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Azure Backup vs Unitrends 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

Azure Backup
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
11th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
56
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Unitrends
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
38th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.8
Number of Reviews
34
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Backup and Recovery category, the mindshare of Azure Backup is 3.4%, down from 4.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Unitrends is 0.5%, down from 0.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Backup and Recovery
 

Featured Reviews

Terry Tull - PeerSpot reviewer
Straightforward to set up and manage and allows us to monitor all backups in one place
I would rate the easiness of the initial setup as an eight out of ten. Setting up Azure Backup was pretty straightforward, especially if you follow the steps in the right order. It might seem a bit complex at first, but with experience, subsequent setups become easier. Planning is key to optimizing its effectiveness. Deploying Azure Backup typically takes around half an hour to an hour to set up one VM, involving creating a recovery services vault, defining a backup policy, and configuring storage options. For a more comprehensive setup including proper recovery planning, it might take a few hours. The key steps involve creating a resource group, and a recovery services vault, selecting a storage type, and defining backup policies. I deployed the solution myself.
Todd Guthrie - PeerSpot reviewer
The solution can be used to back up servers and Hyper-V cluster nodes, but its support is super expensive
I wouldn't rate Unitrends a ten out of ten because we had some hard drive failures in the appliance. Typically, when you have OneDrive, you can get it replaced. For some particular reason, the situation caused the entire system to crash. We had to reinstall the CentOS operating system on it, and we lost all our backups. They said there was no way to retain it, and it was pretty devastating and concerning that a drive failure would cause the loss of all the data on the appliance. It was extremely disappointing, and we had to start from scratch after three years worth of backup data. I rate Unitrends a nine out of ten for stability.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The product is cost-effective compared to other vendors."
"The product is very reliable and easy to use."
"The most valuable features are the timely backup facility, allowing scheduling of backups, and the speed at which backups occur."
"With a couple of buttons, we can configure a VM for a backup and use the wall service, the storage wall service, pretty seamlessly."
"The feature that I have found the most valuable is that it is easy to create a backup by using Azure Backup. It also has a good user interface and nice features for sending notifications when any backup fails or there is a change in the status of virtual machines."
"The tool has a lot of features."
"The most valuable feature of Azure Backup is its simplicity."
"All of the core features are valuable to us."
"It is a quick and easy way to organize my backups and to keep track of them."
"The simple and fast restore routine."
"VM backup is much faster and more reliable, as I can test my backups with Data Copy Access jobs."
"The backup feature and recovery option are good because they allow the instant recovery of Hyper-V nodes and files."
"Stability-wise, I rate this solution a nine out of ten."
"The ability to back up both physical and virtual appliances under one roof."
"When I have had to use tech support, they've been very good."
"It is an easy system to use. The support, if needed, is always willing to help."
 

Cons

"Azure Backup needs improvements in allowing more specific backup options rather than just full VM snapshots."
"On-prem can be complex to set up but the cloud is simple."
"The user interface is a little bit confusing and it could be better."
"It still does not have a lot of customization, especially if your workloads are not in Azure."
"The tool's backup should be faster. Azure Backup's support should be faster."
"Technical support can be slow to respond at times."
"Azure Backup is limited to certain workloads. It would be helpful if Microsoft focused on enabling backups for Oracle and other unsupported databases."
"Lacks an AI system that would enable easier upgrading of the hardware."
"Unitrends can be challenging to scale."
"There's a lot that can be made better. For example, it could be more scalable."
"No appliance update notifications."
"Support is great for small simple issues, but anything more difficult, it is hard to get good resolutions without having to badger them and their management."
"There are a few quirks where the GUI, agent, and back-end are not precisely meshed."
"It could be a little more customizable."
"It seems like Unitrends moved away from enterprise customer engagement and moved more towards the managed service provider market."
"Probably the biggest issue I've had is actually paying for the unit, and part of that problem is that they use a third party for the billing."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Comparing the pricing with other technologies, Azure Backup is more affordable for customers. It follows a pay-as-you-go model, where we pay according to our consumption."
"Azure Backup is a product that is priced at a cheap rate, and it is a great tool."
"The product is not expensive."
"Licensing fees are paid on a monthly basis."
"Pay as you go is the pricing model."
"There is a cost per terabyte for using this solution."
"The pricing of the solution does not depend on the service itself but rather on the minimum data volume encountered. This pricing approach seems reasonable and is on par with other competitors in the market. It is a good solution for on-premise needs because it is more cost-effective. When evaluating the overall financial expenditure, including operational costs and the impact on the IT team, Azure Backup is a favorable choice."
"We do not have any additional costs for Azure Backup."
"Pricing model constantly changes."
"We found that the cost of Unitrends was about the same as the Dell DR6300. We liked the fact that the Unitrends appliance was all-in-one."
"With respect to cost, my advice is to get what you need."
"I would rate the solution's pricing a four out of ten. The licensing is yearly and it depends on the customers."
"Unitrends is an expensive solution."
"You should be aware how much the monthly costs are to use, what the initial costs for hardware are, and what the options to expand are, if needed."
"The cost of Unitrends definitely draws you in. The licensing is all included in the appliance, which is a great incentive."
"Initial pricing is competitive. Renewal pricing is steep, so make sure to project costs for the lifetime of the appliance(s)."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
15%
Government
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Educational Organization
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

How does Azure Backup differ from Veeam Backup & Replication?
Veeam has a version for Azure but there are organizations, like ours, that are considering moving to an Azure environment and wonder if Azure Backup is better than Veeam Backup and Replication (Vee...
What do you like most about Azure Backup?
Azure Backup is easy to configure and restore.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Azure Backup?
Azure Backup is expensive relative to the value we get from it. I do not have specific details about the licensing cost as it falls under another department.
What do you like most about Unitrends?
The most valuable feature of Unitrends for me is the automated feedback
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Unitrends?
Unitrends is an expensive solution. We've negotiated deals where they've given us the $ 62,000 to $ 64,000 appliance for free but charged $ 90,000 for three years of support.
What needs improvement with Unitrends?
In terms of improvement, the UI, especially in the recovery section, is unclear about which repository it uses—I had to hover over to find that information. Figuring out the scripting part wasn't s...
 

Comparisons

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Russell Reynolds Associates, Somerset County Council, Kardem, PCL Construction
NHL Players Association, Salvation Army, Sligro Food Group, Mason General Hospital, Tec Group, Saldab IT, Baker Tilly, Clinton Savings Bank, Ennit Magna Bank, Manukau Institute of Technology
Find out what your peers are saying about Azure Backup vs. Unitrends and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
845,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.