Most small businesses do not lose data in a dramatic data-center fire. They lose it when a laptop is stolen from a car, when someone deletes a shared folder by accident, when an employee leaves and their files go with the old machine, or when ransomware encrypts the file server overnight. Backup software exists for all of those days, and the right product depends far more on what you need to protect than on which brand has the best marketing.
That is the first thing to sort out before comparing prices. "Business backup" covers at least four different jobs:
- Endpoints: the laptops and desktops your staff use every day.
- Servers and virtual machines: a Windows file server, a SQL database, a Hyper-V or VMware host, a NAS box in the closet.
- Cloud apps: Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace mailboxes, OneDrive, SharePoint and shared drives. Microsoft and Google keep the service running, but restoring a mailbox someone emptied or a site that was wiped is your problem.
- Disaster recovery: getting a whole machine or a whole office running again, not just getting files back.
Some products on this list do one of those jobs very well. Others try to do all four from one console. This guide compares six well-known options, Acronis Cyber Protect, Backblaze Business Backup, IDrive Business and Team, Veeam Data Platform, Carbonite Safe Backup Pro, and Datto, using the prices and plan details each vendor publishes on its own website as of October 2026. We did not run hands-on tests of these products for this article; where a vendor does not publish a price, we say so instead of guessing.
How We Compared These Tools
We compared the products on things you can check in each vendor's own published material:
- What it can protect: endpoints, servers, VMs, NAS, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace.
- How it is priced: per computer, per workload, per TB of storage, per seat, or by quote. This matters more than the headline number, because the same business can look cheap under one model and expensive under another.
- Where the backups live: the vendor's cloud only, or your own storage, or both.
- Ransomware and recovery features the vendor documents, such as immutable backups, malware scanning, version history and full-machine restores.
- How you buy it: online checkout, sales quote, or only through a partner.
Every price below is the vendor's list price in US dollars as shown on its website in October 2026. Several vendors run first-year promotions; we note them where they appear, but you should budget on the standard renewal price.
Acronis Cyber Protect review
What it is. Acronis Cyber Protect is a backup product with security features built into the same agent. You install one agent per machine and manage everything from a central console. Acronis sells three editions to businesses buying directly: Standard, Advanced and Backup Advanced. (Acronis also sells a separate, partner-delivered product for service providers; this review covers the version a business buys for itself.)
What it protects. Windows and macOS workstations, physical servers, virtual hosts (Acronis lists Hyper-V, VMware vSphere and Virtuozzo support in Standard), public cloud VMs, and, in the Backup Advanced edition only, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace. Acronis states that Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace backup are supported only in Backup Advanced.
Pricing (published, annual). Acronis publishes its prices on its purchasing page:
- Standard: $85 per workstation per year (includes 50 GB of Acronis Cloud Storage per workstation), $595 per server per year (includes 250 GB per workload), $705 per virtual host per year, and $285 per year for Windows Server Essentials.
- Advanced: $129 per workstation per year, $925 per server per year, $1,175 per virtual host per year.
- Backup Advanced: $109 per workstation, $779 per server, $1,019 per virtual host per year.
- Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace backup: $209 per year per pack of five seats (Backup Advanced), including unlimited Acronis-hosted cloud storage.
- Extra Acronis cloud storage: from $229 per year for 250 GB, $689 per year for 1 TB, or $3,309 per year for 5 TB.
Three- and five-year terms are cheaper per year, and Acronis also offers a monthly-payment option at a higher price. Included cloud storage is pooled across all devices in the account. A free trial is offered from the Acronis site.
Which edition? Acronis's own guidance is simple: Standard for setups with fewer than five devices, Advanced for more than five devices or more complex needs, and Backup Advanced if you need Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, SAP HANA, or less common hypervisors (KVM, Nutanix AHV, Red Hat Virtualization and others) and do not need the security features. Advanced adds centralized management of backup plans, scanning backups for malware before you restore them, safe recovery, tape support and SAN snapshots, plus endpoint detection and response for cloud deployments.
Security features. Acronis says Standard combines backup with data protection maps, URL filtering, continuous data protection and hard-drive health monitoring, alongside its anti-malware protection. The benefit is one agent and one bill instead of separate antivirus and backup products; the trade-off is overlap if you already pay for endpoint security.
