Archive 81 is based on a supernatural horror podcast of the same name that began in 2016, with the series developed by Rebecca Sonnenshine along with executive producers Paul Harris Boardman and James Wan for Netflix and Atomic Monster.

The project was first announced on October 26, 2020, with Rebecca Sonnenshine set as showrunner and executive producer, and additional executive producers Michael Clear, Rebecca Thomas, and Antoine Douaihy joining later, as reported on January 5, 2022.

Mamoudou Athie and Dina Shihabi were cast in the lead roles at the time of the show's initial announcement, while Martin Donovan, Matt McGorry, Julia Chan, Evan Jonigkeit, and Ariana Neal joined the cast in November of that same year.

Principal photography took place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, running from November 16, 2020, to March 29, 2021, with director Rebecca Thomas helming half of the series' episodes.

The series was watched for 128.47 million hours globally between January 9 and 30, 2022, according to Netflix's Top 10 rankings.

Archive 81 debuted at number seven on the Nielsen streaming rankings and later climbed as high as number two in its second week.

Despite receiving generally favorable reviews, including an 85% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a Metacritic score of 73, Netflix canceled Archive 81 after just one season on March 24, 2022.