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Aid4Mail

Aid4Mail vs Metaspike FEC

A detailed comparison of Aid4Mail with Metaspike Forensic Email Collector (FEC) to help you choose the right email forensics tool

Exclusive Offer: FEC Users Save 30%

Switch to Aid4Mail Investigator and save 30% on your first-year annual subscription for one license. Valid FEC license required.

Claim Your Discount

First-year discount for one Investigator license per new Aid4Mail customer with a valid FEC license. Additional licenses at regular price. Regular pricing applies upon renewal.

Aid4Mail

3 Editions

Complete Email Processing Suite

Starting from 299 /year

or 49 /month

Key Strengths:

  • 40+ email formats supported
  • OneDrive/SharePoint cloud attachments
  • AI-powered analysis (industry-first)
  • PDF production with Bates stamping
  • Email carving & advanced recovery
  • Command-line automation
  • Free portable Email Viewer (with tagging)
  • Tiered pricing for different needs

Metaspike FEC

Single Edition

Server Email Collection Tool

$1,399 one-time

+ $420/year maintenance after

Key Strengths:

  • One-time purchase option
  • Hit count reporting
  • VHDX containerization
  • Better calendar/contact/note support

Detailed Pricing & Key Feature Comparison

Aid4Mail Converter
Entry Level
Aid4Mail Investigator
Professional
Aid4Mail Enterprise
Organization
Metaspike FEC
Single Edition
Annual Cost
299
or 49 /month
999
or 129 /month
4999
or 649 /month
$1,399
First year
$420/year after
Email Formats
40+
40+
40+
~10
Local Files (PST, OST, etc.)
✓
✓
✓
🞪
Output Formats (PDF, CSV, etc.)
✓
✓
✓
🞪
Portable Email Viewer
✓
✓
✓
🞪
Cloud Attachments
🞪
✓
✓
Google only
Inline Search
🞪
✓
✓
✓
In-place Search
🞪
✓
✓
✓
AI Analysis
🞪
✓
✓
🞪
Command-line
🞪
🞪
✓
🞪
Multi-user license
🞪
🞪
✓
🞪
Hit Count Report
🞪
🞪
🞪
✓
VHDX Container
🞪
🞪
🞪
✓

💡 Key Insight: Aid4Mail offers flexible pricing with edition choices for different needs

Even the entry-level Converter edition supports more formats than FEC at a fraction of the cost

Detailed Feature Comparison

Click any category to expand and see detailed feature comparisons

40+

Aid4Mail Formats

~10

FEC Formats

✓

AI Analysis

3

Edition Choices

Microsoft 365 / Exchange Online

Aid4Mail

✓ (Graph API, MAPI, IMAP)

Metaspike FEC

✓ (Graph/EWS, IMAP)

Gmail / Google Workspace

Aid4Mail

✓ (Gmail API, IMAP)

Metaspike FEC

✓ (Gmail API, IMAP)

Yahoo! Mail / AOL

Aid4Mail

✓ (bypasses 100k cap)

Metaspike FEC

✓ (bypasses 100k cap)

Generic IMAP servers

Aid4Mail

✓

Metaspike FEC

✓

POP3 servers

Aid4Mail

🞪

Metaspike FEC

✓

Exchange Server (EWS/MAPI)

Aid4Mail

✓

Metaspike FEC

✓

Public Folders / Shared Mailboxes

Aid4Mail

✓ (via MAPI)

Metaspike FEC

✓ (via EWS)

Google Takeout

Aid4Mail

✓

Metaspike FEC

✓

Google Vault

Aid4Mail

✓ (Investigator+)

Metaspike FEC

✓

PST, OST, MSG files

Aid4Mail

✓

Metaspike FEC

🞪

Generic MBOX formats

Aid4Mail

✓

Metaspike FEC

🞪

OLM (Mac Outlook)

Aid4Mail

✓

Metaspike FEC

🞪

Apple Mail (EMLX)

Aid4Mail

✓

Metaspike FEC

🞪

EML files

Aid4Mail

✓

Metaspike FEC

🞪

Native Maildir

Aid4Mail

✓

Metaspike FEC

🞪

Mimecast exports

Aid4Mail

✓ (Enterprise only)

Metaspike FEC

🞪

Proofpoint exports

Aid4Mail

✓ (Enterprise only)

Metaspike FEC

🞪

Google Drive collection

Aid4Mail

✓ (Investigator+)

Metaspike FEC

✓

OneDrive/SharePoint collection

Aid4Mail

✓ (Investigator+)

Metaspike FEC

🞪 (planned)

Document revision history

Aid4Mail

✓ (Investigator+)

Metaspike FEC

✓ (Google only)

Metadata preservation

Aid4Mail

✓

Metaspike FEC

✓

Modern Authentication (OAuth 2.0)

Aid4Mail

✓

Metaspike FEC

✓

App-Only / Tenant-wide access

Aid4Mail

✓

Metaspike FEC

✓

Remote Authenticator utility

Aid4Mail

✓

Metaspike FEC

✓ (Mac-compatible)

Unpurged/double-deleted mail

Aid4Mail

✓ (Investigator+)

Metaspike FEC

✓ (IMAP, Exchange)

Email carving from disk images

Aid4Mail

✓ (Investigator+)

