Amazon S3 Glacier vs Microsoft Azure File Storage comparison

Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft are both solutions in the Public Cloud Storage Services category. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.7, while Microsoft is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.2. Amazon Web Services (AWS) holds a 17.7% mindshare in PCSS, compared to Microsoft’s 10.8% mindshare. Additionally, 90% of Amazon Web Services (AWS) users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 97% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.

Amazon S3 Glacier

Read 40 Amazon S3 Glacier reviews

4,052 Views
3,387 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

Microsoft Azure File Storage

Read 48 Microsoft Azure File Storage reviews

3,050 Views
2,577 Comparison Views

97% willing to recommend

Amazon S3 Glacier

Microsoft Azure File Storage

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 1, 2024

Amazon S3 Glacier and Microsoft Azure File Storage compete in the cloud storage category. Microsoft Azure File Storage has the upper hand in features, which justifies its pricing.

Features: Amazon S3 Glacier is known for long-term storage, durability, and cost-effectiveness for large-scale archival needs. Microsoft Azure File Storage is recognized for seamless integration with existing systems, improved performance in accessing files, and managed file shares in the cloud.

Room for Improvement: Amazon S3 Glacier should enhance retrieval times, optimize user interface, and provide better support for large datasets. Microsoft Azure File Storage could improve synchronization capabilities, expand cross-platform functionality, and offer more comprehensive training resources.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Amazon S3 Glacier offers straightforward deployment but has mixed customer support reviews. Microsoft Azure File Storage integrates seamlessly within the Azure ecosystem, alongside receiving positive feedback for responsive customer service.

Pricing and ROI: Amazon S3 Glacier is cost-effective for large-scale archival needs with satisfactory ROI. Microsoft Azure File Storage features competitive pricing with potentially higher ROI due to its robust features and service quality.

To learn more, read our detailed Amazon S3 Glacier vs. Microsoft Azure File Storage Report (Updated: March 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Amazon S3 Glacier vs. Microsoft Azure File Storage

March 2025

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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:

Categories and Ranking

Amazon S3 Glacier

Ranking in Public Cloud Storage Services

1st

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.5

Number of Reviews

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

7.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Public Cloud Storage Services category, the mindshare of Amazon S3 Glacier is 17.7%, up from 15.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Azure File Storage is 10.8%, down from 13.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Public Cloud Storage Services

Featured Reviews

ArunDhwaj

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.

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PrashanthR

Lead Software Engineer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees

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…

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"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 in a simpler manner."

"Its auto-scaling capabilities allow us to add data continuously without needing to pre-provision storage."

"Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."

"The pricing is low, and it's dedicated to archiving is valuable to us."

"The product is easy to use."

"Amazon S3 Glacier can integrate seamlessly with other AWS services."

"The solution’s storage management is good and dynamic. The product is highly stable. The solution is highly scalable. The customer service and support is good. The initial setup is straightforward. I recommend the solution."

"AWS does support the ability for user controlled movement of data between regions for business continuance (BC), high availability (HA) and disaster recovery (DR)."

More Amazon S3 Glacier pros

"The storage in this solution is excellent."

"Azure File Storage gives us easy access to cloud solutions at the storage level."

"The immutable storage features are valuable."

"It was quick to synchronize back from Azure to the on-premise server."

"The most valuable aspect of Azure File Storage is that all the features are available in one place."

"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Azure File Storage is the cloud file storage capability."

"It is a very scalable solution. I rate the solution's scalability a nine out of ten."

"The most significant aspect of Microsoft Azure File Storage is its life cycle functionality, which enables us to transfer files to various storage options, such as hot storage, full storage, and archive. This feature is crucial since we can apply a life cycle method to files that have not been in use for an extended period, and then move them to a cheaper cold storage option to save costs. Since the newest files are stored in the hot storage, it met our specific requirements. Consequently, older files can be transferred to archive and cold storage."

More Microsoft Azure File Storage pros

Cons

"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."

"The product takes more time to secure data when the bandwidth is low."

"The pricing is a bit expensive. There is room for improvement in costs."

"The technical support has room for improvement."

"I believe the usage reporting could be simplified, particularly for billing purposes. Overall, I find Amazon S3 Glacier's reporting system somewhat confusing compared to other hyperscalers in the market."

"I would like to see the retrieval time reduced."

"There is room for improvement in terms of support"

"The product’s pricing must be improved."

