This roundup breaks down how the best SharePoint backup solutions compare while highlighting the differences that matter for different types of users.
SharePoint holds your files, permissions, hierarchy, and business context. Data loss in any one of those components puts your team’s ability to function at risk. Scenarios range from accidental deletion and sync conflicts to catastrophic ransomware. That is why the option to restore from backup shouldn’t be a corner case. It should be Plan A for your data protection strategy.
The challenge is that most backup solutions sound great “on paper”. But they differ significantly once you dive into factors like restore accuracy, frequency of backups, flexibility, and user control.
Table of Contents
Who This Guide Is For
Enterprises need backup software with advanced features that can satisfy all their compliance requirements like HIPAA, SOC2, ISO 27001, etc.
Our top picks: Veeam, Druva, Rubrik, Cohesity, AvePoint.
MSPs should look for a backup solution that provides centralized multi-tenant management, BYOS support, and flexible pricing without long-term contracts.. Our top picks: MSP360, Cove (N-able), Barracuda, Backupify.
SMBs want an affordable, easy to manage solution that can protect their SharePoint data from ransomware and accidental deletion without having to run an in-house IT department.
Our top picks: Afi, CloudAlly, Acronis, MSP360, Spanning, Redstor, Keepit.
Pricing Comparison Table
Note: Ordered from lowest to highest entry-level cost. "On request" reflects reseller-channel pricing models at the enterprise tier.
| Vendor | Target Client | Key Features | Price Per User/Month |
|---|---|---|---|
| MSP360 | MSPs / IT Teams / SMBs | Multi-tenant, BYO Storage, Object Lock, white-label | $1.1 |
| CloudAlly | SMB / Governance | SMB / Strong compliance (ISO, HIPAA) | $1.5 |
| AvePoint | Enterprise / Governance | RBAC, Compliance, Granular restore | $2 |
| Afi | SMB / Mid-market | High-frequency backups, anomaly detection | $3 |
| Backupify | MSP | Multi-tenant Datto, Kaseya ecosystem | $3 |
| Barracuda | MSP | Security-focused, easy deployment | $3.4 |
| Veeam | Enterprise | Recovery, immutability, Ecosystem | $4.1 |
| Acronis | Government/MSP | Imaging, anti-malware | $4.25 |
| Spanning | SMB | Automated daily backups, Kaseya ecosystem | On request |
| Cove (N-able) | MSPs, cloud-first | Cloud-only architecture | On request |
| Druva | Cloud-native enterprise, governance | 100% SaaS, cloud workloads, | On request |
| Cohesity | Storage consolidation | Policy-based VM/container/SaaS, immutable | On request |
| Rubrik | Cyber-recovery focus | Threat detection, unified policy, sensitive data discovery | On request |
| Redstor | Enterprise | Multi-SaaS support (M365, GW, Salesforce) | On request |
| Keepit | SMB | Proprietary cloud, unlimited retention | On request |
MSP360 Backup for Microsoft 365
MSP360 Backup for Microsoft 365 offers a cloud-to-cloud backup solution at an affordable price. It is available for SMBs as a single user and offers managed edition for MSPs with a multi-tenant environment. MSP360 covers all the core workloads including SharePoint, Exchange, OneDrive, and Teams. MSP360 offers item-level recovery, immutable backup, and multiple domain management from a single console. Additionally, they offer a Bring Your Own Storage (BYOS) model allowing your organization to store backups in Amazon S3, Wasabi, Backblaze B2, or another S3-compatible storage provider.
This is compelling if your organization wants flexibility with pricing and location of your storage. This backup solution is quick to deploy and has no on-premise hardware requirements. MSP360 is a great solution for teams that are looking for a service that can scale with their business. As for cons, some users have noted occasional limitations in MSP360 backup for SharePoint, especially around metadata handling and more complex object relationships.
Veeam Microsoft 365 and Entra ID backup
Veeam is one of the most prominent enterprise-grade solutions used today for Microsoft 365 backup with advanced granular item-level recovery and point-in-time restore option. It features a highly flexible storage model supporting backup to cloud and on-prem targets, as well as immutability using Object Lock.
On the other hand, some users point out the issue with SharePoint restore that requires a multi-step Explorer-based restore workflow. You must select permissions during the restore process to restore them automatically. Licensing is per-user for SharePoint that can be expensive for the mid market segment.
