Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

Amazon S3 Glacier vs Microsoft Azure File Storage comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 1, 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 S3 Glacier
Ranking in Public Cloud Storage Services
1st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
40
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Microsoft Azure File Storage
Ranking in Public Cloud Storage Services
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
48
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Public Cloud Storage Services category, the mindshare of Amazon S3 Glacier is 17.7%, up from 15.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Azure File Storage is 10.8%, down from 13.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Public Cloud Storage Services
 

Featured Reviews

ArunDhwaj - PeerSpot reviewer
Versatile data storage improves security and supports increasing data volumes
Amazon S3 Glacier offers robust security features and practically infinite storage, where we can store all kinds of media swiftly. It supports various data types, including semi-structured and raw formats. These features facilitate log management and data dumping since the service is versatile enough to handle large volumes of data and provide necessary security.
PrashanthR - PeerSpot reviewer
Seamlessly streamlines document processing with advanced file storage and OCR integration
We need to store data over there. We process documents through Kofax Time is a major benefit, as well as ease of processing. With configuration, it happens quite easily, and we can finish tasks early. File storage is complemented by OCR with Azure Cognitive Service. This enhances the processing…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"We save money with the product."
"The most valuable feature of Glacier is its storage capability and cost benefit."
"Amazon S3 Glacier is a scalable and easy-to-manage solution with good read-write capability."
"Amazon S3 Glacier is a highly stable solution."
"Data retrieval, security, compliance, and storage archiving are the most valuable features of Amazon S3 Glacier."
"AWS does support the ability for user controlled movement of data between regions for business continuance (BC), high availability (HA) and disaster recovery (DR)."
"Amazon S3 Glacier offers robust security features and practically infinite storage, where we can store all kinds of media swiftly."
"The data archive feature is valuable."
"Its most valuable features are speed and security."
"It is a very scalable solution. I rate the solution's scalability a nine out of ten."
"The initial setup is straightforward and takes approximately twenty minutes."
"The most valuable aspect of Azure File Storage is that all the features are available in one place."
"File storage is complemented by OCR with Azure Cognitive Service."
"The solution is user-friendly and integrates easily with web apps."
"It's a scalable solution."
"Azure File Storage gives us easy access to cloud solutions at the storage level."
 

Cons

"The solution's cloud storage is very expensive, and users may not be able to afford cloud storage."
"I believe the usage reporting could be simplified, particularly for billing purposes. Overall, I find Amazon S3 Glacier's reporting system somewhat confusing compared to other hyperscalers in the market."
"I am unsure if the product provides good integration capabilities. From an improvement perspective, I want the tool to provide easier integration features."
"The product takes more time to secure data when the bandwidth is low."
"The user experience must be improved."
"However, improvement is needed in pricing and support systems."
"The product’s pricing must be improved."
"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."
"Microsoft Azure File Storage should improve its pricing."
"The pricing and technical support could be better."
"The product must provide better security functions."
"The integration of the site storage with SQL was not completely seamless."
"Some of the procedures are a bit more complex in Azure than in other providers."
"The product name keeps changing. It can be confusing when product names change frequently, especially with Microsoft. Sometimes, if you refer to a product by a certain name last year, it might have a different name six months later."
"It’s a challenge to find the right support person."
"The storage account key could be a security issue."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product is cheap."
"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 not an expensive solution, and it has a pay-as-you-go pricing model."
"We don't pay for licenses. We pay based on consumption data, considering how much data is stored."
"There is no license, you pay for what you use."
"The pricing is average and reasonable. It varies depending on the region."
"The price point at which the product is available is pretty good."
"We pay a monthly licensing fee for Amazon S3 Glacier."
"For one terabyte of data, we are spending about 150 Euro every month."
"There are fewer hidden costs involved compared to other solutions, and when our customer is already a Microsoft partner, they typically have access to more affordable fees."
"The price of the solution is reasonable. The pricing model is based on usage."
"We pay for both yearly and monthly licenses. The yearly one is cheaper than the monthly one."
"Microsoft Azure File Storage has a reasonable price."
"The pricing is usually dependent on your storage requirements. Overall, I believe Microsoft Azure File Storage's price is reasonable."
"We have Microsoft Azure File Storage's enterprise license."
"The product must improve its price."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Public Cloud Storage Services solutions are best for your needs.
848,716 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
29%
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
6%
 

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 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 ...
What needs improvement with Amazon S3 Glacier?
The cost of retrieval in Glacier is quite high. It would be excellent if Amazon could work on reducing retrieval costs. Another improvement is making Glacier available in all regions.
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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Azure File Storage?
The pricing for Microsoft Azure File Storage is five out of ten, not so expensive and not so low.
 

Also Known As

Amazon Glacier
MS Azure File Storage
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

King Cpunty, Illumina, Backupify, Nearmap.com, Scribd, Baylor College of Medicine, SoundCloud
Talon, Camden
Find out what your peers are saying about Amazon S3 Glacier vs. Microsoft Azure File Storage and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
848,716 professionals have used our research since 2012.