CubeBackup vs Synology Photos
CubeBackup
cubebackup.comSynology Photos
synology.comSide by side
| Figure | CubeBackup | Synology Photos |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $0.17/mo | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| iOS | — | Yes |
| Android | — | Yes |
| API | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 6 | 2 |
| Spec score · Google Workspace Backup Software | 9.1 (#1) | 8.2 (#7) |
| Company facts | Crunchbase lists the legal name as CubeBackup Inc., founded in July 2012, privately held, headquartered in Newark, Delaware, with 11–50 employees. | LinkedIn lists Synology as founded in 2000, headquartered in New Taipei City, Taiwan, with 501–1,000 employees. |
| Founded | 2012 | 2000 |
| Headquarters | Newark, Delaware, USA | Banqiao District, New Taipei City, Taiwan |
| Notable news | The August 20, 2025 Microsoft 365 version 1.2 release added Teams backup, file-exclusion rules, and selection by teams or groups. | Synology announced DSM 7.2.2 on August 28, 2024, describing client-side media processing through Image Assistant and reporting faster thumbnail processing in its stated test. |
| Purpose | CubeBackup provides self-hosted backup for Google Workspace and Microsoft 365, with backups stored on-premises or in private cloud storage. | Synology Photos provides photo and video browsing, management, sharing, search, album grouping, upload, and preview workflows in DSM. |
| System requirements | The documented minimum is 4 GB RAM, with 6 GB recommended, a 64-bit operating system, and at least 50 Mbps suggested bandwidth. | The package requires DSM 7.0 or later and a Synology NAS; its technical specification lists Node.js 12 and Synology Application Service as dependencies. |
Plans
CubeBackup
- CubeBackup for Google Workspace — Education/Non-profit$2 a year
- CubeBackup for Microsoft 365 — Education/Non-profit$2 a year
- Education / Non-profit$2 a year
- Business / Enterprise$5 a year
- CubeBackup for Google Workspace — Business/Enterprise$5 a year
- CubeBackup for Microsoft 365 — Business/Enterprise$5 a year
In their own words
CubeBackup
CubeBackup is self-hosted backup software for Google Workspace and Microsoft 365, storing backups on-premises or in private cloud storage. Backups run automatically every hour; incremental runs save only new or modified data. Unlimited versions support point-in-time restoration, including recovery to another account or domain, and restoration remains available after a subscription expires. Google Workspace coverage includes Gmail, Drive, Shared Drives, Contacts, Calendar and Sites. Microsoft 365 coverage includes OneDrive, SharePoint, Teams, Outlook Mail, People and Calendar. Destinations include local disk, NAS, Amazon S3, Google Cloud Storage, Azure Blob Storage and S3-compatible storage. Security measures listed include AES and RSA encryption, TLS 1.2 in transit, two-factor authentication for the console and an immutable audit log. The company says it complies with GDPR, CCPA and other data protection regulations. There is no free plan, but a 14-day trial is available. Education / Non-profit costs $2 a year per user; Business / Enterprise costs $5 a year per user.
Synology Photos
Synology Photos is a photo and video management service in DSM for browsing, organizing, searching, sharing, uploading, and previewing media. It requires a Synology NAS for private photo storage, and its mobile app can back up photos and videos to that NAS automatically. Users can share individual items or albums through links with passwords or expiration dates. Shared Space lets selected users collaborate, with access and editing rights assigned by folder. Organization tools include custom and conditional albums, automatic grouping, and facial and object recognition on supported NAS models. RAW files are supported; previews for HEIC/HEVC files and compressed videos require Synology Image Assistant. Mobile apps require iOS 16 or later or Android 11 or later; TV apps support Apple TV and Android TV. Chrome and Safari are recommended for web use. Synology Photos is free, with no paid premium tiers listed.