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Amazon S3 Glacier vs Google Cloud Storage Nearline comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 25, 2026

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 S3 Glacier
Ranking in Public Cloud Storage Services
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.1
Number of Reviews
43
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Google Cloud Storage Nearline
Ranking in Public Cloud Storage Services
9th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
11
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2026, in the Public Cloud Storage Services category, the mindshare of Amazon S3 Glacier is 10.1%, down from 17.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Google Cloud Storage Nearline is 5.9%, down from 10.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Public Cloud Storage Services Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Amazon S3 Glacier10.1%
Google Cloud Storage Nearline5.9%
Other84.0%
Public Cloud Storage Services
 

Featured Reviews

PF
Project Engineer at Astellas Pharma US
Archiving data has reduced storage costs and provides reliable long‑term retention
We have not really come across any downsides for us. It is possible that the retrieval of data may be expensive, which could be an issue, but we have not experienced that in fairness. Integration with our policies would be beneficial. We have policies for our systems where we delete data after a certain number of years, and having integration with Amazon S3 Glacier would be good. Having a guarantee that Amazon S3 Glacier would persist for the amount of time that we require in our archives would be valuable. In other words, Amazon would need to commit to support for the period we need. We could be talking about 20 years or longer. We cannot always move to the next version because we need to maintain old systems and legacy systems in order to maintain archives. A guarantee around support would be a good thing to have.
Seamless integration with cloud services improves workflows but documentation needs enhancement
One area that needs improvement is the documentation, which I find to be disorganized and not user-friendly. The lack of comprehensive walkthrough guides for specific use cases makes it difficult to follow. To enhance the experience, more detailed examples, guides, and tutorials from start to finish would be beneficial. Additionally, the cost compared to other providers like Amazon could be regarded as a downside.

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 of Glacier is its storage capability and cost benefit."
"Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."
"Its auto-scaling capabilities allow us to add data continuously without needing to pre-provision storage."
"Amazon S3 Glacier is a highly stable solution."
"We save money with the product."
"I like creating buckets where data can be segregated at a high level and then routing the appropriate data to each designated bucket. In terms of value, I would say that the tool gets the job done in a simpler manner."
"AWS Lambda is the most valuable part of the solution because it gives you a code interface for everything."
"The reliability of storage is the main benefit."
"Nearline is highly stable."
"The best part of Nearline storage is the ability to take backups at optimal costs and its availability across multiple regions."
"The stability is excellent; I can't think of a better service that's provided in South America, and the infrastructure overall is very stable and reliable."
"There are no issues with the integration of Google Cloud Storage Nearline with other Google services."
"I find the flexibility in storing documents or data and the ease of retrieval valuable with this solution."
"The API integration with the storage packet is the solution's most valuable feature."
"The most valuable aspect of Google Cloud Storage Nearline is its integration with the wider Google Cloud ecosystem."
"Google is always introducing new features and tends to have a new release every month."
 

Cons

"The product takes more time to secure data when the bandwidth is low."
"The solution’s deployment process is complex and could be improved."
"The learning curve is very high."
"The solution's cloud storage is very expensive, and users may not be able to afford cloud storage."
"The cost of retrieval in Glacier is quite high."
"The response times could be faster. When you are with Amazon and use Glacier, you expect a response time between four to seven hours to retrieve the data."
"There is room for improvement in handling GDPR compliance better. GDPR is about personal data protection and retention. It would be great if S3 Glacier could handle compliance items related to this, especially with upcoming legislation like the California law, which restricts data storage time and allows users to request data deletion."
"The cost of retrieval in Glacier is quite high."
"One area that needs improvement is the documentation, which I find to be disorganized and not user-friendly."
"Nearline security could be better. The solution could integrate better with SEIM tools."
"Documentation is an area for improvement in Google Cloud Storage Nearline."
"The solution needs to offer better System Information and Event Management (SEIM). I'd like to discover how we could implement something like that within Google's cloud."
"They need a better, more visual, user interface for folders and files."
"The interface for managing file storage in the buckets could be improved."
"One area that needs improvement is the documentation, which I find to be disorganized and not user-friendly."
"The suggestion for improvement primarily revolves around cost efficiency."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Amazon S3 Glacier is very cheap, but the cost becomes a concern when you have a very large amount of data."
"We don't pay for licenses. We pay based on consumption data, considering how much data is stored."
"The product is very cheap."
"Amazon S3 Glacier is expensive."
"Amazon S3 Glacier is a cost-effective solution for archiving."
"Amazon S3 Glacier is a little expensive solution."
"There is no license, you pay for what you use."
"The pricing is average and reasonable. It varies depending on the region."
"Right now, for the number of servers and the storage that I have, I would say I'm charged between $125 and $150 per month."
"Google Cloud Storage Nearline is very inexpensive. It costs us less than $50 a month to store our files. We use approximately 10 terabytes. Overall, I would rate the product a five out of five for affordability."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
12%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
University
6%
Computer Software Company
12%
University
10%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business25
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise15
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise2
 

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 needs improvement with Amazon S3 Glacier?
We have not really come across any downsides for us. It is possible that the retrieval of data may be expensive, which could be an issue, but we have not experienced that in fairness. Integration w...
What is your primary use case for Amazon S3 Glacier?
We were using Amazon S3 Glacier, and I have experience with this solution. We had an S3 bucket that we were using about a year ago. We just started using Amazon S3 Glacier, and overall, I have been...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Google Cloud Storage Nearline?
My experience with the licensing and cost of Google Cloud Storage Nearline has been positive.
What needs improvement with Google Cloud Storage Nearline?
Documentation is an area for improvement in Google Cloud Storage Nearline. Documentation might cause some issues during deployment in future updates of Google Cloud Storage Nearline. Other than tha...
What is your primary use case for Google Cloud Storage Nearline?
I have integrated Google Cloud Storage Nearline with BigQuery for analytics.
 

Also Known As

Amazon Glacier
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

King Cpunty, Illumina, Backupify, Nearmap.com, Scribd, Baylor College of Medicine, SoundCloud
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Amazon S3 Glacier vs. Google Cloud Storage Nearline and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
891,869 professionals have used our research since 2012.