Genie Backup Manager AI review: The most user-friendly backup ever
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Summary
At a glance Expert's Rating Pros Fantastically friendly interface Dual destinations for any backup Pay versions supports network and S3-compatible online storage A competent free version is available Cons No imaging or disaster recovery Our Verdict Genie Backup Manager AI is the friendliest file-backup program we’re aware of — by far. The AI will help newbies, and the program supports network and online S3 storage. It lacks imaging and disaster recovery, but is otherwise one of our favorites. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Price When Reviewed One-time $39 for 2 PCs Best Prices Today: Genie Backup Manager AI Retailer Price Genie9 $39 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Genie, the onetime purveyor of a time machine clone for Windows called Timeline, has moved on to a remarkably friendly, informative, relatively affordable and rock-solid file backup program called Backup Manager AI. If Genie Backup Manager AI offered imaging and disaster recovery, it would likely hold the number one spot overall. The interface certainly does. It’s a step above the rest thanks to Genie’s extraordinary attention to detail. Read on to learn more, then see our roundup of the best Windows backup software for comparison. What are Genie Backup Manager AI’s features? When it comes to basic features, Genie Backup Manager isn’t radically different from any competent file backup program. There’s extremely granular scheduling including go/no-go conditions; incremental, differential, full, and mirror backup; notifications and pre/post run commands; as well as compression and encryption. Pretty much the whole nine yards. There are, however, two not-so-common capabilities that I really appreciate. The first is that it there’s an option to create a second copy of your data in a separate location. Not the unlimited-destinations per job I keep pitching to the industry, but very welcome nonetheless. The second perquisite is that Genie Backup Manager lets you easily create a desktop icon to run any specific job without opening the main interface. Say you have a job scheduled for 11pm, but want to fire it off when you leave the office at 5pm, just for paranoia’s sake. Double-click the desktop icon and head home. Then there’s the AI. Is it really AI? Well, strictly speaking, most of what people refer to as AI these days, isn’t. But within the context of what’s commonly considered such (ChatGPT, etc.), yes, Genie AI functions the same way. Genie AI requires an email address and works off an online engine — i.e. you need an internet connection. You’re also limited in the number of inquiries (100 per month with the Pro version I tested; 40/mo with the Home version). But it answers questions like, “How to backup up to my NAS box” and “What should I back up” accurately, then offers to get you started. Quite frankly, if you haven’t figured out what you’re doing by the time you’re out of inquiries… well, that’s hard to imagine. Along that vein, Genie AI is pretty much for users who don’t know what they’re doing. You’re not forced to use it and I won’t normally, but I do wish there were a way to hide it— it’s the first option in the window. How easy is Genie Backup Manager AI? If Genie Backup Manager could be said to have super powers, they would be ease of learning and use. The interface is the best I’ve ever seen for getting the new average user up and running — by a mile. The language is exceptionally clear and precise, and quite unusually, friendly. Even the error messages are easily understood — a very uncommon occurrence with any type of software. And information about what’s happened, about to happen, and what failed is front and center where it should be. Most users want to check on their status far more often than create new jobs. If Genie Backup Manager could be said to have super powers, they would be ease of learning and use How much is Genie Backup Manager AI? There’s actually a free version of Genie Backup Manager AI, though it’s limited to two jobs, and differential backup/network/S3 support aren’t included. Note, however, that it will back up to / from SMB locations mapped to drives and two destinations per job makes the two jobs more like four. There’s also the affordable Home version for $39 (more jobs, network, but no S3), and the Pro version for $79, which adds the S3 and runs jobs even when you’re signed out. If you’re running a server there’s the Server edition for $199 with support for Windows server operating systems and priority support. Note that the “Genie prompts” referenced in the price version comparison in the image below are the aforementioned AI inquiries. You shouldn’t need many once you’re up to speed. Note the Genie prompts you see in this image are the AI inquiries. You shouldn’t need many once you’re up to speed. I’m happy to report that these licenses are one-time, forever (perpetual) rather than the increasingly common yearly rentals. I understand (though I don’t like) that subscriptions software is able to evolve significantly over time, but backup software has to support everything off the bat. Evolving features shouldn’t be necessary for its core functionality. That being said, Genie Backup Manager AI could add imaging and disaster recovery and no one would complain. How does Genie Backup Manager AI perform? I ran backups of all types to local media, my NAS boxes, and even S3. There was nary a glitch and all went off at roughly the speed of the transport protocol involved (10/20Gbps USB, NVMe, 2.5Gbe, approximately 10Gbps broadband). I could go on, but to be frank, there’s really nothing to report, except that there’s nothing bad to report. Should you buy Genie Backup Manager AI? Genie Backup Manager AI is extremely capable file backup, and above all, friendly. Neophytes will love it and other vendors should be jealous of, and take notes on, the interface. The free version is certainly a step up from Windows File history; the Home version is by far my favorite affordable, non-imaging backup program; and if you use S3-compatible online storage, by all means consider Pro.
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