Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

HPE Zerto Software vs Synology DSM comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 14, 2025

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

HPE Zerto Software
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
2nd
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
341
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Migration (1st), Cloud Backup (3rd), Disaster Recovery (DR) Software (1st)
Synology DSM
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
22nd
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 October 2025, in the Backup and Recovery category, the mindshare of HPE Zerto Software is 2.6%, down from 2.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Synology DSM is 1.7%, up from 1.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Backup and Recovery Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
HPE Zerto Software2.6%
Synology DSM1.7%
Other95.7%
Backup and Recovery
 

Featured Reviews

Sachin Vinay - PeerSpot reviewer
Leverage disaster recovery with reliable support and cost-effective future-proof features
Zerto is straightforward to implement because it only requires the installation of an agent on the VMs designated for migration. A service, typically a VM, must also be deployed at the disaster recovery location. This entire process is simple and can be completed within three days. Zerto's near-synchronous replication occurs every minute, allowing for highly granular recovery points. This means that even if interruptions or malware disruptions occur within that minute, Zerto can restore to the last known good state, effectively recovering the entire setup to the latest backup. This capability ensures high data security and minimizes potential data loss. One of the main benefits of implementing Zerto is its data compression, which significantly reduces the load on our IPsec VPN. Zerto compresses data by 80 percent before transmitting it across the VPN, minimizing the data transferred between geographically dispersed locations. This compression and subsequent decompression at the destination alleviate the strain on the VPN, preventing overload and ensuring efficient data synchronization. Zerto simplifies malware protection by integrating it into its disaster recovery and synchronization features. This comprehensive approach eliminates the need for separate antivirus setups in virtual machines and applications. It streamlines our security measures and removes the need for additional software or solutions, resulting in an excellent return on investment. Zerto's single-click recovery solution offers exceptional recovery speed. Through the user interface, a single click allows for a complete restoration from the most recent backup within two to three minutes, enabling rapid recovery and minimal downtime. Zerto's Recovery Time Objective is excellent. In the past, if a virtual machine crashed, we would recover it from a snapshot, which could take one to two hours. With Zerto, the recovery process takes only five minutes, and users are typically unaware of any disruption. This allows us to restore everything quickly and efficiently. Zerto has significantly reduced our downtime. When malware affects our data, Zerto immediately notifies us and helps us protect other applications, even those not yet implemented with Zerto. By monitoring these applications, we can quickly identify and address any potential malware spread, minimizing downtime across our systems. Zerto significantly reduces downtime and associated costs during disruptions. Our services are unified, so in the event of a disruption without Zerto, even a half-day disruption would necessitate offline procedures. This would lead to increased manpower, service delays, and substantial financial losses due to interrupted admissions and other critical processes. By unifying service processes, Zerto minimizes the impact of outages. Zerto streamlines our disaster recovery testing across multiple locations by enabling efficient failover testing without disrupting live services. Traditionally, DR testing required downtime of critical systems, but Zerto's replication and failover capabilities allow us to test in parallel with live operations. This non-disruptive approach ensures continuous service availability while validating our DR plan, even in scenarios like malware attacks, by creating a separate testing environment that mirrors the live setup. This comprehensive testing provides confidence in our ability to handle real-world incidents effectively. This saves us over 60 percent of the time. Zerto streamlines system administration tasks by automating many processes, thereby reducing the workload for multiple administrators. This allows them to focus on other university services that require attention and effectively reallocate support resources from automated tasks to those requiring more dedicated management. Zerto is used exclusively for our critical services, providing up to a 70 percent improvement in our IT resilience.
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 replication feature and DR functionality are most valuable. Zerto has many options when a new server is being provisioned."
"The best feature of Zerto is the fast, automated backup and recovery. The data lift for applications is short, with minimal data loss."
"We can failover to an isolated environment and validate the application without impacting the production environment. We can do more testing in a non-impactful way..."
"The UI is straightforward. It makes it very simple to group our resources and understand that our production workloads are covered because we can set them up as granular or as non-granular as we want."
"The features I appreciate the most about HPE Zerto Software are the automated failover and orchestration, and then the journal for point-in-time recovery."
"The journaling is the most valuable aspect of the solution."
"Journaling is by far the most valuable feature. We have used it several times for customers who have gotten ransomware and had to do a rollback. Having the right time period was important. Some of them had their backups encrypted. So, they didn't encrypt the Zerto machine seven days previously, and we were able to bring that back up."
"HPE Zerto Software has improved our RPO and RTO."
"The most valuable features of Synology DSM are its security and connectivity."
"The product performs well. It is easy to use and implement."
"The most valuable aspect is its ability to handle multiple disks."
"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."
"Synology DSM is very easy to work and operate."
"The most valuable features are the basic storage, file management, Btrfs file system, and built-in backups that come with the solution."
"It offers a variety of software options through its package center, allowing users to customize their NAS device to serve multiple purposes."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is that it serves as a backup for our company's virtual machine."
 

