Bacula Enterprise vs N-able Cove Data Protection comparison

Bacula Systems and N-able are both solutions in the Cloud Backup category. Bacula Systems is ranked #18 with an average rating of 10.0, while N-able is ranked #19 with an average rating of 7.5. Bacula Systems holds a 1.4% mindshare in CB, compared to N-able’s 2.1% mindshare. Additionally, 90% of Bacula Systems users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 95% of N-able users who would recommend it.

Bacula Enterprise

Read 10 Bacula Enterprise reviews

4,198 Views
2,393 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

N-able Cove Data Protection

Read 23 N-able Cove Data Protection reviews

6,333 Views
3,483 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

Bacula Enterprise

N-able Cove Data Protection

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 11, 2024

Bacula Enterprise and N-able Cove Data Protection are both prominent backup solutions. Bacula Enterprise tends to have the upper hand in customization and flexibility, while N-able Cove Data Protection excels in user-friendly features and integration with other N-able products.

Features: Bacula Enterprise offers powerful configuration options, extensive scripting capabilities, and advanced customization. N-able Cove Data Protection is praised for its seamless product integration, comprehensive reporting tools, and user-friendly design.

Room for Improvement: Bacula Enterprise could improve its documentation, simplify its configuration process, and address its complexity. N-able Cove Data Protection could benefit from robust alerting mechanisms, additional third-party integrations, and enhancements in extensibility.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Bacula Enterprise’s deployment is intricate, requiring extensive knowledge, but offers excellent customer support. N-able Cove Data Protection is noted for its straightforward deployment process and efficient customer service with a lesser depth in support documentation.

Pricing and ROI: Bacula Enterprise is valued for its cost-effectiveness and strong ROI due to its open-source model, appealing to budget-conscious enterprises. N-able Cove Data Protection, despite its higher cost, provides good ROI through extensive feature integration, justifying its price for many users.

To learn more, read our detailed Bacula Enterprise vs. N-able Cove Data Protection Report (Updated: April 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Bacula Enterprise vs. N-able Cove Data Protection

April 2026

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Helped 893,244 peers since 2012

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

Bacula Enterprise

Ranking in Backup and Recovery

22nd

Ranking in Cloud Backup

18th

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

N-able Cove Data Protection

Ranking in Backup and Recovery

30th

Ranking in Cloud Backup

19th

Average Rating

9.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

SaaS Backup (8th), MSP Backup (3rd)

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Cloud Backup category, the mindshare of Bacula Enterprise is 1.4%, down from 2.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of N-able Cove Data Protection is 2.1%, down from 2.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Cloud Backup Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Bacula Enterprise	1.4%
N-able Cove Data Protection	2.1%
Other	96.5%

Cloud Backup

Featured Reviews

Davilson Aguiar

Analista Tecnologia Banco de Dados at Centro de Gestão da Tecnologia da Informação

Very cost-effective and well organized with good compression

It could improve its interface or offer a specific screen for the manager of the company. A managerial user who wants more information beyond the operational technician should be able to access it. It could include greater transparency regarding the volume of data trafficked on the network, as well as the expectation of deduplication. A more practical strategy could come with a backup policy model as a suggestion for both large and small companies. A simple suggestion is to visually implement the backup time as far as your physical media.

Read full review

Per MøllerJacobsen

Senior consultant at Azend A/S

Delivers cost-effective data backup with room for search improvements

The challenges I face especially are those I've mentioned, that finding some specific data in N-able Cove Data Protection is not as easy as it is in some other systems. You cannot just search for something—you need to know where it was and when it was there to restore it, plus it would be nice to take out data from Microsoft 365 in some portable format, which is currently not an option. I would like to extract the data from Microsoft 365 in a portable format, something like a database or maybe just to take out a PST file or SharePoint and Teams files to the file system. Especially in these times, where we discuss potential risks with the Microsoft cloud for European companies, companies would want to know how to access their data from the backup if they suddenly don't have a tenant. I believe there should be the ability to take out data from Microsoft 365 in a portable format. I know that Cohesity is working on making such a thing. It's not there yet; I asked last week for something for forensics, and the support team said it's not possible yet, but I know from our technical account manager they are working on some solutions.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It can be used in virtually any environment we have onsite."

