Amazon S3 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 #2 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 11.5% mindshare in PCSS, compared to Microsoft’s 10.3% mindshare. Additionally, 98% of Amazon Web Services (AWS) users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 97% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.

Amazon S3

Read 82 Amazon S3 reviews

4,530 Views
2,581 Comparison Views

98% willing to recommend

Microsoft Azure File Storage

Read 48 Microsoft Azure File Storage reviews

2,969 Views
2,478 Comparison Views

97% willing to recommend

Amazon S3

Microsoft Azure File Storage

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 1, 2024

Amazon S3 and Microsoft Azure File Storage are prominent cloud storage solutions offering distinct advantages. Amazon S3 holds the upper hand due to its higher scalability and better integration, while Microsoft Azure File Storage shines in hybrid compatibility and seamless collaboration.

Features: Amazon S3 provides high availability, flexible storage options, and extensive integration with AWS services. Microsoft Azure File Storage supports SMB protocols, achieves easy scalability, and offers robust security features.

Room for Improvement: Amazon S3 users desire enhanced usability, clearer billing structures, and improved cross-platform compatibility. Microsoft Azure File Storage users seek better support, improved performance for large file transfers, and enhanced user interface.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Amazon S3 is noted for swift deployment and reliable support, despite a steep learning curve. Microsoft Azure File Storage is recognized for straightforward deployment and efficient customer service, with occasional performance issues noted.

Pricing and ROI: Amazon S3 is acknowledged for its cost-effectiveness and significant ROI. Microsoft Azure File Storage is appreciated for competitive pricing but raises concerns about long-term cost efficiency.

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

Buyer's Guide

Amazon S3 vs. Microsoft Azure File Storage

April 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

Ranking in Public Cloud Storage Services

2nd

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

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 May 2025, in the Public Cloud Storage Services category, the mindshare of Amazon S3 is 11.5%, down from 13.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Azure File Storage is 10.3%, down from 13.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Public Cloud Storage Services

Featured Reviews

Vagner Martins

Information Security Analyst at a financial services firm with 201-500 employees

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.

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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

"The multi-zone replication is great."

"The most valuable feature is the storage."

"Amazon S3 is very flexible and provides high storage."

"The most valuable feature of the solution stems from the fact that I mostly used the tool's free tier version, so I like the fact that its cost is very low."

"It allows for storing objects and files of various types."

"Amazon S3 is very stable. I don't worry about data stored in the S3 bucket as it's safe."

"We can easily connect to the AWS resources."

"Overall, I rate Amazon S3 a ten out of ten."

More Amazon S3 pros

"The tool offers a secure way to access storage. You can also easily share the files securely across Azure."

"File storage is complemented by OCR with Azure Cognitive Service."

"My client had zero data loss while using the solution for backups and file security."

"The product can integrate with all platforms. My team also does data visualization, and Power BI can directly connect with those nodes. We can very conveniently connect with multiple tools for our database. The benefit here is that by utilizing the same storage application, my application is linked with their application through the same server. This setup provides real analytics and data for a holistic purpose, which is advantageous."

"Implementations with other products are easy."

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

"The immutable storage features are valuable."

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

More Microsoft Azure File Storage pros

Cons

"The tool helps us with data backup storage of payment files and helps us avoid issues with clients when we miss the data. For instance, in the payment file of my Google client, you can find details of one-to-one transactions like the payment information on the file header, payment ID, payment client ID, group headers, etc. We get these details into the file format of ISO which is the accepted format at JP Morgan & Chase. Once we get the file format, we process it through S3."

"The search option must be enabled in the UI to filter and retrieve files."

"Sometimes, there is latency in getting data, especially if the file size is large. This could be improved."

"A feature that should be included is to find and provide a HIPPA compliant solution for the Presigned URL."

"The only pain point is migrating the life cycle policy because if someone is a newbie, they cannot easily create the life cycle policy."

