How we make this list: we compare pricing pages, product documentation and public user reviews. Ratings come from G2, Capterra or Trustpilot, with the date we checked them.
Key takeaways
- A legal hold is a defensibility exercise, not just a notification: the tools here preserve data in place, track custodian acknowledgments and produce audit trails that hold up in court.
- Collaboration data is the hard part: Onna, Hanzo and Pagefreezer specialize in preserving Slack, Teams and social content that email-centric tools mangle.
- Exterro and Casepoint are the enterprise suites for hold plus collection, review, privacy and forensics; Casepoint carries FedRAMP High and DOD IL6 authorizations.
- Every vendor on this list is quote-based, so build a demo-and-scoping phase into your timeline and compare total implementation cost, not just licenses.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Best for | Starting price | Free plan |
|---|
 Exterro | Large corporate legal teams and government agencies wanting one system of record across the full EDRM lifecycle | See website (enterprise, quote-based) | No free plan published |
 Onna (Reveal) | Corporate legal teams whose evidence now lives in collaboration apps rather than email | See website (quote-based) | No free plan published |
 Pagefreezer | Legal and compliance teams whose matters hinge on websites, social media and chat content | See website (quote-based) | No free plan published |
 Logikcull (Reveal) | Law firms, small corporate legal teams and public agencies that want to run discovery in-house | See website (per-GB storage plans; no dollar figures published) | Sample matter free (no permanent free plan) |
 Everlaw | Litigation teams and firms that live in document review | See website (quote-based) | No free plan published |
 Casepoint | Government agencies, defense-adjacent organizations and regulated enterprises where security authorization is non-negotiable | See website (enterprise, quote-based) | No free plan published |
 Smarsh | Financial services, public sector and highly regulated organizations where the hold problem is communications compliance | See website (quote-based) | No free plan published |
 Hanzo | Legal and compliance teams whose biggest headache is Slack, Teams and dynamic web content that legacy tools mangle | See website (quote-based) | No free plan published |
Is your product missing or out of date?
We review this list regularly. Vendors can request a listing, send updated pricing or ask about featured placement.
The best legal hold software
When litigation is reasonably anticipated, the duty to preserve kicks in, and deleting the wrong Slack thread can cost more than the lawsuit. Legal hold software exists to make preservation defensible: issue holds to custodians, preserve data in place across dozens of sources, track acknowledgments, and produce an audit trail that survives judicial scrutiny. The eight tools below cover the category from collaboration archiving specialists to full enterprise eDiscovery suites.
Every vendor here prices by quote, so there are no published per-user figures to compare. The price column says so honestly instead of repeating third-party guesses.
#1
Exterro
Best for: Large corporate legal teams and government agencies wanting one system of record across the full EDRM lifecycle
Visit exterro.com
Starting priceSee website (enterprise, quote-based)
Free planNo free plan published
Exterro is the breadth play. Instead of stitching a hold tool to a collection tool to a review tool, large legal teams run the whole lifecycle on one platform, with agentic AI handling the manual coordination between stages. The 190-plus connectors preserve data in place across enterprise sources, and the platform extends into data privacy and digital forensics.
The catch is scale. This is an enterprise platform with an enterprise implementation: expect a scoping engagement, professional services and an annual contract. Small legal teams will find it heavy and expensive. For organizations that run enough matters to justify consolidation, the single-system-of-record argument is strong.
What we like- One platform unifying legal hold, collection, processing, review, privacy and digital forensics
- 190+ connectors act on data in place behind the firewall
- FedRAMP-authorized solutions available
Watch out for- Enterprise pricing can be prohibitive for small legal teams
- Implementation can be complex and time-consuming
#2
Onna (Reveal)
Best for: Corporate legal teams whose evidence now lives in collaboration apps rather than email
Visit onna.com
Starting priceSee website (quote-based)
Free planNo free plan published
Onna solves the modern preservation problem: the evidence is in Slack threads, not inboxes. No-code connectors pull collaboration data into one defensible, searchable platform with no IT tickets, and a single action triggers in-place legal hold preservation with a full audit trail. Data can be culled by 70 percent or more before export, which cuts downstream review cost.
The scope note matters. Onna covers collection, preservation and early case assessment; document review happens in Logikcull or Reveal, which makes sense since all three now sit in Reveal's suite. Setup is genuinely fast: day one, not month three. For teams drowning in collaboration data, it is the most direct fix.
