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Amazon S3 Glacier vs Microsoft Azure Object 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:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
5.0
Organizations achieved 300% ROI with Amazon S3 Glacier through infrastructure savings, improved efficiency, and resource reallocation, despite support challenges.
Sentiment score
5.1
Microsoft Azure Object Storage offers scalable, cost-effective solutions, enhancing business ROI and efficiency through flexible payment models.
If AWS improves support and cost management, there would be fewer reasons for users to consider other cloud platforms.
Technical Owner at Harman International
As it is Amazon S3 Glacier, it is used only for archival purposes, so it is comparatively okay to use it, and we can save money compared to the standard which is high.
Server Administrator at a tech consulting company with 51-200 employees
I have seen a return on investment as it saves both time and money with this agile technology.
Chief Technical Officer at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
4.0
Amazon S3 Glacier support is mixed: efficient assistance but variable response times, sufficient documentation, and varied support levels impact experiences.
Sentiment score
6.2
Microsoft Azure Object Storage support is effective but varies in responsiveness, with premium plans and regions affecting user satisfaction.
There is room for improvement in providing more skilled and comprehensive solutions.
Technical Owner at Harman International
They provide documentation and resolve issues.
Sr Data Architect at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees
If it is a business plan, then the support we have is really good.
Server Administrator at a tech consulting company with 51-200 employees
If I want to change something on my resources or directly access it via the portal, there is not a service level agreement of 100%, and sometimes it's quite difficult to access.
Consultant - Architecture Solution at Onepoint
The customer support for Microsoft Azure Object Storage is not good.
Chief Technical Officer at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Technical support from Microsoft is good.
One Cloud Enterprise Architect at ATOS
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
6.4
Amazon S3 Glacier excels in scalability, supporting vast data volumes and seamless integration, meeting diverse enterprise demands globally.
Sentiment score
6.7
Microsoft Azure Object Storage is praised for robust scalability, handling extensive data needs, though some report performance issues.
Amazon S3 Glacier auto-scales according to the data.
Sr DevOps Engineer at HTC Global
Amazon S3 Glacier is infinitely scalable, with no issues on our end.
Technical Owner at Harman International
Glacier has excellent scalability, with elasticity and security that meet industry standards.
Sr Data Architect at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees
The storage is very scalable, so you can effortlessly scale it.
Consultant - Architecture Solution at Onepoint
The downloading of high volume data and scalability processes face performance issues related to high data volumes.
Senior Solutions Architect at Think Power Solutions
Most of the time, it fits the requirement, but for drastic demands, we may need to provide quotas and other requirements to Microsoft for them to manage forecast and capacity planning.
One Cloud Enterprise Architect at ATOS
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
6.9
Amazon S3 Glacier is praised for reliable performance, excellent SLA, and is ideal for cold storage despite occasional regional issues.
Sentiment score
7.0
Microsoft Azure Object Storage is generally stable, but reliability can vary based on implementation partners and compliance standards.
It is specifically designed for cold storage.
Technical Owner at Harman International
I do not experience any stability issues.
Server Administrator at a tech consulting company with 51-200 employees
Amazon S3 Glacier is quite stable, nine out of ten.
Sr DevOps Engineer at HTC Global
The downloading of high volume data and scalability processes face performance issues related to high data volumes.
Senior Solutions Architect at Think Power Solutions
From a security standpoint, there is a question mark due to past cyber attacks.
One Cloud Enterprise Architect at ATOS
 

Room For Improvement

Amazon S3 Glacier needs improved speed, security, compliance, pricing clarity, user experience, support, cost efficiency, and interface usability.
Microsoft Azure Object Storage needs improvements in performance, cost, UI, integration, and security to meet user expectations.
I would like to see improvements in the transfer rate as it takes quite a long time to retrieve data from Glacier compared to standard S3 storage.
Sr DevOps Engineer at HTC Global
Support could be more robust, with a focus on providing comprehensive solutions even for novel issues.
Technical Owner at Harman International
Another improvement is making Glacier available in all regions.
Sr Data Architect at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees
When using Data Lakes for analytics and frequently pulling data from our source database to Microsoft Azure Blob Storage, there should be faster methods to download large data from Microsoft Azure Storage Blob to different locations.
Senior Solutions Architect at Think Power Solutions
They need enhancement in security aspects. Security alerts and integrations could be improved as part of lifecycle management, especially for archives and restoration requirements.
One Cloud Enterprise Architect at ATOS
The improvement needed for Microsoft Azure Object Storage is to reduce the transactional charges, as these read and write operation charges are higher.
senior partner at Niyocon
 