"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 solution's pricing should be modified to automatically expand storage based on prior usage."

"Sometimes we have to concentrate networks to a certain location, like the EU, for example. Therefore, if we set S3 in the EU region from the Middle East or Africa, the latency is an issue and we find it hard to connect to that S3."

More Amazon S3 cons

"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."

"A lot of things could be better, especially when it comes to accessing File Storage for monitoring. Azure Copy is fine, but there could be additional integration and security features for those who want more privacy and control over access to Azure."

"Maybe Microsoft can make it more economical because it is a costly affair."

"The upload speed has room for improvement."

"I would like to see more updates around File Storage."

"Licensing costs are expensive."

"In our use cases, we see the weakness in mobile internet connectivity."

"Some chunking logics need to be better to address issues with processing bigger files. It should allow better methods for handling large files."

More Microsoft Azure File Storage cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The licensing is pay as you go, and I'm happy with the pricing."

"There is a license to use Amazon S3."

"The pricing depends on your region and is reasonable."

"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."

"Amazon S3 is a cheap solution."

"It's worth the price considering its functionality."

"The solution is very inexpensive at 50 cents per gigabyte, per month."

"The tool's price is a little bit high, but it is reasonable."

More Amazon S3 pricing and cost advice

"The solution is a bit pricey compared to AWS and Google."

"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 licensing cost for Microsoft Azure File Storage comes with an agreement from Microsoft."

"Microsoft Azure File Storage has a reasonable price."

"We pay for both yearly and monthly licenses. The yearly one is cheaper than the monthly one."

"Microsoft Azure File Storage is expensive."

"I give the pricing of the solution a seven out of ten."

"For one terabyte of data, we are spending about 150 Euro every month."

More Microsoft Azure File Storage pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

74%

Computer Software Company

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

15%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

Government

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.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Amazon S3?

AWS pricing for Amazon S3 starts at a higher cost, particularly in the standard class. However, with lifecycle management policies, costs can be optimized over time. On a scale from one to ten, I w...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Amazon S3?

AWS ( /products/amazon-aws-reviews ) should provide more attractive and comprehensive documentation, especially while integrating Amazon S3 with other AWS services like Elemental MediaConvert. Curr...

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 pricing for Microsoft Azure File Storage is five out of ten, not so expensive and not so low.

See all answers

Comparisons

NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP vs Amazon S3

Compared 20% of the time

Oracle Cloud Object Storage vs Amazon S3

Compared 15% of the time

Google Cloud Storage vs Amazon S3

Compared 13% of the time

Rackspace Cloud Files vs Amazon S3

Compared 7% of the time

Nutanix Unified Storage (NUS) vs Amazon S3

Compared 5% of the time

More Amazon S3 Competitors

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

Compared 46% of the time

Azure NetApp Files vs Microsoft Azure File Storage

Compared 21% of the time

Wasabi vs Microsoft Azure File Storage

Compared 15% of the time

Amazon S3 Glacier vs Microsoft Azure File Storage

Compared 6% 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

May 2025

Download Amazon S3 product report

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Azure File Storage

May 2025

Download Microsoft Azure File Storage product report

Also Known As

S3, Simple Storage Service

MS Azure File Storage

Overview

Amazon Simple Storage Service is storage for the Internet. It is designed to make web-scale computing easier for developers.

Amazon S3 has a simple web services interface that you can use to store and retrieve any amount of data, at any time, from anywhere on the web. It gives any developer access to the same highly scalable, reliable, fast, inexpensive data storage infrastructure that Amazon uses to run its own global network of web sites. The service aims to maximize benefits of scale and to pass those benefits on to developers.

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

Netflix, Airbnb, Thomson Reuters, Zillow, Alert Logic

Talon, Camden

Buyer's Guide

Amazon S3 vs. Microsoft Azure File Storage

April 2025

Free Report: Amazon S3 vs. Microsoft Azure File Storage

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