What we like- 29+ no-code connectors centralize Slack, Google Workspace, Zoom and Atlassian into one searchable platform
- In-place legal hold preservation with one action and a full audit trail
- Setup and first collection within one business day
Watch out for- Quote-based pricing with no self-serve tier
- Now bundled inside Reveal's suite, so the roadmap follows Reveal's integration strategy
#3
Pagefreezer
Best for: Legal and compliance teams whose matters hinge on websites, social media and chat content
Visit pagefreezer.com
Starting priceSee website (quote-based)
Free planNo free plan published
Pagefreezer is the capture specialist. Websites, social media accounts and Teams or Slack chats are archived in their native, interactive format with digital signatures, so the evidence holds up in court exactly as it appeared. A one-click legal hold overrides retention schedules, which is the feature compliance teams in regulated industries actually need.
The boundary is review. Pagefreezer preserves and exports defensibly, including EDRM-XML exports to major eDiscovery platforms, but complex litigation review needs a dedicated review tool. For FOIA shops, financial services compliance and any matter where a webpage or a social post is the evidence, the capture fidelity is the reason to buy.
What we like- Captures dynamic web, social and collaboration content in native, interactive format with tamper-proof WORM storage
- One-click legal hold overrides retention schedules, and exports carry SHA-256 signatures
- Strong fit for government (FOIA), financial services (SEC/FINRA) and regulated industries
Watch out for- Quote-based pricing, and add-ons for scale can push cost up
- Built for archiving and preservation, not a full eDiscovery review platform
#4
Logikcull (Reveal)
Best for: Law firms, small corporate legal teams and public agencies that want to run discovery in-house
Visit logikcull.com
Starting priceSee website (per-GB storage plans; no dollar figures published)
Free planSample matter free (no permanent free plan)
Logikcull is the accessibility pick. Drag-and-drop uploads, 300-plus automated processing steps and a three-step production wizard make it the easiest serious eDiscovery tool to adopt: no outside counsel, no vendor hand-holding. Plans run Pay As You Go (monthly, per GB stored, 10 GB minimum) up to an annual Subscription and a Corporate Suite with unlimited legal holds and collection from 31-plus sources.
The honest catch is tiering. The base plans are review-first; the deep legal hold and collection capability sits in Corporate Suite alongside Reveal's hold tooling. Per-GB pricing is predictable until a data-heavy matter lands, so model your volumes. For firms bringing discovery in-house for the first time, the learning curve is the gentlest here.
What we like- Self-service discovery automation: spin up a project in 30 seconds, review in minutes
- Predictable storage-based pricing with unlimited users, projects and downloads
- Bulk redaction, PII detection and automated deduplication
Watch out for- Per-GB costs can surprise on data-heavy matters
- Legal hold and collection depth live in the higher Corporate Suite tier
#5
Everlaw
Best for: Litigation teams and firms that live in document review
Visit everlaw.com
Starting priceSee website (quote-based)
Free planNo free plan published
Everlaw is the review platform litigators actually enjoy opening. AI clustering, predictive coding and search sit inside a modern interface, with storytelling and trial preparation tools that carry a matter from review to the courtroom. The open platform and API, including an MCP server for AI integrations, make it the most extensible system of record here.
The positioning note is important. Everlaw is a review platform first; legal hold and preservation are handled by pairing it with tools like Onna, Pagefreezer or Hanzo. Implementation includes onboarding and unlimited training, which the advanced features genuinely need. If your team lives in review, start here and add preservation around it.
What we like- Intuitive, modern interface with built-in AI clustering, predictive coding and trial preparation
- One evidentiary system of record with open platform and API
- Unlimited training and dedicated customer success
Watch out for- Enterprise pricing, expensive for small firms or solo practitioners
- Legal hold is not its center, so it pairs with preservation tools
#6
Casepoint
Best for: Government agencies, defense-adjacent organizations and regulated enterprises where security authorization is non-negotiable
Visit casepoint.com
Starting priceSee website (enterprise, quote-based)
Free planNo free plan published
Casepoint is the security play. FedRAMP High and DOD Impact Level 5 and 6 authorizations make it deployable where most competitors cannot go, which is why government agencies and defense-adjacent enterprises standardize on it. The unified platform covers hold, eDiscovery, FOIA and investigations with AI that has a decade of legal-workflow refinement behind it.
