We primarily use Zerto for our critical applications and infrastructure to allow immediate failover at our DR site. We licensed our critical applications and database servers and standard backup the rest. In order to increase uptime, we replicate our entire Active Directory infrastructure as well.
Sr. System Engineer at a non-tech company with 501-1,000 employees
Easy to use, zero RPO/RTO helps us with financial and IT audits, good technical support
Pros and Cons
- "The ease of failover and test environments has proven invaluable."
- "I would like to see better notifications when the sync is off for an extended length of time."
What is our primary use case?
How has it helped my organization?
We are able to pass many financial and IT audits because we have a solid system in place with zero RPO/RTO. Furthermore, we can train almost any tech or engineer on the process of flipping to the offsite primary. The button and some minor DNS changes and we are up and running.
What is most valuable?
The ease of failover and test environments has proven invaluable. It is literally as easy as pushing a button to flip to a contained test environment for staging roll-outs or verifying backup integrity. The upgrade process initially was tedious, making sure every VM host got updated separately, but now it is streamlined and a breeze.
What needs improvement?
I would like to see better notifications when the sync is off for an extended length of time. There is nothing worst then going to do an upgrade or test a restore and realizing some of the VPGs need to be fixed because their journal is too small causing bitmap syncing to be off.
Buyer's Guide
Zerto
November 2023

Learn what your peers think about Zerto. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: November 2023.
745,775 professionals have used our research since 2012.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Stability is tied to the latency of your offsite DR.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability is directly correlated to your storage and compute. More licensing as you grow is all you need.
How are customer service and support?
The technical support for this solution is great. Every time I have had an issue, I get a real person, quickly, who remotely takes over and repairs the issue.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We were using RecoverPoint by Dell EMC prior to this solution. We switched because it was extremely cumbersome and far from streamlined during failover.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup of this solution is straightforward. It's literally an install button and then next, next, next...
What about the implementation team?
Zerto assisted us with the deployment.
What was our ROI?
Have not had to failover often but the ability to test product upgrades has been invaluable.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The cost is not dirt cheap but also is not terrible.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We thought about VMware Orchestration.
What other advice do I have?
If you are looking for an extremely easy solution to implement and is highly effective then this is your baby.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

User at a educational organization with 11-50 employees
Instant data rollback, self-healing, and good reporting
Pros and Cons
- "I really like how you can test the failover as often as you need."
- "I think Zerto could do better with size planning because it would be nice to analyze a server for a week and give an estimate on sizing the Journal."
What is our primary use case?
We use Zerto to protect our staff information against ransomware and is outlined in our disaster recovery plan. We have a DR site that we failover to if anything happens at our primary data center. We have only our core services, that we could not live without, being protected.
How has it helped my organization?
It is very easy to use. Almost anyone in our IT team can manage it after not using it for months at a time. As the DR strategist here, I like that. I enjoy having a fast way to bring a server back up. It will take me longer to get to my desk and log into everything than it will to actually complete the failover.
What is most valuable?
I really like how you can test the failover as often as you need.
The reports it generates are very good at showing our protection state.
It is self-healing in case I mess up on something and need to re-sync. When you are protecting Terabytes of data, this comes in handy.
What needs improvement?
I think Zerto could do better with size planning because it would be nice to analyze a server for a week and give an estimate on sizing the Journal. I find myself estimating too high.
It would be nice if I had an option to dynamically restore to any host in a cluster. Right now, if we have multiple things happen and the main host is down it will not work.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for three years.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We are only using a fraction of what it can do. If you add the backup function it scales very largely. I could see a hospital really finding this product useful.
How are customer service and technical support?
My first experience with technical support was not good at all. In the last few years, it has improved quite a bit.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Prior to this solution, we used storage mirroring and DFS syncing. Our old way used far too much storage. Zerto compresses the data well.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup of this solution is very straightforward. We were making initial syncs in forty-five minutes.
What about the implementation team?
We did both, with most over the phone. Their expertise was fine. I didn't in any way feel like I was not getting my questions answered.
What was our ROI?
Our ROI happened in nine seconds.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I don't remember it being cheap. We started out slow, which was a good call. We found that in an event that was massive enough to cause an entire cluster to go offline we would be happy with our core services up and running.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
At the time, Zerto was the only product doing this so easily. It might still be.
What other advice do I have?
Don't underestimate how good it feels to rollback data instantly. It makes me look like a Wizzard at my desk.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Buyer's Guide
Zerto
November 2023

Learn what your peers think about Zerto. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: November 2023.
