The action determines which history question to ask
Scroll horizontally to compare each decision, its control or action, and its limits.
| Documented action | What the vendor says happens | What remains to verify for your use |
|---|---|---|
| Peec: pause a project | Collection stops; existing data remains available to review. Pausing is unavailable on Starter. | Retention duration, export availability while paused and what a later cancellation changes. |
| Scrunch: pause a prompt through its Configuration API | Collection stops; configuration and history remain. Resuming restores the prior setup, subject to available capacity. | Applicable plan and account access while paused. |
| Scrunch: archive a prompt through its Configuration API | Tracking ends; historical data is preserved. The documented resume operation rejects archived prompts. | How archived history is accessed and whether any separate recovery route exists. |
| OtterlyAI: cancel a subscription | Paid features remain through the billing period; the help page says historical data is deleted after cancellation. | The precise deletion time, any recovery window and the deadline for a usable export. |
| Gist: pause or cancel | These outcomes were not established by the public pages reviewed here. | The same collection, access, retention, export and deletion questions. |
Sources: Peec project management, Scrunch Archive Prompt and Update Prompt Status, OtterlyAI cancellation help. Documentation checked November 6, 2026. “Preserved” does not establish indefinite retention or continued access after a subscription ends.
A pause leaves a collection gap to explain
Peec says a paused project can be resumed, but the data that would have been collected during the pause cannot be recovered. Its documentation also says the paused project's allocated prompts can be reassigned; resuming requires enough prompts to be available. This describes a way to stop collection while keeping a project, rather than a promise to reconstruct missed answers later. Peec project management
Consider a seasonal campaign that runs in September, pauses during October and resumes in November. This is an illustrative reporting scenario, not a measured result. The record should show September's observations, an October collection gap and November's new observations. Filling October with zero mentions would turn a period with no observations into a claim about what assistants said.
Keep the last collection date and the restart date with the report. If questions, engines or settings also change at restart, label those changes separately. Our question-set trend guide explains how to preserve a comparison when the panel changes.
Scrunch gives paused and archived prompts different restart rules
Scrunch documents a pause that preserves a prompt's configuration and collected history. Its resume operation restores the previous setup but can fail if the account no longer has enough prompt capacity. The same operation rejects an archived prompt. A question you expect to restart therefore needs a different decision from one you intend to retire. Scrunch Update Prompt Status
The archive operation separately says historical data is preserved after tracking stops. Neither document establishes an account-wide cancellation policy or how long a former subscriber can retrieve those records. Ask about those limits independently. Scrunch Archive Prompt
For an agency closing a client project, ask the vendor to demonstrate what an authorized user can still see afterward. A retained database record, a visible chart and a downloadable full answer are different deliverables. Identify which one the client expects before choosing the operation.
Use a vendor-provided demonstration or an expressly authorized disposable project for that check. Do not delete a live client project to find out what the button does.
Cancellation needs an export deadline
OtterlyAI's cancellation page, dated July 17, 2026, says the subscription stays active through the current billing cycle and then switches to a free plan. It also says tracked AI search engines and historical data are deleted after cancellation. The page does not state a precise deletion interval or a restoration guarantee. The ability to subscribe again should not be read as a promise that old records return. OtterlyAI cancellation help
Before canceling, obtain the applicable deadline and save the evidence your team is responsible for retaining. Check the saved files while account access still works. A download button alone does not establish that the export contains full answers, exact questions, dates, engine identities and cited URLs. Our pricing and export checks include a reconstruction exercise for that purpose.
An export also needs an agreed storage owner and retention period. Client agreements and internal data policies may limit what your team should keep. This article compares product documentation; it does not determine those obligations.
Put the end-of-project behavior in the buying decision
Give each shortlisted vendor the same scenario: “We may stop collection after a campaign, but we need to inspect the supporting answers later.” Ask for a written response covering the exact project action, subscription state and plan you would buy.
Scroll horizontally to compare each decision with the evidence to request.
| Decision to settle before purchase | Evidence to request |
|---|---|
| Stop collection without losing the report | Demonstration of the historical records available after the proposed pause or archive operation. |
| Reopen the work later | Restart conditions, what history remains accessible and how the collection gap is shown. |
| End the subscription | Last access date, deletion timing and any documented recovery process. |
| Deliver the evidence to a client | A sample export that meets the agreed reporting requirement, plus the right to retain and share it. |
Record an unanswered question as unknown, including for Gist. If retaining full answers is a requirement, a vendor's general promise to keep “history” is not enough to settle the purchase. The useful answer identifies the records, who can access them, for how long, and what happens when the subscription ends.