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Acronis Cyber Protect vs Synology DSM comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 11, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Acronis Cyber Protect
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
8th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
122
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Backup (5th)
Synology DSM
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
16th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
8.0
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Backup and Recovery category, the mindshare of Acronis Cyber Protect is 4.2%, down from 4.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Synology DSM is 1.9%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Backup and Recovery
 

Featured Reviews

SameerMogale - PeerSpot reviewer
Encounter challenges in troubleshooting but experience efficient customer support
The application itself is a bit bloated. Although it has a lot of features when it comes to troubleshooting, we don't basically know where to start even though we do give them the log files to troubleshoot they don't give us a proper solution set. So I would say because it's bloated, it's a bit more difficult to troubleshoot where you get certain errors. From my side, on the POC I didn't really need to do much. It's only after we discovered there was a compatibility issue with the application that the client was running that we actually had to do a lot of log file shipping to Acronis themselves and getting solutions because of other problems. So on a day-to-day basis, you don't even maintain it, you just forget about it. You get alerts, but usually in between. It's quite easy to manage. To be honest with you, since I didn't really test that option of Acronis Cyber Protect, it's supposed to make everything feasible and easy to manage but I never got the option of testing it out, so I cannot really say at this stage.
Michael Adejoh - PeerSpot reviewer
Reliable and cost-effective
One area where Synology DSM could improve is in enhancing its ability to detect and respond to security threats during backups and replication. Currently, it lacks the capability to automatically stop backups if it detects a virus or suspicious network activity, as some third-party solutions can. Having AI-driven analytics to identify anomalies and halt backups during potential attacks, along with notifications to administrators, would be valuable. Additionally, providing a dashboard for monitoring the backup environment's security would be a beneficial feature. These improvements would help address security concerns and make Synology more competitive in this aspect.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The licensing model is very good."
"The tool’s licensing and pricing are economical for SMB customers."
"If you need to recover, it's the best recovery software I've ever used and I've been in this business for over 30 years. Plug a disc in and tell it to recover this machine and it's done. You walk away from it and it's done. Reboot it and it's perfect."
"The Acronis panel is user friendly and tracking backups across a number of different devices is great. Acronis provides prompts and reminders to users if certain files are not backed up."
"​I have everything I need in the backup or in the partition. ​"
"It works with different types of partitions or different OSs."
"Acronis has many features, which are really very interesting, when it comes to data backup and recovery, especially disaster recovery (DR)."
"Stability is always good. I have used Acronis for 10 years now, if not more. I have never had a problem with availability, etc."
"It offers a variety of software options through its package center, allowing users to customize their NAS device to serve multiple purposes."
"The solution's most valuable feature stems from its ease of use, making it the tool's most interesting part."
"The product performs well. It is easy to use and implement."
"The most valuable aspect is its ability to handle multiple disks."
"The most valuable features are the basic storage, file management, Btrfs file system, and built-in backups that come with the solution."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is that it serves as a backup for our company's virtual machine."
"Because of its simplicity and the wide array of features it offers, I would recommend DSM for both tech-savvy individuals and those who prefer a straightforward file-serving solution."
"The most valuable features of Synology DSM are its security and connectivity."
 

Cons

"I wish Acronis had a feature that would allow me to set an expiry date for customers when I send them Acronis, such as when I create a customer workload or gigabyte."
"The support takes too much time to respond to callbacks."
"The whole product structure is confusing. You can actually get to do what you want to do. But Acronis seems to have a singular ability to make things difficult."
"The support and documentation must be improved."
"Improved support for immutability and Utility AirGAP could be beneficial."
"Because Acronis Backup is an on-premises solution, there is extra overhead. It's harder to manage, and there's no real remote access. You have to physically log in to the machine to manage it. The reporting feature works fine, and you will be able to send out reports. However, that is where it stops. The deployment could be improved and could be through a network chain. If we need to deploy two machines that are not connected to the internet but connected to two different networks, it would be great to have a machine with dual mix that has access to the backup server and to those machines. It would be like a relay that you can install on the machine with a two-mix, and that machine can then connect to your backup server and to the other machines. You should be able to see the other machines on that network and be able to deploy to it and push jobs to it."
"At this stage, Acronis Cyber Protect helps me to overcome nothing because it actually caused more problems than it solved."
"The biggest problem that we have is when the antivirus is installed, the whole machine runs very slowly and some of the machines hang."
"The product's only shortcoming is pricing, as it is an expensive solution."
"The platform could be much more cost-effective and flexible for integrating third-party products."
"Users may lose their data if they don't configure the solution properly."
"One area where Synology DSM could improve is in enhancing its ability to detect and respond to security threats during backups and replication."
"There's a surveillance application that allows you to connect IP cameras and stream footage to Synology and it is a great feature, but it's not always clear that adding more cameras may require purchasing additional licenses."
"Even though Synology provides a backup solution, it does not recognize the VM movement across cluster hosts."
"The only bothersome aspect is that the device is aging."
"Synology DSM's user interface is not quite intuitive."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I would describe the product as a mid-priced tool for small and medium businesses."
"Acronis Backup is cheaper. If you install it on a hypervisor, you only pay for a single license. It would be for the backup server, and everything else will be covered by it. In that sense, it becomes a much cheaper option. However, if you have virtual machines, then it can be more expensive. Also, if you have a lot of physical machines the cost can be higher because each entity will need a separate license. There is a monthly license cost."
"The pricing is significantly higher than it was last year, which is understandable since they have introduced new technology, such as transitioning from backup to cybersecurity."
"Our licenses come with a one-time yearly subscription fee."
"If the solution was less expensive it would be better."
"You don't have to pay for licenses. You can pay per gig per month. It is pretty reasonable, especially when you do it per gig."
"The pricing is comparable to the newest solution available on the market, Altaro."
"The license is a perpetual license. The cost is an area for improvement."
"The price of the solution is very good."
"The licensing part of the solution is free. The hardware is more expensive than the other solutions in the market, but it's okay in the long run."
"Synology DSM is a cheap solution."
"The pricing varies widely, catering to a broad range of needs."
"It is quite an affordable solution."
"Synology DSM is a free tool."
"The solution’s pricing is neither cheap nor expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Retailer
4%
Computer Software Company
14%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

Major Differences Between These 4 Backup and Disaster Recovery Solutions?
Comparing the features of the four is not the right approach. You need to develop a list of requirements for backup and DR that are specific to your organization and then compare each of the four ...
How does Acronis Backup compare with Veeam Backup & Replication?
Acronis Backup is a versatile backup-as-a-service solution for service providers. It allows you to protect workloads on-premises and in the cloud and provide backup to any storage. The deployment i...
What do you like most about Acronis Backup?
One of its most valuable aspects is its user-friendly interface.
What do you like most about Synology DSM?
The most valuable features of Synology DSM are its security and connectivity.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Synology DSM?
The solution’s pricing is neither cheap nor expensive.
What needs improvement with Synology DSM?
Users may lose their data if they don't configure the solution properly.
 

Also Known As

Acronis Backup, Acronis Backup 12.5 Standard, Acronis Backup 12.5 Advanced
Synology DiskStation Manager (DSM)
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Kings Academy, Rush Memorial, Pentagon Credit Union, Oxford School District, New York City Probation, Dolmen Insurance, New Bedford Community Health, Gerard Darel, Ready Honda
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Acronis Cyber Protect vs. Synology DSM and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
865,295 professionals have used our research since 2012.