745,775 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Sr. Systems Engineer at Quarles & Brady LLP
Fast replication and recovery, and the mobile app is great
Pros and Cons
- "The ability to perform DR testing to ensure data integrity is critical."
- "Increased granularity in how long to keep the journal would be nice."
What is our primary use case?
We primarily use this solution for disaster recovery. The initial sync was from Pure to Compellent, and DR with disparate storage was great. Once we identified our critical servers, vetted the Live and Test Failover, and got the necessary configuration at our DR site, we are now able to perform tests in a safe bubble.
How has it helped my organization?
This solution is an integral part of our DR plan. The data and servers we needed are protected in a group as I need them. Changing or adding servers is easy and fast. The ability to protect resources that are in hurricane zones has been fantastic. Being able to safely perform DR testing remotely has enabled us to meet DR goals that were put in place. The first DR test with everyone in a room was fun, as everyone who hadn't seen it was amazed at how fast a server can come online.
What is most valuable?
The replication has been outstanding, it was three times as fast as initial Compellent replication. The ability to copy new data and protect new servers without a significant delay in getting the data is very valuable.
The ability to perform DR testing to ensure data integrity is critical.
The mobile app is great.
What needs improvement?
Increased granularity in how long to keep the journal would be nice, currently you can only do hourly up to 1 day, after that it is only daily. The ability to test failover for a single VM in a VPG would be beneficial for testing purposes. Currently alerts come from both replication managers at times, creating a lot of alerts; reducing those would be good.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using this solution for just under two years.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We did not use another solution prior to this one.
How was the initial setup?
Setup is really easy and quick. Make sure that you have your desired networking for replication and testing in place.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
You are getting what you pay for, as this is a solution that requires minimal management after it is configured.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We did not evaluate other options that are worth noting.
EMC was too expensive and everything else was tied to the storage vendor.
What other advice do I have?
It has been a great purchase, and we have no regrets.
Not much can be improved in this solution as it has performed to what we had hoped and has the features we currently desire.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Senior Operations Engineer at a healthcare company with 1,001-5,000 employees
DR-site VM activation allows for immediate crash recovery
Pros and Cons
- "The ability to have a RPO of seconds has enabled us to restore data to just before an incident has occurred, which certainly saves a lot of time and money."
- "We have had issues with licensing, where the license we've been given by Zerto support doesn't include VSS replication, which was a pain at the time."
What is our primary use case?
Our primary use for this solution is DR Replication to a separate data centre. We use VMware at both sites. We're currently replicating around eighty VMs from our primary data centre in London to our secondary data centre in Beccles. Most of these are SQL servers with the VSS agent installed.
How has it helped my organization?
We now have the ability to activate replicated VMs at our DR site within minutes of something happening to our primary data centre. The ability to have a RPO of seconds has enabled us to restore data to just before an incident has occurred, which certainly saves a lot of time and money.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable features of this solution are its ease of use and simple setup.
The ability to do a test failover to an isolated environment has been very useful, as this allows us to test servers without any implications to our live environment.
The dashboard is very clear and concise, showing any problems in different colours.
What needs improvement?
The VSS agent setup and configuration does seem to be a bit clunky compared to the rest of the software. We have had issues with licensing, where the license we've been given by Zerto support doesn't include VSS replication, which was a pain at the time.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for four years.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
IT at a marketing services firm with 51-200 employees
A user-friendly solution for secure, off-site disaster recovery
Pros and Cons
- "We now have the ability to replicate critical data to a secure, off-site location that can be brought back in seconds if needed."
- "The email alerts can be excessive, so better control over frequency or resolution may be a worthwhile improvement."
What is our primary use case?
We primarily use this solution for Replication and Disaster Recovery.
How has it helped my organization?
We now have the ability to replicate critical data to a secure, off-site location that can be brought back in seconds if needed.
What is most valuable?
The dashboard is very user-friendly and easy to navigate.
What needs improvement?
The email alerts can be excessive, so better control over frequency or resolution may be a worthwhile improvement.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using this solution for between one and two years.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
IT system administrator at a recruiting/HR firm with 51-200 employees
File-level restoring to specific points in time has been very helpful
Pros and Cons
- "Implementing this solution has given us sandboxing and the ability to move VMs."
- "The backup functions are in need of improvement."
What is our primary use case?
We use this solution for disaster recovery.
How has it helped my organization?
Implementing this solution has given us sandboxing and the ability to move VMs. These are nice to have tools.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature is the Restore file, where you can go back in time on a file-level. This is very helpful.
