The Best Google Workspace Backup Solution in 2023

Search by user

Administrators can easily locate files in the backup archives for each user.

Administrators can easily locate files in the backup archives for each user.

Administrators can easily locate files in the backup archives for each user within past 100 versions, if the file is more than 100 versions old, user has to look for it in a separate 'Lost and Found' archive.

Administrators can easily locate files in the backup archives for each user.

Administrators can easily locate files in the backup archives for each user.

Administrators can easily locate files in the backup archives for each user.

Granular search filters

Search options: Gmail - subject, sent/received date, From, To. Cc, Bcc, label. Google Drive - Doc name, Doc ID, create date, folder name, shared with me/owned by me. Contact name, Site name.

Users can use advanced filter options to locate files in the archive like using metadata search fields like email subject etc.

We do not have information on SpinOne's capability to perform a granular search.

Backupify allows users to search the archive using metadata such as sender, subject, date for Gmail; and file name, post, date for Drive.

Users can search the archive using filters such as email subject, sender name, date filters for Gmail and document name, author name & date filters for Drive documents.

Spanning allows users to search the archive of all apps using metadata such as title/name, user, date, subject line etc.

Keyword-based content search

SysCloud supports full-text search capability for Gmail and Google Drive.

Afi supports full-text search capability for Gmail.

We do not have information on SpinOne's capability to perform content search.

Backupify does not support content search for emails and files. Source s

We do not have information on CloudAlly's capability to perform content search

We do not have information on Spanning's capability to perform content search.

Unlimited backup storage

SysCloud provides truly unlimited backup storage with simple per user-based pricing plan.

While Afi claims unlimited retention, it is not clear if the pricing is different based on the storage consumed. Source

SpinOne saves only last the last 100 versions of the data. Hence it doesn’t provide truly unlimited backup. Source

Backupify does not limit the backup storage, but they implement snapshot pruning where multiple snapshots of a user backup are removed. Source 1, Source 2

CloudAlly provides unlimited backup storage

Spanning provides unlimited backup storage.

Automated User Removal - Identify suspended users and automatically reuse their license.

SysCloud can identify suspended & deleted users in the backup archives. Automatically using the licenses of deleted or suspended users for active users is not possible. Deleted or suspended users will also need an active license.

Deleted Google Workspace users and Shared Drives are auto-archived indefinitely for free.

We do not have information on SpinOne's capability to perform automated user removal.

Backupify can identify suspended & deleted users in the backup archives. Automatically using the licenses of deleted or suspended users for active users is not possible. Deleted or suspended users will also need an active license.

We do not have information on CloudAlly's capability to perform automated user removal.

Spanning can identify suspended & deleted users in the backup archives. Automatically using the licenses of deleted or suspended users for active users is not possible. Deleted or suspended users will also need an active license.

Manual User Removal - Manually remove users based on customer requests

SysCloud provides an option to manually delete user archives.

We do not have information on Afi’s capability to manually delete user archives

SpinOne provides an option to manually remove user archives.

Backupify provides an option to manually delete user archives.

CloudAlly provides an option to manually delete user archives.

Spanning provides an option to manually delete user archives.

Archive location

SysCloud allows customers to choose between the US, Canada, UK and Australia regions to store their archive data.

Afi allows customers to choose between United States (Iowa), the European Union (the Netherlands), Britain, Canada, and Australia.

SpinOne allows customers to choose between the US, Europe, Asia Pacific and Australia regions to store their archive data.

Backupify allows customers to choose between the US (Pennsylvania), Canada (Toronto), United Kingdom (London), Germany (Munich), and Asia Pacific (Sydney).

Afi allows customers to choose between the US, European Union, and Australia.

Spanning allows customers to choose between the US and Europe.

Data Storage Platform

SysCloud stores backup archive data in the Amazon Web Services (AWS).

AFI stores backup archive data in the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud and Google Cloud Platform (GCP). It also supports connected customer owned S3 compatible cloud storage.

SpinOne stores backup archive data in the Amazon Web Services (AWS), GCP and Azure clouds.

All data is stored in private clouds. Sources

CloudAlly stores backup archive data in the Amazon Web Services (AWS).

