Visibility in this ranking can be paid for. Payment moves a vendor's position within the
shortlist; it never adds a vendor, and it never changes a word of the review. The largest vendors in backup and disaster recovery software
cannot hold places 1 to 3. Places 1 to 3 go to challengers, vendors outside the best-known brands in a category,
wherever the category has them; the established names follow from place 4 in their ranked order. How it works: placement disclosure ·
editorial process.
The 12 tools, reviewed
#1 Datto BCDR
MSP-exclusive backup with ransomware detection and instant virtualization · United States · datto.com
MSP-only Ransomware detection Instant virtualization
Datto's ransomware and anomaly scanning, combined with near-instant local or cloud virtualization of a failed system, is a genuinely strong disaster recovery story, and its patented deletion-defense feature is specifically built to resist the kind of attack that targets backup infrastructure directly.
- Pricing: Quote only, MSP channel only. Quote-only through the MSP channel. Free plan: none.
- Best for: Managed service providers, exclusively; not sold direct to businesses
- Strengths: ZFS-based snapshots with ransomware and anomaly scanning; Cloud Deletion Defense (patented); Instant local or cloud virtualization of a failed system.
Where it falls short
It is sold exclusively through managed service providers under Kaseya's ownership; a business cannot buy or evaluate it directly, which rules it out for any IT team wanting to run its own backup stack in-house.
Wrong for
Any business without a managed service provider, or one that specifically wants to buy and administer its own backup software directly, cannot use Datto at all.
Visit Datto BCDR →
#2 NAKIVO Backup & Replication
Veeam-class backup and replication at a fraction of the licence cost · United States · nakivo.com
Published pricing Free edition Runs on a NAS
NAKIVO covers most of what Veeam does, instant VM recovery, immutable backups, Microsoft 365 protection, at a noticeably lower published price, and it will run on a NAS rather than requiring a dedicated server, which lowers the barrier for a smaller IT team.
- Pricing: Per workload / year, published. Published per-workload subscription pricing (virtual machine, physical server, cloud instance or Microsoft 365 user each counted as one workload), plus per-CPU-socket perpetual licences and per-TB NAS backup. Free plan: free plan.
- Best for: SMB and mid-market IT teams, and MSPs
- Strengths: Instant VM recovery; Immutable backups for ransomware protection; Microsoft 365 backup.
Where it falls short
Its partner network and enterprise reference base are smaller than Veeam's or Commvault's, which matters for a buyer who wants proof it has been battle-tested at very large scale.
Wrong for
A large enterprise with thousands of heterogeneous workloads and a need for extensive third-party integrations and a big-name reference list should look at Veeam or Commvault instead, where NAKIVO's smaller footprint becomes a real limitation.
Visit NAKIVO Backup & Replication →
#3 Backblaze
Unlimited business backup and low-cost cloud object storage · United States · backblaze.com
Unlimited storage Published pricing Free B2 storage tier
Backblaze does one thing better than almost anyone: it makes unlimited backup of a business's computers genuinely simple and genuinely cheap, with a flat, published annual price and no storage caps to negotiate around.
- Pricing: Per computer / year, or per TB / month, published. Business Backup is published at a flat rate per computer for unlimited storage, billed monthly, yearly or for two years, with a quoted Enterprise Control tier adding legal hold and OIDC sign-on. Free plan: free plan.
- Best for: Small businesses wanting simple, unlimited endpoint and server backup
- Strengths: Unlimited per-computer backup; One year of version history included; Recovery via web, app or shipped physical drive.
Where it falls short
It is not a full enterprise disaster recovery platform: there is no instant virtual machine recovery, no application-aware backup orchestration and no bare-metal recovery of the kind Veeam or NAKIVO offer.
Wrong for
An IT team backing up virtual machines or complex application stacks that need instant recovery and orchestrated failover should look at NAKIVO, Veeam or Acronis instead.
Visit Backblaze →
#4 Acronis Cyber Protect
Backup and cybersecurity protection in one agent · Switzerland · acronis.com
Swiss vendor Anti-ransomware built in Bare-metal restore
Acronis combines backup with active ransomware and malware protection in the same agent, which closes a real gap: several well-known incidents have involved attackers disabling or encrypting a backup client before going after production data, and a single agent doing both jobs is harder to disable in one step than two separate tools.