Metaspike FEC

🞪

Corrupted MBOX recovery

Aid4Mail

✓

Metaspike FEC

🞪

MIME reconstruction

Aid4Mail

✓

Metaspike FEC

🞪

Journaling envelope removal

Aid4Mail

✓

Metaspike FEC

🞪

EDRM MIH deduplication

Aid4Mail

✓

Metaspike FEC

🞪

Server-side keyword filtering

Aid4Mail

✓ (unlimited results)

Metaspike FEC

✓ (caps apply)

Yahoo/AOL search limits

Aid4Mail

Overcomes 1k limit

Metaspike FEC

1k search limit

Complex query syntax

Aid4Mail

✓

Metaspike FEC

✓

Full-text search

Aid4Mail

✓

Metaspike FEC

✓

Attachment content search

Aid4Mail

✓

Metaspike FEC

✓

Wildcards/Regex support

Aid4Mail

✓

Metaspike FEC

✓

Proximity searches

Aid4Mail

✓

Metaspike FEC

✓

Multilingual stemming

Aid4Mail

✓ (24 languages)

Metaspike FEC

Unknown

Custom Python filtering

Aid4Mail

✓

Metaspike FEC

🞪

Hit count report

Aid4Mail

🞪

Metaspike FEC

✓

Natural language filtering

Aid4Mail

✓

Metaspike FEC

🞪

AI classification/categorization

Aid4Mail

✓

Metaspike FEC

🞪

AI summarization/analysis

Aid4Mail

✓

Metaspike FEC

🞪

Offline AI models

Aid4Mail

✓

Metaspike FEC

🞪

Multiple AI providers

Aid4Mail

✓ (6+ providers)

Metaspike FEC

🞪

PST output

Aid4Mail

✓

Metaspike FEC

✓

MSG output

Aid4Mail

✓

Metaspike FEC

✓

EML output

Aid4Mail

✓

Metaspike FEC

✓

MBOX output

Aid4Mail

✓

Metaspike FEC

🞪

PDF with Bates

Aid4Mail

✓

Metaspike FEC

🞪

HTML export

Aid4Mail

✓

Metaspike FEC

🞪

Plain-text export

Aid4Mail

✓

Metaspike FEC

🞪

CSV/TSV export

Aid4Mail

✓

Metaspike FEC

🞪

JSON (AI-optimized)

Aid4Mail

✓

Metaspike FEC

🞪

XML export

Aid4Mail

✓

Metaspike FEC

🞪

Extract attachments

Aid4Mail

✓

Metaspike FEC

🞪

Portable Email Viewer

Aid4Mail

✓ (Free)

Metaspike FEC

🞪

iCalendar (.ics)

Aid4Mail

🞪

Metaspike FEC

✓

vCard (.vcf)

Aid4Mail

🞪

Metaspike FEC

✓

Command-line interface

Aid4Mail

✓ (Enterprise only)

Metaspike FEC

🞪

Server deployment

Aid4Mail

✓ (Enterprise only)

Metaspike FEC

Single machine

Concurrent processing

Aid4Mail

✓ (Investigator+)

Metaspike FEC

Unknown

Calendar item support

Aid4Mail

Limited

Metaspike FEC

✓

Contact item support

Aid4Mail

Limited

Metaspike FEC

✓

Note item support

Aid4Mail

Limited

Metaspike FEC

✓

VHDX containerization

Aid4Mail

🞪

Metaspike FEC

✓

Use Case Recommendations

Choose Aid4Mail for:

  • Investigations requiring local file analysis (PST, OST, EMLX, etc.)
  • Cases needing OneDrive or SharePoint cloud attachments
  • AI-assisted review and analysis requirements
  • Legal production with PDF/Bates stamping needs
  • Collaborative email review with free portable viewer
  • Email recovery and forensic carving scenarios
  • Command-line automation and server deployment (Enterprise)
  • Budget-conscious organizations needing professional features

Choose FEC for:

  • VHDX containerization requirements
  • Better calendar, contact, and note item support
  • Hit count reporting functionality
  • Organizations requiring one-time purchase for accounting
  • Teams already deeply integrated with FEC workflows

💡 Pro Tip: Aid4Mail’s tiered editions let you choose exactly the features you need without overpaying

Frequently Asked Questions

What’s the main difference between Aid4Mail and Metaspike FEC?

Aid4Mail offers a complete email processing suite with three editions (Converter, Investigator, Enterprise) supporting 40+ formats, AI analysis, and flexible pricing. FEC is a single-edition tool focused primarily on server-based email collection with better support for calendar, contact, and note items.

Which Aid4Mail edition should I compare to FEC?

Aid4Mail Investigator (999/year) is the most comparable to FEC in terms of features. It includes cloud attachment collection, advanced recovery, and AI analysis. However, even Aid4Mail Converter (299/year) offers more format support than FEC for basic email processing needs.

Can FEC users get a discount when switching to Aid4Mail?

Yes! We offer a 30% discount on the first year of one Aid4Mail Investigator annual subscription to FEC clients who can provide proof of purchase when contacting sales. Additional licenses are available at regular price. Regular pricing applies upon renewal.

Which tool should I choose for my needs?

Choose Aid4Mail if you need: local file analysis (PST, MBOX, etc.), AI-assisted review, OneDrive attachments, diverse export formats, or command-line automation. Choose FEC if you specifically need: VHDX containerization, better calendar/contact/note support, or hit count reporting.

Ready to Choose the Right Tool?

Join thousands of professionals who chose Aid4Mail for superior features and flexible pricing. FEC users get 30% off their first Investigator license!

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