openarchiver is a self-hosted email archiving platform for backup, compliance, and eDiscovery, while osquery is a free, open-source tool that exposes an…
Best for openarchiver: Compliance and records teams needing to archive and full-text search Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, or IMAP mailboxes, or import historical PST/EML files.
Best for osquery: Security and IT teams wanting to query OS state — running processes, network connections, file hashes — via SQL across Linux, macOS, and Windows fleets.
At a Glance
openarchiver
osquery
Primary category
Security
Security
Rating
Not documented
Not documented
Pricing model
Open Source
Open Source
Starting price
Free (self-hosted)
Free
Free plan
Not documented
Not documented
Free trial
Not documented
Not documented
Platforms
Not documented
Not documented
Team collaboration
Not documented
Not documented
AI features
Not documented
Not documented
Public API
Not documented
Yes
Key Differences
Core Function
openarchiver: openarchiver archives and indexes email for compliance and eDiscovery.
osquery: osquery exposes operating system and endpoint state for security monitoring.
The two tools monitor completely different data: mail content versus OS/endpoint state.
Query Model
openarchiver: openarchiver offers no query language; it indexes mail for full-text search instead.
osquery: osquery exposes the OS as a relational database queryable via SQL, with ad hoc querying through osqueryi and continuous scheduled monitoring via osqueryd, backed by 100+ built-in tables.
osquery requires SQL and systems knowledge to use effectively; openarchiver requires mailbox connector setup instead.
Licensing & Governance
openarchiver: openarchiver is listed as Freemium and described as free, but its specific license and governance details aren't documented.
osquery: osquery is free, dual-licensed under Apache 2.0 and GPL 2.0, and governed under the vendor-neutral Linux Foundation.
Vendor-neutral governance signals a project isn't controlled by a single commercial entity.
Platform Coverage
openarchiver: openarchiver connects specifically to Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, and IMAP mail platforms, or imports PST/EML files.
osquery: osquery runs cross-platform on Linux, macOS, and Windows for general OS instrumentation.
The two tools cover entirely different surfaces — mailboxes versus endpoints.
Extensibility
openarchiver: openarchiver's documented extensibility is limited to its mail connectors and PST/EML import formats.
osquery: osquery provides Thrift-based APIs for building custom applications and extensions on top of the query engine.
Extensibility determines how easily a tool can be customized for advanced use cases.
Feature-by-Feature
Core Purpose
Feature
openarchiver
osquery
Email archiving
Available
Unavailable
OS / endpoint instrumentation
Unavailable
Available
Full-text search of records
Available
Unavailable
SQL-based querying
Unavailable
Available
Deployment & Licensing
Feature
openarchiver
osquery
Self-hosted deployment
Available
Available
Open-source license documented
Not documented
Available
Cross-platform OS support (Linux/macOS/Windows)
Not documented
Available
Vendor-neutral foundation governance
Not documented
Available
Integration & Extensibility
Feature
openarchiver
osquery
Microsoft 365 / Google Workspace connectors
Available
Unavailable
PST/EML import
Available
Unavailable
100+ built-in OS tables
Unavailable
Available
Thrift API extensions
Not documented
Available
Pricing Compared
Starting price reflects the lowest paid tier, not the full cost for every team size or usage level.
openarchiver
Self-Hosted Community — Free N/A
osquery
Open Source — Free N/A
Pros & Cons
openarchiver
Pros
Fully open source with no license fee for the core platform
Full data ownership and sovereignty since everything is self-hosted
Tamper-evident storage and audit trails suited to compliance and eDiscovery needs
Supports major mail platforms including Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, and IMAP
Portable .eml storage format avoids vendor lock-in
Cons
Requires self-hosting expertise and infrastructure to operate reliably
No official hosted cloud offering or published SaaS pricing tier
Smaller company and community compared to established commercial archiving vendors
Enterprise support depends on a partner program rather than a large in-house support team
Newer project with a shorter track record than long-established archiving suites
osquery
Pros
Completely free and open source with no licensing costs
Powerful SQL abstraction makes complex endpoint investigation queries accessible to teams already comfortable with SQL
Cross-platform support across Windows, macOS, and Linux
Vendor-neutral governance under the Linux Foundation reduces single-company risk
Proven at scale by major technology companies including Airbnb, Netflix, and Uber
Extensible schema supports custom tables for organization-specific data
Cons
No built-in fleet management UI, dashboards, or alerting out of the box
Requires pairing with a separate tool like Fleet or Kolide for practical fleet-wide deployment
Writing effective, performant queries at scale requires a learning curve
Log pipeline and alerting infrastructure must be built or integrated separately
Community development pace can vary since it depends on volunteer and sponsoring-company contributions
Use Cases
Choose openarchiver: Compliance and records teams needing to archive and full-text search Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, or IMAP mailboxes, or import historical PST/EML files.
Choose osquery: Security and IT teams wanting to query OS state — running processes, network connections, file hashes — via SQL across Linux, macOS, and Windows fleets.
Need both: A security team could run osquery across endpoints to monitor process and file activity for threat detection while running openarchiver separately to retain email records for compliance — endpoint visibility and mail archiving addressing different parts of the same security program.
openarchiver
Regulatory email retention — Meet legal and regulatory requirements to retain and produce email records for a defined retention period.
Litigation holds and eDiscovery — Search and export tamper-evident email archives with a verifiable chain of custody during legal disputes.
Self-hosted mailbox migration and backup — Archive mailboxes before decommissioning accounts or migrating between email platforms, preserving full-text searchable history.
osquery
Security incident investigation — Security teams use osquery's SQL interface to investigate endpoint compromises by querying process, network, and file system state across affected hosts.
Fleet-wide compliance monitoring — IT and security teams schedule osqueryd queries across their device fleet to continuously monitor for configuration drift and compliance violations.
Infrastructure visibility at scale — DevOps teams at large technology companies use osquery to gain queryable visibility into server and workstation state across thousands of hosts.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do openarchiver and osquery compete?
No. They're in different categories — email archiving versus SQL-based OS/endpoint instrumentation.
Is osquery free?
Yes, dual-licensed under Apache 2.0 and GPL 2.0, with no paid tier from the project itself; fleet management typically requires a separate tool such as Fleet.
Is openarchiver free?
It's listed as Freemium and described as a free email archiver, but paid-tier pricing isn't documented.
Can osquery archive email?
No. osquery queries operating system and endpoint state; it has no email archiving functionality.
Does openarchiver run SQL queries against endpoints?
No. Its documented scope is mailbox connectors and PST/EML import for archiving.