Introduction
Data loss events — ransomware attacks, hardware failures, accidental deletions, natural disasters — are not hypothetical risks for SMEs. They are documented, recurring business events. The question backup procurement answers is not whether your organization will experience a data loss event, but how quickly and completely it will recover when it does.
This guide compares three backup platforms positioned at different points on the complexity-and-cost spectrum: Acronis Cyber Protect, Veeam, and Backblaze B2. All pricing data is drawn from each vendor's published rate cards and documentation as of Q1 2026. G2 ratings reflect the Q1 2026 review dataset.
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At-a-Glance Comparison
| Criterion | Acronis Cyber Protect | Veeam | Backblaze B2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | $85/mo (Essentials, 5 devices) | $348/yr (Veeam Backup Essentials, 6 sockets/VMs) | $7/TB/mo (object storage, pay-as-you-go) |
| Deployment Model | Agent-based (physical + cloud) | Agent-based (VMware, Hyper-V, physical) | Object storage API + integration partners |
| Ransomware Protection | Yes — active, built-in | Immutable backups on compatible storage | Immutable buckets (Object Lock) |
| Recovery Granularity | File, volume, full system, application | File, VM, instant recovery, bare-metal | File and object restore via API or partner |
| Cloud Backup Included | Yes (Acronis Cloud) | Requires separate cloud storage target | Storage-native; requires backup software integration |
| G2 Rating (Q1 2026) | 4.5/5 (900+ reviews) | 4.6/5 (700+ reviews) | 4.6/5 (300+ reviews) |
| Best Fit | SMEs wanting backup + endpoint security | Enterprises with VMware/Hyper-V infrastructure | Cost-led cloud backup at TB+ scale |
Pricing reflects published rate cards as of Q1 2026. Veeam pricing varies by edition and licensing model.
How We Evaluated Each Platform
Five criteria shaped this comparison:
- Recovery speed and granularity — can administrators restore a single file, a virtual machine, or a full server, and how long does the recovery process take under normal conditions?
- Ransomware resilience — does the platform protect backup data from encryption by ransomware, and how?
- Infrastructure compatibility — what physical, virtual, and cloud workloads does the platform support?
- Total cost of ownership — including storage costs, not just licensing fees.
- Management overhead — what is the realistic admin burden to maintain reliable backup coverage across a 50-workload environment?
1. Acronis Cyber Protect
Overview
Acronis Cyber Protect is the convergence of Acronis's backup heritage with active cybersecurity capabilities — the platform deploys a single agent that performs both backup scheduling and real-time malware/ransomware protection. The backup component covers physical machines, VMs (VMware ESXi, Microsoft Hyper-V), cloud workloads (Microsoft 365, Google Workspace), and mobile devices, with backup data stored either on-premise, in Acronis Cloud, or in third-party S3-compatible storage.
The platform holds a 4.5/5 G2 rating across 900+ reviews as of Q1 2026. Reviewers most frequently cite the single-agent architecture and the active ransomware protection as differentiating from traditional backup-only products.
Pricing
| Plan | Price | Coverage |
|---|---|---|
| Essentials | $85/mo (5 devices) | Backup + cybersecurity essentials |
| Advanced | $119/mo (5 devices) | Full backup + EDR-lite + URL filtering |
| Backup Advanced | $74/mo (5 devices, backup only) | Backup without the cybersecurity layer |
| Per-workload (MSP) | Variable | Per-GB or per-workload pricing for managed service providers |
Cloud storage is charged separately — Acronis Cloud storage is billed at approximately $0.03/GB/month (30-day retention). Organizations using their own S3-compatible storage pay only the licensing fee.
Pricing source: acronis.com/en-us/products/cyber-protect as of Q1 2026.
Strengths
- Single-agent architecture eliminates the need to manage separate backup and endpoint-security agents. One deployment, one policy console, one renewal.
- Active ransomware protection uses behavioral analysis to detect and halt ransomware processes in real time, and automatically restores any files encrypted before detection — without requiring a full backup restore.
- Broad workload coverage — physical Windows/Linux, VMware, Hyper-V, Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, and mobile in one license. For SMEs with mixed infrastructure, this prevents the patchwork of per-workload tools.
