Archiving Websites and Data

Tools that can help preserve access to websites and datasets that are needed for research and publication. This guide was created from the work of Shauna-Kay Harrison and Abby Sypniewski

Save Page Now

Save Page Now
Allows users to submit links to web pages that they would like the Internet Archive to save to the Wayback Machine.

Description of Save Page Now features
Save Page Now	Description
Creator	Internet Archive
Technology	Heritrix Crawler Brozzler Crawler
Requirements	Browser access
Ease of Use	No training needed
Location of Archived Data	Archived webpage can be viewed in Internet Archives' Wayback Machine
Access	No account is needed to use this feature, but if you would like to see a collection of archived pages, a free account must be created at Archive.org and you must be logged in when submitting links to be archived
Advantages	Provides access to Internet Archive's technology Users can see webpages theyve contributed to be archived
Disadvantages/Other Considerations	Ease of Access Lack of customizability/quality assurance Lack of ownership of the archived content Archived content is automatically public

Archive-It

Archive-It
Browser-based service and tools to crawl, review, save, describe, store, and display archived web pages.

Description of Archive-It features
Archive-It	Features
Creator	Internet Archive
Technology	Heretrix Crawler Brozzler Crawler
Requirements	Browser access
Ease of Use	Intuitive GUI, some training is necessary
Location of Archived Data	WARC files stored on Internet Archive servers, option to download to local storage
Access	Wayback Machine portal for account
Advantages	All-in-one web archiving service that is widely adopted across institutions Good tech support Batch loading Scheduling options Can ignore robots.txt
Disadvantages/Other Considerations	Paid service limits total data per year Some technical crawler and playback limitations Can't evaluate crawls until they finish Manual QA of test crawls can be time-intensive

Browsertrix

Browsertrix
Browser-based tools to crawl, review, save, describe, store, and display archived web pages.

Description of Browsertrix features
Browsertrix	Features
Creator	Web Recorder
Technology	Varies
Requirements	Browser access
Ease of Use	Intuitive, some training needed
Location of Archived Data	Capture, organize, and view captured webpages in Replay/Web.page and download locally as WACZ
Advantages	Relatively easy to use Uses real browsers to get behind paywals and logins Watch crawls as they happen Replay technology is embedded in same place as crawling technology
Disadvantages/Other Considerations	Monthly cost Instagram and Facebook requires extra setup Will capture comments and commenters' usernames and profile photos under social media posts

Conifer

Conifer
Allows user to create a collection of captured webpages and view them within the browser.

Description of Conifer features
Conifer	Description
Creator	Web Recorder/Rhizome
Technology	Varies
Requirements	Browser access
Ease of Use	Intuitive, some training needed
Location of Archived Data	Capture, organize and view captured webpages in web browser (i.s. cloud storage)
Access	Login required. Access and 5GB of storage are free. Pay for additional storage and features
Disadvantages/Other Considerations	Limited amount of space

WARCreate

WARCreate
Generate WARC files that can later be replayed in an emulator such as Web Archiving Integration Layer (WAIL) or be uploaded to Archive-it.

Description of WARCreate features
WARCreate	Description
Creator	Mat Kelley
Technology	N/A
Requirements	Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge
Ease of Use	Intuitive, no training needed
Location of Archived Data	WARC file that can be downloaded locally
Access	No login required
Advantages	Easy and quick way of saving WARC files for later use
Disadvantages/Other Considerations	Does not have built-in replay capabilities

zotero
Allows user to organize and save sources in one place and generate bibliography and citations.

Description of Zotero features
Zotero	Features
Technology	N/A
Requirements	Desktop app and browser extension
Ease of Use	Semi-intuitive, some training is needed
Location of Archived Data	Stored locally on computer (Zotero Settings -> Advanced -> Files and Folders to find where Zotero data resides on your computer)
Access	Log in and desktop app required. Software is free and a set amount of storage is given for free. If users need to go over this amount, more storage is available at a cost.
Advantages	Easy way to save webpages and resources (attached resources can be saved alongside the webpage, but uses more storage) Users can add notes, tags, folders, and work collaboratively Aids with bibliography generation and can work with Google Docs and Microsoft Word to add citations
Disadvantages/Other Considerations	Some training needed

Perma.cc

Perma.cc
Creates a shareable permanent link that prevents link rot.

