N2W vs Synology DSM comparison

N2WS and Synology are both solutions in the Backup and Recovery category. N2WS is ranked #29 with an average rating of 10.0, while Synology is ranked #22 with an average rating of 9.3. N2WS holds a 0.3% mindshare in BRS, compared to Synology’s 1.7% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of N2WS users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Synology users who would recommend it.

N2W

Read 12 N2W reviews

845 Views
456 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Synology DSM

Read 10 Synology DSM reviews

2,418 Views
2,394 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

N2W

Synology DSM

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 3, 2025

N2W and Synology DSM compete in the data backup and storage category. Synology DSM seems to have the upper hand with robust features and potential long-term ROI, even though N2W offers appealing pricing and AWS-focused support.

Features: N2W offers cloud backup and recovery solutions suitable for AWS, a focus on business continuity, and disaster recovery. Synology DSM provides cross-platform file sharing, multimedia management, and comprehensive data protection technologies.

Room for Improvement: N2W could improve its cross-platform compatibility, enhance its feature set beyond AWS environments, and expand its reporting capabilities. Synology DSM could benefit from lower initial hardware costs, better integration with other cloud services, and an extended trial period for new users.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: N2W simplifies setup with a cloud-based model and offers AWS-tailored support. Synology DSM is flexible for various hardware configurations and has a reputation for quality customer service.

Pricing and ROI: N2W offers an attractive pricing model with scalable plans, emphasizing lower initial expenses. Synology DSM justifies its initial hardware investment by offering extensive functionality and potential for better long-term ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed N2W vs. Synology DSM Report (Updated: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

N2W vs. Synology DSM

September 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 869,566 peers since 2012

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

29th

Average Rating

9.2

Reviews Sentiment

5.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Cloud Backup (24th), Disaster Recovery (DR) Software (19th)

Synology DSM

Ranking in Backup and Recovery

22nd

Average Rating

9.0

Reviews Sentiment

8.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Backup and Recovery category, the mindshare of N2W is 0.3%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Synology DSM is 1.7%, up from 1.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Backup and Recovery Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Synology DSM	1.7%
N2W	0.3%
Other	98.0%

Backup and Recovery

Featured Reviews

George Philippakos

Cloud Manager at St. John's University

Backup process and monitoring become simple and effective while seamless instance recovery and cost optimization ensure business continuity

Policy creation is straightforward, with automatic backups of new resources enabled through tagging. Instance recovery is seamless, whether within the same VPC or across different VPCs. File-level restores are intuitive and easy to manage, while full VPC backups provide critical protection and peace of mind in the event of a disaster. In addition, lifecycle management and automated transitions to lower-cost storage tiers have been instrumental in optimizing costs while meeting compliance and retention requirements. The ability to create immutable backups further strengthens our business continuity strategy by ensuring an additional layer of protection against accidental or malicious data loss.

Read full review

Michael Adejoh

Solutions Manager at Excel Connect Ventures

Reliable and cost-effective

One area where Synology DSM could improve is in enhancing its ability to detect and respond to security threats during backups and replication. Currently, it lacks the capability to automatically stop backups if it detects a virus or suspicious network activity, as some third-party solutions can. Having AI-driven analytics to identify anomalies and halt backups during potential attacks, along with notifications to administrators, would be valuable. Additionally, providing a dashboard for monitoring the backup environment's security would be a beneficial feature. These improvements would help address security concerns and make Synology more competitive in this aspect.

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

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

"The most valuable feature is the ease of use."

"The backup and restore functionality is very easy to use and manage."

"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."

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

"The recovery time is fantastic and proven. Also, by providing a simple interface, the solution lowers the cost."

"The initial setup is easy."

"The product is successful with the SMB market."

More N2W pros

"The most valuable features of Synology DSM are its security and connectivity."

"The product performs well. It is easy to use and implement."

"The most valuable aspect is its ability to handle multiple disks."

"The most valuable features are the basic storage, file management, Btrfs file system, and built-in backups that come with the solution."

"Synology DSM is very easy to work and operate."

"The solution's most valuable feature stems from its ease of use, making it the tool's most interesting part."

"The most valuable feature of the solution is that it serves as a backup for our company's virtual machine."

"It offers a variety of software options through its package center, allowing users to customize their NAS device to serve multiple purposes."

More Synology DSM pros

Cons

"There is room for improvement in stability."

"Improved disaster recovery options and expanded multicloud support are two areas where N2WS has already made significant advancements in the latest version."

"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."

"Additional features I would like to see are the ability to restore to different vendors, AWS and Azure, and/or the ability or take the information out of the AWS cloud."

"The GUI could be slightly improved."

"The reporting engine could be easier to use, but it does a good enough job for what is needed."

"Improved disaster recovery options and expanded multicloud support are two areas where N2WS has already made significant advancements in the latest version."

"It's a global feature that the customer thinks they don't have enough tools to manage, to copy, to delay, and to classify the object file in the backup directory. So they need more tools to manage files in object directory."

More N2W cons

"The product's only shortcoming is pricing, as it is an expensive solution."

"Synology DSM's user interface is not quite intuitive."

"Even though Synology provides a backup solution, it does not recognize the VM movement across cluster hosts."

"One area where Synology DSM could improve is in enhancing its ability to detect and respond to security threats during backups and replication."

"Synology DSM is a good enough solution for small and medium companies, but I have not seen a big configuration of the solution for a big organization."

"The only bothersome aspect is that the device is aging."

