Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) vs NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP comparison

Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) vs. NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP

August 2026

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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

3.7

Amazon EFS offers scalable, cost-effective storage with minimal maintenance, enhancing productivity and benefiting businesses through pay-as-you-go pricing.

Sentiment score

6.5

NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP delivers cost savings, increased efficiency, and improved performance, reducing storage, maintenance, and power expenses.

No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) report

No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP report

Customer Service

Sentiment score

5.5

Customers find Amazon EFS support reliable, though resolution times may vary based on the complexity and support plan.

Sentiment score

7.0

NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP customer service is praised for expertise and responsiveness, with room for improvement in initial support.

While the time to respond was good, the time to resolve was not optimal, as it took more than a week.

Amaratunga Arachchige Vimukthi Amaratunga

Regional Manager at Aspire Lifestyles

Training and support depend on the plan you have, with centralized support being very helpful in case issues arise.

ChanchalSingh1

Head of Engineering - Data and Machine Learning at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees

Amazon's support model is consistent across services.

Girish Mukim

AWS Architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) report

No quotes available

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Scalability Issues

Sentiment score

6.6

Amazon EFS offers scalable and cost-effective file storage, but users occasionally face challenges with scalability, latency, and connections.

Sentiment score

7.2

NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP offers scalable growth, dynamic expansion, and flexibility, though large environments face data size limitations.

Its auto-scaling feature is a crucial point, providing high scalability that I would rate at ten out of ten.

Senior DevOps Engineer at Alibaba Group

Elastic File Systems allow me to scale up or down easily.

For more quotes and insights, download the Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) report

Data Engineer at Softtech Cloud Technologies

It is very cost-effective, and there's no need for initial charges.

ChanchalSingh1

Head of Engineering - Data and Machine Learning at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees

It wouldn't help with outages either; the scaling is manual, and there are no processes we've used to automate that for unexpected scenarios.

For more quotes and insights, download the NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP report

Principal Consultant at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

Stability Issues

Sentiment score

7.1

Amazon EFS is generally stable, with users praising reliability, though some report minor issues mitigated by strong support.

Sentiment score

7.7

NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP offers high stability and reliability, with users valuing performance and responsive support despite occasional minor issues.

Amazon EFS is extremely stable, as it is managed by AWS.

For more quotes and insights, download the Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) report

Senior DevOps Engineer at Alibaba Group

While I experienced an EFS mount dropping, it was related to server issues rather than EFS itself.

Girish Mukim

AWS Architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP report

Room For Improvement

Amazon EFS needs improved connectivity, Windows integration, cost transparency, and one-click setup for enhanced user experience and support.

NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP users seek improved scalability, integration, ease of use, and features like security, monitoring, and cloud compatibility.

Database-type workloads do not run properly on Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) because at the end of the day, it is a network file system and requests must travel from one place to another and then return.

reviewer2784675

Sr. Technical Account Manager at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees

Enabling AI-driven or automatic features would be beneficial for new or nontechnical users.

Senior DevOps Engineer at Alibaba Group

In my project, there are challenges related to AWS, such as ensuring proper security measures with IMS code and encryption.

For more quotes and insights, download the Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) report

Data Engineer at Softtech Cloud Technologies

My opinion is that support is generally very good. There are instances where they take longer to respond or resolve issues, especially when customers have urgent needs, but ultimately, resolution is achieved.

Punit Waghela

Technical Specialist at Softcell Technologies Limited

It would be nice to see technology supporting the Elastic Fabric Adapter on Amazon AWS, therefore getting RDMA technology for more low-latency connections.

For more quotes and insights, download the NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP report

Principal Consultant at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

Setup Cost

Amazon EFS charges based on usage with higher costs compared to S3, making it less budget-friendly.

Enterprise users enjoy NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP for its features despite higher costs, with discounts available for extended commitments.

EFS could cost around $30 to $50 per month for similar usage.

Senior DevOps Engineer at Alibaba Group

It is very cost-effective with no need for initial charges.

ChanchalSingh1

Head of Engineering - Data and Machine Learning at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees

Elastic File Systems can be expensive due to the nature of data transfer costs.

For more quotes and insights, download the Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) report

Data Engineer at Softtech Cloud Technologies

No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP report

Valuable Features

Amazon EFS provides scalable, secure, and flexible storage with fast data access, auto-scaling, and seamless AWS integration for dynamic workloads.

NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP offers reliable, flexible data protection, seamless integration, and optimized storage across diverse cloud environments.

Its ease of integration with other AWS services enhances our infrastructure, while the shared storage access improves reliability and processing continuity for our applications.

Girish Mukim

AWS Architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

They help me process data while maintaining low latency, which is crucial for efficient data processing.

Amaratunga Arachchige Vimukthi Amaratunga

Data Engineer at Softtech Cloud Technologies

The AWS service is excellent security-wise, and I have seen some other features besides security, such as automatic scaling that helped us significantly.

Regional Manager at Aspire Lifestyles

For more quotes and insights, download the Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) report

The granular ability to divide up the performance and the amount of storage you want is really fantastic.

For more quotes and insights, download the NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP report

Principal Consultant at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

Categories and Ranking

Amazon EFS (Elastic File Sy...

