Is archive.org legit?

75
/ 100
Mostly Safe
Industry: Nonprofit

This site is mostly safe, showing strong technical and reputational signals. However, its lack of legal pages and easily accessible contact information is a significant concern for transparency and user compliance.

Nonprofit average: 81/100 · based on 19 sites

Checked: April 21, 2026 at 2:06 PM UTC

Is archive.org a scam? Here's what we found.

Security 90/100

The security posture is strong, with HSTS, Content Security Policy, TLS 1.3, a valid SSL certificate, and no threats detected by Google Web Risk, indicating a well-protected site.

Identity 95/100

With a domain age of over 30 years and clear WHOIS information, the site's identity is well-established and transparent.

Reputation 90/100

A high Tranco rank, clean DNS blacklists, and a long-standing domain contribute to a very strong online reputation.

Transparency 65/100

Transparency is an area for improvement due to the absence of clear contact information and social media links, making it harder for users to engage or get support.

Compliance 60/100

The absence of privacy policy and terms of service is a notable compliance gap, which would typically be expected for a site of this nature and scale.

Infrastructure 90/100

The site benefits from a robust infrastructure, featuring proper robots.txt, sitemap, DNSSEC, SPF/DMARC records, and efficient DNS resolution, indicating a well-managed backend.

Signals Detected

[+]
Tranco Rank: Rank #148

This is one of the most visited websites globally

[?]
Structured Data: None found

No structured data markup found

[?]
Trustpilot: No Trustpilot profile

This business has no Trustpilot presence — not unusual for smaller or newer companies

[?]
Branding: Basic

Site has a favicon but no social sharing metadata

[+]
robots.txt: Present

robots.txt has 4 directives and references a sitemap

[+]
HSTS Header: Present

Site enforces HTTPS via HSTS

[+]
Content Security Policy: Present

Site has Content Security Policy configured

[?]
Server: nginx/1.24.0

Web server: nginx/1.24.0

[+]
Google Web Risk: Clean

No threats detected by Google Web Risk

[+]
Domain Age: 30 years, 9 months

Domain created 1995-12-14T05:00:00Z (30 years, 9 months ago)

[?]
Registrar: easyDNS Technologies Inc.

Registered through easyDNS Technologies Inc.

[+]
Domain Expiry: 2030-12-13T05:00:00Z

Expires in 1696 days

[+]
DNSSEC: unsigned

DNSSEC status from WHOIS

[+]
SSL Certificate: Valid

Valid certificate, expires in 294 days

[?]
Certificate Issuer: GoDaddy.com, Inc.

Certificate issued by GoDaddy.com, Inc.

[+]
TLS Version: TLS 1.3

Connection uses TLS 1.3

[?]
Certificate Transparency: Unable to check

crt.sh returned status 502

[+]
DNS Resolution: 1 IP(s)

Resolves to: 207.241.224.2

[+]
Email (MX Records): 1 record(s)

Mail servers: smtp.google.com.

[+]
SPF Record: Present

Domain has SPF email authentication configured

[+]
DMARC Record: Present

Domain has DMARC email authentication configured

[+]
Name Servers: 6 server(s)

DNS providers: ns0036.secondary.cloudflare.com., ns2.archive.org., ns-global.kjsl.com., ns1.archive.org., ns3.archive.org., ns0208.secondary.cloudflare.com.

[+]
Sitemap: 1455 pages

Site maintains a proper sitemap with 1455 indexed pages

[+]
Website Status: Online

Website is live and responding

[~]
Contact Info: Not found

No obvious contact information found on homepage

[-]
Legal Pages: Missing

No privacy policy or terms of service found

[~]
Social Media Presence: None found

No social media links found on homepage

[+]
DNS Blacklists: Clean

Not found on any DNS blacklists

[?]
Web Archive: Unable to check

Could not query Wayback Machine

[+]
Page Load Time: 476ms

Fast page load

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The Internet Archive (archive.org) isn't your typical e-commerce site or social media platform; it's a non-profit digital library aiming to preserve cultural artifacts and provide free public access to digital materials. When evaluating a site like this, our investigative lens shifts slightly. Where a retail site needs clear return policies, archive.org's core trust comes from its mission and its technical resilience. Most legitimate online repositories and libraries cultivate a sense of institutional permanence. Archive.org excels here, boasting a domain age of over 30 years and a Tranco rank placing it among the top global websites. This isn't a fly-by-night operation; it's a cornerstone of internet history. Technically speaking, its secure infrastructure, including strong SSL and email authentication, aligns with what we expect from a well-established organization. However, even a non-profit institution has responsibilities to its users. The absence of readily available privacy policies or terms of service is a significant point of concern. For an organization dealing with vast amounts of digital content and user interactions, clearly outlining data practices and usage policies is paramount. While this doesn't invalidate its core trustworthiness, users should be aware that these standard legal safeguards are less explicit here than on many other major internet platforms.