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Amazon S3 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
Ranking in Public Cloud Storage Services
1st
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
80
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
7.5
Number of Reviews
47
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2025, in the Public Cloud Storage Services category, the mindshare of Amazon S3 is 11.4%, down from 14.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Azure File Storage is 11.6%, down from 13.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Public Cloud Storage Services
 

Featured Reviews

Vagner Martins - PeerSpot reviewer
Enhanced data security with seamless integration and static website capabilities
S3 is a great service offering numerous possibilities. It allows for storing objects and files of various types. I appreciate its capability to create static websites and integrate with services like CloudFront, EC2, and DynamoDB. Despite being focused on security, I leverage features such as cryptography and integration with CloudTrail.
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

"This solution is good at storing historical data and we were using it for other purposes."
"The users have nothing to worry about as the solution is well established."
"What I found most valuable in Amazon S3 is its versioning feature. I also like that you can create pre-signed URLs on the solution."
"Amazon S3 is easily accessible, fast and effective. Its performance is good."
"The versioning of this solution for accidental deletion has been most valuable."
"You don't have to specify your clone, availability clone, or your locations. Everything's over there. They have a receipt for the instance where we have to select the exact location of what we are clicking. The S3 storage capacity is high, and the price is reasonable."
"The most valuable feature is the automated replication of the data."
"It allows for storing objects and files of various types."
"The product is a reliable cloud solution."
"The most valuable aspect of Azure File Storage is that all the features are available in one place."
"It helps us with geo-redundancy."
"It was quick to synchronize back from Azure to the on-premise server."
"The solution can scale to fit any requirement."
"Its most valuable features are speed and security."
"It was easy to set up."
"This solution supports all file formats."
 

Cons

"Amazon S3 could improve some of the features, such as indexing, or we should have more information about all the data stored in a single place. This way we can see what data resides where instead of going in different buckets, file locations manually, or searching. An index would be nice, allowing us to directly go to a location to use the date."
"The support is better than other cloud providers but sometimes it takes a while to have a resolution to our issues."
"Amazon S3 could improve by providing some type of storage notification."
"If a certain resource is left unchecked, you can easily use a lot of it and drive up costs."
"The solution's data transfer speed could be improved."
"I would like there to be more support without needing to use Transfer Family."
"I encountered some issues with the data lifecycle. Transitioning between S3 storage classes, like moving data from the standard class to Glacier or Glacier Deep Archive, has been challenging."
"The tool's speed is comparatively low, especially considering that there are some other services where we can store data, like EBS."
"The pricing could be improved. They need to make the costs more transparent so users know what they will be charged and why ahead of time."
"The storage account key could be a security issue."
"The way retention policies are applied could be more optimized."
"One thing that Azure File Storage could help us with is some kind of impact assessment. When we talk to some of our larger customers who have between 500 and 1,000 applications, we normally do an assessment of all these applications and then tell them which ones are ready to be lifted and shifted, and which ones need to re-architected. It would really help if Azure File Storage could come up with a better way to give estimations of the total investment required, including all costs incurred during the migration."
"Sometimes it takes very long to refresh the information."
"It's not very intuitive."
"The pricing and technical support could be better."
"I would like to see more updates around File Storage."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I have seen the pricing on AWS, but I believe it's a discount price for organizations."
"The solution is cost-effective because it is based on a pay-as-you-go model, where I can purchase and use it according to my needs."
"The price of Amazon S3 is competitive with other solutions."
"The cost of Amazon S3 could be better. As the number of data increases, you'll pay more for Amazon S3. It's around $200, which is okay, but my company uses it less often."
"The cost depends on the data we access."
"The pricing is good."
"Amazon S3 is a cheap solution."
"This solution has reasonable pricing and a low cost."
"The product must improve its price."
"The pricing is usually dependent on your storage requirements. Overall, I believe Microsoft Azure File Storage's price is reasonable."
"The pricing could be more flexible."
"The price of Microsoft Azure File Storage is expensive, we do not know exactly how the price is calculated."
"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."
"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 product's pricing need improvement."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
77%
Computer Software Company
4%
Financial Services Firm
3%
Manufacturing Company
2%
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Amazon S3?
We can easily connect to the AWS resources.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Amazon S3?
S3 offers multiple classes, allowing you to move data to cheaper classes for cost savings. AWS provides solutions to monitor your budget.
What needs improvement with Amazon S3?
In terms of security, I struggled with setting permissions and access control initially.
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 price is almost the same as the competition. I would rate it three or three and a half out of ten on the pricing scale.
 

Also Known As

S3, Simple Storage Service
MS Azure File Storage
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Netflix, Airbnb, Thomson Reuters, Zillow, Alert Logic
Talon, Camden
Find out what your peers are saying about Amazon S3 vs. Microsoft Azure File Storage and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
839,422 professionals have used our research since 2012.