AvePoint Cloud Backup
The AvePoint platform offers a specialized Microsoft 365 backup solution with an emphasis on SharePoint and overall enterprise data protection. Features include SharePoint granular restore down to the item and permission level, advanced governance capabilities including role-based access, object lock, integrated retention, and comprehensive reporting.
But in practice, restore accuracy for complex SharePoint sites that utilize customizations, metadata, or content types can be inconsistent. Backup seeding times and large restore performance can be slow. The solution is feature-rich, which increases complexity for setup and configuration. Pricing is not transparent and can be expensive or difficult to estimate for smaller teams.
Druva Microsoft 365 Backup Express
Druva Microsoft 365 Backup Express is a fully cloud-native M365 backup solution built on Microsoft 365 Native Storage. Services are easy to set up and offer automated protection across SharePoint, Exchange, OneDrive, and Teams. Microsoft stores all backed-up data within its security and compliance boundaries. Built into the Microsoft cloud, Backup Express delivers fast deployment with no infrastructure or storage to manage.
Users can be dependent on this vendor and it can be difficult to change it. Customers have limited control over backup storage architecture and design. Operational limitations emerge when scaling, including limits to the number of accounts and SharePoint sites that can be backed up and restored within a single Backup and Restore instance. Pricing is not completely transparent. Volume sensitive pricing means higher storage costs as you accrue more data.
Rubrik Backup
Rubrik's backup solution views Microsoft 365 backup as just one piece of their enterprise-wide data security and cyber resilience platform. Backup, recovery, and ransomware protection are all grouped together in one solution. Rubrik provides continuous SharePoint protection with rapid search and granular restore for incident response purposes. Rubrik stores Microsoft 365 data in its fully managed, air-gapped architecture within Rubrik-managed Azure tenancies. This offers high levels of immutability and security.
However, licenses can be expensive because pricing is complex to calculate, especially for larger Microsoft environments where multiple cost variables may come into play. Rubrik is a powerful solution if viewed from a security and automation standpoint. At the same time, Rubrik is not as mature as some of the native SaaS backup vendors. Yet, larger enterprise organizations may benefit more from Rubrik's offerings if cyber resilience outweighs the need for customized SharePoint recovery process.
Cohesity Helios
Company integrates SharePoint backup into a broader enterprise platform for governance, reporting, resilience, and Microsoft 365 data management. Cohesity Helios supports all core Microsoft 365 workloads with centralized policy management, role-based access control (RBAC), reporting, and simplified recovery workflows. Cohesity can also leverage Microsoft 365 Backup Storage to enable faster backup and restore performance.
Our findings also show that customers have to sacrifice some advanced features: granular search and recovery, snapshot browse, global search, and automatic protection of new SharePoint sites are not available. Customers must use Cohesity Backup Storage or Microsoft 365 native storage. The platform is a powerful all-in-one tool, but pricing is not publicly available and the enterprise-focused architecture may be a bit of an overkill compared to more lightweight Microsoft 365-specific backup solutions.
Acronis Ultimate 365
Acronis Ultimate 365 is a Microsoft 365 cyber protection bundle offered within Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud. Backup is sold as part of a larger package that includes email security and archiving, XDR, security awareness training, and endpoint posture management. SharePoint is protected with point-in-time restore, encryption, MFA support, centralized management, and immutable backups. Unlike other backup vendors that partner with Azure, Acronis' native storage hosted on Acronis-owned infrastructure simplifies deployment and offloads storage planning.
On the flip side, Acronis's product is a bit broader than a specialized SharePoint backup tool. Lightweight organizations that need straightforward SaaS restore capabilities might find Ultimate 365 overwhelming. Acronis Ultimate 365 pricing is difficult to evaluate because it is sold as a bundled solution with multiple tiers and add-ons. Finally, some customers noted that there can be practical friction points in restore scenarios, particularly for DR-style recovery, cross-site restores, and downloading restored content.
AFI Microsoft 365 Backup
AFI offers a cloud-to-cloud backup solution designed specifically for fast and reliable backup of Microsoft 365 workloads. Features include high-frequency automated backups, full-text search within backup data, anomaly detection, and granular item-level restore. AFI Microsoft 365 Backup is simple to deploy and has expansive recoverability options if you are looking for a solution that specializes in Microsoft 365 backups rather than complete cyber resilience.