- Acronis Cloud storage provides an off-site backup destination without requiring the organization to manage a separate cloud storage account or S3 credentials.
- Cyber scripting — the Advanced plan allows custom remediation scripts to run post-incident, useful for IT teams that have standard recovery playbooks.
Trade-offs
- Acronis Cloud storage pricing ($0.03/GB/month) is more expensive than Backblaze B2 ($0.007/GB/month) or Wasabi, making it cost-intensive for organizations backing up multi-TB datasets.
- The agent is heavier than dedicated backup agents — organizations with performance-sensitive endpoints sometimes report a noticeable resource footprint.
- The management console, while comprehensive, has a learning curve. New IT administrators typically spend several hours in documentation before configuring their first full-coverage policy.
- The cybersecurity component (EDR-lite, URL filtering) is not a substitute for a dedicated EDR platform — organizations with advanced threat-detection requirements will still need a separate security tool.
Recommended For
SMEs with mixed physical and cloud workloads that want backup and endpoint security managed from a single console. Well-suited for IT-managed environments with 10–200 endpoints, and for organizations that have experienced a ransomware incident and want active protection layered with backup. Also the natural choice for Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud managed service providers serving SME clients.
2. Veeam
Overview
Veeam is the market-leading backup and recovery platform for virtualized infrastructure. Veeam Backup & Replication is the core product — purpose-built for VMware vSphere and Microsoft Hyper-V environments, with agent-based coverage extended to physical Windows, Linux, and Mac machines via Veeam Agents. According to Veeam's published customer data, over 450,000 customers globally use Veeam products, with deployments ranging from SME IT departments to Fortune 500 data centers.
The platform holds a 4.6/5 G2 rating across 700+ reviews as of Q1 2026, with reviewers most frequently citing recovery speed, granularity, and the maturity of the virtual-infrastructure integration as primary purchase drivers.
Pricing
| Edition | Price (annual) | Workloads Covered |
|---|---|---|
| Veeam Backup Essentials | $348/yr (6 sockets or VMs) | VMware + Hyper-V + physical agents |
| Veeam Backup & Replication | Custom quote | Unlimited sockets; advanced features |
| Veeam Data Platform Foundation | $1,654/yr (10 instances) | Backup + monitoring + analytics |
| Veeam Data Platform Advanced | $2,534/yr (10 instances) | Adds advanced replication, CDP |
Veeam licensing is socket/instance-based, which means pricing scales with infrastructure size. Backup Essentials is the most common SME entry point; organizations with over 6 socket equivalents typically move to Veeam Backup & Replication with custom pricing.
Pricing source: veeam.com/products/editions.html as of Q1 2026.
Strengths
- Instant recovery — Veeam's Instant VM Recovery allows a failed virtual machine to boot directly from the backup file while the full VM is restored in the background. Recovery time objective (RTO) for VM failures is measured in minutes rather than hours.
- Granular recovery options — file-level restore, application-item restore (Exchange, SharePoint, Active Directory, SQL, Oracle), bare-metal recovery, and cloud-based restore to Azure, AWS, or Google Cloud are all natively supported.
- Immutable backups — Veeam supports immutability on Linux hardened repositories and compatible cloud storage (S3 Object Lock, Azure Blob immutable storage), protecting backup data from ransomware encryption.
- Replication — Veeam's VM replication capability (available from Backup & Replication edition) allows secondary site failover, supporting business continuity plans beyond simple backup and restore.
- Scale — Veeam's architecture scales from SME (Essentials, 6 VMs) to large enterprise without requiring a platform change; organizations grow within the same product.
Trade-offs
- Veeam is primarily optimized for virtual infrastructure. Organizations running physical-only workloads or cloud-native workloads without VMs get less value from the core feature set.
- Backup storage is not included — Veeam stores backup data to locally attached storage, NAS, or cloud object storage that the organization provisions and pays for separately.
- The platform requires meaningful IT administration skills to configure properly. Policy design, repository management, and capacity planning are non-trivial — organizations without a dedicated IT administrator often find Veeam's complexity exceeds their operational capacity.
- Microsoft 365 backup is available but requires the Veeam Backup for Microsoft 365 product (separately licensed and priced).