"It brought many advantages - such as the learning curve being very light."

"Bacula is very solid, very stable, and very scalable."

"Bacula is pretty stable."

"It works great and it provides you with several standard tools to restore your backup, even after a big failure."

"We have been using it for several years and we are very satisfied with how easy it is to configure and set up and run backups."

"The solution has extensive documentation and a very active community."

"The most valuable feature is its ease of use; it works great and it provides you with several standard tools to restore your backup, even after a big failure."

More Bacula Enterprise pros

"The ability to back up, restore, and do different types of testing for the preventative maintenance has really increased our importance to these clients because they see the value in how fast we can get them back up and running. We're saving them money in that way."

"The integration of N-able Cove Data Protection into our existing infrastructure is easy."

"The solution has reduced backup times by an immeasurable amount. Its backups are incremental, so you are only backing up data changes based on the last 24 hours or so. If you are also maintaining the stored images, the restores are also only incremental, happening in minutes. Whereas, with a lot of the other solutions that we have looked at, each time it goes to refresh the restore, then it has to build a completely new image. That takes forever. This solution also improves recovery time."

"N-Able has allowed us to have peace of mind regarding backups, with very easy browser-based backup and restore of files and no more missed backup schedules or need to go on a course to learn how to use the software."

"Because the package includes cloud storage, we don't need to worry about hosting it inside. That was very important to us. And because the vendor has data centers worldwide, our reps in Europe and other places can get to what they need quickly and easily."

"If you're looking for something that's going to be easy to use, cost-effective, but also provides a great backup and more importantly, a recovery solution, this is definitely something that you should look at and keep in mind."

"What I like the most about it's the ease of use and the reliability that it has when copying information to the cloud."

"I know I won't have an issue if the data is there. The reliability and the confidence that we have is amazing. It doesn't matter. We've had customers have ransomware. We've had customers that have had corruption. We've had customers that have had employees destroy their data. As long as it's been backed up, I know that I can get it back and I know I have nothing to worry about. Our confidence level is very high."

More N-able Cove Data Protection pros

Cons

"The initial setup could be a bit easier."

"It could improve its interface or offer a specific screen for the manager of the company."

"We would like to see an improvement in the functionality of the GUI."

"Easier setup and configuration, perhaps including a GUI, would be an improvement."

"Bacula needs a graphical user interface because, for administrators, the command-line interface is okay, but for the average user it is not very easy."

"Many features have been converted to commercial licensing, which restricts their availability."

"We are looking for a unique interface that can rule both enterprise and open source editions. Such a thing does not yet exist."

More Bacula Enterprise cons

"A feature I'd like to see would be a more customizable admin console."

"I have some issues with the agent failing on workstations. I've had to completely uninstall several of them, delete everything, and start over to get them to work."

"We would like to have better reporting."

"Currently you can't dump the files that were backed up. You have to use the web interface and you can only see 30 files at a crack."

"An area for improvement that would really work out well would be if there were a little bit more of an elegant handshake relationship between SolarWinds RMM and the PCs that are being backed up, to advise regarding "up" status."

"We don't use the solution’s automated recovery testing because SolarWinds made me cross. When they released it, I went, "Oh, well, that's quite good." Because if you use the system, then it supposedly spins up, and on the portal, it gives you a screenshot of the booted device. So, I phoned up, and I said, "Oh, that's really quite cool. How much is that?" They said, "No, no, no. It's all included in your license." I went, "Okay then," and went and deployed it on about half the fleet. One of the options that our customers have is they can pay us a small amount every month for us to test the recovery just to prove that it's viable, and I thought, "Well, this will do that for us. Nice." Then, in the next invoice, we got a charge for it. While It was not a huge amount, I took offense at the fact that we were told that it would be a no extra cost option that was part of our license, but it turns out that it's chargeable. Therefore, we haven't used it since."

