A Commvault alternative (when you don't run 250 workloads)
Commvault is probably the broadest data protection platform on the market: more than 250 supported workload types, from mainframe to SaaS, with advanced capabilities such as automated restore validation, live replication and cloud infrastructure rebuild (Cloud Rewind). For a large group with a heterogeneous estate and legacy workloads, it's often the right tool.
But that coverage comes with two well-documented trade-offs:
- Complexity: demanding deployment and configuration, a steep learning curve, upgrades that need careful planning. Commvault assumes a team dedicated to data protection.
- Pricing opacity: no public platform pricing — everything goes through a quote, with a licensing structure widely described as complex.
For an SMB, a scale-up or a DevOps team of a few people, it's a suit three sizes too big.
What most teams actually need
If we're honest, most infrastructure teams don't need to manage 250 workload types. Their reality looks more like: PostgreSQL or MySQL dumps, file archives, all pushed to S3-compatible object storage by scripts or a simple tool. It works. What's missing is a proven answer to one single question: "does it actually restore?"
And that question gets urgent when a NIS2 audit comes around, or an ISO 27001 certification (control A.8.13 requires regular, documented restore tests), or a cyber insurance questionnaire.
What RestoreProof does
RestoreProof is built to answer that question — and only that one — impeccably:
- Automated, scheduled restore testing: fetch the backup (S3 and compatibles, HTTP, local), unpack it, perform a real restore into an ephemeral containerised database, validate with probes (archive integrity, canary files, SQL queries against expected thresholds, HTTP endpoints).
- Ed25519-signed evidence: timestamped report, hash of the artefact tested, metrics, PASS/WARN/FAIL verdict — signed by a private key that never leaves your runner.
- Sovereign architecture: strict control plane / data plane separation. Your backup data and credentials stay with you; the SaaS only sees the verdict.
- Up and running in minutes: one runner to deploy (Docker, or Helm on Kubernetes), one source to declare, one plan to schedule. No integration project.
- Public pricing: Free / €49 per month / €149 per month, billed annually (€59 and €179 monthly). Prices exclude VAT.
| Commvault | RestoreProof | |
|---|---|---|
| Scope | Full data protection platform, 250+ workloads | Restorability evidence for your existing backups |
| Restore validation | Yes, built into the platform (higher tiers) | The core of the product, agnostic to the backup tool |
| Complexity | High — dedicated expertise recommended | One runner, one plan, one cron |
| Pricing | Quote-based | Public, starting at €0 |
| Target | Large accounts, heterogeneous and legacy estates | SMBs, scale-ups, DevOps/SRE teams, MSPs |
Who is each for?
Commvault makes sense if: your estate is large and heterogeneous, you have workloads nobody else covers, and you have a team to operate the platform.
RestoreProof makes sense if: your backup chain already exists and suits you, and what you need is continuous, signed, auditable proof that restores work — without changing tooling or going through an enterprise purchasing cycle.
FAQ
Doesn't Commvault already validate restores? It does — automated validation is part of its higher tiers. The difference is the model: with Commvault, validation is a feature of a platform you have to adopt wholesale. RestoreProof delivers validation as an independent service, on top of any backup chain.
What happens if a restore test fails? The signed report shows FAIL with the details of the failing probe (corrupt archive, interrupted SQL restore, missing canary file, insufficient row count…). You find the problem during a scheduled test — not during a production incident.
Does RestoreProof support databases other than PostgreSQL and MySQL? Ten probes are available: PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, SQLite, PocketBase, LDAP directory, X.509 certificate, archive integrity, canary files and HTTP health check. The last three cover backups that are not databases.
Sources for Commvault positioning: commvault.com/packaging (tiers and features), public 2026 comparisons (ControlMonkey, SelectHub), user reviews. Commvault pricing is not public — never cite a specific figure.