Recommended For
IT departments managing VMware or Hyper-V infrastructure with 5–500+ VMs, organizations with strict RTO/RPO requirements defined in business continuity plans, and environments where replication and cloud-based DR are part of the recovery architecture. Well-suited for mid-market companies with dedicated IT administrators. Less ideal for SMEs without an IT-managed virtual infrastructure.
3. Backblaze B2
Overview
Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage is an object-storage platform, not a traditional backup application. The distinction matters: B2 is a storage destination that backup software, sync tools, and applications write to — it is not a self-contained backup solution. The reason B2 belongs in this comparison is its economics: at $7/TB/month (or $0.007/GB/month), it is among the lowest-cost credible S3-compatible object storage targets available, roughly 1/4 of the price of AWS S3 Standard and significantly cheaper than Acronis Cloud.
The platform holds a 4.6/5 G2 rating across 300+ reviews as of Q1 2026. Reviewers most frequently cite pricing, S3 compatibility, and the free egress (for Backblaze CDN partners) as the primary reasons for adoption.
Pricing
| Resource | Price |
|---|---|
| Storage | $7/TB/month ($0.007/GB/month) |
| Download (egress) | $0.01/GB (first 3 GB/day free; free with Cloudflare, Fastly, and other CDN partners) |
| Class A transactions | $4 per million (uploads, deletes) |
| Class B transactions | $0.40 per million (downloads) |
No minimum spend. No minimum storage commitment. Pay-as-you-go pricing with no long-term contract required.
Pricing source: backblaze.com/b2/cloud-storage-pricing.html as of Q1 2026.
Strengths
- Price leadership — at $7/TB/month, B2 is 75% cheaper than AWS S3 Standard, 70% cheaper than Azure Blob (Hot), and significantly cheaper than most backup-vendor cloud storage destinations.
- S3 compatibility — B2's S3-compatible API means any backup software that supports Amazon S3 — Veeam, Acronis, Duplicati, Restic, Rclone, MSP360, Nakivo, and dozens of others — can use B2 as a backup target without code changes.
- Immutable buckets (Object Lock) — B2 supports WORM (Write Once, Read Many) object locking, allowing backup data to be made immutable for a defined retention period. This protects backup data from ransomware or accidental deletion.
- Free egress with partner CDNs — Backblaze has bandwidth alliance partnerships with Cloudflare, Fastly, and others; downloads between B2 and these CDN partners are free, significantly reducing the total cost of cloud-based backup workflows that also serve content.
- Simple API — the B2 API and S3-compatible endpoint are well-documented and straightforward to integrate.
Trade-offs
- B2 is not a backup application — it is a storage layer. Organizations must pair B2 with a backup application (Veeam, Acronis, MSP360, Duplicati, etc.) that handles scheduling, retention policies, deduplication, and restore workflows.
- Restore egress costs ($0.01/GB, outside CDN partner relationships) can be significant for multi-TB restore events — a 10TB restore costs approximately $100 in egress fees before the backup software's own restore overhead.
- No backup-specific management console — administrators manage buckets, lifecycle rules, and access keys via the Backblaze B2 web interface or API; restore workflows are handled entirely by the paired backup application.
- Data sovereignty options are more limited than AWS S3 — B2 storage is available in US West (Sacramento), US East (Phoenix), EU Central (Amsterdam), and select additional regions. Organizations with data-residency requirements outside these regions may need an alternative.
Recommended For
Organizations that have selected a backup application (Veeam, Acronis, MSP360, or open-source tools) and need a low-cost, reliable cloud storage target for backup data at TB+ scale. Particularly well-suited for MSPs managing multiple client environments, organizations with large media or data archives that need cost-effective cloud storage, and companies already using Cloudflare or Fastly CDN where egress is free. Not recommended as a standalone backup solution without a paired backup application.