Everything about Casepoint is enterprise: contracts, implementation timelines, price and a partnership-style engagement with professional services. Small firms should not bother. For buyers whose first question is about authorization boundaries, nothing else on this list answers it as completely.
What we like- Unified platform for legal hold, eDiscovery, FOIA, investigations and compliance on one cloud-native base
- FedRAMP Moderate and High plus DOD IL5/IL6 authorizations
- Intentional, transparent AI refined over a decade in legal workflows
Watch out for- Enterprise pricing and white-glove implementation, not built for small shops
- Sales-led process with demos and scoping before real numbers appear
#7
Smarsh
Best for: Financial services, public sector and highly regulated organizations where the hold problem is communications compliance
Visit smarsh.com
Starting priceSee website (quote-based)
Free planNo free plan published
Smarsh is the communications-compliance pick. More than 100 channels are captured with full context, metadata and threads into one archive, with supervision and surveillance layered on top. The built-in legal hold runs on immutable WORM storage that satisfies SEC 17a-4 and FINRA retention rules, and a dedicated SMB capture-and-archive edition serves smaller firms.
The category note matters. Smarsh is an archiving and governance platform with discovery features, not a litigation review platform; complex matters will still export to a review tool. For regulated firms whose legal hold duty centers on communications, the capture breadth is unmatched.
What we like- Captures 100+ communication channels (email, Teams, Slack, Zoom, WhatsApp, voice) into one indexed archive
- Built-in legal hold with immutable WORM storage supporting SEC 17a-4, FINRA and MiFID II
- Single-click hold and discovery workflow with AI-assisted search
Watch out for- Quote-based enterprise cost structure
- Fundamentally an archiving and governance platform, so heavy litigation review may still need a dedicated review tool
#8
Hanzo
Best for: Legal and compliance teams whose biggest headache is Slack, Teams and dynamic web content that legacy tools mangle
Visit hanzo.co
Starting priceSee website (quote-based)
Free planNo free plan published
Hanzo is the fidelity pick for collaboration data. Where legacy tools flatten a Slack channel into a useless transcript, Hanzo preserves threads, reactions, edits and deletions intact, in place, inside your own tenant. Chronicle handles forensic-grade website and social preservation; Illuminate handles collaboration discovery; Spotlight AI cuts first-pass review from weeks to hours.
The in-tenant deployment is the differentiator for security-conscious buyers: data never leaves your infrastructure. The trade is scope; full EDRM review means exporting to a review platform. For teams whose matters live in Slack and Teams, the preservation quality justifies the enterprise sales process.
What we like- Purpose-built for dynamic collaboration data: Slack, Teams and Google Workspace preserved in place with threads, reactions and edits intact
- Runs inside your own environment, so data never leaves your infrastructure
- Spotlight AI automates relevancy assessment without manual first-pass review
Watch out for- Niche focus on collaboration and dynamic content, not a full-suite eDiscovery platform
- Enterprise sales motion with no published pricing
How we chose
We started with the categories buyers search: legal hold software, litigation hold software and eDiscovery preservation tools. For each candidate we opened the vendor's homepage and product pages, checked capabilities against practitioner reviews on G2 and Capterra and legal-tech analyst coverage, and compared preservation depth, source coverage and defensibility features. No vendor in this category publishes prices, so every price column says so rather than repeating estimates as fact.
Preservation vs. review: buy the right half first
These tools split into two halves of the same workflow. Onna, Pagefreezer, Smarsh and Hanzo preserve: they capture and hold data defensibly from collaboration apps, websites and communication channels. Logikcull and Everlaw review: they process, search, redact and produce documents for litigation. Exterro and Casepoint do both on one platform, at enterprise scale and price.