"Users may lose their data if they don't configure the solution properly."

"There's a surveillance application that allows you to connect IP cameras and stream footage to Synology and it is a great feature, but it's not always clear that adding more cameras may require purchasing additional licenses."

More Synology DSM cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."

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

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

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

"The pricing varies widely, catering to a broad range of needs."

"The solution’s pricing is neither cheap nor expensive."

"Synology DSM is a cheap solution."

"Synology DSM is a free tool."

"The price of the solution is very good."

"The licensing part of the solution is free. The hardware is more expensive than the other solutions in the market, but it's okay in the long run."

"It is quite an affordable solution."

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Backup and Recovery solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

869,566 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

16%

Healthcare Company

11%

Government

10%

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

14%

Government

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	6
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	7

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	8
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	1

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about N2WS Backup & Recovery?

N2WS Backup & Recovery is very easy to use and configure backup for AWS instances.

See all answers

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

I believe N2WS offers a highly competitive pricing model, delivering excellent value. It is certainly a worthwhile investment, providing a strong return on investment (ROI).

See all answers

What needs improvement with N2WS Backup & Recovery?

Improved disaster recovery options and expanded multicloud support are two areas where N2WS has already made significant advancements in the latest version. I am eager to upgrade and take full adva...

See all answers

What do you like most about Synology DSM?

The most valuable features of Synology DSM are its security and connectivity.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Synology DSM?

The solution’s pricing is neither cheap nor expensive.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Synology DSM?

Users may lose their data if they don't configure the solution properly.

See all answers

Comparisons

Veeam Data Platform vs N2W

Compared 21% of the time

AWS Backup vs N2W

Compared 20% of the time

Clumio vs N2W

Compared 13% of the time

Eon.io vs N2W

Compared 11% of the time

Rubrik vs N2W

Compared 10% of the time

More N2W Competitors

Veeam Data Platform vs Synology DSM

Compared 10% of the time

UrBackup vs Synology DSM

Compared 9% of the time

GoodSync For Business vs Synology DSM

Compared 8% of the time

NetApp SnapCenter vs Synology DSM

Compared 7% of the time

Acronis Cyber Protect vs Synology DSM

Compared 5% of the time

More Synology DSM Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

N2W

September 2025

Download N2W product report

Buyer's Guide

Synology DSM

September 2025

Download Synology DSM product report

Also Known As

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

Synology DiskStation Manager (DSM)

Interactive Demo

N2WS

Demo not available

Synology

Overview

N2W provides a cloud-native platform for AWS and Azure environments, delivering rapid and secure backup and recovery. With its simplicity and efficiency, N2W addresses modern IT needs for managing diverse workloads.

N2W empowers IT teams with a platform built for real-world AWS and Azure demands. It allows effortless scaling, managing workloads ranging from a single app to thousands. Offering policy-based backups, it ensures rapid recovery, achieving operations under 60 seconds. Its features include ransomware protection, smart data management, seamless low-cost archival, and comprehensive reporting. Trusted by over 1,000 diverse organizations, N2W simplifies protection and reduces complexity.

What features make N2W stand out?

Ridiculously easy to use: Intuitive interface enhances efficiency.
Seriously fast to recover: Recovers data swiftly, reducing downtime.
Highly secure: Built-in security gives users peace of mind.
Immutable backups: Protects against ransomware effectively.
Smart data lifecycle management: Ensures cost efficiency through smart strategies.

What benefits and ROI make N2W attractive?

Time efficiency: Quick recovery minimizes downtime.
Cost savings: Effective data management reduces expenses.
Scalability: Adapts to diverse workload sizes seamlessly.
Reliability: Provides a dependable backup repository.
Security: Networking safeguards enhance data protection.

N2W serves a range of industries by backing up EC2 instances, RDS, virtual machines, and applications like SQL. It supports disaster recovery through automated backup scheduling and integrates cloud repositories for added security. Often used with Veeam, N2W provides an offsite copy for redundancy.

N2WS

Synology DSM (DiskStation Manager) is a comprehensive software platform designed for Synology NAS (Network Attached Storage) devices. It serves as the operating system for these devices, providing a wide range of features and functionalities.

The primary use case of Synology DSM is to centralize and manage data storage for organizations. It allows businesses to store, access, and share files securely across multiple devices and platforms. With its intuitive user interface, DSM simplifies the management of data, making it easy to create shared folders, set access permissions, and monitor storage usage.

One of the most valuable functionalities of Synology DSM is its robust data protection capabilities. It offers various RAID configurations, including SHR (Synology Hybrid RAID), which ensures data redundancy and safeguards against drive failures. DSM also supports advanced backup and disaster recovery solutions, such as Snapshot Replication and Hyper Backup, enabling organizations to protect their critical data effectively.

Furthermore, Synology DSM provides a wide range of productivity and collaboration tools. It offers applications like Synology Drive, which allows seamless file synchronization across devices, and Synology Office, a web-based suite for document editing and collaboration. DSM also supports various third-party applications, including popular cloud services like Dropbox and Google Drive, enabling organizations to integrate their existing workflows seamlessly.

Synology

Sample Customers

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

Information Not Available

Buyer's Guide

N2W vs. Synology DSM

September 2025

Free Report: N2W vs. Synology DSM

Find out what your peers are saying about N2W vs. Synology DSM and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

869,566 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our N2W vs. Synology DSM report.

See our list of best Backup and Recovery vendors.

We monitor all Backup and Recovery reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.