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Selecting a backup solution requires balancing functionality, cost, and reliability, especially for IT professionals and Managed Service Providers (MSPs) managing critical business data. In this article, we compare Cove Backup (formerly N-able Backup) and MSP360 Managed Backup, highlighting their strengths, weaknesses, and optimal use cases to guide your decision—whether you’re new to backup solutions or considering a Cove Backup alternative.

This comparison focuses on features critical for MSPs and IT departments, including pricing policy and cost planning, backup capabilities, storage options, and management console usability, helping you make an informed decision based on your organization’s needs.

Pricing Policy and ROI

Cove Backup

• Price Includes License and Limited Storage: Each license comes with built-in storage quotas, as outlined in the Fair Use Policy – 1 TB of used storage per server (with a 500 GB source-data limit) and 200 GB of used storage per workstation (with a 100 GB source-data limit), plus a separate pool of 1 TB per user for Microsoft 365. Of course, the storage price is implicitly included in the license, and you pay for this storage whether or not it is fully utilized.
• Extra Storage Purchased Separately: Additional storage usage beyond the fair use limits is automatically invoiced at N-able's established rate*, potentially leading to high costs as backup sizes grow.
• Contract Flexibility Has Limits: Cove's standard pricing lets MSPs add or remove devices monthly, but also offers (and commonly steers customers toward) multi-year contracts to lock in pricing – a longer commitment than MSP360's month-to-month model.
• Reselling Underused Storage Quota: If some clients are underusing their storage quota, MSPs can redistribute or “resell” the unused quota to other clients. However, if all clients are underusing storage, the MSP still pays for the full storage allocation.

*N-able does not publish the exact overage rate; it's determined per the Cove Data Protection Fair Use Policy. MSPs have reported rates in the $15–20/TB range in community discussions, though this isn't officially confirmed and may vary.

MSP360 Managed Backup

• License per endpoint, Volume Discounts: MSP360 licenses do not include storage, allowing for clear and transparent cost planning. License discounts are available for MSPs with large-scale deployments.
• Flat Storage Price, with Multiple Options: MSP360 supports multiple storage destinations, including integrations with leading cloud storage providers like AWS, Wasabi, Backblaze B2, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform, and on-premises solutions. Pricing starts at just $7.99/TB with MSP360 Storage powered by Wasabi. Learn more about other storage options from the storage comparison table.
• Monthly Subscription With Trial Period: MSP360 offers monthly subscription options and trial periods for backup service and integrated storage options.
• Scalable, Cost-Effective Storage: Each client incurs storage costs proportional to their actual usage.

Backup and Recovery Capabilities

Cove Backup

• Cloud-First Backup: Designed primarily for cloud-based incremental backups, Cove supports file-level, application-aware, and system state backups.
• Limited Customization: Retention policies and backup schedules are less flexible compared to MSP360.
• Microsoft 365: Covers backup for Microsoft 365, including Exchange Online and OneDrive, but does not extend to Google Workspace.

MSP360 Managed Backup

• Versatile Backup Options: Supports file-level, application-aware (SQL, Exchange), system state, and image-based backups.
• Custom Retention Policies: Provides granular control over backup schedules and retention policies, allowing MSPs to meet compliance requirements.
• On-Demand Restores: MSP360 allows full control over recovery points and data versions.
• Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace: Comprehensive support for backing up and restoring Microsoft 365 services (Mail, OneDrive, Contacts, Calendar, SharePoint, and Teams) and Google Workspace (Gmail, Google Drive, Contacts, Calendar, and Shared Drives).

Storage Options

Cove Backup

• Built-In Cloud Storage: Cove includes proprietary cloud storage as part of its subscription plan. While this simplifies billing, it limits storage flexibility and may not meet all compliance requirements.
• Limited Customer Control Over Storage Location: Cove's LocalSpeedVault lets you keep an optional local copy of server and workstation backups alongside the cloud copy. Microsoft 365 backups, however, are cloud-to-cloud only, stored exclusively within N-able's private cloud – there's no option to choose or add an independent storage destination for M365 data.
• Vendor Lock-In Risk: Using Cove’s proprietary storage could create vendor lock-in, reducing flexibility for organizations that might want to switch providers.
• Vendor-Managed, Not Customer-Configurable, Redundancy: Cove runs thousands of storage nodes across multiple data centers and automatically creates immutable "Fortified Copies" of backups hourly – so internal redundancy does exist. However, the placement and replication of N-able-hosted backup data remain part of N-able's internal architecture rather than something the MSP can configure independently.