Setup Cost

Amazon S3 Glacier provides cost-effective data archiving, though pricing complexity raises concerns despite lower initial costs and operational flexibility.
Microsoft Azure's flexible pricing appeals with pay-as-you-go and discounts, despite concerns over complexity and high usage costs.
Compared to competitors like GCP, AWS can work on reducing hidden costs and overall pricing to retain startups and medium-sized businesses.
Technical Owner at Harman International
The storage cost is minimal, which is beneficial for archival purposes.
Sr Data Architect at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees
Amazon S3 Glacier is beneficial due to its lower cost.
Sr. Data Engineer at a real estate/law firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
It's a pay-per-use solution and a good idea for proof of concept and value.
Consultant - Architecture Solution at Onepoint
The licensing cost of Microsoft Azure Object Storage is cheaper compared to other competitors, such as Google or third-party solutions, which easily engages customers.
senior partner at Niyocon
Regarding pricing for Microsoft Azure Object Storage, I find it reasonable.
Sr. Manager IT Datacentre Cloud and Network at a insurance company with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Valuable Features

Amazon S3 Glacier offers affordable, secure, and scalable long-term storage, ideal for infrequent data access and efficient cost management.
Microsoft Azure Object Storage provides scalable, reliable, and secure data management with strong features for integration, backup, and compliance.
Glacier greatly helps in managing storage costs by moving historical data to a lower-cost storage option.
Sr Data Architect at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees
The security features include object lock encryption and immutability options, so we can use this for backups.
Server Administrator at a tech consulting company with 51-200 employees
The most valuable features of Amazon S3 Glacier are its cost-effectiveness for data archiving and its durability.
Sr DevOps Engineer at HTC Global
Since I work mostly with AI/ML, data piping, data integrations, and ETL tools, these features are valuable.
Senior Solutions Architect at Think Power Solutions
When talking about storage accounts, customers utilize Azure file as a replica of the file server, allowing them to access file shares or storage accounts from their systems, making it easy to use while automatically syncing data with the cloud.
senior partner at Niyocon
The ability to store everything inside Blob or Object storage and use it for archiving data is beneficial.
Consultant - Architecture Solution at Onepoint
 

Categories and Ranking

Amazon S3 Glacier
Ranking in Public Cloud Storage Services
1st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
42
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Microsoft Azure Object Storage
Ranking in Public Cloud Storage Services
10th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
57
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Public Cloud Storage Services category, the mindshare of Amazon S3 Glacier is 11.5%, down from 17.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Azure Object Storage is 3.0%, up from 2.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Public Cloud Storage Services Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Amazon S3 Glacier11.5%
Microsoft Azure Object Storage3.0%
Other85.5%
Public Cloud Storage Services
 

Featured Reviews

ArunDhwaj - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical Owner at Harman International
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.
Akram Zabat - PeerSpot reviewer
Consultant - Architecture Solution at Onepoint
Provides versatile data storage solutions with a simple setup and easy to use
It's similar to S3 for AWS. The ability to store everything inside Blob or Object storage and use it for archiving data is beneficial. For example, you can transform data from relational databases, flatten it, and store it in Object storage to save space within the databases. If I want to save data and do not require legacy access, it's a good solution, for instance, to migrate archives from databases to Object storage. This can also be used for business intelligence purposes. Having a storage solution for data makes it the best place to store it. Azure has its own solution for StatsQ Web Apps.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
University
7%
Manufacturing Company
16%
Computer Software Company
15%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Performing Arts
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business25
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise14
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business23
Midsize Enterprise11
Large Enterprise21
 

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 support could be improved by having specialized support staff. When we submit a question, it gets passed between multiple people before finding the right expert. We typically see the case being...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Azure Object Storage?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Microsoft Azure Object Storage is very good.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Azure Object Storage?
The customer support for Microsoft Azure Object Storage is not good. If a good engineer is assigned, then it functions well. However, every time we are doing troubleshooting, it is not Microsoft.
 

Also Known As

Amazon Glacier
Microsoft Azure Blob Storage, Azure Object Storage, MS Azure Object Storage
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

King Cpunty, Illumina, Backupify, Nearmap.com, Scribd, Baylor College of Medicine, SoundCloud
Umbraco, Xbox, Radioshack, 343 Industries, McKesson
Find out what your peers are saying about Amazon S3 Glacier vs. Microsoft Azure Object Storage and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
879,899 professionals have used our research since 2012.