N-able Cove Data Protection vs Retrospect Backup comparison

Why PeerSpot?

N-able and Retrospect Inc are both solutions in the Backup and Recovery category. N-able is ranked #28 with an average rating of 8.0, while Retrospect Inc is ranked #80. N-able holds a 1.5% mindshare in BRS, compared to Retrospect Inc’s 0.5% mindshare. Additionally, 95% of N-able users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Retrospect Inc users who would recommend it.

N-able Cove Data Protection

Read 24 N-able Cove Data Protection reviews

10,124 Views
5,872 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

Retrospect Backup

Read 1 Retrospect Backup review

2,312 Views
1,734 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

N-able Cove Data Protection

Retrospect Backup

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between N-able Cove Data Protection and Retrospect Backup based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Veeam Software, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Dell Technologies and others in Backup and Recovery.

To learn more, read our detailed Backup and Recovery Report (Updated: October 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Backup and Recovery

October 2026

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Helped 920,769 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

N-able Cove Data Protection

Ranking in Backup and Recovery

28th

Ranking in Cloud Backup

20th

Average Rating

9.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

SaaS Backup (10th), MSP Backup (2nd)

Retrospect Backup

Ranking in Backup and Recovery

80th

Ranking in Cloud Backup

65th

Average Rating

0.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Backup and Recovery category, the mindshare of N-able Cove Data Protection is 1.5%, up from 1.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Retrospect Backup is 0.5%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Backup and Recovery Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
N-able Cove Data Protection	1.5%
Retrospect Backup	0.5%
Other	98.0%

Backup and Recovery

Featured Reviews

Grace Myna

HR Consultant

Secure reminders have improved HR document control and support better client deadline management

I really love the reminders feature of N-able Cove Data Protection because I have many dates to keep in mind while working with multiple clients. The access settings are important for me too, and the fact that HR documents are personal means I do not want everyone seeing everything, especially because in HR we talk mostly about confidentiality. It is important that not everyone gets to see everything unless they have access, and I also appreciate being able to tell which copy is the final one. The reminders feature stands out for me the most because I deal with many dates and deadlines. The reminders work well for me in practice because they make it easy for me; I do not have to keep checking my calendar, even though I also use other calendars such as Calendly. The reminders come in handy because I do not have to keep going back to that, helping me ensure that I meet deadlines and do not miss client meetings, making it easier for me to stay organized.

Read full review

Sujeet Rai

Director at Lighthouse Solutions

Can be used to back up servers and desktops, but needs to have an Oracle agent for its on-premises model

Retrospect Backup has a single console that can be used to manage and backup servers and desktops. The solution supports tape and cloud since certain customers are still on tape. The solution provides a dissimilar hardware restore feature. If you have a complete machine burnout, you can restore it on new dissimilar hardware. Retrospect Backup is used to protect file data and SQL databases. Streamlining data backup processes with Retrospect Backup is automated and does not need any human intervention. The solution doesn't take up much time and does the backups automatically. Policy creation is very easy with Retrospect Backup. Once it's done, you don't have to bother about it because it keeps working on its own. A disaster recovery (DR) solution has been built into Retrospect Backup. You can restore the whole machine on a fresh setup with ISO images. Retrospect Backup is very easy to use and not very complicated. Creating policies and adding clients is very easy in the solution. The solution doesn't take up much LAN bandwidth except for the first full backup. The solution is efficient and does the backups really fast. It takes backups in batches of 14 machines at a time.

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

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

"Now, we're able to offer an extremely well-priced solution to our clients that is thousands of dollars less than any of the competitors I've used."

"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."

"It provides a single dashboard for all types of data protection, we monitor everything through a single dashboard. It simplifies everything overall. It allows us to see everything, whether passing or failing any issues, any problems through a single pane of glass that we don't have to click through or adjust as we go forward."

"Cove Data Protection has streamlined how we handle data protection, as an MSP, saving me time with a single console to administer all client backups and dramatically improving the service levels I can offer customers while giving me confidence in reselling a trustworthy service and company."

"The monitoring makes it very easy to check whether a backup has gone bad."