Infrastructure-Type Decision Guide
| Infrastructure Type | Recommended Platform | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| VMware / Hyper-V heavy | Veeam | Native VM backup, instant recovery, replication |
| Mixed physical + cloud workloads | Acronis Cyber Protect | Single agent, Microsoft 365 + physical + VM coverage |
| Cloud-native / SaaS-heavy | Backblaze B2 + Backupify or similar | Low-cost storage; pair with SaaS backup application |
| Cost-constrained, multi-TB backup | Backblaze B2 | 75% cheaper than AWS S3; pair with open-source backup tool |
| Ransomware recovery priority | Acronis Cyber Protect | Active protection + automatic file restoration |
| MSP serving multiple SME clients | Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud or Backblaze B2 | Acronis for managed protection; B2 for storage economics |
Total Cost of Ownership Example (50 Endpoints, 10TB Backup Data)
| Platform | License/yr | Storage/yr | Total/yr | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acronis Cyber Protect Essentials | ~$1,020 | ~$3,600 (Acronis Cloud) | ~$4,620 | All-in-one; storage in Acronis Cloud |
| Acronis + Backblaze B2 storage | ~$1,020 | ~$840 | ~$1,860 | Use own S3 storage instead of Acronis Cloud |
| Veeam Essentials + Backblaze B2 | ~$348 | ~$840 | ~$1,188 | Veeam license + B2 storage; IT admin required |
| Backblaze B2 only | N/A | ~$840 | ~$840 | Requires separate backup application; not included |
Storage costs based on 10TB at respective pricing rates as of Q1 2026. Actual costs vary with retention policies, compression ratios, and restore frequency.
FAQ
Q: What is the 3-2-1 backup rule and do these platforms support it?
The 3-2-1 rule recommends: 3 copies of data, on 2 different media types, with 1 copy off-site. All three platforms support 3-2-1 architectures: Acronis and Veeam both store to local and cloud targets simultaneously; Backblaze B2 serves as the off-site cloud copy. Implementing 3-2-1 with any of these platforms is a configuration task, not a platform limitation.
Q: How do immutable backups protect against ransomware?
Immutable backups use WORM (Write Once, Read Many) storage settings to prevent backup data from being modified or deleted for a defined retention period. When ransomware encrypts a system, immutable backup copies remain intact and can be used for recovery even if the ransomware operator attempts to delete or encrypt backup files. Acronis, Veeam (on hardened Linux repositories), and Backblaze B2 (Object Lock) all support immutability.
Q: What is the difference between RTO and RPO?
Recovery Time Objective (RTO) is the maximum acceptable time to restore a system after a failure. Recovery Point Objective (RPO) is the maximum acceptable data loss measured in time — for example, an RPO of 4 hours means the organization can tolerate losing up to 4 hours of data. Veeam's instant recovery supports near-zero RTO for VMs; backup frequency settings in all three platforms control RPO.
Q: Can Backblaze B2 be used with Veeam?
Yes. Backblaze B2 is S3-compatible and is officially supported as a Veeam backup repository via the Veeam Scale-Out Backup Repository or as a standard object-storage capacity tier target. Backblaze publishes a configuration guide for Veeam integration on its documentation site.
Q: Does Acronis Cyber Protect include Microsoft 365 backup?
Yes. Acronis Cyber Protect covers Microsoft 365 mailboxes, OneDrive, SharePoint, and Teams data under its cloud-workload backup coverage. This is included in the Essentials and Advanced plans; the Microsoft 365 data is counted against the per-seat licensing and stored to the designated backup destination (Acronis Cloud or organization-owned storage).
Q: What is the minimum viable backup setup for a 10-person SME?
A credible minimum viable backup for a 10-person SME includes: (1) daily automated backup of all endpoints to a local NAS or external drive, (2) a copy of backup data to a cloud destination (Backblaze B2 or Acronis Cloud) for off-site protection, and (3) a documented and tested restore procedure. Acronis Cyber Protect Essentials (5-device tier, two licenses) paired with Backblaze B2 as the cloud storage target covers this requirement at approximately $155/month all-in for storage and licensing.
Conclusion
The right backup platform depends on infrastructure type more than any other factor.
For organizations running VMware or Hyper-V virtual infrastructure, Veeam is the most capable platform — instant VM recovery, replication, and immutable repositories are features that matter when production systems fail. For SMEs with mixed physical-and-cloud workloads that want backup and endpoint protection in one agent, Acronis Cyber Protect eliminates the need to manage separate security and backup tools. For organizations that have already selected a backup application and need the lowest-cost cloud storage destination for their backup data, Backblaze B2 at $7/TB/month has no credible price-per-terabyte competitors among S3-compatible platforms.
Pricing verified from official vendor websites as of Q1 2026. Ratings sourced from G2 as of Q1 2026.
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