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Amazon S3 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
6.0
Amazon S3 offers scalability, cost savings, and data integrity, enabling positive returns and efficient database management for users.
Sentiment score
6.8
Microsoft Azure Object Storage is valued for cost savings, scalability, real-time capabilities, uptime, and transitioning data benefits.
Moving infrequently accessed data to cheaper classes like Glacier is beneficial for long-term storage at a lower cost.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.2
Amazon S3 support is generally well-rated for its professionalism, despite some delay reports, with extensive documentation aiding management.
Sentiment score
7.6
Microsoft Azure Object Storage customer service is generally praised for expertise and responsiveness, despite occasional delays and communication issues.
An engineer is assigned based on the severity of the issue.
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.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
8.3
Amazon S3 offers scalable, flexible storage with strong security, though learning curve and costs may concern some users across sectors.
Sentiment score
8.0
Microsoft Azure Object Storage is highly scalable and easily accommodates extensive data, efficiently meeting diverse organizational needs.
Data placed in an S3 bucket is replicated across availability zones in a region, ensuring scalability and availability.
Amazon S3 is easily scalable and performs better compared to other cloud storage solutions.
Amazon S3's automatic scaling has benefited me, as I don't need to plan storage requirements.
The storage is very scalable, so you can effortlessly scale it.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.1
Amazon S3 is highly reliable for large companies, though users note minor issues with data management and security configuration.
Sentiment score
7.8
Microsoft Azure Object Storage is stable, with minimal bugs, good performance, but occasional downtime and rare hardware disruptions reported.
Amazon S3 is highly stable.
Transitioning between S3 storage classes, like moving data from the standard class to Glacier or Glacier Deep Archive, has been challenging.
 

Room For Improvement

Amazon S3's interface challenges user experience with complexity, security, performance, and pricing issues, needing improved management and integration features.
Microsoft Azure Object Storage faces high costs, performance issues, complex pricing, slow support, and requires usability and technical improvements.
The practice of protecting data could be more streamlined or mandatory.
An improvement could be associating the naming with personal accounts, allowing more familiar or desired names without conflicting with global conventions.
In terms of security, I struggled with setting permissions and access control initially.
 

Setup Cost

Amazon S3's pay-as-you-go pricing is cost-effective but may increase with data retrievals and higher usage scenarios.
Microsoft Azure Object Storage is seen as costly yet flexible, with scalable pricing, more affordable through reserved instances.
I've used the free tier and haven't been charged yet.
S3 offers multiple classes, allowing you to move data to cheaper classes for cost savings.
It is somewhat justified due to the benefits, but there is room for reconsideration.
It's a pay-per-use solution and a good idea for proof of concept and value.
 

Valuable Features

Amazon S3 excels in availability, scalability, security, cost-effectiveness, and ease of use, making it ideal for data storage.
Microsoft Azure Object Storage provides scalable, reliable, and secure data management, with flexible integration and strong performance for large files.
I appreciate its capability to create static websites and integrate with services like CloudFront, EC2, and DynamoDB.
Its stability and scalability are also impressive, as it allows for increased storage space according to demand.
Amazon S3 is easily scalable and provides fantastic performance, especially in comparison to other cloud solutions like OCI and Azure.
The ability to store everything inside Blob or Object storage and use it for archiving data is beneficial.
 

Categories and Ranking

Amazon S3
Ranking in Public Cloud Storage Services
1st
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
79
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Microsoft Azure Object Storage
Ranking in Public Cloud Storage Services
9th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
52
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2025, in the Public Cloud Storage Services category, the mindshare of Amazon S3 is 11.7%, down from 14.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Azure Object Storage is 2.0%, down from 2.5% 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.
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
Educational Organization
77%
Computer Software Company
4%
Financial Services Firm
3%
Manufacturing Company
2%
Computer Software Company
21%
Retailer
12%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
8%
 

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.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Azure Object Storage?
I can't share a lot about the costs. I am focused on the technical aspect. It's a pay-per-use solution and a good idea for proof of concept and value. If I want to test a product before deploying i...
What needs improvement with Microsoft Azure Object Storage?
In terms of compliance and security, everything is fine. I do not know of any immediate needs for improvement. However, one potential area for improvement is the replication process. Some clients c...
 

Also Known As

S3, Simple Storage Service
Microsoft Azure Blob Storage, Azure Object Storage, MS Azure Object Storage
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Netflix, Airbnb, Thomson Reuters, Zillow, Alert Logic
Umbraco, Xbox, Radioshack, 343 Industries, McKesson
Find out what your peers are saying about Amazon S3 vs. Microsoft Azure Object Storage and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
838,640 professionals have used our research since 2012.