Who should buy it. A business with a mix of Windows and Mac laptops, one or more servers, maybe a Hyper-V or VMware host, and Microsoft 365, that wants one console and a price it can calculate on its own.
Who should skip it. A team that only has laptops and wants the lowest-effort option (Backblaze is simpler), or a business that needs a large amount of cloud storage, where Acronis's per-GB storage add-ons get expensive quickly. Note too that Microsoft 365 backup requires the Backup Advanced edition, so a business that wants both Advanced security features and Microsoft 365 backup ends up mixing editions.
Backblaze Business Backup review
What it is. Backblaze sells two different things, and it is worth keeping them apart. Backblaze Business Backup (part of its Computer Backup product) is an app you install on Mac and Windows computers that backs them up to Backblaze's cloud. Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage is S3-compatible object storage that other backup software, such as Veeam, writes to. This review is about Business Backup; we cover B2 where it matters below.
What it protects. Mac and Windows computers and their attached external drives. Backblaze backs up all user-generated data by default, so users do not have to pick folders. It does not support Windows Server, Linux, or network drives and NAS devices in Computer Backup; Backblaze's own documentation points those to B2 instead.
Pricing (published). Business Backup is $99 per computer per year, with unlimited data per computer and no storage overage fees. Monthly, one-year and two-year billing are offered (Backblaze advertises an 8% saving on two-year billing), and new computers added mid-term are pro-rated so renewals stay on one date. One-year version history is included; "Forever" version retention is available for an added fee. Enterprise Control, which adds OIDC single sign-on (Okta, Azure AD), legal hold, backup lockdown and restricted restore access, is priced by quote. A free trial is available.
Restores. Users or IT can restore through a dedicated restore app or the web (zip restores up to 500 GB per request). Backblaze will also ship an encrypted USB drive with your data, free if you return the drive within 30 days, which is genuinely useful when you need to restore a whole laptop's worth of data quickly.
Admin. A central web console, silent deployment via MSI, Jamf, Munki, Kandji (now Iru), Addigy and Intune, SSO through Google and Microsoft for all business accounts, and centralized billing.
B2 for servers. If you also have servers or a NAS, B2 Cloud Storage is $6.95 per TB per month pay-as-you-go, with the first 10 GB free and free egress up to three times your average monthly storage. Backblaze documents integrations with Veeam (including immutable backups via Object Lock) and native NAS apps from Synology, QNAP and TrueNAS. That makes Backblaze a reasonable storage destination for server backups, but you need separate backup software to make those backups.
Who should buy it. Teams that are mostly or entirely laptops, especially remote and Mac-heavy teams, who want predictable per-person pricing and no storage math.
Who should skip it. Anyone who needs server, NAS, Linux or Microsoft 365 backup from the same product. Backblaze Business Backup does not do those.
IDrive Business and Team review
What it is. IDrive is a cloud backup service with two business plan families. IDrive Team is priced by number of computers and users. IDrive Business is priced by storage, with no limit on the number of computers, plus support for servers, Exchange, SQL and NAS devices.
What it protects. Windows, Mac and Linux computers, iOS and Android devices, external drives, NAS devices (IDrive lists dedicated apps for Synology, Netgear, Asustor and QNAP), Windows servers, and through server backup, MS SQL, on-premises Exchange, Hyper-V, VMware and Oracle. Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace are covered by an add-on called Cloud Applications Backup.
Pricing (published). IDrive shows monthly, yearly and two-year prices. Standard yearly prices, expressed per month:
- Team: $9.99/month billed yearly for 5 computers, 5 users and 5 TB; $19.99/month for 10 computers and 10 TB; $49.99/month for 25 computers and 25 TB; up to 500 computers. On monthly billing, the 5-computer plan is $11.99/month.
- Business: $19.99/month billed yearly for 500 GB, $49.99/month for 1.25 TB, $149.99/month for 5 TB, up to 100 TB. Unlimited users, computers and servers.
- Server backup add-on for Team plans: $5 per server per month.
- Microsoft 365 backup: $20 per seat per year with unlimited storage; Google Workspace backup: $20 per seat per year with 10 TB per seat. Both have a 7-day free trial.
