Bacula Enterprise vs Synology DSM comparison

Bacula Systems and Synology are both solutions in the Backup and Recovery category. Bacula Systems is ranked #24 with an average rating of 10.0, while Synology is ranked #16 with an average rating of 9.0. Bacula Systems holds a 1.1% mindshare in BRS, compared to Synology’s 1.9% mindshare. Additionally, 90% of Bacula Systems users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Synology users who would recommend it.

Bacula Enterprise

Read 10 Bacula Enterprise reviews

2,369 Views
1,090 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

Synology DSM

Read 10 Synology DSM reviews

2,285 Views
2,262 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Bacula Enterprise

Synology DSM

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 11, 2024

Bacula Enterprise and Synology DSM compete in the data management and backup solutions category. Synology DSM has the upper hand for ease of use, making it appealing to a broader audience.

Features: Bacula Enterprise provides comprehensive backup and recovery solutions, scalability, and flexibility suitable for enterprise environments. Synology DSM offers seamless NAS management, intuitive setup processes, and effective file management tools.

Room for Improvement: Bacula Enterprise could enhance documentation, simplify configuration processes, and improve customer support. Synology DSM needs more advanced features to compete with enterprise solutions, better support for third-party applications, and improved customer service.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Bacula Enterprise’s deployment is complex, requiring significant technical expertise and extended vendor support, which users feel is lacking. Synology DSM provides a smoother and more intuitive deployment experience, with generally higher-rated customer service.

Pricing and ROI: Bacula Enterprise has higher initial setup costs but offers strong ROI for large organizations due to its extensive feature set and scalability. Synology DSM offers an affordable initial investment and good value for smaller businesses, considering its simplicity and functionality.

To learn more, read our detailed Bacula Enterprise vs. Synology DSM Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Bacula Enterprise vs. Synology DSM

July 2025

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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

24th

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Cloud Backup (16th)

Synology DSM

Ranking in Backup and Recovery

16th

Average Rating

9.0

Reviews Sentiment

8.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Backup and Recovery category, the mindshare of Bacula Enterprise is 1.1%, up from 0.5% 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

GiovanniRamirez

Senior IT Consultant at Xerif

Solid backup tool with good scalability

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 it in their environment It was a very good project. The Bacula concept, topology, and networking…

Read full review

Michael Adejoh

Solutions Manager at Excel Connect Ventures

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.

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 is easy to scale Bacula Enterprise even if your system is growing tremendously in data and servers."

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

"The most valuable features are the special plugins such as SAP HANA databases, Microsoft SQL, and various types of virtualization."

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

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

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

"Bacula is pretty stable."

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

"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."

"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."

"The most valuable feature of the solution is that it serves as a backup for our company's virtual machine."

"Synology DSM is very easy to work and operate."

"The solution's most valuable feature stems from its ease of use, making it the tool's most interesting part."

More Synology DSM pros

Cons

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

"A more user-friendly interface (GUI) can be developed."

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

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

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

"The initial setup could be a bit easier."

"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."

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

"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."

"Synology DSM's user interface is not quite intuitive."

"The only bothersome aspect is that the device is aging."

"Synology DSM is a good enough solution for small and medium companies, but I have not seen a big configuration of the solution for a big organization."

"Even though Synology provides a backup solution, it does not recognize the VM movement across cluster hosts."

"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."

More Synology DSM cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We have a perpetual license."

"This is an open-source solution."

"Synology DSM is a free tool."

"It is quite an affordable solution."

"The pricing varies widely, catering to a broad range of needs."

"The solution’s pricing is neither cheap nor expensive."

"Synology DSM is a cheap solution."

"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."

"The price of the solution is very good."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

18%

University

10%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

14%

Government

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

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?

See all answers

What do you like most about Synology DSM?

The most valuable features of Synology DSM are its security and connectivity.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Synology DSM?

The solution’s pricing is neither cheap nor expensive.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Synology DSM?

Users may lose their data if they don't configure the solution properly.

See all answers

Comparisons

Bareos vs Bacula Enterprise

Compared 45% of the time

UrBackup vs Bacula Enterprise

Compared 15% of the time

Veeam Data Platform vs Bacula Enterprise

Compared 13% of the time

QNAP Backup Solution vs Bacula Enterprise

Compared 4% of the time

Dell PowerProtect DD (Data Domain) vs Bacula Enterprise

Compared 4% of the time

More Bacula Enterprise Competitors

Veeam Data Platform vs Synology DSM

Compared 13% of the time

UrBackup vs Synology DSM

Compared 9% of the time

NetApp SnapCenter vs Synology DSM

Compared 8% of the time

GoodSync For Business vs Synology DSM

Compared 7% of the time

ExaGrid Tiered Backup Storage vs Synology DSM

Compared 6% of the time

More Synology DSM Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Backup and Recovery

July 2025

Download Bacula Enterprise product report

Buyer's Guide

Synology DSM

July 2025

Download Synology DSM product report

Also Known As

No data available

Synology DiskStation Manager (DSM)

Overview

Bacula Enterprise is a highly scalable, especially robust and secure data backup and recovery software. Its unique low cost subscription model empowers data centers to truly escape data volume price traps. With a high degree of flexibility and customizability, Bacula offers native integration with a wide range of hypervisors, databases, file systems, cloud interfaces and containers. High numbers of enterprise organizations worldwide (incl. NASA, Bank of Austria, Swisscom or Sky PLC) have adopted Bacula Enterprise backup software in mission critical environments because of its advanced features and ability to handle high data volume at very low cost.

Bacula Systems

Synology DSM (DiskStation Manager) is a comprehensive software platform designed for Synology NAS (Network Attached Storage) devices. It serves as the operating system for these devices, providing a wide range of features and functionalities.

The primary use case of Synology DSM is to centralize and manage data storage for organizations. It allows businesses to store, access, and share files securely across multiple devices and platforms. With its intuitive user interface, DSM simplifies the management of data, making it easy to create shared folders, set access permissions, and monitor storage usage.

One of the most valuable functionalities of Synology DSM is its robust data protection capabilities. It offers various RAID configurations, including SHR (Synology Hybrid RAID), which ensures data redundancy and safeguards against drive failures. DSM also supports advanced backup and disaster recovery solutions, such as Snapshot Replication and Hyper Backup, enabling organizations to protect their critical data effectively.

Furthermore, Synology DSM provides a wide range of productivity and collaboration tools. It offers applications like Synology Drive, which allows seamless file synchronization across devices, and Synology Office, a web-based suite for document editing and collaboration. DSM also supports various third-party applications, including popular cloud services like Dropbox and Google Drive, enabling organizations to integrate their existing workflows seamlessly.

Synology

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.

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Buyer's Guide

Bacula Enterprise vs. Synology DSM

July 2025

Free Report: Bacula Enterprise vs. Synology DSM

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