N2W vs Retrospect Backup comparison

Why PeerSpot?

N2WS and Retrospect Inc are both solutions in the Backup and Recovery category. N2WS is ranked #5 with an average rating of 9.9, while Retrospect Inc is ranked #80. N2WS holds a 1.1% mindshare in BRS, compared to Retrospect Inc’s 0.5% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of N2WS users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Retrospect Inc users who would recommend it.

N2W

Read 26 N2W reviews

8,340 Views
4,253 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Retrospect Backup

Read 1 Retrospect Backup review

2,312 Views
1,734 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

N2W

Retrospect Backup

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 16, 2025

N2W and Retrospect Backup are competing in the data protection and disaster recovery market. N2W tends to have the upper hand in cloud-specific features, particularly for AWS environments, whereas Retrospect Backup shines with broader platform compatibility and comprehensive features.

Features: N2W efficiently manages cloud backups with features like optimized cloud storage use, rapid backup speed, and AWS-specific integration. Retrospect Backup offers a versatile feature set, supporting multiple platforms and devices, making it suitable for diverse IT environments with broad system compatibility, extensive platform support, and comprehensive device integration.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: N2W provides straightforward deployment with seamless integration into AWS environments, making installation easier for cloud-dependent infrastructures. Its customer service is focused on cloud support. Retrospect Backup features an expansive deployment model, capable of integrating into various systems and platforms, offering versatile customer service options suitable for diverse IT settings. It provides flexibility in mixed IT environments.

Pricing and ROI: N2W's setup costs are optimized for AWS-focused organizations, promising faster ROI through precise cloud integration. Retrospect Backup has a higher initial cost, but it offers long-term ROI by supporting a versatile platform and extensive feature set. N2W is cost-effective for cloud-centric deployments, while Retrospect offers greater value over time with broad applicability and sustained support.

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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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

N2W

Ranking in Backup and Recovery

5th

Ranking in Cloud Backup

4th

Average Rating

9.6

Reviews Sentiment

5.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Disaster Recovery (DR) Software (4th)

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 N2W is 1.1%, up from 0.3% 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 (%)
N2W	1.1%
Retrospect Backup	0.5%
Other	98.4%

Backup and Recovery

Featured Reviews

reviewer2802048

Service Delivery Manager at a consultancy with 11-50 employees

Automated backups have transformed our multi-account recovery and now streamline compliance reporting

While N2WS has served us well, there are areas for improvement. The user interface feels somewhat dated and could benefit from modernization. Navigation between sections could be more intuitive, and the dashboard design could be more streamlined compared to contemporary AWS tools. The initial setup process has a steeper learning curve than we’d prefer, especially for complex multi-account configurations. More guided setup wizards would help new team members get up to speed faster. Reporting capabilities could be more granular, particularly around cost optimization metrics and backup performance analytics. Currently, we need to gather information from multiple screens to get comprehensive insights. For future releases, we’d value enhanced integration with AWS native services like Config and CloudTrail for better compliance reporting. More advanced scheduling options that adjust based on application load would also be beneficial. Better support for newer AWS services as they’re released would help us maintain comprehensive coverage as our infrastructure evolves. Additionally, native integration with popular ITSM tools beyond email notifications would improve our workflow automation.

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 most valuable feature is the ease of use."

"Having multiple policies and schedules handled for me takes the burden out of managing backups across multiple departments."

"N2WS is a powerful solution with a rich set of features designed to address even the most complex backup and disaster recovery requirements."

"After acquiring two additional products in 2018, which we migrated from data centers to the cloud, N2W allowed us to streamline our backup process for three products within one tool."

"N2WS is a perfect backup solution for AWS EC2 instances and VPC backups, and it has made our backup process and monitoring simple and effective."

"Provides easy, one-click functionality and flexible backup policies and schedules for AWS workloads."

"N2WS has significantly improved our organization’s data protection and disaster recovery capabilities"

"The ability to recover instances or volumes within minutes has improved our RTOs dramatically."

More N2W pros

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

Cons

"They could expand their offering to include Lambda function backups and other native AWS services, as these can be recreated through CloudFormation or Terraform."

"The only challenges we have because we are enterprise level and have so many accounts is that the rollout of the new JSON scripts that come out when you upgrade sometimes can be a little tedious."

"More documentation would be helpful, especially some step-by-step documents for recovery scenarios."