- Pricing: Per workload / year. Subscription licensed per protected workload, sold in Standard, Advanced and Backup Advanced editions with an online purchase portal and price calculator. Free plan: free trial.
- Best for: SMBs and MSPs wanting backup and security combined
- Strengths: AI-based anti-ransomware and anti-malware; Bare-metal restore; Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace backup.
Where it falls short
The product range is confusingly segmented across Standard, Advanced and Backup Advanced editions, and while an online calculator exists, a clear published price table is not readily visible without configuring a purchase.
Wrong for
A team that already has separate, trusted endpoint security in place and just wants the lightest, cheapest backup agent possible should compare Backblaze or NAKIVO.
Visit Acronis Cyber Protect →
#5 Barracuda Backup
Capacity-priced backup appliance and cloud replication from a security vendor · United States · barracuda.com
Ransomware protection Hybrid appliance and cloud Security-vendor backed
Barracuda Backup pairs a physical or virtual appliance with cloud replication and prices it on capacity rather than per workload, so a business protecting a modest number of large systems can pay for only what it needs to protect today rather than an unpredictable per-device count.
- Pricing: Capacity-based, quoted. Quote-only via a "Build and Price" configurator; licensed on scalable, capacity-based terms rather than a flat per-workload fee, with free trials available. Free plan: free trial.
- Best for: SMBs wanting backup from a vendor already known for network security
- Strengths: Immutable backups; Multifactor authentication and role-based access; Physical or virtual appliance deployment.
Where it falls short
Pricing is entirely quote-only with no published starting figure, so cost comparison requires going through the configurator or a sales call regardless of how small the deployment is.
Wrong for
A buyer wanting fully published, self-serve pricing with no configurator or sales conversation should compare NAKIVO or Backblaze instead.
Visit Barracuda Backup →
#6 Carbonite
Long-standing cloud backup brand, now under OpenText · Canada · carbonite.com
Published pricing OpenText-owned Server backup tier
Carbonite built a genuine reputation as an easy, affordable way for a small office to stop worrying about backup, and its personal plans with unlimited storage and its small-office plans with one-click restore still deliver that today at a published, predictable price.
- Pricing: Published annual tiers. Published annual plans: personal Basic, Plus and Prime tiers per computer, and business plans Core (up to 25 computers, 250 GB, $287.99/year), Power (one server plus 25 computers, 500 GB, $599.99/year) and Ultimate (unlimited servers plus 25 computers, 500 GB, $999.99/year), with extra storage at $99 per 100 GB. Free plan: free trial.
- Best for: Home offices and small offices of up to 25 computers and a few servers wanting published-price cloud backup
- Strengths: Unlimited cloud backup storage (personal plans); 250 to 500 GB on business plans; One-click restore; 256-bit encryption.
Where it falls short
The published plans end at 25 computers, so a business outgrowing Core, Power or Ultimate moves into OpenText's broader Cybersecurity portfolio, which makes the buying path less transparent than a purpose-built SMB or mid-market vendor.
Wrong for
A growing business with more than 25 computers has outrun Carbonite's published plans and will be dealing with OpenText's wider Cybersecurity range instead.
Visit Carbonite →
#7 N-able Backup (Cove Data Protection)
MSP-focused backup with 15-minute incremental snapshots · United States · n-able.com
MSP channel 15-minute backups Bundled cloud storage
N-able Backup, sold under the Cove Data Protection name, targets the specific job managed service providers have: frequent, low-overhead incremental backups across many client environments from one multi-tenant console, with cloud storage already bundled into the price rather than billed as a separate line item.
- Pricing: Flat rate per device / user, quoted. Quote-only, described by the vendor as a flat rate per server or workstation and a flat per-user rate for Microsoft 365, with cloud storage bundled in. Free plan: free trial.
- Best for: Managed service providers running many client environments, and internal IT teams
- Strengths: TrueDelta incremental backup as frequent as every 15 minutes; Image-based disaster recovery; Microsoft 365 backup (Exchange, OneDrive, SharePoint, Teams).
Where it falls short
Pricing is entirely hidden behind a quote process, and the product is built around N-able's broader MSP software stack, so a business wanting to evaluate it in isolation will find less self-serve information than at NAKIVO or Backblaze.