AFI Microsoft 365 Backup leverages fully managed storage hosted on AFI-owned cloud infrastructure. Customers have the ability to choose the region where storage resides, but have minimal control over the storage architecture and lack single-digit market flexibility. Integration with the broader ecosystem is also relatively minimal when compared with other enterprise-class platforms such as Rubrik or Cohesity. AFI is your pick if your chief objective is to protect Microsoft 365 data rather than manage all of your SaaS, endpoint, infrastructure, and security requirements from a single platform.
Keepit
Data protection by Keepit is a SaaS-first backup platform that specializes in long-term retention, immutability, and UX-friendly design. Keepit provides point-in-time recovery while allowing you to protect your Microsoft 365 data along with other SaaS applications such as Google Workspace, Salesforce, and others. The backup operations themselves are quick and reliable, the interface is intuitive, and the onboarding process is fast.
Keepit has some unique architectural differentiators, like a proprietary cloud storage solution. Keepit stores all backup data in its own infrastructure across independently owned data centers. You also have limited control over your storage architecture and long-term costs. Keepit uses a snapshot-based backup process, which is sufficient for most workloads. It may not fit the needs of organizations that need near-continuous protection or ultra-low RPO.
Cove Data Protection
Cove Data Protection (N-able) is a cloud-first backup solution that prioritizes MSP-friendly management. The platform supports Microsoft 365 backup, including Exchange, OneDrive, SharePoint, and Teams. Backup data is managed via centralized, multi-tenant management with encryption, deduplication, and ransomware protection.
N-able manages storage and does not offer a BYOS option. There are tiers of partner models that resellers operate under, hence the final price to the end customer can vary quite a bit. The platform mainly supports Microsoft 365 and traditional workloads, with limited support for other SaaS applications.
Barracuda Cloud-to-Cloud Backup
Focused on protecting Microsoft 365, Barracuda Cloud-to-Cloud Backup is a simple, secure SaaS backup solution that automates the data protection process, provides item-level restore for all Microsoft 365 data, and stores backups outside of the Microsoft tenant in Barracuda cloud storage.
Barracuda Cloud-to-Cloud Backup offers no native integration with other SaaS applications such as Google Workspace. In some public reviews, Barracuda has been noted to experience poor performance in larger organizations, including longer backup times, a slow interface, longer restores, unintuitive restore experience, and a lack of visibility into job status.
Redstor Backup and Archiving
Redstor Backup and Archiving is a SaaS-based backup platform for Microsoft 365 focused on building resilience, immutability, and long-term retention. It aims to deliver automated backup for Microsoft 365 with point-in-time recovery, and positions backup as part of an extended compliance and ransomware protection solution.
Redstor backs up data to its managed cloud infrastructure with immutable offsite storage. The solution supports backup to multiple SaaS environments (cloud apps), such as Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, and Salesforce. While some customers point to usability issues with specific areas of the solution (excessive alerting detail, certain restore workflows like OneDrive), overall product usability is considered good.
Backupify Microsoft 365 Backup
Backupify Microsoft 365 Backup is a backup solution for Microsoft 365 that's quick and easy to deploy. Offered as part of Datto SaaS Protection (by Kaseya), Backupify automatically backs up your SharePoint content with unlimited retention and provides item-level restore capabilities for core Microsoft workloads. Backupify stores backup data in Datto’s managed cloud and doesn’t offer a BYOS option, which may leave some users wanting more control over storage. A popular platform among MSPs, Backupify offers multi-tenant support along with centralized management and administration.
Monitoring and reporting are adequate but may fall short of more robust platforms. Some complex export workflows reportedly have limitations. Support experience has received mixed reviews among customers. Users have reported occasional UI lag and coverage gaps, including missing support for Teams direct chats and Exchange Online archive mailboxes.
Spanning Backup
Spanning Backup is a cloud-to-cloud backup solution providing simple and reliable backup for core Microsoft 365 workloads. It provides automated daily backups with RBAC and detailed logs for Microsoft 365, requiring only a simple configuration. Spanning Backup stores backed-up data in its own AWS-based cloud infrastructure. Customers cannot use their own cloud storage (no BYOS), limiting flexible backup storage options. While cloud-native, Spanning integrates with the Kaseya ecosystem. It has full multi-tenant MSP capabilities allowing for centralized management of all your customers.