"The only area that needs improvement is that it is a little bit difficult when you get into virtual machines."

"For the MSP side, they could have more of a "security user" that can go in and only see certain clients. If you give somebody access as a technician, they can see all the clients."

More N-able Cove Data Protection cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We have a perpetual license."

"This is an open-source solution."

"The pricing, for now, is good. The package that they gave us recently is pretty good. It depends on how many clients you have, and you pay for certain terabytes per license. These terabytes, if not used, are pooled together."

"There is no per node cost, at least not the way I am doing it. I am on bulk. New customers can be set up on a trial, where they can get things all squared away, then they can switch over to being a billed customer."

"When you have a device/appliance on the site quite a lot of the other enterprise class backup people insist that you have their appliance, which is frankly offensively expensive. Because when you pry the top off, it's just a standard 19-inch tin box with a standard Intel I5 in it, some RAM, and a hard drive. Then, you go, "Why have they just charged me 5,500 quid for a box, which I could have probably build for under 500." Whereas, with the SolarWinds product, they don't have that. The backup appliances that we have onsite are just plain cooking PCs. We can build our own machines, which is reflected in the price that we can offer a customer."

"N-able Cove Data Protection is an averagely-priced product."

"I believe that the price is very reasonable in comparison to other options. It is cheaper than both Redstor and Acronis and, since we are now using our own on-premise cloud, there is absolutely no comparison since we have unlimited storage rather than paying per gigabyte used for their onsite storage. We are currently able to backup fifty computers for the same price that we use to backup five computers."

"The pricing is very competitive and it's well worth the price."

"The cost is around ten dollars per workstation a month and that includes a certain amount of data."

"The pricing of SolarWinds seems to be fair compared to the rest of the industry."

More N-able Cove Data Protection pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

University

Computer Software Company

Comms Service Provider

11%

Computer Software Company

10%

Construction Company

Real Estate/Law Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	5
Midsize Enterprise	1
Large Enterprise	4

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	19
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	1

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Bacula Enterprise?

Bacula is more expensive than various other solutions. It’s almost completely commercial now. Products like Veeam software are much more expensive.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Bacula Enterprise?

Many features have been converted to commercial licensing, which restricts their availability.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Bacula Enterprise?

The last scenario in which I used Bacula was for a customer who needed some open-source tool which could support encryption at that time. We managed to convince the customer to use Bacula to deploy...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for N-able Backup?

In terms of pricing, N-able Cove Data Protection is neither cheap nor expensive compared to other competitors.

See all answers

What needs improvement with N-able Backup?

See all answers

What is your primary use case for N-able Backup?

Our main use cases for enabling N-able Cove Data Protection include backing up our customers' data on servers hosted in data centers and servers hosted in our own data center, as well as a few onsi...

See all answers

Comparisons

Bareos vs Bacula Enterprise

Compared 12% of the time

Veeam Data Platform vs Bacula Enterprise

Compared 7% of the time

QNAP Backup Solution vs Bacula Enterprise

Compared 4% of the time

UrBackup vs Bacula Enterprise

Compared 4% of the time

Acronis Cyber Protect vs Bacula Enterprise

Compared 3% of the time

More Bacula Enterprise Competitors

Veeam Data Platform vs N-able Cove Data Protection

Compared 5% of the time

Synology C2 Backup vs N-able Cove Data Protection

Compared 3% of the time

Boxafe vs N-able Cove Data Protection

Compared 3% of the time

Acronis Cyber Protect vs N-able Cove Data Protection

Compared 3% of the time

Veeam Data Cloud for Microsoft 365 vs N-able Cove Data Protection

Compared 3% of the time

More N-able Cove Data Protection Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Backup and Recovery

May 2026

Download Bacula Enterprise product report

Buyer's Guide

N-able Cove Data Protection

April 2026

Download N-able Cove Data Protection product report

Also Known As

No data available

N-able Backup, SolarWinds Backup, SolarWinds MSP Backup & Recovery, SolarWinds MSP Backup

Overview

Bacula Enterprise offers robust backup solutions with extensive plugins for services like SAP HANA and Microsoft SQL, supporting multi-platform environments. It's valued for scalability, transparent licensing, and effective data recovery.