The common mistake is buying review software when the problem is preservation, or vice versa. If your pain is custodians deleting Slack messages, you need a preservation tool, not a review platform. If your pain is reviewing 200,000 documents before production, you need review. Many buyers end up with one of each: a preservation tool feeding a review platform. Budget for the pair, not just the half you noticed first.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Best for | Starting price | Free plan |
|---|
| Exterro | Large corporate legal teams and government agencies wanting one system of record across the full EDRM lifecycle | See website (enterprise, quote-based) | No free plan published |
| Onna (Reveal) | Corporate legal teams whose evidence now lives in collaboration apps rather than email | See website (quote-based) | No free plan published |
| Pagefreezer | Legal and compliance teams whose matters hinge on websites, social media and chat content | See website (quote-based) | No free plan published |
| Logikcull (Reveal) | Law firms, small corporate legal teams and public agencies that want to run discovery in-house | See website (per-GB storage plans; no dollar figures published) | Sample matter free (no permanent free plan) |
| Everlaw | Litigation teams and firms that live in document review | See website (quote-based) | No free plan published |
| Casepoint | Government agencies, defense-adjacent organizations and regulated enterprises where security authorization is non-negotiable | See website (enterprise, quote-based) | No free plan published |
| Smarsh | Financial services, public sector and highly regulated organizations where the hold problem is communications compliance | See website (quote-based) | No free plan published |
| Hanzo | Legal and compliance teams whose biggest headache is Slack, Teams and dynamic web content that legacy tools mangle | See website (quote-based) | No free plan published |
Is your product missing or out of date?
We review this list regularly. Vendors can request a listing, send updated pricing or ask about featured placement.
What "defensible" actually requires
Vendors love the word defensible, but it has a specific meaning: a documented chain of custody, preservation in native format, tamper-evident storage, custodian acknowledgment tracking, and an audit log of every action. In practice that means WORM storage (Pagefreezer, Smarsh), SHA-256-signed exports (Pagefreezer), in-place preservation that prevents deletion (Onna, Hanzo), and hold notices with tracked acknowledgments (Exterro, Casepoint, Logikcull Corporate).
When evaluating, ask each vendor to walk through a spoliation scenario: a custodian deletes a Slack channel after the hold issues. What stops it, what records the attempt, and what does the audit trail show a judge? The vendors that answer concretely are the ones whose defensibility claims you can trust. The ones that answer with marketing language are telling you something too.
Frequently asked questions
What is legal hold software?
Software that manages the duty to preserve information for litigation or investigations: issuing hold notices to custodians, preserving data in place across email, collaboration apps and devices, tracking acknowledgments, and maintaining audit trails. It replaces the spreadsheet-and-email process that fails under scrutiny.
How much does legal hold software cost?
Every vendor on this list prices by quote, so there are no published figures to compare. Expect enterprise platforms (Exterro, Casepoint) to run into six figures annually with implementation; mid-market tools (Onna, Smarsh, Hanzo, Pagefreezer) quote by data volume and custodian count; Logikcull's self-serve plans are storage-based with a 10 GB minimum. Get scoped quotes from at least three vendors.
What is the difference between legal hold and eDiscovery software?
Legal hold is the preservation half: stop deletion, keep the evidence. eDiscovery is the full lifecycle: identify, collect, process, review and produce. Some tools do both (Exterro, Casepoint); others specialize in preservation (Onna, Pagefreezer, Hanzo, Smarsh) or review (Everlaw, Logikcull). Most organizations need preservation first and add review as matters demand it.
Can Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace handle legal holds on their own?
Both have native hold capabilities (Purview, Vault), and small matters can run on them. Dedicated tools add cross-platform coverage, custodian acknowledgment tracking, defensible audit trails, collaboration-app fidelity that native tools mangle, and review workflows. If your evidence spans Slack, personal devices or social media, native holds are not enough.
What happens if an employee deletes data under a legal hold?
That is spoliation, and courts can impose sanctions up to adverse inference instructions or case-ending penalties. Good hold software prevents it technically (in-place preservation that blocks deletion) and documents it (audit logs of the attempt). The software does not replace the legal process: holds must still be issued properly and custodians must still acknowledge them.
How long does implementation take?
It varies widely. Onna and Logikcull can collect within a day; Pagefreezer and Hanzo onboard in weeks with guided setup; Exterro and Casepoint run scoping engagements and professional services that take months. Match the implementation timeline to your risk: if a matter is already open, you need the fast ones.
Sources we checked (10)
- https://exterro.com/
- https://onna.com/
- https://pagefreezer.com/legal-hold/
- https://logikcull.com/pricing
- https://everlaw.com/
- https://www.casepoint.com
- https://smarsh.com/
- https://hanzo.co/use-cases/legal-hold-software/
- https://www.g2.com/categories/ediscovery
- https://www.capterra.com/ediscovery-software/
Is your product missing or out of date?
We review this list regularly. Vendors can request a listing, send updated pricing or ask about featured placement.
Shihab Mia · Founder, Rankite
Shihab has 5+ years in B2B and SaaS SEO. He writes Rankite's software buying guides from pricing pages, documentation and public user reviews. More about Shihab.