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Google Cloud Storage Nearline vs Microsoft Azure Block 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:
 

Categories and Ranking

Google Cloud Storage Nearline
Ranking in Public Cloud Storage Services
8th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
11
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Microsoft Azure Block Storage
Ranking in Public Cloud Storage Services
9th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
5.9
Number of Reviews
67
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Public Cloud Storage Services category, the mindshare of Google Cloud Storage Nearline is 5.7%, down from 10.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Azure Block Storage is 2.6%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Public Cloud Storage Services Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Google Cloud Storage Nearline5.7%
Microsoft Azure Block Storage2.6%
Other91.7%
Public Cloud Storage Services
 

Featured Reviews

Seamless integration with cloud services improves workflows but documentation needs enhancement
One area that needs improvement is the documentation, which I find to be disorganized and not user-friendly. The lack of comprehensive walkthrough guides for specific use cases makes it difficult to follow. To enhance the experience, more detailed examples, guides, and tutorials from start to finish would be beneficial. Additionally, the cost compared to other providers like Amazon could be regarded as a downside.
Ajai Jayakumar - PeerSpot reviewer
Solution Architect at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees
Has supported secure file sharing and data automation with minimal setup effort
The encryption feature in Microsoft Azure Block Storage is very good, and the security is excellent. It is easy to map the storage to the virtual servers and user desktops, which is also very beneficial. I can perform automations on the data, such as moving hot data and cold data, and I can select storage based on performance. The security provided by Microsoft around Microsoft Azure Block Storage is a very good function. The replication feature in Microsoft Azure Block Storage is a very good function. The analytic capabilities of Microsoft Azure Block Storage can help optimize resources. I usually work with a third-party tool; our data analytics team uses some custom-made tools for analytics data and dashboards, so we do not use the Microsoft dashboard; we are using a third-party dashboard. It is very easy to manage Microsoft Azure Block Storage. If you have good knowledge of it, it is very easy to manage. Microsoft Azure Block Storage service is a very good, 100% reliable service. It is highly scalable, and performance-wise and reliability-wise, it does not go down. It provides 99.9% uptime without downtime, so it is a very good feature. The backup and restoration efficiency of Microsoft Azure Block Storage is good.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable feature of Nearline is the access. It's helpful to move data that is generated once a month, such as salary information, to Nearline."
"The stability is excellent; I can't think of a better service that's provided in South America, and the infrastructure overall is very stable and reliable."
"The best part of Nearline storage is the ability to take backups at optimal costs and its availability across multiple regions."
"I find the flexibility in storing documents or data and the ease of retrieval valuable with this solution."
"It can isolate files and stop them from corrupting other files."
"The data structure and the types of data that are supported are very good."
"The capacity and space on offer are excellent."
"Nearline is highly stable."
"I am quite happy with it. I would definitely recommend Azure Block Storage to other users."
"It can scale."
"The most important reason we use Azure Block Storage is the ability to store large files. When we were building the solution, we knew we needed to store images and video files that are 100 MBs or more. The second thing is speed when dealing with such large file sizes."
"Setting up Microsoft Azure Block Storage was easy."
"The major benefit of using Microsoft Azure Block Storage is that it supports various types of data, including structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data, without requiring different tools to read each type. This comprehensive approach simplifies the data handling process for data engineers and allows for seamless data transfer to downstream applications. In essence, this is a data paradigm shift that enables easy ingestion of diverse data types."
"The initial setup for the production areas was on premise, which is very simple."
"It has helped to centralize the data, and people see it as the central source of truth where everybody sees the same set of data across data analysts, business analysts, data scientists, and all the visualization people, providing a centralized view of the same data."
"Azure Block Storage is easy to deploy, easy to scale up, and pay-as-you-go, so whenever we need something, we use it."
 

Cons

"They need a better, more visual, user interface for folders and files."
"Nearline security could be better. The solution could integrate better with SEIM tools."
"One area that needs improvement is the documentation, which I find to be disorganized and not user-friendly."
"One area that needs improvement is the documentation, which I find to be disorganized and not user-friendly."
"The interface for managing file storage in the buckets could be improved."
"The suggestion for improvement primarily revolves around cost efficiency."
"The UI could be a little bit more effective."
"The solution needs to offer better System Information and Event Management (SEIM)."
"The pricing or the trial period could be improved. They could try offering free storage for a longer period."
"Licensing costs are pretty high."
"There have been problems with integration, but it's getting better."
"Support is an area where improvements can be made, particularly in response time for enterprise support."
"The solution's downside is related to its documentation, which I believe can be difficult to navigate because it is hidden between or within other pages of the product's manual."
"Support is an area where improvements can be made, particularly in response time for enterprise support."
"Technical support is not really excellent. It's not easy to speak with the right level of engineer directly."
"The solution could have better archival policies and localization of data."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Google Cloud Storage Nearline is very inexpensive. It costs us less than $50 a month to store our files. We use approximately 10 terabytes. Overall, I would rate the product a five out of five for affordability."
"Right now, for the number of servers and the storage that I have, I would say I'm charged between $125 and $150 per month."
"Microsoft Azure Block Storage is a pretty cheap and affordable product, so we have not seen any budget issues related to the solution in our company."
"The product's pricing is reasonable, but premium applications can be costly."
"I would rate Azure a three out of ten for pricing."
"The solution requires an input-output operations fee as well as pay per gigabyte of storage."
"The solution is pay as you go, so it depends on the amount of data that is stored and the transactions."
"For the first 50DB, they cost around $50. It's an open solution for everybody. Anybody can go to the Microsoft website and they can get the pricing for it. But the first 50GB of data is a default rate and then it increases for the next 500GB or something like that. It is a pay as you go solution. The more you use, the more you pay. That's normally how you pay for any cloud solutions."
"Microsoft Azure Block Storage is not an expensive tool. I'm subscribed to the Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors program, so Microsoft gives me between $120 to $150 credit each month."
"Microsoft Azure Block Storage is expensive. Its licensing costs are monthly."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
12%
University
10%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Construction Company
15%
Marketing Services Firm
13%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise2
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business26
Midsize Enterprise14
Large Enterprise24
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Google Cloud Storage Nearline?
My experience with the licensing and cost of Google Cloud Storage Nearline has been positive.
What needs improvement with Google Cloud Storage Nearline?
Documentation is an area for improvement in Google Cloud Storage Nearline. Documentation might cause some issues during deployment in future updates of Google Cloud Storage Nearline. Other than tha...
What is your primary use case for Google Cloud Storage Nearline?
I have integrated Google Cloud Storage Nearline with BigQuery for analytics.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Azure Block Storage?
Our experience with pricing has been positive. The budget for Microsoft Azure services has been within expectations for the last couple of months. The cost for Azure Data Factory ( /products/azure-...
What needs improvement with Microsoft Azure Block Storage?
For improvement in Microsoft Azure Block Storage, they can provide tiered level storages, maybe low-cost storages for storing archive data, but it is already there. I do not think there is much to ...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Azure Block Storage?
I am using Microsoft Azure Block Storage for file sharing, automation accounts, data storage, and archiving, and those are the main use cases.
 

Also Known As

No data available
MS Azure Block Storage
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Mazda, BlinkBox, Rakuten Showtime, Xbox One, Serko, ChronoDrive
Find out what your peers are saying about Google Cloud Storage Nearline vs. Microsoft Azure Block Storage and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
893,244 professionals have used our research since 2012.