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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
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
41
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 July 2025, in the Public Cloud Storage Services category, the mindshare of Amazon S3 Glacier is 16.4%, up from 15.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Azure File Storage is 10.0%, down from 13.6% 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

"The biggest advantage of the product is that AWS always copies the tool internally."
"The cost is high, which I think is one of the best features of the product."
"I find Amazon S3 Glacier valuable for storing various documents like purchase orders, standard documents, and drawings."
"Amazon S3 Glacier is a highly stable solution."
"Amazon S3 Glacier is a scalable and easy-to-manage solution with good read-write capability."
"I like the price. If you compare Glacier to others, the prices in terms of what you store beyond retention are much lower."
"We get free credits from Amazon, and we like the overall stability. We haven't had to rely heavily on their customer success teams, which is a good sign."
"Amazon S3 Glacier is an easy-to-use solution."
"It helps us with geo-redundancy."
"The storage in this solution is excellent."
"It was quick to synchronize back from Azure to the on-premise server."
"The solution can scale to fit any requirement."
"I like that we can copy and download data using Azure. It's not just for file storage; we can also use it for large data sets or to host static web applications."
"The security features and the ease of integration are good."
"It is a good service for file storage."
"Azure File Storage gives good value for money, so I don't find it expensive."
 

Cons

"The product takes more time to secure data when the bandwidth is low."
"The stability must be improved."
"Amazon S3 Glacier's data retrieval time is slow compared to other AWS storage services and should be improved."
"Billing issues can be a nightmare. It's tough reaching the right person to get them sorted out."
"There is room for improvement in terms of support"
"The solution’s deployment process is complex and could be improved."
"Their pricing structure is always a big topic. It's so difficult to understand."
"The solution's cost optimization could be improved."
"Importing and exporting data needs to have a bit more documentation."
"It would be good if they added some features that make the solution easier to access for everyone."
"Azure File Storage's stability is okay, but sometimes we have trouble with the link to the Azure VPN disconnecting."
"The solution should support all the legacy storage systems."
"Sometimes it takes very long to refresh the information."
"The product’s pricing could be better."
"The support could improve."
"Microsoft Azure File Storage is not that scalable. Once you reach the boundaries, you need to migrate to another solution."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product is cheap."
"We don't pay for licenses. We pay based on consumption data, considering how much data is stored."
"Amazon S3 Glacier is not an expensive solution, and it has a pay-as-you-go pricing model."
"The product is very cheap."
"Amazon S3 Glacier has a good pricing point, and you pay for what's being used."
"Amazon S3 Glacier is very cheap, but the cost becomes a concern when you have a very large amount of data."
"We pay a monthly licensing fee for Amazon S3 Glacier."
"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."
"One needs to pay according to the storage they plan to use in the solution. The payments are to be made yearly. It is usually monthly, but we opted for yearly subscriptions in our company."
"I think the pricing of the product can be reduced."
"We have Microsoft Azure File Storage's enterprise license."
"The price of the solution is reasonable. The pricing model is based on usage."
"The product must improve its price."
"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."
"I give the pricing of the solution a seven out of ten."
"One of the major benefits for AWS is that they have a very large customer representative base where clients can be picked from, they offer large discounts and credit. We were not able to receive the same kind of offers from Microsoft Azure File Storage. We tried to approach Azure while hiring for our disaster recovery discussion, but we didn't receive anything from Azure."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
Educational Organization
12%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
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?
I am not sure about improvements; so far it has been good for me. The pricing is on the higher side. I have not mentioned any features as the product is good. Pricing is my concern; this is the onl...
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: June 2025.
861,524 professionals have used our research since 2012.