What needs improvement?
The backup functions are in need of improvement.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using this solution for one year.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Head of IT at TWM Solicitors LLP
Helpful mobile monitoring app compliments the powerful DR testing capability
Pros and Cons
- "The ability to fully test your entire environment without actually performing a failover is invaluable."
- "There needs to be more flexibility in the licensing."
What is our primary use case?
Real-time replication for our Disaster Recovery site, which is currently hosted in another on-premise site but will shortly be moving to a Data Center in the Cloud.
I have also used this solution to do point-in-time restores of Exchange mailbox items and to check updates from Microsoft.
How has it helped my organization?
This solution has given us the confidence to know that our complex systems are being backed up off-site in real-time and are testable on demand. This gives me a real sense of ease when speaking to Management about our resilience, and being able to demonstrate it includes everyone in the processes to confirm that.
What is most valuable?
The ability to fully test your entire environment without actually performing a failover is invaluable.
I really appreciate the Mobile app that allows me to monitor, at any time of the day or night, whether the replications are up and running.
Creating Virtual Protection Groups allows us to treat business services as one.
What needs improvement?
There needs to be more flexibility in the licensing. I've mentioned to Zerto Management that I find the licensing at twenty-five VMs to be very restricting to an SME business, and could there be some flexibility here? Businesses like ours constantly change their IT due to the flexibility of Virtualisation and it would be great to get Zerto on board with that same flexibility.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using this solution for four years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It has been very stable and gives me minimal problems, especially when compared to other parts of the business network.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I would imagine that the product would not have an upper limit due to its architecture. It seems to cope easily with our own environment of approximately forty VMs.
How are customer service and technical support?
The person I worked with was very friendly and had excellent knowledge of the product and understood the wider implications of the installation.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We did not use another solution prior to this one.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup of this solution is very straightforward. The installation and configuration are incredibly easy for someone who is reasonably familiar with IT Management.
What about the implementation team?
We implemented this solution in-house.
What was our ROI?
We do not consider an ROI analysis to be relevant in this area.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
While we find the twenty-five VM license somewhat inflexible, the actual setup costs are minimal as the product is so easy to install.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Before choosing this solution we extensively tested the built-in functionality of our EMC VNX SANs but they didn't function to an acceptable standard so we looked to third parties.
After researching the market thoroughly we decided that this was the one to go for.
What other advice do I have?
I'd strongly suggest carrying out a proof of concept if you're looking at this part of your IT solution.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Manager - IT Infrastructure and Resiliency at Asian Paints
A lightweight solution that is easy to configure and has intuitive dashboards
Pros and Cons
- "It has enabled DR protection for virtual appliances with minimal administrator time."
- "It would be helpful if the reports can be generated periodically, on a schedule."
What is our primary use case?
Our primary use case for Zerto was to enable replication at our DR site for virtual appliances and automation of the failover - failback process. This also gets utilized for recovery at our DR site at different timestamps using the journal history.
This solution is very light, with zero-touch deployment and very enhanced dashboards.
How has it helped my organization?
It has enabled DR protection for virtual appliances with minimal administrator time. This solution also provides a backup option at the DR site without any additional cost of licenses. The Dashboards are very intuitive and can be published to the CIO and CTO.
What is most valuable?
We loved the orchestrator, which allows us to specify IPs for our DR site in advance. It also allowed us to pre-configure the boot sequence for a failover test or actual recovery. Backup at the DR site is the icing on the cake. The concept of a journal history and keeping snapshots at intervals of seconds are quite good.
What needs improvement?
Mobile features are there only for visibility and not to take action. We would love to see the ability to perform actions through mobile apps.
It would be helpful if the reports can be generated periodically, on a schedule.
For how long have I used the solution?
Four years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
This solution is very stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
This is a scalable solution that also supports multiple clouds.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Our earlier solution doesn't have a detailed orchestrator and didn't support appliances.
How was the initial setup?
It is very easy to set-up this solution.
What about the implementation team?
We implemented this solution in-house, without the need for any partner to assist with the set-up.
What was our ROI?
There is no need to think of ROI as this is a DC-DR solution.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The solution is very cost-effective and very easy to set-up but does not compromise on features. The features are much enhanced compared to any other DC-DR solution.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Before choosing this solution we evaluated VMware Replication & Sanovi.
What other advice do I have?
Overall, this solution is quite enhanced compared to other, similar solutions in the market.
I recommend trying this solution.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

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Updated: November 2023
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