Wrong for
A business that wants published, self-serve pricing and no MSP-shaped tooling should look at NAKIVO, Acronis or Barracuda instead.
Visit N-able Backup (Cove Data Protection) →
#8 Druva
100% SaaS-delivered backup with no on-premises infrastructure · United States · druva.com
Cloud-native No infrastructure to manage Air-gapped cloud storage
Druva removed the backup infrastructure question entirely: there is no server to size, patch or eventually replace, since the entire platform runs as a managed cloud service with air-gapped, immutable storage built in from the start.
- Pricing: Quote only (per workload or per user). Quote-only across per-workload plans (data center, public cloud, Microsoft 365, Google Workspace individually) and a per-user "SaaS Universal" licence with dynamic pooled storage. Free plan: free trial.
- Best for: Organizations wanting disaster recovery as a fully managed cloud service
- Strengths: 100% SaaS delivery, no servers to manage; Air-gapped and immutable cloud-native storage; Unified Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, endpoint and cloud backup.
Where it falls short
Pricing is fully opaque with no self-serve numbers published anywhere, which is unusual even by this category's low standard for transparency.
Wrong for
An organization required by regulation or policy to keep a backup copy physically on its own premises, with no cloud dependency at all, should look at Acronis, NAKIVO or Barracuda's appliance option instead of a SaaS-only platform.
Visit Druva →
#9 Veeam
The enterprise standard for virtual and hybrid infrastructure backup · United States · veeam.com
Category standard Instant VM recovery Broad platform support
Veeam is the product most serious IT departments quietly benchmark everything else against for virtualized infrastructure, and instant recovery of a failed virtual machine is as good as the marketing claims.
- Pricing: Per instance (10-pack), online store or partner quote. Veeam Data Platform editions (Foundation, Advanced, Premium) on the Veeam Universal License, bought online from Veeam's store in ten-instance packs (Foundation listed at EUR 1,631.69 per pack) or quoted through resellers and partners. Free plan: free trial.
- Best for: Mid-market to large enterprises with hybrid, multi-cloud environments
- Strengths: Veeam Universal License portable across workloads; Instant VM recovery; AI-driven threat detection (Advanced tier).
Where it falls short
Only the base edition packs carry a list price in Veeam's online store; larger deals go through a reseller or partner, and licensing across the core platform, Microsoft 365 and Kubernetes modules adds real complexity to a quote.
Wrong for
A small business with a handful of workloads and a limited budget is paying for enterprise breadth it will not use.
Visit Veeam →
#10 Commvault
Enterprise data protection across everything a large estate holds · United States · commvault.com
Very broad coverage Enterprise scale Partner-led delivery
Few products cover as much, physical, virtual, cloud, databases and SaaS, under one policy engine as Commvault, which is exactly what a large, heterogeneous estate needs from a single vendor rather than a patchwork of point tools. Its 2023 acquisition of Clumio strengthened cloud-native AWS backup specifically, extending coverage further into modern cloud-first environments without leaving the older enterprise estate behind.
- Pricing: Quote only. Quote-only for Commvault Cloud, with "request a demo" as the main path to a number and a separate Clumio pricing page for the AWS backup service. Free plan: free trial.
- Best for: Large enterprises with heterogeneous, regulated environments
- Strengths: Unified policy engine across physical, virtual, cloud and SaaS; AI-driven anomaly and ransomware detection; Database and Kubernetes backup.
Where it falls short
Pricing is completely opaque for the core platform, with not even a calculator or ballpark figure available without engaging sales, which makes early-stage comparison shopping essentially impossible even though a 30-day trial lets you test the product.
Wrong for
A company with a straightforward, mostly virtualized environment and no complex database or Kubernetes estate is paying for coverage it never touches.
Visit Commvault →
#11 Rubrik
Zero Trust Data Protection for cyber resilience at scale · United States · rubrik.com
Zero Trust architecture Air-gapped proprietary file system Enterprise sales only
Rubrik was built from the ground up around cyber resilience rather than added ransomware features onto an older backup architecture, and its Zero Trust design, logical air gaps, encryption and strict access controls throughout, reflects that.
- Pricing: Quote only, sales-led. Quote-only, enterprise sales-led with "Contact Sales" as the only path on product pages; no calculator, no published numbers and no self-serve trial found. Free plan: none.