IDrive advertises 30% off the first year for new signups (50% off for two-year plans); standard prices apply from the second year. There is a free 10 GB Basic account. If you exceed your storage, IDrive charges an overuse fee of $0.50 per GB per month on Team and Business plans, so watch your usage or move up a tier.
Other features. Continuous backup, a web console to manage remote computers, users and groups, single sign-on, 24/7 support by chat, email and phone (priority support on business plans), and IDrive Express, where IDrive ships a temporary drive for bulk backup or restore, free three times a year on Team and Business and $59.95 after that. IDrive says it signs a HIPAA Business Associate Agreement.
Who should buy it. Small businesses that want computers, a server or two, a NAS and Microsoft 365 covered for the lowest outlay, and are comfortable managing storage tiers.
Who should skip it. Teams that want "set it and forget it" pricing; the storage caps and overuse fees mean someone has to keep an eye on usage. Businesses that need deep virtualization recovery features will find Veeam more capable.
Veeam Data Platform review
What it is. Veeam is best known for protecting servers and virtual machines. Veeam Data Platform is its main product family, built around Veeam Backup & Replication. You install it on your own hardware and choose where backups go: local disks, a NAS, object storage such as Backblaze B2, or Veeam's own cloud. Veeam also runs a separate SaaS service, Veeam Data Cloud, which includes Microsoft 365 backup.
What it protects. Virtual machines on VMware, Hyper-V, Proxmox VE, Nutanix AHV and others, physical Windows and Linux servers, NAS and file shares, cloud instances, and laptops.
Pricing.
- Community Edition: free for up to 10 workloads.
- Veeam Data Platform Essentials: Veeam lists an MSRP of $95 per license per year, sold in packs of five licenses, up to a maximum of 50 workloads, on one- to five-year terms. Licenses are Veeam Universal Licenses, so they move between workload types. It can be bought from Veeam's online store, through sales, or through partners, and there is a free 30-day trial with full functionality.
- Larger Veeam Data Platform editions (beyond 50 workloads) are sold through Veeam sales and partners; we did not find a list price on Veeam's pages, so plan on a quote.
- Veeam Data Cloud for Microsoft 365: the Foundation plan lists at $3.50 per user per month billed annually for 10 to 50 users, falling to $3.15 for 51 to 250 users and $2.63 for 251 or more. Storage is included. Advanced (which adds Entra ID protection) and Premium plans cost more.
- Veeam Data Cloud Vault (cloud storage for your backups): from $14 per TB per month (Foundation).
Storage is not included in the Essentials license itself. You either provide your own repository (a server with disks, a NAS) or pay for cloud storage separately, so factor that into any comparison.
Strengths. Veeam's recovery options for virtual machines are its main draw: it can restore whole VMs or individual files and application items, and it supports immutable backups to protect against ransomware. Veeam also advertises malware detection in Essentials. It works with a long list of storage targets, and Backblaze documents a Veeam integration with immutability for B2.
Weaknesses. Veeam is software you run yourself. Someone has to set up the backup server and repositories, keep them patched, and test restores. That is normal with an IT person or MSP, and a heavy lift without one. For remote laptops, Backblaze, IDrive or Acronis are simpler.
Who should buy it. Businesses with a server room or a virtualization host, an IT person or MSP, and a need for fast recovery of whole servers. With 10 or fewer workloads, Community Edition costs nothing in licenses.
Who should skip it. Laptop-only teams and offices with no in-house IT.
Carbonite Safe Backup Pro review
What it is. Carbonite has been part of OpenText since 2019. For small offices, it sells Carbonite Safe Backup Pro directly on carbonite.com in three plans: Core, Power and Ultimate. Its larger business line, including what used to be Carbonite Endpoint (now OpenText Core Endpoint Backup), has moved to OpenText Cybersecurity and is sold through sales and partners. Carbonite's site directs businesses with more than 25 computers there.
What it protects. Windows and Mac computers, external drives and NAS (Core), plus servers on Power and Ultimate. Power and Ultimate add system file backup, which Carbonite says covers items like the Windows Registry, Active Directory, SQL and MySQL, Exchange and SharePoint, and Hyper-V, along with bare metal image backup and restore.
Pricing (published, per year).
- Core: $287.99 per year for up to 25 computers, external drives and NAS, with 250 GB of cloud storage.
