with an end-to-end workflow from one platform. Accelerate your process. Get insights quickly with built-in capabilities, reducing review time and costs.

To learn more about our solution, ask questions, and share feedback, join our Microsoft Security, Compliance and Identity Community.

Microsoft

Smarsh Enterprise Platform provides essential solutions for organizations needing comprehensive communication capture and archiving. Tailored for compliance, e-discovery, and risk management, it handles communication data efficiently.

Designed for organizations across industries, Smarsh Enterprise Platform addresses critical needs for securely capturing, archiving, and analyzing communications. It integrates seamlessly to manage data across multiple channels, ensuring compliance and facilitating e-discovery processes. This technology supports various communication modes such as email, social media, and mobile messages, bringing all essential data into a single, manageable repository. Its architecture is adaptable and scalable, helping companies maintain stringent regulatory standards.

What are the key features of Smarsh Enterprise Platform?

Comprehensive Data Capture: Easily supports capturing messages from numerous channels.
Advanced Search and Discovery: Enables swift retrieval for analysis and legal purposes.
Secure Cloud Archiving: Provides safe, reliable storage with cloud scalability.

Which benefits and ROI can be expected when evaluating Smarsh Enterprise Platform?

Regulatory Compliance: Ensures adherence to industry standards, reducing legal risks.
Cost Efficiency: Lowers archiving and retrieval costs through streamlined processes.
Enhanced Data Security: Protects sensitive information with robust security measures.

Smarsh Enterprise Platform is versatile, proving beneficial in industries like finance and healthcare, where data compliance is critical. It helps financial firms manage communication audit trails and assists healthcare organizations in safeguarding patient-related communications.

Smarsh

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Bank AlJazira, MTS India, Vodafone Ireland

Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, Google, Commvault and others in eDiscovery. Updated: January 2026.

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We monitor all eDiscovery reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.