"Overall, our team is much more satisfied, I don't have to bite my fingernails every morning wondering "What happened here?" and pretty much when things don't back up, it's usually either a machine failure or their network went down or something else is screwed up."

"One of the bigger features and advantages of the solution is that it is easy to integrate with my RMM which is also N-able."

More N-able Cove Data Protection pros

"Retrospect Backup has a single console that can be used to manage and backup servers and desktops."

Cons

"The only reason I wouldn't give them a ten out of ten is we aren't able to restore in the cloud and test everything out as we can on Datto, without having to download the full image onto bare metal hardware."

"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 reporting feature and functionality need improvement."

"There could be a possibility to create a local NAS backup for infrastructure."

"Having the licensing available for partners to be able to take advantage of testing without paying would make a big difference."

"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."

"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... Since RMM is an agent that feeds back that a machine is alive and on, I don't see any reason why they can't either tap into that one feature or build the same exact polling within the backup agent, to update right away and say the system is online or offline."

"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."

More N-able Cove Data Protection cons

"Retrospect Backup needs to have an Oracle agent for its on-premises model."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is affordable. N-able Cove Data Protection has a direct-to-cloud architecture, but it also allows saving backups locally without extra storage costs."

"The only option I would like to see is an adjustable scale. Right now we have 250 seats and we're not using all of them. It would be nice to be able to save that little bit of money by being able to buy just what we need."

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

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

"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."

"The price isn't extreme, but I'd love to pay less."

"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."

"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."

More N-able Cove Data Protection pricing and cost advice

"Retrospect Backup is more cost-effective compared to other products."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Comms Service Provider

13%

Construction Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Outsourcing Company

Construction Company

22%

Comms Service Provider

13%

Financial Services Firm

10%

University

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	19
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	1

No data available

Questions from the Community

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

We have not needed interns for a long time. For the one year, we did not need an intern because initially, we wanted interns because sometimes our team would be overwhelmed.

See all answers

What needs improvement with N-able Backup?

For now, I do not have anything else to add about the features apart from the confidentiality aspect; it helps me ensure that HR documents are personal, so someone who does not have access to them ...

See all answers

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

My main use case for N-able Cove Data Protection is to rely on it mostly for HR related documents, and I have been using it for quite some time. I normally open it when I need to check signed docum...

See all answers

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Compared 14% of the time

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Compared 5% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

N-able Cove Data Protection

October 2026

Download N-able Cove Data Protection product report

Buyer's Guide

Backup and Recovery

October 2026

Download Retrospect Backup product report

Also Known As

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

No data available

Overview

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

Retrospect Backup offers reliable data protection and quick data recovery, compatible with servers and workstations. It emphasizes ease of use, incremental backups, and data archiving.

Retrospect Backup serves users needing efficient data protection and disaster recovery services. Known for its compatibility with multiple systems, Retrospect Backup simplifies the setup process while ensuring comprehensive incremental backups. Users appreciate its automation capabilities, encryption, and detailed reporting features.

What are the key features of Retrospect Backup?

Reliable Data Protection: Ensures data remains safe and recoverable.
Cost-Effective Licensing: Affordable plans cater to different needs.
System Compatibility: Works with multiple operating systems.
Granular Restore: Allows recovery of specific files.
Data De-Duplication: Reduces storage needs and costs.
Automation Features: Saves time on routine tasks.
Encryption: Protects data with advanced security measures.
Detailed Reporting: Offers thorough insights for data management.

What benefits should users look for in Retrospect Backup?

Improved Backup Accuracy: Ensures precise data recovery.
Enhanced Efficiency: Streamlines backup processes.
User-Friendliness: Simplifies the backup management experience.
Robust Support: Access to a knowledgeable support team.
Data Security: Keeps sensitive information protected.
Cost Savings: Reduces expenses related to data storage.

In industries such as healthcare, finance, and education, Retrospect Backup aids in safeguarding critical data and ensuring compliance with regulatory standards. It allows organizations to adapt their data protection strategies, meet specific requirements, and maintain the integrity of sensitive information.

Retrospect Inc

Sample Customers

Computer Depot, Leading Edge Computers, IT Logic Australia

Information Not Available

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