- Power: $799.99 per year for 1 server plus up to 25 computers, with 500 GB.
- Ultimate: $1,299.99 per year for unlimited servers plus 25 computers, with 500 GB.
- Extra storage: $99 per 100 GB.
In October 2026 Carbonite was advertising 20% off the first year (Core $230.39, Power $639.99, Ultimate $1,039.99). Carbonite offers a 30-day free trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee. Phone and email support runs Monday to Friday, 9 am to 6 pm Eastern.
Strengths. One flat price for up to 25 computers is easy to budget, and including bare metal restore and server support in the higher plans helps a small office with a single server. Carbonite says its support team can help restore pre-infection versions of files within two weeks of a ransomware infection, and its plans support HIPAA, FERPA and GLBA compliance.
Weaknesses. Storage is the catch. 250 GB across 25 computers is about 10 GB per computer, which is not much for anyone who stores photos, video, CAD files or large mailboxes locally. At $99 per 100 GB, adding a terabyte costs about $990 a year, more than the Core plan itself. Support hours are business hours only.
Who should buy it. A small office with light data, perhaps one server, that wants a single annual bill and phone support.
Who should skip it. Anyone with more than a few hundred gigabytes to protect, or more than 25 computers.
Datto review
What it is. Datto, owned by Kaseya since 2022, makes backup and disaster recovery (BCDR) products: Datto SIRIS and ALTO appliances, Datto Endpoint Backup, SaaS Protection for Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, and file protection products. These are well known among IT service providers for local-plus-cloud recovery of servers.
How you buy it. This is the key fact for this guide: Datto works exclusively with managed service providers (MSPs). Datto's own pricing page is addressed to partners and says it "works exclusively with MSP partners, never competing for their clients." A business cannot sign up and pay Datto directly, and Datto does not publish end-customer prices. Your MSP sets the price and bundles it into their monthly fee.
Who should consider it. A business that already outsources IT to an MSP, or plans to, can ask whether that MSP uses Datto. For a company that wants backup and recovery handled for it, rather than buying and running software itself, that is a perfectly sensible route. You get the product plus someone responsible for monitoring backups and running restores.
Who should skip it. Any business that wants to buy, set up and manage backup itself. None of the details you would normally compare (price, storage, retention terms) are available until an MSP quotes you. If you are buying directly, Acronis, IDrive or Veeam are the closest direct-buy equivalents for server and endpoint protection.
Head-to-Head Comparison
Acronis vs Backblaze
These two solve different problems. Backblaze is the easiest way to protect laptops and desktops: one price per computer, unlimited data, and free drive shipping for large restores. Acronis covers laptops too, but also servers, virtual hosts and (in Backup Advanced) Microsoft 365, and adds security features. For 10 laptops, Backblaze costs $990 a year; Acronis Standard costs $850 a year, but Acronis recommends Advanced above five devices ($1,290 a year), and its included cloud storage is 50 GB per workstation, pooled. If your staff have large local files, Backblaze's unlimited storage wins. If you have anything beyond laptops, Acronis does more.
IDrive vs Backblaze
Both are cloud services for computers, but IDrive prices by storage pool and Backblaze by computer. IDrive Team covers 10 computers and 10 TB for $19.99 a month billed yearly (about $240 a year at the standard price), far less than Backblaze's $990 for 10 computers, but with a storage cap and overuse fees. IDrive also covers Linux, servers, NAS and Microsoft 365, which Backblaze Business Backup does not. Backblaze's advantages are unlimited data with no tier management and a simpler client focused only on computers.
Acronis vs IDrive
Both cover endpoints, servers, NAS-adjacent workloads and Microsoft 365. IDrive is clearly cheaper, especially for Microsoft 365 ($20 per seat per year versus Acronis's $209 per five seats, about $42 per seat). Acronis gives you more per device: integrated anti-malware, virtual host licensing, full-image recovery options and a more centralized backup plan model in Advanced. If budget is the main constraint, IDrive; if you want one product that also covers security and handles virtualization, Acronis.
Veeam vs Acronis
For servers and VMs, Veeam is the specialist. It runs on your hardware, writes to storage you choose, and is built around fast VM recovery. Acronis is more of a generalist, bundling endpoint protection with backup and including some cloud storage. With 10 or fewer server and VM workloads, Veeam Community Edition costs nothing in licenses, though you supply the storage and the admin time. With laptops, Microsoft 365 and a couple of servers, and no dedicated IT staff, Acronis is easier to live with.
