Synology DSM vs Unitrends comparison

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Synology DSM

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 11, 2024

Unitrends and Synology DSM are both robust data management solutions competing in the data management and backup space. Based on user reviews, while Unitrends excels in support and cost-effectiveness, Synology DSM is preferred for its superior feature set despite the higher price point.

Features: Unitrends offers comprehensive backup and recovery capabilities, streamlined management, and integration with various cloud services. Synology DSM provides versatile NAS functionalities, an intuitive management interface, and an extensive array of integrations and applications.

Room for Improvement: Unitrends users often highlight the need for a more streamlined upgrade process, better user documentation, and enhanced interface design. Synology DSM users point out issues with resource consumption, the need for improved data deduplication, and the desire for more streamlined user permissions management.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Unitrends is noted for its straightforward deployment process and responsive support team, which is highly praised by users. Synology DSM users find the deployment slightly more complex but benefit from comprehensive documentation and active community support.

Pricing and ROI: Unitrends delivers significant value with its cost-effective pricing and solid ROI. Synology DSM's higher initial setup cost is balanced by its extensive feature set and long-term benefits, offering a compelling return on investment due to its advanced functionalities.

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

Synology DSM vs. Unitrends

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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

Synology DSM

Ranking in Backup and Recovery

17th

Average Rating

9.0

Reviews Sentiment

8.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Unitrends

Ranking in Backup and Recovery

37th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Backup and Recovery category, the mindshare of Synology DSM is 1.9%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Unitrends is 0.4%, down from 0.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Backup and Recovery

Featured Reviews

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.

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Todd Guthrie

Director Of Information Technology at Creation Technologies

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.

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

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

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

"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."

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

"Because of its simplicity and the wide array of features it offers, I would recommend DSM for both tech-savvy individuals and those who prefer a straightforward file-serving solution."

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

More Synology DSM pros

"They have great support."

"It is an easy system to use. The support, if needed, is always willing to help."

"Being an appliance-based solution, we were able to migrate backup solutions without having to purchase a lot of hardware separately."

"Unitrends has helped us cut down the time that it takes to restore a server to its original configuration."

"It's not easy to scale it."

"Stability-wise, I rate this solution a nine out of ten."

"If you are a large organization, this is a product for you."

"When I have had to use tech support, they've been very good."

More Unitrends pros

Cons

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

"The platform could be much more cost-effective and flexible for integrating third-party products."

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

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

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

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

"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."

"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."

More Synology DSM cons

"There are a few quirks where the GUI, agent, and back-end are not precisely meshed."

"Unitrends can be challenging to scale."

"There are some questions as to how safely they are storing backup data."

"The ability to run just differentials without pulling the full on your archive."

"The solution’s UI can be improved. I am saying this because I have seen solutions with better UIs."

"The solution's base operating system needs to be improved."

"It could be a little more customizable."

"No appliance update notifications."

More Unitrends cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

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

"The price of the solution is very good."

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

"Synology DSM is a cheap solution."

"Synology DSM is a free tool."

"It is quite an affordable solution."

"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."

"With respect to cost, my advice is to get what you need."

"When you purchase initially, get into the program which gives replacement hardware for free when you renew your support agreement."

"No comment."

"Make sure you do the homework to size the solution properly. Buy the Enterprise Plus licensing if you can afford it."

"The cost of Unitrends definitely draws you in. The licensing is all included in the appliance, which is a great incentive."

"Their licensing depended on the number of CPUs you had."

"Based on a scale of one to ten, with one being low and ten being high, I would rate the pricing of this solution as a three. Also, there are no additional costs involved in the standard licensing of the solution."

"You should be aware how much the monthly costs are to use, what the initial costs for hardware are, and what the options to expand are, if needed."

More Unitrends pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

14%

Government

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Computer Software Company

13%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Educational Organization

Retailer

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Synology DSM?

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

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

The solution’s pricing is neither cheap nor expensive.

What needs improvement with Synology DSM?

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

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...

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Product Reports

Synology DSM

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Also Known As

Synology DiskStation Manager (DSM)

No data available

Overview

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

Organizations rely on Unitrends to back up and protect both physical and virtual servers with compatibility for legacy systems and an appliance model.

Unitrends supports Microsoft Hyper-V clusters, VMware ESXi clusters, SQL databases, and Exchange DAGs. Valuable for K-12 schools for continuous monitoring via a graphical interface, it also offers real-time synchronization, file restoration, report generation, email status updates, redundancy, and ransomware protection. Features include effective technical support, instant recovery, detailed reporting, real-time synchronization, global deduplication, cross-compatibility for OS backups, and frequent updates. Easy to install for Hyper-V appliances, the platform benefits users with its dashboard insights, saving time and ensuring reliability. While improvements are needed in high availability features, customer engagement, cloud capabilities, storage options, and the free version, the UI, configuration complexity, pricing, and support costs also demand attention. Users find scaling challenging and desire better feature parity with competitors, clearer recovery information, improved scripting, and flexible retention settings based on repository.

What are the most important features?

Effective technical support
Instant recovery
Detailed daily and email reporting
User-friendly interface
Real-time synchronization
Global deduplication
Cross-compatibility for diverse OS backups
Frequent updates
Ease of installation for Hyper-V appliances
Automated feedback
UniView features
Instant power-on
Cost-effective pricing
Time-saving dashboard insights

What benefits or ROI should users look for?

Time-saving features
Efficient data synchronization
Enhanced data recovery and protection
Accurate reporting and insights
Cost-effective and reliable solution

K-12 schools use Unitrends for continuous monitoring and verification via a graphical interface. Its real-time synchronization, file restoration, and report generation features support educational institutions' needs, ensuring data protection and operational efficiency.

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

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

Synology DSM vs. Unitrends