Bacula Enterprise serves organizations with diverse IT landscapes by providing scalable backup solutions tailored for platforms like Linux servers. Its extensive documentation and community support ensure smooth operation and reliability. Users appreciate features including deduplication, compression, and centralized management, contributing to efficient data protection for industries such as banking and healthcare. The setup process can be complex for some, and there is demand for a more intuitive interface, improved mobile support, and better GUI functionality. Despite initial setup challenges, Bacula Enterprise remains a trusted tool for data management with flexible resource utilization and security features.

What are the key features of Bacula Enterprise?

Extensive Plugins: Supports SAP HANA, Microsoft SQL, enhancing integration.
Multi-Platform Compatibility: Works seamlessly across different IT environments.
Scalability: Adapts to growing organizational needs efficiently.
Transparent Licensing: Offers cost-effective solutions with clear pricing.
Data Deduplication: Optimizes storage by eliminating redundant data.
Centralized Management: Streamlines data handling processes across systems.

What benefits should users seek in reviews of Bacula Enterprise?

Ease of Use: Simplifies complex backup procedures for technical teams.
Resource Optimization: Maximizes efficiency in data storage and retrieval.
Reliable Data Recovery: Ensures data can be restored effectively when needed.
Versatile Configuration: Supports easy customization for specific needs.

In sectors like banking, healthcare, and government, Bacula Enterprise handles large data volumes and secures backup tasks with encryption. Its multi-platform support is crucial for heterogeneous systems, executing scheduled tasks and data protection protocols efficiently, while fulfilling industry-specific compliance and reliability requirements.

Bacula Systems

N-able Cove Data Protection delivers cloud-based data backup and disaster recovery with features like ease of use, automation, and efficient data transfer. Its unified dashboard and virtual disaster recovery options are key highlights for simplifying data management.

N-able Cove Data Protection stands out for its comprehensive cloud-based architecture, offering reliable backup, disaster recovery, and archiving solutions across industries such as legal, healthcare, and finance. Users benefit from features like virtual disaster recovery, bare-metal restore, and efficient data transfer. Cove's straightforward setup and resource efficiency make it popular among managed service providers, as it supports diverse environments, including Windows, Linux, and macOS systems. Despite its strengths, users have noted areas for improvement, such as dashboard navigation, cloud integration, and prolonged initial backup times.

What are the key features of N-able Cove Data Protection?

Ease of Use: Simplified setup and management with an intuitive interface.
Automation: Streamlined processes for efficient data handling.
Cloud-Based Architecture: Reliable backup and recovery from any location.
Virtual Disaster Recovery: Enables swift data restoration scenarios.
Bare-Metal Restore: Facilitates complete system recovery from hardware failures.

What benefits can users expect when evaluating data protection?

Resource Efficiency: Optimizes system resources to minimize overhead.
Remote Access: Simplifies data management with a unified dashboard from any location.
Scalability: Suits diverse organizational sizes and needs.
Integration: Supports Windows, Linux, macOS, and virtual environments.

Industries like legal, healthcare, and finance utilize N-able Cove Data Protection for its robust server, workstation, and Office 365 data backup capabilities. With support for SQL, MySQL, Exchange, and file backups, Cove aids managed service providers in efficiently managing both local and remote environments, offering strong disaster recovery, testing, and item-level restoration options.

N-able

Sample Customers

NASA, SwissCom, Navisite, Turner Studios, Bank Austria, Caixa Bank, SdV Plurimedia, Leibniz University Hannover, Zeta Global, Tricore, NetLog, Siemens, LocaWeb, wbsGo, itesys, Queens School of Computing, Escrypt.

Computer Depot, Leading Edge Computers, IT Logic Australia

Buyer's Guide

Bacula Enterprise vs. N-able Cove Data Protection

April 2026

Free Report: Bacula Enterprise vs. N-able Cove Data Protection

Find out what your peers are saying about Bacula Enterprise vs. N-able Cove Data Protection and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.

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