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Amazon S3 Glacier vs Google Cloud 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
1.0
Users appreciate Google Cloud Storage for its security and efficiency, despite debated cost benefits compared to Azure.
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
 

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
5.1
Google Cloud Storage is praised for its support team, though experiences vary, with some users finding solutions independently.
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
They provide documentation and resolve issues.
Sr Data Architect at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees
There is room for improvement in providing more skilled and comprehensive solutions.
Technical Owner at Harman International
I think the technical support by Google is good; the articles and troubleshooting are adequate.
Solution Leader at SCG INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION CO.,LTD.
We have self-studied to learn the services.
IT specialist at CUADRO OCHO INC
For SAP loads, Google provided a specific team, which resulted in good support.
Managing Partner at Cloud Analytics Sdn Bhd
 

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
5.0
Google Cloud Storage is praised for its strong scalability, ease of management, and flexible growth, despite some regional variations.
Amazon S3 Glacier auto-scales according to the data.
Sr DevOps Engineer at HTC Global
Glacier has excellent scalability, with elasticity and security that meet industry standards.
Sr Data Architect at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees
Amazon S3 Glacier is infinitely scalable, with no issues on our end.
Technical Owner at Harman International
Google Cloud Storage is scalable, but there are limitations.
Managing Partner at Cloud Analytics Sdn Bhd
 

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
Google Cloud Storage is reliable and stable, providing strong performance with high uptime and easy configuration despite minimal issues.
I do not experience any stability issues.
Server Administrator at a tech consulting company with 51-200 employees
We have not experienced any glitches or bugs.
Technical Owner at Harman International
I would rate the stability of Glacier for archival purposes at around eight out of ten.
Sr Data Architect at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees
There was no direct experience with any instability during my involvement.
Managing Partner at Cloud Analytics Sdn Bhd
 

Room For Improvement

Amazon S3 Glacier needs improved speed, security, compliance, pricing clarity, user experience, support, cost efficiency, and interface usability.
Users seek improved speed, affordability, simplicity, better platform integration, enhanced security, and pricing adjustments for Google Cloud Storage.
Support could be more robust, with a focus on providing comprehensive solutions even for novel issues.
Technical Owner at Harman International
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
Another improvement is making Glacier available in all regions.
Sr Data Architect at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees
In the future, I would like to see additional features in Google Cloud Storage such as integrating Gemini to function as a chat for finding information, or OCR, or reading the content in my files for searching purposes.
Solution Leader at SCG INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION CO.,LTD.
They cover a broad range of products, which might affect their ability to compete well in certain niches.
Managing Partner at Cloud Analytics Sdn Bhd
 

Setup Cost

Amazon S3 Glacier provides cost-effective data archiving, though pricing complexity raises concerns despite lower initial costs and operational flexibility.
Enterprise users find Google Cloud Storage reasonably priced, offering cost-effective and flexible subscription options compared to competitors.
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
AWS was the most expensive.
Managing Partner at Cloud Analytics Sdn Bhd
Depending on your setup, Google Cloud Storage is economical, especially if you do not need high stability and scalability.
IT specialist at CUADRO OCHO INC
 

Valuable Features

Amazon S3 Glacier offers affordable, secure, and scalable long-term storage, ideal for infrequent data access and efficient cost management.
Google Cloud Storage is praised for scalability, security, ease of use, integration, cost-effectiveness, and reliable performance across devices.
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
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
We use KMS keys to encrypt data, which is our fundamental and only encryption method for files with Amazon S3 Glacier.
Sr. Data Engineer at a real estate/law firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
The user interface of Google Cloud Storage is easy and consistent across all their products.
Managing Partner at Cloud Analytics Sdn Bhd
It has helped optimize costs because I store it in free tiers, resulting in no charge.
Solution Leader at SCG INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION CO.,LTD.
We do not experience any disruptions, and the service meets our needs and requirements.
IT specialist at CUADRO OCHO INC
 

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
Google Cloud Storage
Ranking in Public Cloud Storage Services
3rd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
80
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Storage (1st)
 

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 Google Cloud Storage is 7.9%, down from 10.3% 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%
Google Cloud Storage7.9%
Other80.6%
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.
Manimaran Tannimalai - PeerSpot reviewer
Managing Partner at Cloud Analytics Sdn Bhd
User interface consistency facilitates seamless project planning and design for specialized tasks
While Google has made efforts to address SAP loads, the company lacks a product specialist focus. They cover a broad range of products, which might affect their ability to compete well in certain niches. Google's strength lies in their adapted approach to specific tasks, as seen with SAP loads. Generally, their focus is widespread.
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881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Financial Services Firm
9%
University
7%
Computer Software Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
7%
 

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 Business31
Midsize Enterprise17
Large Enterprise35
 

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 Google Cloud Storage?
Google Cloud ( /products/google-cloud-reviews ) was cheaper compared to AWS ( /products/amazon-aws-reviews ) and Azure ( /products/microsoft-azure-reviews ). AWS ( /products/amazon-aws-reviews ) wa...
What needs improvement with Google Cloud Storage?
It took only five minutes to get everything working with Google Cloud Storage, so it was easy. For Google Cloud Storage, it's actually not with Google Cloud Storage specifically, but with Google Cl...
 

Also Known As

Amazon Glacier
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

King Cpunty, Illumina, Backupify, Nearmap.com, Scribd, Baylor College of Medicine, SoundCloud
1. Adobe 2. Airbnb 3. Amazon 4. Apple 5. AT&T 6. Baidu 7. Cisco 8. Coca-Cola 9. Dell 10. eBay 11. Facebook 12. Ford 13. Google 13. HP 14. IBM 15. Intel 16. JPMorgan Chase 17. LinkedIn 18. Lyft 19. Microsoft 20. Netflix 21. Nike 22. Oracle 23. PayPal 24. Pinterest 25. Qualcomm 26. SAP 27. Spotify 28. Tesla 29. Toyota 30. Twitter 31. Visa 32. Walmart 33. WeWork
Find out what your peers are saying about Amazon S3 Glacier vs. Google Cloud Storage and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.