Spanning stores backup archive data in the Amazon Web Services (AWS) S3.

External threat - ransomware

SysCloud scans for ransomware in the backup archives and flags potential ransomware threats via the dashboard.

Afi scans for ransomware in the backup archives and sends instant email notifications to admins. It also preserves the last clean version of the data in case of ransomware encryption.

SpinOne scans for ransomware attacks and flags potential ransomware threat via the dashboard.

We do not have information on Backupify’s capabilities to detect ransomware threats.

We do not have information on CloudAlly’s capabilities to detect ransomware threats.

We do not have information on Spanning’s capabilities to detect ransomware threats.

Privacy and compliance

SysCloud scans for any sensitive data in the backup archives and notifies the administrator.

We do not have information on Afi’s capabilities to detect privacy and compliance violations.

SpinOne scans for any sensitive data in the backup archives and notifies the administrator.

We do not have information on Backupify’s capabilities to detect privacy and compliance violations.

We do not have information on CloudAlly’s capabilities to detect privacy and compliance violations.

We do not have information on Spanning’s capabilities to detect privacy and compliance violations.

Gmail

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Drive

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Contacts

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Sites (Classic)

Yes

Yes

Yes

No Source

Yes

Yes

Calendar

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Shared Drive

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Google Forms

Yes

We do not have information on Afi's capability to back up Google Forms.

We do not have information on SpinOne's capability to backup Google Forms.

No Source

We do not have information on CloudAlly's capability to back up Google Forms.

No Source

Backup status

The dashboard provides a complete backup health report for the past 30 days. Admins can drill-down to see the number of in-progress and completed backup jobs for the domain.

The dashboard has a backup status widget that shows the backup health status for the past week along with any backup failures and errors.

The dashboard provides daily backup status as well as the backup status for the last 14 days.

The dashboard displays the number of backups in progress.

The dashboard displays the backup status for each user and service along with the time of the last backup.

The dashboard provides a daily status notification and an audit log that tracks backup status.

Restore status

The dashboard provides a complete restore health report for the past 90 days. Admins can drill-down to see the number of in-progress and completed restore requests.

The dashboard has a restore status widget that shows the restore health status for the past week along with any restore failures and errors.

The dashboard does not provide the restore status. "Activity" tab shows the restore history for past 14 days. Source

The dashboard displays the number of restores in progress.

The dashboard provides the restore and export status of all the jobs started the past 7 days.

The status of ongoing restores is displayed in the 'Restore' tab.

Export status

The dashboard provides a complete health report on export requests for the past 90 days. Admins can drill-down to see the number of in-progress and completed export requests.

The dashboard has an export status widget that shows the restore health status for the past week along with any restore failures and errors.

The dashboard does not provide the export/download status. Source

The dashboard displays the number of exports in progress.

The dashboard provides the restore and export status of all the jobs started the past 7 days.

Spanning displays export status of ongoing export in the 'Restore' tab.

Number of items backed up

Admins can see the number of items backed up in each service in a single page.

Afi has a “data dynamics” widget that shows the number of items backed up for each service for the past seven days.

Admins can see the number of items backed up for each service on the dashboard.

Backupify displays the number of files backed up for each Google Workspace app.

We do not have information on how number of items backed up is shown.

Spanning displays the number of items under each user in the dashboard.

Total size

The dashboard displays the total storage consumed by each service in the domain.

The dashboard shows the total storage the backup occupies for each domain.

The dashboard shows the total storage used in addition to the storage consumed by each service in the domain.

The dashboard displays the total size of the backup archives for each app or for the whole domain.

The total size of the backup archive is displayed for each user.

Spanning shows total size of the data in the dashboard.

Threats

SysCloud automatically detects and flags any ransomware threat in the backup archives. Admins can easily drill-down from the dashboard for more details on the flagged threats.

We do not have information on how threats are presented.

SpinOne displays various risks that are detected in the backup archives, information shared outside the domain, and 3rd party apps access levels.

We do not have information on how threats are presented.

We do not have information on how threats are presented.

We do not have information on how threats are presented.