Ranking in Cloud Storage

11th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

File and Object Storage (14th)

NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP

Ranking in Cloud Storage

9th

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Cloud Migration (3rd), Cloud Backup (27th), Public Cloud Storage Services (11th), Cloud Software Defined Storage (2nd)

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Cloud Storage category, the mindshare of Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) is 3.2%, down from 6.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP is 5.0%, down from 11.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Cloud Storage Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP	5.0%
Amazon EFS (Elastic File System)	3.2%
Other	91.8%

Cloud Storage

Featured Reviews

reviewer2784675

Sr. Technical Account Manager at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees

Serverless file storage has simplified multi-tenant Linux workloads and supports effortless growth

When I started working with Amazon EFS (Elastic File System), I faced a few issues. One issue was around the number of IOPS limitation. Initially, the number of IOPS that could be performed on the Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) file system was quite low. Later on, it has been increased, and now I believe it is at a level where only very specific workloads might not perform optimally, but otherwise everything should work smoothly. By the time I was there, Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) was supporting NFS version 4.1, not 4.2. Currently, it is supported up to NFS 4.1. A notable limitation of Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) is that it does not support Windows. If your workload is running on a Linux operating system and you do not want to manage it or even understand NFS at all, you should still be able to use it fairly quickly. There are scenarios where Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) might not work effectively. For example, database-type workloads do not run properly on Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) because at the end of the day, it is a network file system and requests must travel from one place to another and then return. This process takes time, so if you are running a database-type workload, Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) might not be the right approach, and you would need to look elsewhere.

Read full review

Offers performance control and cloud integration while supporting data management with granular flexibility

Principal Consultant at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

The scalability of NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP is interesting. We have thought about it, but we haven't used it. I think the scalability is something you scale up rather than respond to peak demand. It wouldn't help with outages either; the scaling is manual, and there are no processes we've used to automate that for unexpected scenarios. We like the scalability; it's enough for what we're planning to use, but we haven't used any advanced features. The standard platform is NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP, which is their cloud service. In fact, that's probably the most experience I have with NetApp. I've experienced it on-premise, but kind of secondhand.

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

12%

Comms Service Provider

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

12%

Construction Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Computer Software Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	6
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	8

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	8
Midsize Enterprise	11
Large Enterprise	53

Questions from the Community

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 Amazon EFS (Elastic File System)?

We don't need to purchase it; we are just using it and paying Amazon as per the utilization. We make direct payments to Amazon based on our usage.

What needs improvement with Amazon EFS (Elastic File System)?

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP?

NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP is actually quite reasonable in price compared to other native cloud storage options. For example, a customer using 100 TB of AWS storage would not benefit from deduplica...

What needs improvement with NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP?

It would be nice to see technology supporting the Elastic Fabric Adapter on Amazon AWS, therefore getting RDMA technology for more low-latency connections.

What is your primary use case for NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP?

I use NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP mostly in customer companies.

Microsoft Azure File Storage vs Amazon EFS (Elastic File System)

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Product Reports

Amazon EFS (Elastic File System)

August 2026

Download Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) product report

NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP

July 2026

Download NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP product report

Also Known As

No data available

ONTAP Cloud, CVO, NetApp CVO

Overview

Amazon EFS provides elastic file storage in the cloud, offering unlimited storage and seamless integration with AWS services for dynamic workloads.

Amazon EFS serves as a scalable, shareable file storage across Linux servers, seamlessly integrating with AWS for data-intensive applications. Its auto-scaling capability handles shifting data demands in real time, ensuring cost-effective storage management. Offering high availability and support for NFS version 4, Amazon EFS optimizes performance and data integrity for cloud and serverless environments. While its strengths lie in scalability and Linux support, further enhancements in cost transparency, Windows compatibility, and deployment simplicity can broaden its applicability.

What are the key features of Amazon EFS?

Flexible Scaling: Automatically adjusts storage capacity to meet dynamic workload demands.
Usage-based Pricing: Only charges for storage used, optimizing cost efficiency.
Integration with AWS: Seamlessly connects with services like EC2 for enhanced application support.
Auto-scaling: Efficiently allocates resources for fluctuating data needs.
Shared Access: Facilitates collaborative data use across various applications.

What benefits should users expect from Amazon EFS reviews?

Enhanced Efficiency: Streamlined configuration and easy scaling of resources.
Cost Management: Reduced storage expenses through usage-based pricing.
Reliable Performance: Consistent data availability and stable system operations.
Improved Data Management: Simplified processes for handling extensive datasets.
Integration Capabilities: Smooth interoperability with AWS services enhances functionality.

Amazon EFS is widely implemented in industries needing robust cloud-based storage solutions, facilitating scalable storage for applications like web serving, content management, and data analytics. Its compatibility with EC2 and Linux optimizes resource management, supporting complex access needs and enhancing operational efficiency in technology-focused sectors.

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP is an efficient storage management solution for managing and storing data in the cloud. It offers seamless integration with cloud providers, advanced data replication capabilities, and high data protection. With reliable performance, it is ideal for industries like healthcare and finance.

NetApp

Sample Customers

Arcesium, Atlassian, Seeking Alpha, Zend

1. Accenture 2. Acer 3. Adidas 4. Aetna 5. AIG 6. Apple 7. Bank of America 8. Barclays 9. Bayer 10. Berkshire Hathaway 11. BNP Paribas 12. Cisco 13. Coca-Cola 14. Comcast 15.ConocoPhillips 16. CVS Health 17. Dell 18. Deutsche Bank 19. eBay 20. Eli Lilly 21. FedEx 22. Ford 23. Freescale Semiconductor 24. General Electric 25. Google 26. Honeywell 27. IBM 28. Intel 29. Intuit 30. JPMorgan Chase 31. Kellogg's 32. KeyCorp 33. Liberty Mutual 34. L'Oréal 35. Mastercard