Carbonite vs IDrive
Both sell flat plans to small offices. Carbonite Core covers up to 25 computers for $287.99 a year but only includes 250 GB. IDrive Team covers 25 computers with 25 TB for $49.99 a month billed yearly (about $600 a year at standard price). Per gigabyte, IDrive is far cheaper; Carbonite's appeal is its single bill and its server plans with bare metal restore.
How to Choose: Decision Framework
Step 1: List what you need to protect
Write down how many laptops and desktops, servers (physical and virtual), NAS devices, and Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace users you have. This one list rules out options fast:
- Laptops and desktops only: Backblaze Business Backup or IDrive Team.
- Laptops plus one server: Acronis Cyber Protect, IDrive Business, or Carbonite Power.
- Several servers or a virtualization host: Veeam Data Platform, or Acronis Advanced.
- Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace: IDrive's add-on, Acronis Backup Advanced, or Veeam Data Cloud. Backblaze Business Backup and Carbonite Safe Backup Pro do not list dedicated Microsoft 365 backup plans.
Step 2: Estimate how much data you have
Per-computer pricing (Backblaze) ignores how much data you have. Storage-pool pricing (IDrive, Carbonite) and included-storage-plus-add-ons (Acronis) depend on it heavily. If your team stores large files locally, run the numbers for each model rather than comparing headline prices.
Step 3: Decide who will run it
Cloud services like Backblaze, IDrive and Carbonite need little care after setup. Acronis needs a little more, mainly policy setup. Veeam is software you operate, which suits an IT person or MSP. If you have no IT staff and do not want to learn, an MSP-delivered product such as Datto may be worth the extra cost.
Step 4: Check the ransomware basics
At minimum, look for: version history long enough to go back before an infection (Backblaze includes one year), a copy of your backups that an attacker on your network cannot delete (immutable backups, offered by Veeam and by B2 with Object Lock), and a tested way to restore a whole machine, not just files.
Step 5: Budget on renewal prices
IDrive and Carbonite both advertised first-year discounts in October 2026. Use the standard price for your budget, because that is what you will pay from year two.
Step 6: Test a restore during the trial
Every direct-buy vendor here offers a free trial or free tier: Backblaze, Acronis and Carbonite trials, IDrive's free 10 GB Basic plan, and Veeam's Community Edition and 30-day trial. A backup you have never restored from is a guess. Restore a few files and, if you can, a whole machine before you commit.
The Verdict: Final Recommendations
Best overall for small and mid-size businesses: Acronis Cyber Protect. It covers the widest range of workloads from one console at published per-device prices, and its bundled security features reduce the number of products you need. Start with Standard if you have fewer than five devices and Advanced if you have more, and add Backup Advanced Microsoft 365 packs if you need cloud app backup.
Best for laptop and desktop fleets: Backblaze Business Backup. $99 per computer per year, unlimited data, easy deployment and free drive-shipping restores. Just remember it does not protect servers, NAS or Linux.
Best budget pick for mixed devices: IDrive Business or Team. The cheapest way here to cover computers, servers, NAS and Microsoft 365 together, provided someone watches the storage tier.
Best for servers and virtual machines: Veeam Data Platform. Free for 10 workloads, $95 per workload per year for up to 50 with Essentials, and the deepest VM recovery tooling on this list.
Best for a small office that wants one flat bill: Carbonite Safe Backup Pro. Fine for light data on up to 25 computers; expensive once you need more storage.
Best if you already use an MSP: Datto. Not available to buy directly; ask your IT provider.
Conclusion
The best backup software for a business is the one that covers everything you would hate to lose, at a price model that fits your data. For most small and mid-size businesses with a mix of laptops, a server and Microsoft 365, Acronis Cyber Protect is the most complete direct-buy option with transparent pricing. Backblaze is the easy answer for teams that are all laptops, IDrive is the budget answer for mixed devices, and Veeam is the right tool for server rooms.
Whatever you choose, do two things this month: make sure Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace data is covered (many businesses assume it is and find out otherwise), and test a real restore. Backup only proves its value on the day you need it back.
Sarah Chen