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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
4.4
Microsoft Azure Object Storage provides scalable cloud storage with mixed reviews on ROI and market fit; financial benefits vary.
If AWS improves support and cost management, there would be fewer reasons for users to consider other cloud platforms.
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.
 

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
6.4
Microsoft Azure Object Storage support is generally effective but varies by plan and location, with room for improvement.
There is room for improvement in providing more skilled and comprehensive solutions.
They provide documentation and resolve issues.
If it is a business plan, then the support we have is really good.
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.
Technical support from Microsoft is good.
 

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
7.3
Microsoft Azure Object Storage excels in scalability, overcoming minor challenges, effectively supporting diverse user needs and large-scale growth.
Amazon S3 Glacier auto-scales according to the data.
Amazon S3 Glacier is infinitely scalable, with no issues on our end.
Glacier has excellent scalability, with elasticity and security that meet industry standards.
The storage is very scalable, so you can effortlessly scale it.
The downloading of high volume data and scalability processes face performance issues related to high data volumes.
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.
 

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 stable and reliable, with minimal issues mainly during initial implementation or due to partners.
It is specifically designed for cold storage.
I do not experience any stability issues.
Amazon S3 Glacier is quite stable, nine out of ten.
The downloading of high volume data and scalability processes face performance issues related to high data volumes.
From a security standpoint, there is a question mark due to past cyber attacks.
 

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 performance, cost, support, user interface, API stability, integration, pricing clarity, scalability, auto-scaling, and security improvements.
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.
Support could be more robust, with a focus on providing comprehensive solutions even for novel issues.
Another improvement is making Glacier available in all regions.
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.
They need enhancement in security aspects. Security alerts and integrations could be improved as part of lifecycle management, especially for archives and restoration requirements.
The improvement needed for Microsoft Azure Object Storage is to reduce the transactional charges, as these read and write operation charges are higher.
 

Setup Cost

Amazon S3 Glacier provides cost-effective data archiving, though pricing complexity raises concerns despite lower initial costs and operational flexibility.
Microsoft Azure Object Storage's pricing is competitive but can be confusing and high for intensive use, with extra support charges.
Compared to competitors like GCP, AWS can work on reducing hidden costs and overall pricing to retain startups and medium-sized businesses.
The storage cost is minimal, which is beneficial for archival purposes.
Amazon S3 Glacier is beneficial due to its lower cost.
It's a pay-per-use solution and a good idea for proof of concept and value.
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.
Regarding pricing for Microsoft Azure Object Storage, I find it reasonable.
 

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 scalability, cost efficiency, security, and integration features with strong metadata and disaster recovery capabilities.
Glacier greatly helps in managing storage costs by moving historical data to a lower-cost storage option.
The security features include object lock encryption and immutability options, so we can use this for backups.
The most valuable features of Amazon S3 Glacier are its cost-effectiveness for data archiving and its durability.
Since I work mostly with AI/ML, data piping, data integrations, and ETL tools, these features are valuable.
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.
The ability to store everything inside Blob or Object storage and use it for archiving data is beneficial.
 

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
12th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
56
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Public Cloud Storage Services category, the mindshare of Amazon S3 Glacier is 13.8%, down from 16.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Azure Object Storage is 2.4%, up from 1.9% 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 Glacier13.8%
Microsoft Azure Object Storage2.4%
Other83.8%
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.
Akram Zabat - PeerSpot reviewer
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
11%
Financial Services Firm
9%
University
7%
Computer Software Company
16%
Manufacturing Company
14%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Retailer
9%
 

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 Business22
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?
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. They also get multiple servic...
What needs improvement with Microsoft Azure Object Storage?
The improvement needed for Microsoft Azure Object Storage is to reduce the transactional charges, as these read and write operation charges are higher. If reduced, we could engage more customers. M...
 

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: September 2025.
870,623 professionals have used our research since 2012.