Action required

The dashboard alerts the admin about any immediate action to be taken to fix any issues in the backup, restore, or export.

Admins can see any warnings associated with the backup on the dashboard.

SpinOne does not display action required on the dashboard. Source

We do not have information on how errors that require admin action are presented.

We do not have information on how action required are presented.

Spanning allows admins to filter backup status based on action required, temporary, or permanent errors in the backup.

Errors

The SysCloud dashboard displays the number of temporary or permanent errors in the backup, restore, and export requests. Admins can easily drill-down to see more details.

The dashboard shows the number of backups that failed.

SpinOne does not display action required on the dashboard. Source s

The Backupify overview page shows the number of backup failures for all the services in the past 10 days.

CloudAlly allows the user to view the errors, failed backups, restores and exports

The user can filter the backup status based on temporary or permanent errors, and action required in the backup.

Domain-level dashboard

There is a domain-level dashboard that displays the health of the backup, restore, and export, the number of items backed up, backup archive size of each service, the total number of restores and exports in the domain, errors, threats, and activity log.

Afi provides an overview tab which displays backup status for the past week, with the number of successful and failed backups, and backup warnings. Admins can also see the number of users protected, backup size, and the activity log.

There is a domain- level dashboard that gives an overview of the backup status, threats, and recent activity in the domain.

Backupify provides a domain-level dashboard.

CloudAlly allows the admins to check the backups filtered by domains.

We do not have information on how domain-level dashboard is presented.

User-level dashboards

SysCloud provides a user-level dashboard similar to the domain-level dashboard for every user in the application.

We do not have information on how user-level dashboards are presented.

SpinOne has a 'Users' tab which shows the backup status and usage stats for individual users.

We do not have information on how user-level dashboards are presented.

There is a view-only (without drill-down) overview of each user’s data. It shows the daily backup count, size of each app, backup status, and the number of files backed up for each service.

Spanning has a user-level dashboard with drilldown to view more information on any specific user in the application.

Audit logs

Admins can view audit reports for all the backup, restore, and export events.

Admins can view audit reports for all the backup, restore, and export events.

Admins can view audit reports for all the backup, restore, and export events.

Admins can view audit reports for all the backup, restore, and export events.

Admins can view audit reports for all the backup, restore, and export events.

Admins can view audit reports for all the backup, restore, and export events.

Configurable reports by email

Not available

Afi provides admins the option to receive daily, weekly, or monthly reports.

Admins can choose to receive email reports weekly or monthly.

We do not have information on configurable email reports.

We do not have information on configurable email reports.

Spanning sends daily, weekly, or monthly reports to the admins.

App-level restore & export reports

Admins can access app-level reports on restore & export.

We do not have information on app-level restore & export reports.

Provides app level restore and export reports.

You can view status for your restores and export in the "Restores" and "Exports" tab respectively.

We do not have information on app-level restore & export reports.

We do not have information on app-level restore & export reports.

SOC II Type 2 Audited

Yes

Yes

We do not have information on whether SpinOne is SOC II Type 2 certified.

Yes

We do not have information on whether CloudAlly is SOC II Type 2 certified.

Yes

Virtual Private Cloud

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

AES Encryption

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

TLS Security Encryption

Yes

Yes

We do not have information on whether SpinOne uses TLS security Encryption.

Yes

We do not have information on whether CloudAlly uses TLS security Encryption.

Yes

Multitenancy

Admins can add multiple domains to a single SysCloud account.

Admins can add multiple domains to a single Afi account. 

SpinOne does not provide multitenancy. Source

Backupify does not provide multi-tenancy. Source

CloudAlly supports multiple domains and services in the same UI.

Spanning allows admins to backup both primary and sub-domains using the primary domain admin account.

Backup preview

Users can preview an email before restoring or exporting it.

Users can preview content before restoring or exporting the file.

Users can preview an email or contact before restoring or exporting it.

We do not have information on Backupify’s capabilities to show a backup preview.

We do not have information on CloudAlly’s capability to show a backup preview.

We do not have information on Spanning's capabilities to show a backup preview.