"S3 backups, which I know is already in the feature pipeline, would be a useful improvement."

"The UI is a little dated and hard to use. Some of the buttons are a bit small. You have to go into the menu to get the settings you want."

"The GUI has room for improvement."

"Pricing can increase as backup volumes grow, so it is important to balance the level of protection with cost-optimization strategies such as tiering snapshots to S3 or Glacier."

"There is room for improvement in stability."

More N2W cons

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

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It's very economical and worth the cost."

"It has very good pricing per instance and comes with three options, for both small and large environments, to fit your needs."

"AWS adds more features and offer things for free, or cheaply. Therefore, we will be evaluating AWS Data Lifecycle Manager, because it will probably do backups. Thus, make sure the product that you are using is competitive or adds more value than AWS."

"The price is not cheap, nor is it costly."

"The pricing and licensing on AWS is fine, because you can do it for smaller tiers depending on your number of instances, so it's not that scary."

"The purchasing process through the AWS Marketplace is easy. Just click the button."

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

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Construction Company

14%

Outsourcing Company

12%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Manufacturing 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	12
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	12

No data available

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for N2WS Backup & Recovery?

The pricing for N2W is a fixed cost based on the edition you want to use. All I would suggest is keeping an eye on billing in AWS, as N2W leverages AWS services such as the N2W instance hosting and...

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What needs improvement with N2WS Backup & Recovery?

There is room for improvement in the S3 storage backup for S3-backed services such as AWS Transfer Family.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for N2WS Backup & Recovery?

We used N2W primarily as part of our wider disaster recovery (DR) strategy in the business as a way to protect assets in AWS and to automatically schedule utilization of resources.

See all answers

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Comparisons

AWS Backup vs N2W

Compared 4% of the time

Veeam Data Platform vs N2W

Compared 4% of the time

Azure Backup vs N2W

Compared 4% of the time

Druva Phoenix vs N2W

Compared 4% of the time

HPE Zerto Software vs N2W

Compared 3% of the time

More N2W Competitors

Arq Backup vs Retrospect Backup

Compared 14% of the time

CrashPlan vs Retrospect Backup

Compared 13% of the time

Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud vs Retrospect Backup

Compared 12% of the time

Veeam Data Platform vs Retrospect Backup

Compared 9% of the time

BluVault Endpoints vs Retrospect Backup

Compared 3% of the time

More Retrospect Backup Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

N2W

October 2026

Download N2W product report

Buyer's Guide

Backup and Recovery

October 2026

Download Retrospect Backup product report

Also Known As

N2WS Backup & Recovery, N2WS Cloud Protection Manager, N2W Backup & Recovery for AWS Free Trial/BYOL

No data available

Interactive Demo

N2WS

Demo not available

Retrospect Inc

Overview

N2W offers a cloud-native backup and recovery platform tailored for AWS and Azure environments, delivering secure and rapid data protection.

N2W enables IT teams to effortlessly manage backup and restore processes within AWS and Azure environments. By leveraging policy-based management, users gain full control over rapid, secure recovery across regions and accounts. Designed to scale with workloads of any size, N2W ensures business continuity through features like immutable ransomware-protected backups and smart data lifecycle management. Hosted directly in the cloud account, it simplifies the protection and recovery of mission-critical applications.

What are N2W's key features?

Immutable Backups: Protects against ransomware with unchangeable data versions
Fast Recovery: Ensures rapid data restoration within seconds
Policy-Based Management: Automates backup processes for efficiency
Cost Savings: Optimizes storage with smart data lifecycle management
Granular Reporting: Offers detailed compliance-ready audit trails
Seamless Archival: Supports low-cost storage integration including Wasabi

What benefits should users consider?

Ease of Use: Simple management for quick data recovery
Automation: Reduces manual intervention with automated policies
Cost Optimization: Manages storage efficiently to save costs
Business Continuity: Ensures resilience with flexible scheduling

Organizations across sectors use N2W for automated backup and disaster recovery of AWS resources like EC2 instances and RDS databases. It's employed to manage schedules, streamline backups in production settings, and rely on S3 for storage, providing a robust data protection approach.

N2WS

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

Deloitte, NASA, Johnson & Johnson, Dyson, Deuthsche Bahn, Skechers, Allan Gray, Hewlett Packard, St. John's University, City of Oakland

Information Not Available

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