If you’re specifically asking what a cheaper alternative to Veeam is, the answer depends on what you’re backing up and which features you actually need. However, the top 5 alternatives to Veeam are Prapl SQL Backup tool, Zamanda, Handy Backup, SQL Backup And FTP, and SQL Backup Master.
Veeam is one of the popular solutions in data protection, but businesses may look for alternatives because of pricing, infrastructure requirements, feature complexity, or a need for a more focused database backup solution. And in that case, Veeam may not be the suitable solution for every business.
Best alternative to Veeam Backup & Replication?
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So, if you are looking for a specific infrastructure-based Veeam alternative, this article will help you.
What Should You Look for in a Veeam Alternative?
- Pricing: Look for the solution that is cheaper than Veeam software costs. To do so, compare the overall cost rather than just the advertised license price. Also, consider the number of servers or workloads, storage requirements, retention, and features included in the plan or not. If you’re mainly looking for a cheaper option, compare what you actually need with what you’re paying for. A cheaper solution doesn’t mean compromising on your data.
- Scalability: Secondly, choose an alternative solution that can handle your current backup requirements without becoming difficult to manage as the number of servers, databases, or workloads increases.
- Ease of management: If you’re looking for the best alternative to Veeam, make sure it does not create unnecessary administrative work. Therefore, you must consider an easy-to-use interface, how easy it is to configure backup jobs, monitor their status, manage storage, and handle routine maintenance.
- Reliability and recovery: An alternative solution is only useful if you can depend on it when you need to recover your data during some unfortunate events. Thus, you must consider the solution’s track record, backup monitoring capabilities, recovery workflow, and functions for testing backups.
- Support and updates: Moreover, don’t forget to check what level of technical support is included and how their team handles software updates, bug fixes, and long-term product development.
What Are The 5 Best Alternatives to Veeam Backup Software?
1. Prapl SQL Backup Tool: Prapl SQL Backup application is one of the cheapest alternative to Veeam backup software. It’s multifunctional automated backup software for DBAs, individuals, enterprises, or any business. It focuses mainly on database backup, making it a practical Veeam alternative for businesses that don’t need Veeam’s broader infrastructure-backup capabilities.
It supports SQL Server, MySQL, PostgreSQL, MariaDB, and other supported engines. Download this application for free and use its full functionality for 15 days.
Best suited for: Unlimited database backups of unlimited servers.
Features:
- No Prapl-hosted backup copy/middle server: Your data is safe with this software because there is no middle server involved while backing up the database, unlike other online solutions.
- Backup Type: It allows users to create Full, incremental, differential, transactional logs backup, depending on the database engine.
- AES-256-GCM encryption & Compression: For more data protection, one can simply set the encryption configuration and also compress the file if the database is large, just in case.
- Backup history/health: Using this application, one cannot only run the multiple database backup automatically, but also check the entire history. Backup history helps you see when a backup job failed, check its outcome, and identify how and where the software saved the backup files.
- Email alerts: The best feature is getting notified with email alerts if anything happens during the backup operation.
- Direct-to-storage architecture: It has a direct-to-storage architecture that lets users store the backup file to a supported local machine, external hard drive, NAS, cloud destination like Amazon S3, or remote storage destinations.
- Scheduled backups: It lets you create hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly schedules depending on the database engine and configuration.
2. SQL Backup Master: The second alternative solution to Veeam is SQL Backup Master. It is another database-focused backup solution. Simply put, it is best for the businesses looking for a simpler way to manage database backups. It backs up your databases and sends those backups to different storage destinations rather than providing broad infrastructure protection.
Best suited for: SQL database backup
3. SQLBackupAndFTP: Another Veeam alternative solution is SQL Backup And FTP; it mainly focuses on database backup and transferring backup files to remote or cloud storage. You can consider this software if your main requirement is to create regular database backups and move those files away from the database server. Moreover, this software supports databases such as SQL Server, MySQL, and PostgreSQL.
Best suited for: Database backup
4. Handy Backup: Handy Backup tool is a general-purpose backup solution that you can for different types of data and systems. You can use it as an alternative to Veeam software for your business. It supports backup tasks involving files, databases, servers, and various storage destinations. For organizations comparing Veeam alternatives, they can consider this program when the requirement extends beyond database backups to general data protection and scheduled backup tasks.
Best suited for: General database and server backup
5. Zmanda: Another alternative is Zmanda. It lets you back up and protect data beyond database-only tools. It is designed for businesses that need to protect different types of workloads and manage backups across a larger environment without compromising security. Instead of focusing primarily on database backup, you can consider this tool when your business has large server, application, and data-protection requirements.
Best suited for: Enterprise backup operations.
How to Use Prapl as a Veeam Alternative for Database Backups?
Download and run the utility on your PC, then choose any server engine and test the connection.

Connect your databases, either one or multiple databases as needed.

Choose where backups should go; you can save the file wherever you need to.

Then, schedule backups, select the backup type from the list, and save all the settings. Hit the Save and Run Now option to back up the required database.

Conclusion
The best alternative to Veeam backup software depends on what you’re actually trying to protect. In short, if you need broad infrastructure backup. Then, look for a program that supports servers, virtual machines, applications, and disaster recovery requirements.
Or if your main requirement is database protection, a database-focused solution would be a best fit for you. However, it’s still better to look for the features you need with a simpler workflow.
Prapl SQL backup utility is worth considering for database-focused environment. Here scheduled backups, unlimited database engines, retention, encryption, compression, and restore capabilities are the main requirements.
