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Google Cloud Storage Nearline vs Microsoft Azure File Storage comparison

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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
5th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
11
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Microsoft Azure File Storage
Ranking in Public Cloud Storage Services
6th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
53
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Public Cloud Storage Services category, the mindshare of Google Cloud Storage Nearline is 8.3%, up from 7.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Azure File Storage is 6.1%, down from 9.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Public Cloud Storage Services Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Google Cloud Storage Nearline8.3%
Microsoft Azure File Storage6.1%
Other85.6%
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.
Mohammad-Huda - PeerSpot reviewer
Data & Analytics Practitioner (BI Dw, Big Data) at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Centralizes data for analytics and reporting but has raised cost and support concerns
The main benefit of Microsoft Azure File Storage is that we have a lot of solutions from Microsoft. That was one of the reasons why we chose the Azure cloud because we have a lot of Microsoft stack and those can be integrated well within Azure. That is one of the architectural considerations we took into account when deciding to stay with Microsoft instead of going for GCP or AWS. The key benefit from Microsoft Azure File Storage is that we work in one Azure environment. We have Power BI and other Microsoft tools that are already well integrated within Azure, and since we purchased a lot of licenses, we get a discount along with various other architectural constraints. Existing tools might not integrate well, which might cause challenges if we go for another vendor. I really appreciate Microsoft Azure File Storage mostly because it is cheap to store the data. That is one of the reasons.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The capacity and space on offer are excellent."
"The API integration with the storage packet is the solution's most valuable feature."
"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."
"There are no issues with the integration of Google Cloud Storage Nearline with other Google services."
"The most valuable aspect of Google Cloud Storage Nearline is its integration with the wider Google Cloud ecosystem."
"I find the flexibility in storing documents or data and the ease of retrieval valuable with this solution."
"We didn't face any downtime last year using the solution."
"I would certainly recommend this product, especially if you are working with the Microsoft and Azure ecosystem, because then it's really easy to be used and you get all the benefits and I can't think of any reason not to like it."
"It is a very scalable solution. I rate the solution's scalability a nine out of ten."
"The storage in this solution is excellent."
"First of all, the solution is very secure. Secondly, the solution is very fast. It is reliable and available all the time."
"The security features and the ease of integration are good."
"The product is a reliable cloud solution."
"Microsoft Azure File Storage is very useful for application integration, making it great for integrating any application to dump data and collect data on the fly, with no issues accessing it, which is beneficial for us and for the end user, as they can centralize their data in a single location with multiple users able to access the same."
"I like that Microsoft Azure File Storage works fine and is quick to deploy. It's also easy to connect to it, particularly when connecting it with my on-premise file servers."
 

Cons

"The suggestion for improvement primarily revolves around cost efficiency."
"Documentation is an area for improvement in Google Cloud Storage Nearline."
"One area that needs improvement is the documentation, which I find to be disorganized and not user-friendly."
"From a storage standpoint, it would be beneficial if the retrieval cost could be optimized, as it is comparatively higher than storage costs in Nearline."
"The pricing could be improved. It's completely non-competitive at this time."
"The pricing is quite high."
"They should provide more options or flexibility in terms of pricing."
"Nearline security could be better. The solution could integrate better with SEIM tools."
"The integration of the site storage with SQL was not completely seamless."
"The storage account key could be a security issue."
"It’s a challenge to find the right support person."
"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."
"Microsoft Azure File Storage should improve its pricing."
"It's not very intuitive."
"Some chunking logics need to be better to address issues with processing bigger files. It should allow better methods for handling large files."
"The way retention policies are applied could be more optimized. Additionally, the pricing should be more competitive with other CHPs, and stability can be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"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."
"We pay for both yearly and monthly licenses. The yearly one is cheaper than the monthly one."
"The price is comparable to other competitive solutions."
"Microsoft Azure File Storage is expensive."
"The price of Microsoft Azure File Storage is expensive, we do not know exactly how the price is calculated."
"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."
"I give the pricing of the solution a seven out of ten."
"The pricing is usually dependent on your storage requirements. Overall, I believe Microsoft Azure File Storage's price is reasonable."
"The product's pricing need improvement."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
11%
Computer Software Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
 

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 Business17
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise26
 

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.
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 Microsoft Azure File Storage?
The cost of Microsoft Azure File Storage depends on the storage account, whether it is premium or standard; there is a cost difference, with the cost being higher for premium and lower for standard...
What needs improvement with Microsoft Azure File Storage?
In my opinion, Microsoft can improve Microsoft Azure File Storage by closing the open questions that a lot of customers have raised. There were previously some issues that I cannot recall exactly. ...
 

Also Known As

No data available
MS Azure File Storage
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Talon, Camden
Find out what your peers are saying about Google Cloud Storage Nearline vs. Microsoft Azure File Storage and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
920,929 professionals have used our research since 2012.