# Backup and disaster recovery for small business buyers: what AI models recommend, October 2026

Gane Index, October 2026 Edition. Asked as "backup and disaster recovery solution" and as "data backup and recovery service", six framings each, to fourteen models with search on, on behalf of a small B2B company. Page: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/cloud/backup-and-disaster-recovery/2026-10/smb

This is the permanent record of the October 2026 Edition, published October 1, 2026 and superseded since. The current standing: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/cloud/backup-and-disaster-recovery/smb/index.md

**Standing:** Acronis Cyber Protect leads with 23% of first choices; verdict contested. 56 first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts.

## First-choice share

| Rank | Product | Share | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | [Acronis Cyber Protect](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/acronis-cyber-protect/index.md) | 23% | 2% | 51 |
| 2 | [IDrive Business](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/idrive-business/index.md) | 12% | 4% | 23 |
| 3 | [Datto SIRIS](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/datto-siris/index.md) | 9% | 7% | 28 |
| 4 | [Veeam Data Platform](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/veeam-data-platform/index.md) | 7% | 11% | 44 |
| 5 | [Backblaze](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/backblaze/index.md) | 7% | 0% | 17 |
| 7 | [Backblaze Business Backup](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/backblaze-business-backup/index.md) | 4% | 5% | 19 |
| 10 | [Carbonite Safe](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/carbonite-safe/index.md) | 2% | 0% | 13 |
| 11 | [Backblaze B2](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/backblaze-b2/index.md) | 2% | 0% | 10 |
| 109 | [Google Drive](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/google-drive/index.md) | 0% | 100% | 10 |
| 110 | [Microsoft OneDrive](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/microsoft-onedrive/index.md) | 0% | 100% | 10 |
| 111 | [Dropbox](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/dropbox/index.md) | 0% | 100% | 11 |

Rank is by share of first choices among all 111 products named; products with the same share are tied, and the order among them carries no meaning. The table lists those with at least 10 labels.

## Each model's first choice on the direct prompt

- Claude Haiku 4.5: no first choice
- GPT-5.4 mini: Veeam Data Platform; alternatives Backblaze, Carbonite Safe, Datto SIRIS, OpenText
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: Afi.ai, Cove Data Protection; alternatives Acronis Cyber Protect, Backblaze B2, Datto SIRIS, MSP360 Managed Backup
- Perplexity Sonar: Acronis Cyber Protect, Datto BCDR; alternatives Veeam Data Platform
- Grok 4.20: Acronis Cyber Protect; alternatives Backblaze, Datto SIRIS, IDrive Business, Veeam Data Platform
- Mistral Small: Datto SIRIS; alternatives Acronis Cyber Protect, Carbonite Safe, Veeam Data Platform
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: Acronis Cyber Protect; alternatives Azure Site Recovery, Backblaze Business Backup, Datto SIRIS, IDrive Business
- Llama 4 Maverick: no first choice
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: Veeam Backup & Replication; alternatives Acronis Cyber Protect, Datto SIRIS
- Kimi K2: Acronis Cyber Protect; alternatives Datto SIRIS, Veeam Data Platform
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: Acronis Cyber Protect, Datto SIRIS; alternatives Axcient x360Recover, MSP360 Managed Backup, NAKIVO Backup & Replication
- MiniMax M2.5: Acronis Cyber Protect, Datto SIRIS; alternatives Carbonite Server Backup, MSP360 Managed Backup, Quorum onQ
- GPT-6 Luna: N-able Cove Data Protection; alternatives Datto SaaS Protection
- Muse Glimmer 30B: Acronis Cyber Protect, IDrive Business; alternatives Datto BCDR, Datto SIRIS

## Sources the answers cite

69 of 84 answers came back with a source list, from 14 of 14 models. Sites named in the most answers:

- veeam.com: 26 answers, 36 citations
- apollotechnical.com: 21 answers, 21 citations
- ifeeltech.com: 20 answers, 26 citations
- learn.g2.com: 19 answers, 21 citations
- expertinsights.com: 19 answers, 20 citations
- listicler.com: 18 answers, 18 citations
- byteplus.com: 17 answers, 18 citations
- axcient.com: 15 answers, 17 citations

Pages named in the most answers:

- https://apollotechnical.com/best-backup-and-disaster-recovery-solutions-for-small-businesses (21 answers)
- https://expertinsights.com/backup-and-recovery/the-top-business-continuity-and-disaster-recovery-solutions (18 answers)
- https://learn.g2.com/best-backup-software (18 answers)
- https://listicler.com/best/best-backup-disaster-recovery-small-businesses (18 answers)
- https://ifeeltech.com/blog/best-cloud-backup-small-business (17 answers)
- https://byteplus.com/en/topic/581740 (17 answers)
- https://helixstax.com/resources/top-backup-solutions-for-small-business (14 answers)
- https://axcient.com/blog/backup-and-disaster-recovery-solutions (11 answers)
- https://gane.ai/index/it/cloud/backup-and-disaster-recovery/smb (11 answers)
- https://greengeeks.com/blog/best-disaster-recovery-as-a-service-draas-solutions (10 answers)

## Warned against

- Dropbox: 11 of 11 labels negative. "Many small businesses mistakenly use cloud storage services (like Dropbox, Google Drive, or OneDrive) or sync tools as their sole backup solution. These services are not designed for true backup" (Mistral Small, negative prompt)
- Google Drive: 10 of 10 labels negative. "Cloud sync tools treated as backup: Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, and similar tools are designed to synchronize files, so deletions, overwrites, and even ransomware-encrypted files can propagate" (Perplexity Sonar, negative prompt)
- Microsoft OneDrive: 10 of 10 labels negative. "Masquerading as Backups (e.g., Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive for basic use) - Why avoid: These are collaboration tools, not true backups." (Grok 4.20, negative prompt)
- Box: 3 of 3 labels negative. "Basic consumer tiers of Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, or Box... Syncing is not backing up." (Gemini 3.5 Flash, negative prompt)

## Movement since September 2026

Floor: 11 points of share, measured on the calibration repeat.
Same leader: Acronis Cyber Protect at 23%.

- Acronis Cyber Protect: 41% to 23%, −18. Cleared the floor by 7 points · rank 1 of 104, unchanged.
- IDrive Business: 22% to 12%, −10. Inside the floor by 1 point · rank 2 of 104, unchanged.
- Datto SIRIS: 2% to 10%, +8. Inside the floor by 3 points · rank 7 → 3 of 104.
- Veeam Data Platform: 4% to 8%, +4. Inside the floor by 7 points · rank 4 of 104, unchanged.
- Backblaze Business Backup: 2% to 4%, +2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 9 → 6 of 104.
- Backblaze: 7% to 6%, −1. Inside the floor by 10 points · rank 3 → 5 of 104.
- Cove Data Protection: 4% to 4%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 5 → 8 of 104.
- Carbonite Safe: 2% to 2%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 14 → 9 of 104.
- Axcient x360Recover: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 15 → 23 of 104.
- Dropbox: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 92 → 104 of 104.

## Record

- Method: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/methodology
- License: CC BY 4.0. Cite as Gane Index, October 2026 Edition, www.gane.ai/index/it.