- Best for: Large, security-conscious enterprises prioritizing ransomware recovery
- Strengths: Zero Trust Data Protection architecture; Logical air-gapped, immutable storage; Rapid file-level search across environments.
Where it falls short
Pricing is entirely opaque even by this category's low bar for transparency, with no calculator, no published figures and, unlike several competitors, no self-serve free trial to test the product hands-on before a sales conversation.
Wrong for
A small or mid-sized business wanting a quick, self-serve evaluation with a free trial should look at NAKIVO, Acronis or Cohesity instead.
Visit Rubrik →
#12 Cohesity
Unified hybrid and multi-cloud data protection, now including NetBackup · United States · cohesity.com
Includes former Veritas NetBackup Zero Trust and RBAC Unlimited scale
Cohesity's completed acquisition of Veritas's data-protection business, including the long-standing NetBackup platform, in December 2024 makes it the broadest single platform in this ranking, combining a modern, SaaS-capable architecture with NetBackup's decades of enterprise deployment history at banks, hospitals and other large regulated organizations.
- Pricing: Quote only (SaaS, subscription or managed service). Quote-only for DataProtect, offered as SaaS, software subscription or managed/partner-delivered service. Free plan: free trial.
- Best for: Large enterprises wanting one modern platform across a hybrid, multi-cloud estate
- Strengths: Unlimited scale across on-prem, edge and cloud; Immutable snapshots and global search; Instant mass VM and file recovery.
Where it falls short
Pricing remains fully opaque despite the flexible delivery options, and existing NetBackup customers face real uncertainty about long-term product direction as the two platforms are integrated post-acquisition.
Wrong for
A mid-sized company with a mostly virtualized, single-cloud environment gains little from Cohesity's full breadth and pays enterprise pricing for capability it will not use.
Visit Cohesity →
Questions and answers
What is the best backup and disaster recovery software in 2026?
Datto BCDR ranks first of 12, best for managed service providers, exclusively; not sold direct to businesses. NAKIVO Backup & Replication is second (sMB and mid-market IT teams, and MSPs) and Backblaze third (small businesses wanting simple, unlimited endpoint and server backup). Places 1 to 3 go to challengers, vendors outside the best-known brands, wherever the category has them.
What's the actual difference between backup and disaster recovery?
Backup is the copy: data, files, a virtual machine or a database saved to a second location on a schedule.
Why do backups need to be immutable or air-gapped?
Modern ransomware frequently searches a network specifically for backup infrastructure and encrypts or deletes it before encrypting production systems, on the reasonable assumption that a victim with no clean backup is far more likely to pay a ransom.
Is per-workload, per-terabyte or fully quoted pricing better for a buyer?
None is inherently better; each suits a different shape of estate. Per-workload pricing, used by NAKIVO and Acronis, is predictable and easy to forecast as headcount and server count grow.
Can ransomware really encrypt backups too, and how common is that?
Yes, and it is now a standard part of a serious ransomware attack rather than an edge case; attackers who gain administrative access frequently target backup servers and cloud storage credentials specifically, precisely because a business that can restore cleanly has far less reason to pay.
Do I need a separate tool for Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace backup?
It depends on the vendor.
What's the real difference between Veeam, Commvault and Cohesity at the enterprise end?
Veeam is most closely associated with fast, reliable backup and instant recovery of virtualized infrastructure, historically VMware and Hyper-V, and remains the default many mid-market and enterprise IT teams benchmark against. Commvault positions itself on breadth, covering physical, virtual, cloud, database and SaaS workloads under one policy engine for very heterogeneous estates.
Are free or low-cost backup tools good enough for a real business?
For a genuinely small operation with modest, well-understood needs, NAKIVO's free edition or Backblaze's low, published per-computer pricing can be entirely adequate, particularly if restores are tested regularly.
How often should a business test a restore, not just run a backup?
At minimum quarterly for critical systems, and after any significant change to infrastructure, such as a new server, a migrated database or a new SaaS platform being adopted.
How does consolidation, such as Kaseya owning Datto or Cohesity owning Veritas NetBackup, affect buyers?
It usually changes both distribution and roadmap priorities. Datto, now owned by Kaseya, is sold exclusively through managed service providers, so a business wanting to buy it directly cannot.
What recovery point and recovery time objectives should a small or mid-sized business target?
There is no universal number; it depends entirely on what a system does.