Cons

"I have experienced issues with downtime, crashes, and performance with HPE Zerto Software. When we first deployed it, we were replicating to AVS, and we've done DR tests where we've left that test environment running for a significant period and had issues with the amount of storage space it was using."
"Some of the ability to automate selections and automate VPG creations could be better."
"One thing I would like to see, and I know that this is on their roadmap, is the ability to use long-term storage in the cloud, like in Azure or AWS, making that even more seamless. Whether it's stored in glacier or on-prem, being able to retrieve that data in a quick manner would be helpful. They're just not there yet."
"If we have multiple VMs in a VPG (Virtual Protected Group) and one VM is hung for DR, it holds things up. The only alternative is to create multiple VPGs. It would be nice to have one VPG where, if one VM is failing, it does not impact the overall process."
"The backup end of this solution could be improved. We tried using it as a full backup solution and it took way too long to complete at least one backup."
"I don't have any input for improvement or a critical feature request at this moment. If anything, a lower price is always better."
"With the current updates primarily on the Azure side of it, documentation could be improved."
"It would be beneficial if Zerto also offered integration with other cloud management platforms, such as VMware Aria Automation."
"The only bothersome aspect is that the device is aging."
"Even though Synology provides a backup solution, it does not recognize the VM movement across cluster hosts."
"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."
"The product's only shortcoming is pricing, as it is an expensive solution."
"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."
"Users may lose their data if they don't configure the solution properly."
"Synology DSM's user interface is not quite intuitive."
"The platform could be much more cost-effective and flexible for integrating third-party products."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"They should adjust the pricing because I feel its price is too much. If they reduce the price, there will be more users and customers."
"At close to $1,000 a license, it makes it very hard to protect all of your environment, especially for a smaller shop."
"Licensing is VM based so you can buy packages or single VM. Price is not low but the power of application is high, so you will get your money back."
"Zerto is like a Ferrari. It's very fast but not the cheapest solution. You're paying a high price for quality and the assurance that you will have the environment up and steady."
"Everyone knows Zerto is a little on the expensive side, but what else is there on the market that does the same thing?"
"Its pricing is way better than Veeam."
"Zerto is not overly expensive. It's worth what we're getting for it, but with tough times, a discount would be beneficial."
"Zerto’s licensing model has changed a bit over the last year and they are in alignment with others. It is pretty simple and more economical."
"The solution’s pricing is neither cheap nor expensive."
"Synology DSM is a free tool."
"The price of the solution is very good."
"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."
"It is quite an affordable solution."
"The pricing varies widely, catering to a broad range of needs."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Backup and Recovery solutions are best for your needs.
868,787 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Comparison Review

it_user159711 - PeerSpot reviewer
Nov 9, 2014
VMware SRM vs. Veeam vs. Zerto
Disaster recovery planning is something that seems challenging for all businesses. Virtualization in addition to its operational flexibility, and cost reduction benefits, has helped companies improve their DR posture. Virtualization has made it easier to move machines from production to…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
23%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Healthcare Company
7%
Computer Software Company
14%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business91
Midsize Enterprise85
Large Enterprise193
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise1
 

Questions from the Community

What advice do you have for others considering Oracle Data Guard?
Ik fluister:VM Host Oracle en DataGuard hebben we per toeval vervangen door Zerto :-) tijdens de Zerto implementatie en VPG werden de Host Data in write-ack Block-Level gerepliceerd. Qua licentie 1...
What do you like most about Zerto?
Its ability to roll back if the VM or the server that you are recovering does not come up right is also valuable. You have the ability to roll back a few seconds or a few minutes. The rollback feat...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zerto?
Regarding my experience with pricing, setup costs, and licensing, I think on the pricing side, I don't generally deal with it, but from what I hear from my finance team, it's somewhat on the higher...
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

Zerto Virtual Replication
Synology DiskStation Manager (DSM)
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

United Airlines, HCA, XPO Logistics, TaxSlayer, McKesson, Insight Global, American Airlines, Tencate, Aaron’s, Grey’s County, Kingston Technologies
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about HPE Zerto Software vs. Synology DSM and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
868,787 professionals have used our research since 2012.