Instant alert for backup failure

Not available

We do not have information on Afi’s capabilities to send instant backup failure alerts.

We do not have information on SpinOne's capability to send instant alerts for backup failure.

We do not have information on Backupify’s capabilities to send instant alerts for backup failure

CloudAlly provides an option to receive notifications about backup tasks or backup failures.

Spanning displays backup failures and errors

3x backups/day

SysCloud provides 1x/day backup.

Afi provides up to 3x backup/day.

Admins can configure daily 1x or 3x backup.

" Backupify takes 3 daily backups and retains them for 30 days. After 30 days, the system saves one of those three daily backups per user. After 90 days, the system saves one weekly backup per user. After one year, Backupify saves one monthly backup per user."

We do not have information on the option to perform 3x backup/day.

Spanning provides only 1x/day backup.

OU level backup

SysCloud provides an option to set up and manage backup at OU level, with different retention settings for each OU.

Afi provides an option to set up and manage backup at the OU level.

Admins can start backup based on organizational units.

Backupify does not provide an option to start backup for all members of an Org unit. You would need to manually select the individual users to protect or upload a CSV file for bulk selection.

We do not have information about the option to perform OU level backup.

We do not have information about the option to perform OU level backup.

Content-based inclusion and exclusion before starting the backup

Admins can exclude data to be backed up based on the file type or size.

We do not have information on Afi’s capability to perform content-based inclusion and exclusion before starting the backup.

SpinOne does not support content-based inclusion/ exclusion. Source

We do not have information on Backupify’s capabilities to perform content-based inclusion or exclusion.

We do not have information on CloudAlly’s capability to perform content-based inclusion and exclusion before starting the backup.

We do not have information on Spanning’s capability to perform content-based inclusion and exclusion before starting the backup.

Auto backup new users

Admins have the option to automatically protect new users added to Google Workspace.

Admins have the option to automatically backup new users and drives added to Google Workspace.

We do not have information on SpinOne's capability to auto backup new users.

Backupify lets admins auto add new Google Workspace users to their current backup schedules. You can also set limits to the auto-add user feature. Upon breaching the limit, new users will not be added to the backup schedule and an email notification will be sent to the account admin.

Admins have the option to automatically protect new users added to Google Workspace.

Spanning allows admins to either automatically assign new licenses for new users, or purchase licenses for new users.

PIT restore

Admins can restore multiple versions of the emails, files, contacts or calendars from the archives.

Admins can perform PIT restore. But we do not have information on which services have point-in-time restore options.

Admins can restore multiple versions of the emails, files, contacts or calendars from the archives.

Backupify supports versioning and snapshots for all the Google Workspace services.

CloudAlly offers point-in-time restores.

Spanning offers point-in-time restores.

Hold backups for suspended users

Admins can define the retention period for deleted/suspended users.

Admins can retain data for archived (suspended or deleted) users at no cost

We do not have information on SpinOne's capability to hold backup for suspended users.

Backupify holds the suspended and deleted user data as long as a license is assigned to the user.

We do not have information about retaining backed-up data for suspended accounts.

Spanning holds the suspended and deleted user data as long as a license is assigned to the user.

SSO integration

Supports the "Google sign-in" option.

Supports the "Google sign-in" option.

Supports "Google sign-in" option.

Supports "Google sign-in" option.

Supports "Google sign-in" option.

Supports "Google sign-in" option.

Native 2FA

Supports native two-factor authentication.

Does not support native two-factor authentication as login only through Okta (SAML), Microsoft or Google services are supported. Source

We do not have information on SpinOne's capability to support native two-factor authentication.

Supports "Google sign-in", which uses two-factor authentication.

Supports native two-factor authentication.

Supports "Google sign-in", which uses two-factor authentication.

Configurable retention period

Admins can configure unlimited or customized data retention periods at the user level, OU level, and domain level.

The app provides an unlimited retention period. The app provides an unlimited retention period. We do not have information on Afi’s capability to configure retention period.

We do not have information on SpinOne'’s capability to define retention period for archived data.

Backupify allows users to set custom retention periods in the retention settings page.