MSP360 Managed Backup

• Multi-Cloud Compatibility: MSP360 supports a broad range of storage providers, including AWS, Wasabi, Backblaze B2, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, and any S3-compatible storage.
• MSP360 Cloud Storage: Offers two storage options powered by Wasabi and AWS, featuring instant setup, flat pricing, and simple billing.
• Hybrid Flexibility: MSP360 supports both cloud and on-premises storage options, allowing organizations to tailor their solutions based on their infrastructure needs.
• Choice of Storage Providers: MSPs can choose storage solutions that will be optimal for each client, allocating premium storage for mission-critical data and cost-effective options for secondary data.
• Storage Tiers for Compliance Backups: When clients need long-term and cost-efficient storage for compliance reasons, MSPs can offer them options like AWS Glacier and Azure Archive Storage, starting at just $0.99 per Tb.

Storage Redundancy and the Case for Bring-Your-Own-Storage (BYOS)

Storage redundancy is often treated as a given, but there is an important distinction between knowing that redundancy exists and having a published durability target you can evaluate.

Major object storage providers publish specific durability figures for their infrastructure. Amazon S3 Standard is designed for 99.999999999% (“11 nines”) object durability and stores data redundantly across multiple devices in a minimum of three Availability Zones. Wasabi likewise states that its object storage is designed for 99.999999999% durability, supported by redundant object storage, integrity validation, and automatic repair.

Cove describes a distributed storage architecture consisting of thousands of Storage Nodes across multiple data centers, with mechanisms for distributing backup data and maintaining availability when individual nodes become unavailable. However, N-able does not publicly state a comparable object-durability target for Cove storage.

This highlights an important difference between Cove’s bundled-storage model and MSP360’s Bring Your Own Storage (BYOS) approach:

• Published storage durability. With MSP360, MSPs can select storage providers such as AWS S3, Wasabi, Backblaze B2, and other S3-compatible platforms, and evaluate the durability, availability, and redundancy characteristics published by those providers.
• Choice of storage architecture. MSPs can select storage based on each customer’s requirements and, where appropriate, combine different providers or cloud and local storage. Cove’s all-inclusive model instead relies on N-able’s own storage infrastructure, while software-only customers operate Cove Storage Nodes on infrastructure they manage.
• Redundancy and immutability solve different problems. Storage redundancy and durability are designed to protect against infrastructure and media failures. Immutability features such as AWS S3 Object Lock, Wasabi Object Lock, and Cove Fortified Copies protect against deletion and tampering. Both are important layers of a resilient backup strategy.

The takeaway: published durability targets give MSPs a concrete metric they can evaluate when selecting storage. BYOS adds another dimension of control by allowing MSPs to choose the storage infrastructure, and the resilience characteristics, that best fit each customer.

Management Console and UX

Cove Backup

• Cloud-Native Console: Cove provides a web-based management console designed for managing cloud-first backups.
• Streamlined Features: The interface is streamlined for simplicity but offers fewer advanced configuration options compared to MSP360.
• Limited Control: Cove lacks certain granular control features, which might not appeal to MSPs needing detailed customization.

MSP360 Managed Backup

• Unified Management Console: MSP360 provides a single, centralized console to manage all backups, monitor statuses, configure policies, and much more. It supports all product features with no extra costs.
• User-Friendly Interface: The platform is known for its intuitive interface, making it easy for MSPs and IT professionals to onboard new staff and manage backups without extensive training.
• Free Inclusion: MSP360’s management console is included in the license, with no separate fees.
• API Support: Offers extensive API capabilities for integration with other tools and custom automation.
• MSP Platform: a dedicated solution for MSPs that combines backup, remote access, monitoring, and management in a single web console, making it easier to manage customers from one place.

Conclusion

Choosing between MSP360 Managed Backup and Cove Backup depends on your business priorities. MSP360 offers unmatched flexibility in storage, robust security features like immutability, and cost-efficient pricing, as well as the ability to build in storage redundancy across providers ( a resilience advantage that recent industry incidents have shown isn't just theoretical) making it an excellent choice for MSPs managing diverse environments or seeking a Cove alternative. On the other hand, Cove excels in cloud-native simplicity and seamless integration with N-able’s ecosystem, making it suitable for organizations already committed to their tools.

Both platforms cater to distinct needs, and understanding your operational requirements will help you make the best decision for protecting your data and ensuring business continuity.