More Amazon S3 Glacier cons

"Considering the enterprise licensing required for the solution, the cost of the solution is an area where the product needs improvement."

"It’s a challenge to find the right support person."

"Microsoft Azure File Storage should improve its pricing."

"If the file is large, there may be a delay in download time."

"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."

"Microsoft Azure File Storage is not that easy to use."

"The product’s pricing could be better."

"The solution should support all the legacy storage systems."

More Microsoft Azure File Storage cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product is very cheap."

"Customers prefer Amazon S3 Glacier because it is a cheap and pay-as-you-go solution."

"We pay a monthly licensing fee for Amazon S3 Glacier."

"We don't pay for licenses. We pay based on consumption data, considering how much data is stored."

"The tool is too expensive."

"The price point at which the product is available is pretty good."

"Amazon S3 Glacier is very cheap, but the cost becomes a concern when you have a very large amount of data."

"The pricing must be improved."

More Amazon S3 Glacier pricing and cost advice

"One of the major benefits for AWS is that they have a very large customer representative base where clients can be picked from, they offer large discounts and credit. We were not able to receive the same kind of offers from Microsoft Azure File Storage. We tried to approach Azure while hiring for our disaster recovery discussion, but we didn't receive anything from Azure."

"The pricing is usually dependent on your storage requirements. Overall, I believe Microsoft Azure File Storage's price is reasonable."

"The price is comparable to other competitive solutions."

"I would rate the pricing a seven out of ten, with ten being the most expensive. It's not cheap."

"Microsoft Azure File Storage is expensive."

"I think the pricing of the product can be reduced."

"The price of the solution is reasonable. The pricing model is based on usage."

"The product's pricing need improvement."

More Microsoft Azure File Storage pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

32%

Computer Software Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

Comms Service Provider

Computer Software Company

16%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

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...

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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 ...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Amazon S3 Glacier?

The cost of retrieval in Glacier is quite high. It would be excellent if Amazon could work on reducing retrieval costs. Another improvement is making Glacier available in all regions.

See all answers

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...

See all answers

What do you like most about Microsoft Azure File Storage?

The product is a reliable cloud solution.

See all answers

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.

See all answers

Comparisons

Google Cloud Storage Nearline vs Amazon S3 Glacier

Compared 57% of the time

Google Cloud Storage vs Amazon S3 Glacier

Compared 14% of the time

Wasabi vs Amazon S3 Glacier

Compared 8% of the time

Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) vs Amazon S3 Glacier

Compared 7% of the time

Oracle Cloud Archive Storage vs Amazon S3 Glacier

Compared 5% of the time

More Amazon S3 Glacier Competitors

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

Compared 48% of the time

Azure NetApp Files vs Microsoft Azure File Storage

Compared 19% of the time

Wasabi vs Microsoft Azure File Storage

Compared 15% of the time

Amazon S3 vs Microsoft Azure File Storage

Compared 7% of the time

Google Cloud Storage vs Microsoft Azure File Storage

Compared 3% of the time

More Microsoft Azure File Storage Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Amazon S3 Glacier

April 2025

Download Amazon S3 Glacier product report

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Azure File Storage

March 2025

Download Microsoft Azure File Storage product report

Also Known As

Amazon Glacier

MS Azure File Storage

Overview

Amazon Glacier is a secure, durable, and extremely low-cost cloud storage service for data archiving and long-term backup. Customers can reliably store large or small amounts of data for as little as $0.007 per gigabyte per month, a significant savings compared to on-premises solutions. To keep costs low, Amazon Glacier is optimized for infrequently accessed data where a retrieval time of several hours is suitable.

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Fully managed file shares that use the standard SMB 3.0 protocol

Key scenarios:

Share data across on-premises and cloud servers
Migrate file share-based applications to the cloud with no code changes
Integrate modern applications with File storage
Simplify hosting for high availability workload data

Microsoft

Sample Customers

King Cpunty, Illumina, Backupify, Nearmap.com, Scribd, Baylor College of Medicine, SoundCloud

Talon, Camden

Buyer's Guide

Amazon S3 Glacier vs. Microsoft Azure File Storage

March 2025

Free Report: Amazon S3 Glacier vs. Microsoft Azure File Storage

Find out what your peers are saying about Amazon S3 Glacier vs. Microsoft Azure File Storage and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.

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