Description of Perma.cc features
Perma.cc	Features
Creator	Harvard Law School Library
Technology	N/A
Requirements	Browser access
Ease of Use	Intuitive, some training needed
Location of Archived Data	A permanent link that can be shared anywhere
Access	Account needed. Free for academic use. Individual accounts will need a paid subscription.
Advantages	Easy way of creating permanent links that can be used safely in citations and when sharing information
Disadvantages/Other Considerations	Paid subscription for individual use/no academic institution affiliation

Print-to-PDF

Print-to-PDF
Allow non-pdf files to be saved as a PDF.

Description of Print-to-PDF features
Print-to-PDF	Features
Creator	Adobe
Technology	N/A
Requirements	Account and subscription
Ease of Use	Intuitive, no training needed
Location of Archived Data	Converted PDF file that can be downloaded locally
Access	Windows software, potential Adobe account and subscription
Advantages	Quick and easy way to save sites as files for personal use
Disadvantages/Other Considerations	Windows only. MacOS has this functionality built-in for Word and Pages. Google Chrome allows print-do-pdf. For webpages an Adobe subscription is also needed

Auto Archiver

Auto Archiver
Python tool to automatically archive social media posts, videos, and images from a Google Sheet, the console, and more. Uses different archivers depending on the platform, and can save content to local storage, S3 bucket (Digital Ocean Spaces, AWS, ...), and Google Drive. If using Google Sheets as the source for links, it will be updated with information about the archived content. It can be run manually or on an automated basis.

Description of Auto Archiver features
Auto Archiver	Features
Creator	Bellingcat
Technology	Varies
Requirements	Command line, Python, or Docker, Google Sheets
Ease of Use	Intermediate, training needed with command line or Python but can be made easier using Docke
Location of Archived Data	Google Sheets (or other document output) with the information below
Access	Open source, free to use
Advantages	No webpage or desktop app needed
Disadvantages/Other Considerations	Service is more manual and understanding of the command line may be needed

Web Curator Tool

Web Curator Tool
Workflow management tool for selecting, crawling websites, performing quality assurance and preparing websites for ingest into a preservation system.

Description of Web Curator Tool features
Web Curator Tool	Features
Creator	National Library of New Zealand, British Library, International Internet Preservation Consortium
Technology	Webrecorder’s pywb Heritrix crawler
Requirements	Installed app
Ease of Use	Intermediate GUI, some training needed
Location of Archived Data	WARC file that can be downloaded locally
Access	Free of use. Account needed.
Advantages	A full tool for web archiving planning, execution User is able to Demo the tool before committing Developed specifically for non-technical users
Disadvantages/Other Considerations	Does not have built-in replay capabilities

HTTracker

HTTracker
Capture, or rather copy, websites to a local repository. These websites can then be viewed locally without connection.

Description of HTTracker features
HTTracker	Features
Creator	Xavier Roche
Technology	Written in C (programming language)
Requirements	Installed app
Ease of Use	Intermediate, command line needed to execute service
Location of Archived Data	Copied HTML, CSS, JavaScript files downloaded locally
Access	Free of charge
Advantages	Command line is needed but minimally Allows the user to capture and navigate the website in its original context without in-browser emulator
Disadvantages/Other Considerations	Output format not as suitable for long-term preservation

Web Archiving Integration Layer (WAIL)

Web Archiving Integration Layer (WAIL)
Crawls and saves websites from a GUI application on your desktop and allows you to view crawled sites in a web-browser.

Description of Web Archiving Integration Layer (WAIL) features
Web Archiving Integration Layer (WAIL)	Features
Creator	Mat Kelley
Technology	Heritrix 3.2.0 OpenWayback 2.4.0
Requirements	Installed app
Ease of Use	Intuitive GUI, Security settings may need to be adjusted for MacOS users
Location of Archived Data	Web view of archived page stored locally
Access	No account needed, free of charge
Advantages	Provides Archive-it technology free of charge
Disadvantages/Other Considerations	Same limitations as Archive-It technology Independent, open-resource project with less security measures

Last Updated: Oct 8, 2025 7:38 AM

Subjects: Government, Politics & Law, How-to