What are the alternatives to Backup Manager for ArcGIS Online?
Four main options exist for backing up ArcGIS Online content: GEO Jobe Backup My Org, CivicLens Backup Utility, Canopy Mapping Backups and Esri's own scripting tools. Each takes a different approach to the same problem. The right choice depends on your budget, technical capacity and whether you need ArcGIS Enterprise support as well.
Backup Manager vs Esri native tools
Esri handles infrastructure-level disaster recovery (system outages, hardware failure) automatically as part of the ArcGIS Online SLA. The tools below address a different problem: user-error recovery. If someone accidentally deletes a feature layer or overwrites a web map, Esri does not provide an undo button. These scripting approaches fill that gap but all require scripting or manual effort:
ArcGIS API for Python allows you can write scripts to export feature services as file geodatabases and download them. This requires Python knowledge, handling of authentication tokens and a machine to run the scripts on a schedule.
OfflineContentManager is part of the ArcGIS API for Python (v2.4.1+), this creates compressed backup packages of items and their dependencies. Still requires scripting and a scheduled execution environment.
Distributed Collaboration copies content between ArcGIS Online and ArcGIS Enterprise. Requires an Enterprise deployment, which many AGOL-only organisations do not have.
These approaches cost nothing in licensing but demand staff time to build, test and maintain. They also require dedicated compute infrastructure to run on a schedule: an AWS Lambda function, an Azure runbook, or a VM that stays powered on. These carry minor cloud costs and ongoing IT maintenance. They also do not provide a restoration interface: you would need to write additional scripts to re-create items from backups. Backup Manager replaces all of this with a working product that has a UI, scheduling, notifications and one-click restore.
Backup Manager vs GEO Jobe Backup My Org
GEO Jobe Backup My Org is the most established third-party backup tool for ArcGIS. It runs as a web application you deploy on your own server or local machine, typically requiring a web server environment and a MongoDB backend database. It backs up items, users and groups, supports scheduled backups and includes dependency visualisation and content cloning between organisations.
| Feature | Backup Manager | GEO Jobe BMO |
|---|---|---|
| Deployment | SaaS, no installation | Self-hosted web app |
| ArcGIS Enterprise support | No | Yes |
| User/group backup | No | Yes |
| Content cloning | No | Yes |
| Dependency mapping | No | Yes |
| Pricing | £1,000/year (500 GB) | $83/month per connector |
| File geodatabase download | Yes | Yes |
| Email notifications | Yes | Optional |
Backup Manager is simpler to set up because it requires no server or installation. GEO Jobe BMO offers more features, particularly for organisations that need Enterprise support or content migration. If you only need ArcGIS Online backup and want to avoid managing infrastructure, Backup Manager is the lighter option.
Backup Manager vs CivicLens Backup Utility
CivicLens Backup Utility is a Windows desktop application. It is a single executable file with no installer, no database and no external dependencies. It supports ArcGIS Online and Portal for ArcGIS, incremental backups, one-click restore with undo and find-and-replace across items.
| Feature | Backup Manager | CivicLens |
|---|---|---|
| Deployment | SaaS | Windows .exe |
| ArcGIS Enterprise support | No | Yes (Portal) |
| Incremental backups | No | Yes |
| Find-and-replace | No | Yes |
| Cloud storage | Included (UK) | S3, Azure (you provide) |
| Runs without a machine on | Yes | No (scheduled tasks need PC) |
| Pricing | £1,000/year (500 GB) | $499 one-time |
CivicLens is a one-time purchase that runs on your own hardware. It gives you full control over storage location and credentials never leave your infrastructure. The trade-off is that scheduled backups require a Windows machine to be running. Backup Manager runs entirely in the cloud, so backups execute regardless of whether your office machines are on.
Backup Manager vs Canopy Mapping Backups
Canopy Mapping Backups is a cloud SaaS product similar in approach to Backup Manager. It backs up ArcGIS Online and Enterprise content with encrypted cloud storage, dependency tracking and audit trails.
| Feature | Backup Manager | Canopy Mapping |
|---|---|---|
| ArcGIS Enterprise support | No | Yes |
| Dependency tracking | No | Yes |
| Audit trails | No | Yes |
| Service analysis reports | No | Yes |
| Pricing | £1,000/year (500 GB) | Not publicly listed |
| Data residency options | Multiple AWS regions | Not specified |
Canopy Mapping is a broader platform aimed at organisations that need analytics alongside backup. Backup Manager is more focused: it does one thing and keeps the pricing transparent.
Backup Manager vs a custom FME solution
FME by Safe Software is a spatial ETL platform that can be used to build a bespoke backup workflow for ArcGIS Online. Using the ArcGISOnlineConnector transformer, you can download feature services as file geodatabases, export web maps and applications as JSON and write the output to local storage, network drives or cloud buckets. With FME Server or FME Flow, you can schedule these workflows to run automatically and add email notifications on completion or failure.
| Feature | Backup Manager | Custom FME solution |
|---|---|---|
| Deployment | SaaS, ready to use | Build from scratch |
| Setup time | Minutes | Days to weeks |
| ArcGIS Enterprise support | No | Yes (Portal connector available) |
| Web map backup | Built-in | Must be scripted (JSON download via API) |
| Application backup | Built-in | Must be scripted |
| Feature service backup | Built-in | Built via ArcGISOnlineConnector |
| Scheduling | Built-in dashboard | FME Server / FME Flow required |
| Restoration interface | One-click restore | Must be built separately |
| Ongoing maintenance | Included | Your responsibility |
| Pricing | £1,000/year (500 GB) | FME licensing + build cost |
An FME-based backup solution gives you complete control over what gets backed up, where it goes and what format it takes. You can add custom logic: filtering by tag or owner, transforming data during export, writing to multiple destinations simultaneously, or integrating backup into a larger data pipeline.
The trade-off is that you are building and maintaining a custom system. You need FME Desktop to develop the workspace, FME Server or FME Flow to run it on a schedule and someone who knows FME well enough to handle edge cases: authentication token expiry, large service exports that time out, incremental versus full backups and restoration logic. You also need to build the restore side yourself: FME can download data but putting it back into ArcGIS Online as a working hosted service with the correct schema, metadata and sharing settings requires additional workspace design.
For organisations that already use FME and have in-house expertise, a custom backup workspace can be a good fit, particularly if you need to combine backup with other ETL tasks. For organisations that want a working backup solution without a development project, Backup Manager is the faster route.
Avineon Tensing is an FME partner and can build custom FME backup solutions for clients who need them. If Backup Manager does not cover your requirements (for example, if you need ArcGIS Enterprise support or complex data transformation during backup) contact us to discuss an FME-based approach.
How much does Backup Manager cost?
Backup Manager uses a simple storage-based pricing model. There are no per-user fees, per-item charges or connector licences.
| Plan | Storage | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Base | 500 GB | £1,000 per year |
| Additional storage | Per 500 GB block | £250 per year |
A 500 GB allocation is enough for most small to medium ArcGIS Online organisations. Feature services, web maps and application JSON configurations are compact: a typical organisation with dozens of services and hundreds of maps rarely exceeds 200 GB. The additional storage blocks let you scale as your organisation grows.
Which should you choose?
If your organisation uses ArcGIS Online only and you want a backup solution that requires no installation, no scripting and no server maintenance, Backup Manager is the most straightforward option. If you also need ArcGIS Enterprise support, content cloning or dependency mapping, GEO Jobe Backup My Org or CivicLens are stronger fits. If you have in-house Python developers and simple needs, Esri's free scripting tools may suffice.