Spanning lists no pricing on its website and typically works on a partner model. Plans and pricing are determined by the partner you work with, which makes comparing vendors difficult. Spanning dedicates both licensing and storage to a pooled environment. You will need some monitoring to manage licenses and storage.
CloudAlly Microsoft 365 Backup
CloudAlly Microsoft 365 Backup is SaaS-based backup solution (created by OpenText) designed for compliance, long-term retention needs, and basic protection of Microsoft 365 environments. Capabilities include automated backups, point-in-time restore, and granular restore.
CloudAlly stores backup data by default in its AWS-controlled infrastructure. BYOS (S3, Azure, etc.) options are available with some caveats. It has some good compliance coverage (ISO 27001, HIPAA, GDPR etc.), allowing for flexible backup windows (up to three times a day). There is no publicly available pricing, but you can reach out to them for a quote. There are some reviews pointing to occasional slower-than-advertised restores and a slight learning curve with their UI.
Key Criteria and Features
We evaluated vendors based on the following criteria and key features:
- Multi-tenant management - single console, billing per tenant, pay as you go model, and dedicated MSP roles.
- Granular restore - item level, point in time restore, cross-user restore to original or alternate locations.
- Ransomware proof - immutable backup option (Object lock).
- Granular Retention Policies - ability to configure custom retention settings.
- Flexible storage options - options to provide your own storage (bring-your-own-storage)
- Access controls - RBAC, MFA support, detailed logs.
- Advanced Search Capabilities – indexed search across all your backups with advanced export capabilities
- Usability - easy onboarding, intuitive dashboards, quick restores, and responsive support.
- Scalability - handles large tenants and growing data
Note: Please feel free to confirm any details with a vendor yourself prior to making a purchase decision.
Why you can trust this list
We complete this roundup with the same process every time:
- Companies have been chosen chosen based on meeting minimum SaaS backup requirements with each of the following core features: Architecture, Storage Model, Immutability, Restore Levels, Export Options, Price
- Pros and Cons are validated with open sources such as vendor websites, vendors' articles and documentation, pricing tiers, analyst reports, and independent 3rd party roundups.
- We also look at user reviews from Reddit communities such as r/sysadmin, r/googleworkspace, r/gsuite, r/msp and review sites like G2, Capterra, TrustRadius, Gartner to validate if there are any consistencies with regards to price, restore failures, storage caps, scaling limitations, and support experience.
- Verified claims from the above sources will be added if they support a common pros or cons.
This list is based on verifiable public sources and intended for informational purposes, but product capabilities and user experiences may vary depending on specific requirements.
FAQ for onboarding to SharePoint Backup Vendors
What does BYOS mean?
BYOS stands for Bring Your Own Storage. With BYOS, users can manage their storage costs and avoid paying cloud storage vendor markups. While margin improvement depends on service models, you can see drastic gains with BYOS when leveraging storage, retention and security controls themselves.
What is immutable backup (Object lock)?
Immutable backup is a retention option that prevents deletion or tampering for a set period of time (Write Once Read Many, or WORM). Immutable backups mitigate ransomware risks and help satisfy audit requirements.
What is vendor lock-in?
Vendor Lock-in is when something about a vendor’s product or service makes it hard, costly, or technically difficult to change it to a different vendor’s product or service.
What does “granular backup” mean for SharePoint?
“Granular backup” for SharePoint means you can select and back up specific SharePoint sites and subsites instead of backing up the entire SharePoint environment.
Final Thoughts: Best Microsoft 365 SharePoint Backup Solutions
Determining the best solution comes down to your organization’s priorities: budget, desired level of control over storage costs, compliance needs, etc. If you need MSP-focused capabilities, pay close attention to solutions like Acronis or MSP360 Backup for Microsoft 365, which offer robust features such as a centralized management console and flexible storage options like BYOS.
Organizations with different priorities may find a better fit in enterprise-focused platforms with deeper governance, tighter compliance features, fully managed SaaS tools, or solutions that support local infrastructure. Whichever solution you choose, evaluate how each vendor’s offering will integrate with your SharePoint environment before committing.
