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Microsoft DPM vs Unitrends comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 6, 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

Microsoft DPM
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
26th
Average Rating
7.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
19
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Unitrends
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
36th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.8
Number of Reviews
34
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Backup and Recovery category, the mindshare of Microsoft DPM is 1.1%, down from 1.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Unitrends is 0.5%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Backup and Recovery
 

Featured Reviews

Arthur Fan - PeerSpot reviewer
Scales well, free to use, and simple setup
The support from Microsoft DPM is good but we have to pay for the answers. We have to purchase points and when we need to use the support we have to use some of the points that we purchased. The support does not cost very much and we pay for each problem we have.
Todd Guthrie - PeerSpot reviewer
The solution can be used to back up servers and Hyper-V cluster nodes, but its support is super expensive
I wouldn't rate Unitrends a ten out of ten because we had some hard drive failures in the appliance. Typically, when you have OneDrive, you can get it replaced. For some particular reason, the situation caused the entire system to crash. We had to reinstall the CentOS operating system on it, and we lost all our backups. They said there was no way to retain it, and it was pretty devastating and concerning that a drive failure would cause the loss of all the data on the appliance. It was extremely disappointing, and we had to start from scratch after three years worth of backup data. I rate Unitrends a nine out of ten for stability.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The solution backs up Microsoft workloads as well as anything on the market."
"The most valuable feature is the recovery."
"One of the most effective features of Microsoft DPM is its integration with the entire Microsoft ecosystem."
"It is almost perfect for Microsoft products. It is not a very powerful tool, but it is okay for small sites and small businesses with Microsoft products. It is easy to use for backup and restore. It is good for backing up Microsoft servers such as Exchange and SharePoint servers."
"It has an application backup, a file backup, a system backup and a hypervisor."
"The most valuable feature is that DPM has an index so individual files can be searched."
"One of the most effective features of Microsoft DPM is its integration with the entire Microsoft ecosystem."
"Its capability to give a BMR for all the workstations that I want to connect to."
"The ability to diversify jobs within the same server helps break down a large chunk of data into more manageable and concentrated chunks."
"I really like the reporting options you get for various email reports."
"It is fairly stable."
"It's not easy to scale it."
"Replication to Forever Cloud."
"The most valuable feature of Unitrends for me is the automated feedback"
"What I found most valuable in Unitrends is its simple user interface. It also works reliably."
"If you are a large organization, this is a product for you."
 

Cons

"Management reporting could be improved."
"Compatibility and integration with other products needs improvement."
"It would be better if it integrated seamlessly with open source and competitor products. In the next release, I would like to see some data governance frameworks. It should have support features for data integration and data replication like Veeam. Right now, we are also using Veeam for certain scenarios."
"To evaluate the solution's abilities and its performance under demanding conditions, it is recommended to carry out a stress test."
"You have only a few settings and if you change them for some special configurations, it's very difficult."
"The data tagging feature needs improvement. The solution could be a bit more intuitive in certain aspects."
"It needs portability for other vendors. It is good for backing up Microsoft servers, but it doesn't support third-party solutions such as Oracle Database. It depends on Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy, especially for Hyper-V, which has a lot of problems. They should enhance the Volume Shadow Copy functionality. Its reporting should also be better. Reporting is too weak in DPM."
"Microsoft DPM could improve if it was available in a public or private cloud."
"There's a lot that can be made better. For example, it could be more scalable."
"The amount of updates which are being released. Updates should be limited to two or three a year, focusing more on quality instead of a rushed bug release."
"There are some questions as to how safely they are storing backup data."
"If the interface could be less complex, it is would be great."
"It could be a little more customizable."
"It would be great to have the job throttle/limit the max number of backups on a single ESXi host."
"​​Follow up for the DRaaS service setup. I'm still waiting to schedule a DRaaS test after upgrading several months ago."
"I would like to see more storage options for the free version."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Microsoft DPM is a free solution. However, we pay approximately $3,000 annually for support."
"Microsoft DPM can be considered as an expensive solution for smaller or medium enterprises, but we have been satisfied with the price structure as it is fixed and it offers a variety of useful features"
"I think Microsoft DPM pricing is reasonable. The additional costs are related to storage and technical support."
"The cost of Unitrends definitely draws you in. The licensing is all included in the appliance, which is a great incentive."
"When you purchase initially, get into the program which gives replacement hardware for free when you renew your support agreement."
"Their licensing depended on the number of CPUs you had."
"Initial pricing is competitive. Renewal pricing is steep, so make sure to project costs for the lifetime of the appliance(s)."
"Pricing model constantly changes."
"When we renew the Unitrends maintenance contract and update it to the latest version, the cost would be $5,000 per year. There are no hidden costs. They've been transparent with the costs."
"Make sure you do the homework to size the solution properly. Buy the Enterprise Plus licensing if you can afford it."
"No comment."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
16%
Government
10%
Educational Organization
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
12%
Retailer
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Non Profit
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Microsoft DPM?
This solution helps us to manage all of the operations across servers and different workstations.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft DPM?
Microsoft licensing is complex, especially for enterprise or data center solutions. However, it's not more complicated compared to other competitors and the market is well balanced.
What needs improvement with Microsoft DPM?
I am not sure if I am competent enough to address areas for improvement in Microsoft DPM.
What do you like most about Unitrends?
The most valuable feature of Unitrends for me is the automated feedback
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Unitrends?
Unitrends is an expensive solution. We've negotiated deals where they've given us the $ 62,000 to $ 64,000 appliance for free but charged $ 90,000 for three years of support.
What needs improvement with Unitrends?
In terms of improvement, the UI, especially in the recovery section, is unclear about which repository it uses—I had to hover over to find that information. Figuring out the scripting part wasn't s...
 

Also Known As

DPM, Data Protection Manager, MS DPM
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Medical Park, Centropol Energy, a.s., NCFE, D & H Distributing, Metalor, Colosseum, a.s., Sanitas S.A., Icebreaker
NHL Players Association, Salvation Army, Sligro Food Group, Mason General Hospital, Tec Group, Saldab IT, Baker Tilly, Clinton Savings Bank, Ennit Magna Bank, Manukau Institute of Technology
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft DPM vs. Unitrends and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
859,129 professionals have used our research since 2012.