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Amazon EBS (Elastic Block Store) vs Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 17, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Amazon EBS (Elastic Block S...
Ranking in Cloud Storage
9th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
33
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Amazon EFS (Elastic File Sy...
Ranking in Cloud Storage
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
File and Object Storage (8th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Cloud Storage category, the mindshare of Amazon EBS (Elastic Block Store) is 2.1%, up from 1.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) is 8.0%, down from 9.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Cloud Storage
 

Featured Reviews

MuhammadAzhar Khan - PeerSpot reviewer
Diverse features and affordability drive effective resource management
Amazon EBS offers diverse features. It can be used for multi-purpose storage, supporting single, multiple, or heavy loads. It has different types for various use cases, allowing me to choose based on my specific requirements. The primary advantage of Amazon EBS is affordability compared to other solutions like EFS or FSX. It acts as a hard drive for servers, making it essential for operation.
MuhammadAzhar Khan - PeerSpot reviewer
Auto-scaling capabilities enhance file management while reducing downtime
The most valuable feature of Amazon EFS is its auto-scaling capability. It's really easy to configure EFS by just creating it and running a command to directly configure it with my servers. It supports unlimited use, and charges are applied based on the file usage at the end of the month. The solution offers reduced downtime and increased durability through its auto-scaling features.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The most valuable feature is its scalability. I can easily scale the block from terabytes to gigabytes."
"One of the features I appreciate about EBS is its persistent storage nature."
"It also supports encryption by default for added security."
"The most important feature is the volume types in those hundred EDS. For example, if you need a volume with high IOPS, you should choose an io2 or io2 Block Express volume type. The default volume type for EBS is GP3, which is a good balance of performance and price for most workloads."
"I think everything is great."
"Amazon EBS is a cost-effective solution, where I pay as I go, making it a favorable option."
"The most valuable features of Amazon EBS are the ease of mounting any file system and good for block storage. We can use secondary storage for our difficult instances and it performs well."
"This solution is scalable based on the free tier instances."
"We are not that big of a cloud user. We just use it for the storage of our bytes. The most valuable aspect is the storage."
"I appreciate Amazon's extensive range of services, which makes it a favorable choice."
"Amazon EFS is extremely stable, as it is managed by AWS."
"Amazon EFS is extremely stable, as it is managed by AWS."
"The solution's technical support is good."
"We can run code and deploy it whenever we want."
"The initial setup was straightforward."
"We haven't seen any downtime or challenges when using the services."
 

Cons

"I feel that there are some concerns when it comes to the accessibility area of the product where improvements are required."
"The product data encryption feature needs improvement."
"It is hard to access EBS volumes in different Availability Zones (AZs) because most EBS volumes are created in a single AZ."
"Regarding EBS, if an instance is terminated, the volume is also deleted, which leads to data loss."
"The initial setup process is easy."
"There is a challenge of intermittent reachability with instances, where the product is sometimes available and other times not, which affects the development environment's stability."
"Amazon EBS performs well but it could improve."
"I think performance can be improved."
"It could be better in connecting with Windows Server instances."
"Amazon EFS is more costly compared to other storage options available from AWS."
"The platform's connectivity could be improved to be more comparable to S3 buckets, which offer better API availability."
"The main challenge with EFS is its cost, which is slightly higher compared to EBS or S3."
"The lack of transparency in the costs attached to the product is an area of concern where improvements are required."
"Elastic File Systems can be expensive due to the nature of data transfer costs, using services like SSTP, and potentially being costly in a rate-shift context."
"When we faced some issues, the support team took a lot of time to resolve them."
"The user activity needs to be more connected."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing models may be for general purposes, such as Amazon EBS Provisioned IOPS Volume or Amazon EBS Cold HDD Volumes."
"On a scale of one to ten, where one is low price, and ten is high, I rate the price a seven."
"I find the price reasonable for our I environment."
"The solution is quite costly."
"The solution is reasonably priced."
"You need to pay additional costs for support."
"It is a cost-effective solution."
"The product is low-priced than other solutions."
"The solution's price is mid-ranged."
"The main challenge with EFS is its cost, which is slightly higher compared to EBS or S3. For one GB or ten GB of data, S3 is much cheaper. EFS could cost around $30 to $50 per month for similar usage."
"I would rate the pricing 7 out of 10."
"Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) offers a pay-as-you-go model, so whenever you use its services, you need to pay."
"The product's price depends on the services and the size and capacity at which it is used in a business environment."
"The product charges are based on the amount of data stored."
"It has flexible pricing. You are charged based on your storage."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
52%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Educational Organization
17%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

Which is better - Amazon's S3 Glacier or EBS (Elastic Block Store)?
Our organization ran comparison tests to determine whether Amazon's S3 Glacier or Elastic Block Store data storage software was the better fit for us. We decided to go with Amazon's S3 Glacier, whi...
What do you like most about Amazon EBS (Elastic Block Store)?
The durability and snapshot capabilities are good.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Amazon EBS (Elastic Block Store)?
The cost of Amazon EBS storage is high. I rate the price as eight out of ten. It is expensive to store a lot yet provides significant cost-efficiency as I pay only for the storage time required.
Which file storage system is better - Amazon EFS (elastic file storage) or Azure File Storage?
Amazon EFS is easy to set up: you can use the AWS management console, API, or command-line. Amazon EFS can grow to petabytes and deliver consistent low latencies and high levels of throughput. This...
What do you like most about Amazon EFS (Elastic File System)?
The product's initial setup phase is easy, as per the configurations.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Amazon EFS (Elastic File System)?
Amazon EFS is more costly compared to other storage options available from AWS.
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Bazaar Voice, Crowd Strike, Adobe, Gamevil, Hess, CopperEgg, TotalJobs Group, SuperCell, Dropcam, Unilever
Arcesium, Atlassian, Seeking Alpha, Zend
Find out what your peers are saying about Amazon EBS (Elastic Block Store) vs. Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
845,040 professionals have used our research since 2012.