Amazon S3 Glacier vs Google Cloud Storage Nearline comparison

Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google are both solutions in the Public Cloud Storage Services category. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.6, while Google is ranked #9 with an average rating of 8.3. Amazon Web Services (AWS) holds a 10.1% mindshare in PCSS, compared to Google’s 5.9% mindshare. Additionally, 91% of Amazon Web Services (AWS) users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Google users who would recommend it.

Amazon S3 Glacier

Read 43 Amazon S3 Glacier reviews

3,635 Views
3,453 Comparison Views

91% willing to recommend

Google Cloud Storage Nearline

Read 11 Google Cloud Storage Nearline reviews

1,919 Views
1,900 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Amazon S3 Glacier

Google Cloud Storage Nearline

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 25, 2026

Amazon S3 Glacier and Google Cloud Storage Nearline compete in data storage solutions. Amazon S3 Glacier is often deemed more cost-effective, especially for infrequently accessed data, while Google Cloud Storage Nearline is noted for its enhanced access features and integration with Google's ecosystem.

Features: Amazon S3 Glacier offers low-cost archival storage, auto-archiving capabilities, and strong integrations with AWS services, making it ideal for various storage needs. Its security features and scalability enhance its value. Google Cloud Storage Nearline is favored for its ease of access and adaptation to data flow changes. It provides seamless integration with Google Cloud services and offers enhanced accessibility features.

Room for Improvement: Amazon S3 Glacier could enhance data retrieval speeds and improve its pricing model transparency. Users suggest better GDPR compliance and security features. Google Cloud Storage Nearline can work on reducing costs, enhancing security features, and improving its documentation and user interface for better navigation.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Both Amazon S3 Glacier and Google Cloud Storage Nearline are widely used in public cloud environments. Amazon provides extensive partner support and efficient customer service, though response times could be quicker. Google Cloud offers robust support with specialized options for business services, ensuring swift issue resolution.

Pricing and ROI: Amazon S3 Glacier is generally viewed as more affordable due to its pay-what-you-use model with low storage costs, although data retrieval can be costly. Google Cloud Storage Nearline, while more expensive, offers higher availability and access speed, with both products providing strong ROI by reducing the need for on-premises infrastructure.

To learn more, read our detailed Amazon S3 Glacier vs. Google Cloud Storage Nearline Report (Updated: March 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Amazon S3 Glacier vs. Google Cloud Storage Nearline

March 2026

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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

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

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
Product	Mindshare (%)
Amazon S3 Glacier	10.1%
Google Cloud Storage Nearline	5.9%
Other	84.0%

Public Cloud Storage Services

Featured Reviews

Pat Fogarty

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.

Read full review

reviewer2662839

Works

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.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"There are never any issues regarding downtimes, uptimes and data recovery, and it's really nice."

"We like that the price is cheaper."

"Amazon S3 Glacier is a highly stable solution."

"Amazon S3 Glacier can integrate seamlessly with other AWS services."

"In terms of features, no other cloud solutions or private installations come close to its capabilities."

"The cost is high, which I think is one of the best features of the product."

"If you compare Glacier to others, the prices in terms of what you store beyond retention are much lower."

"The solution is secure."

More Amazon S3 Glacier pros

"It provides the necessary support and flexibility to manage data storage effectively, especially during times of variable data flow."

"The most valuable aspect of Google Cloud Storage Nearline is its integration with the wider Google Cloud ecosystem."

"Nearline is highly stable."

"It can isolate files and stop them from corrupting other files."

"The best part of Nearline storage is the ability to take backups at optimal costs and its availability across multiple regions."

"We didn't face any downtime last year using the solution."

"Nearline is highly stable."

"I find the flexibility in storing documents or data and the ease of retrieval valuable with this solution."

More Google Cloud Storage Nearline pros

Cons

"Although Amazon S3 Glacier is cheap, its data retrieval cost is very high compared to other solutions."

"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."

"The solution's dashboard is a bit complicated and could be improved."

"Amazon S3 Glacier is a cheaper tool if you're running it on-prem, but it is expensive if deployed on the cloud."