CloudAlly provides unlimited retention periods by default. Retention period can be configured only through a support ticket.

Spanning allows admins to configure retention policy individually for each Google apps - Gmail, Drive, Contact, Calendar, and Sites.

PST email export

Users can directly export and download emails in PST format supported by email clients.

Users can directly export and download emails in PST format.

SpinOne does not support PST Gmail export. Source

Users can export emails in PST format.

Users can directly export and download email in PST format.

We do not have information on Spanning’s capability to perform PST Gmail export.

MBOX email export

Users can directly export and download emails in MBOX format.

Users can directly export and download emails in MBOX format.

Users can directly export and download emails in MBOX format.

Users can export emails in MBOX format.

We do not have information on the option to export emails in MBOX format.

Admins can export emails in MBOX

Instant download

SysCloud provides an instant download option for single emails without the need to export from archives.

We do not have information on Afi’s capability to perform instant download.

We do not have information on SpinOne's capability to directly download files without exporting.

We do not have information on Backupify’s capabilities to allow instant download.

We do not have information on the instant download option.

We do not have information on Spanning’s capability to perform instant download.

End-user self-service recovery

Admins can authorize users to restore their own archived data.

Admins can authorize users to restore their own files.

We do not have information on SpinOne's capability to authorize end users to restore their own files.

We do not have information on Backupify’s capabilities to authorize users to restore their own files.

Admins can authorize users to restore their own files.

Spanning allows admins to authorize users to restore their own files

Restore progress

SysCloud provides a separate restore and export health status report that shows the progress of restore/ export requests.

Users can view the restore progress.

We do not have information on SpinOne's capability to show the restore progress.

User can view the restore status in the "Restores" tab.

CloudAlly displays a status bar showing the status of the restore or download in progress.

Spanning shows a restore progress bar to track the progress of your restores.

Offline export

SysCloud provides offline export for all the data.

We do not have information on Afi’s capability to perform offline export.

SpinOne provides offline export for all the data.

We do not have information on Backupify’s capability to perform offline export.

Offline export is available.

Spanning allows offline export of user data.

Preserve nested email structure

SysCloud has adopted the Gmail label structure for easy access and restoration from the email archives.

Afi preserves the nested email structure in the backup archives.

SpinOne keeps the Gmail folder structure intact in their backup archives for easy restores.

Backupify preserves the nested email structure in the backup archives.

CloudAlly preserves the nested email structure in the backup archives.

Spanning has adopted the Gmail label structure for the email archives for easy access and restoration from the email archives.

Cross-user restore

Admins can restore the data to the same user or a different user in the domain with sharing permissions and folder structure intact.

Admins can restore the data to the same user or a different user in the domain with sharing permissions and folder structure intact.

Admins can restore data to the same user or a different user in the same domain.

Admins can restore data to the same user or a different user in the same domain.

Admins can restore files to the same user or another user in the same domain.

Spanning allows admins and users to restore files to the same user or a different user in the same domain.

Restore to separate email folder

Admins have the option to restore data back to its original location or to a separate restore folder.

Admins have the option to restore data back to its original location or to a separate restore folder.

The backup data is restored to a seperate folder by default.

The backup data is restored to a separate folder by default.

We do not have information of CloudAlly allow restoring to a separate label

Spanning allows admins to restore emails to its original folder and overwrite existing data or restore to a separate folder.

Backup Operator Role | Admins can assign a role to other users that provides access to backup/ restore data without being able to view archives.

SysCloud Super admins can create a backup operator role with customized permissions to restore without preview.

Afi admins can create a backup operator role with customized permissions to restore without preview.

Super admins can assign admin roles to users. They can permit users to manage users, manage superuser, change account and user settings, manage data (browse, read), restore, download, and preview files.

Backupify provides two admin roles: Super administrator and Admin. There can be only one super administrator for the Backupify account. The other admins have a defined set of permissions which cannot be modified.

CloudAlly offers granular settings to create custom backup operator roles. The super admin can choose if users are able to manage account settings and manage backup data to restore, download, and preview files.

Spanning lets super admins the ability to assign users the Help Desk Admin role, that provides limited admin access.

Not available