What is the difference between Purview and Compliance Agent?
In short: Purview assesses where you stand; Compliance Agent helps you verify adherence to your organisation’s policies. If you already use Microsoft Purview, you have made the right investment; Compliance Agent does not replace it, it works alongside it.
What does Microsoft Purview do?
All this site can say is this: Microsoft Purview helps you assess where you stand. We do not compare Purview’s features on this page; for what it does, see Microsoft’s own documentation.
What does Compliance Agent do?
- It scans for your organisation’s keywords. It scans Exchange, OneDrive and Teams for the keywords your organisation has defined and reports; if you choose, you apply an action to what you selected.
- The decision to act is yours. Action modes stay off until an administrator turns them on. You can always start with Safe Scan, which scans and reports only and touches nothing.
- It is protected by the hard action limit and the audit log. In Exchange, OneDrive and Teams an action cannot be reversed, which is why modes, the hard action limit, roles and the audit log are in place.
- It shows what you did. Every administrative step is written to the audit log.
- Results stay in your own Azure storage. The product runs in your own Azure subscription; results, logs, the audit log and configuration stay in your own storage.
Which comes first: measures or scanning?
Preventive technical measures (for example filtering and blocking) come first; Compliance Agent does not replace them. This also fits the gradual approach in the Board’s principle decision 2026/2035: the decision says preventive technical measures should come first where possible. For details see the principle decision page.
Do I need E5 or an extra Microsoft licence for Compliance Agent?
No. You do not need E5, an extra Microsoft licence tier or a paid Microsoft API. The product runs as an Azure Managed Application in your own Azure subscription and is bought per seat through Azure Marketplace; see the pricing page for details.
FAQ: I use Purview. Do I still need Compliance Agent?
That depends on your organisation’s policies and needs; the organisation decides. What Compliance Agent does is clear: it scans for your organisation’s keywords, leaves the decision to act with you and shows what you did. If that job fits your need, it works alongside Purview; if not, nothing changes.