"The solution's pricing is too expensive and could be improved."

"I would like to see improved storage capacity and enhanced security features for better protection."

"Technical support needs improvement. Previously, even though we had premium and enterprise support, the response time would be quicker if we ran into issues, but now it is slowed down. The analytical dashboard feature, like the CloudOps dashboard, should be included in the next release of the Amazon S3 Glacier."

"Their pricing structure is always a big topic. It's so difficult to understand."

More Amazon S3 Glacier cons

"From a storage standpoint, it would be beneficial if the retrieval cost could be optimized, as it is comparatively higher than storage costs in Nearline."

"One area that needs improvement is the documentation, which I find to be disorganized and not user-friendly."

"Documentation is an area for improvement in Google Cloud Storage Nearline."

"The UI could be a little bit more effective."

"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."

"One area that needs improvement is the documentation, which I find to be disorganized and not user-friendly."

More Google Cloud Storage Nearline cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing must be improved."

"We pay a monthly licensing fee for Amazon S3 Glacier."

"Amazon S3 Glacier is much cheaper than competing products."

"Amazon S3 Glacier is a cost-effective solution for archiving."

"The price point at which the product is available is pretty good."

"Amazon S3 Glacier has a good pricing point, and you pay for what's being used."

"I've operated with Amazon S3 Glacier in two modes. Firstly, there's the trial mode, where I experimented with the platform, learned its functionalities, and applied it to my work. Secondly, there's the corporate account mode, where my team handles the operations, and I receive billing reports."

"Amazon S3 Glacier is expensive."

More Amazon S3 Glacier pricing and cost advice

"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."

"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."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Comms Service Provider

10%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Computer Software Company

University

Computer Software Company

12%

University

11%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	25
Midsize Enterprise	6
Large Enterprise	15

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	6
Midsize Enterprise	1
Large Enterprise	2

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...

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What do you like most about Amazon S3 Glacier?

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 ...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Amazon S3 Glacier?

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Google Cloud Storage Nearline?

The storage and access cost of Nearline are considered optimal compared to other cloud storage solutions, although I lack a clear view of other cloud storage costs.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Google Cloud Storage Nearline?

From a storage standpoint, it would be beneficial if the retrieval cost could be optimized, as it is comparatively higher than storage costs in Nearline.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Google Cloud Storage Nearline?

I mostly use Google Cloud Storage Nearline ( /products/google-cloud-storage-nearline-reviews ) for backing up data that is not needed for daily activities. It is ideal for files that need to be sto...

See all answers

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Compared 18% of the time

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Compared 8% of the time

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Compared 5% of the time

NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP vs Google Cloud Storage Nearline

Compared 4% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Amazon S3 Glacier

April 2026

Download Amazon S3 Glacier product report

Buyer's Guide

Google Cloud Storage Nearline

March 2026

Download Google Cloud Storage Nearline product report

Also Known As

Amazon Glacier

No data available

Overview

Amazon Glacier is a secure, durable, and extremely low-cost cloud storage service for data archiving and long-term backup. Customers can reliably store large or small amounts of data for as little as $0.007 per gigabyte per month, a significant savings compared to on-premises solutions. To keep costs low, Amazon Glacier is optimized for infrequently accessed data where a retrieval time of several hours is suitable.

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

A low-cost, highly-durable and highly available storage service for infrequently accessed data, data archiving, online backup and disaster recovery. Data is available instantly, not within hours or days. With sub-second average response times and 1 cent per GB/month pricing, Cloud Storage Nearline gives you terrific performance at a low cost.

Google

Sample Customers

King Cpunty, Illumina, Backupify, Nearmap.com, Scribd, Baylor College of Medicine, SoundCloud

Information Not Available

Buyer's Guide

Amazon S3 Glacier vs. Google Cloud Storage Nearline

March 2026

Free Report: Amazon S3 Glacier vs. Google Cloud Storage Nearline

Find out what your peers are saying about Amazon S3 Glacier vs. Google Cloud Storage Nearline and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.

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