NetApp StorageGRID vs VAST Data comparison

NetApp and VAST Data are both solutions in the File and Object Storage category. NetApp is ranked #9 with an average rating of 8.3, while VAST Data is ranked #18. NetApp holds a 4.6% mindshare in FaOS, compared to VAST Data’s 4.3% mindshare. Additionally, 88% of NetApp users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of VAST Data users who would recommend it.

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 4, 2024

NetApp StorageGRID and VAST Data are competing products within the data storage solutions market. VAST Data often stands out due to its enhanced capabilities and perceived worthiness of the investment.

Features: NetApp StorageGRID provides customizable object storage solutions that enhance scalable data management with advanced security protocols. It supports hybrid cloud capabilities, ensuring bi-directional transfer between cloud and on-premises systems. It offers comprehensive audit trails essential for data governance. VAST Data uses architecture with QLC flash, enhancing data access and analytics performance. The platform supports a distributed file system, allowing simultaneous multi-tenant access and efficient data collaboration. Its advanced erasure coding reduces redundancy, saving storage space and cost.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: NetApp StorageGRID provides straightforward deployment with comprehensive customer support. Its deployment is adaptable to a variety of environments. VAST Data offers a plug-and-play deployment model, reducing setup time. It has a dedicated support team that helps with integration challenges, enhancing its deployment efficiency.

Pricing and ROI: NetApp StorageGRID features a flexible pricing structure with a reasonable initial setup cost, offering ROI through scalable storage capacity. It accommodates pay-as-you-grow schemes benefiting smaller enterprises. VAST Data requires a higher upfront investment yet promises higher ROI with unmatched performance, reduced operational costs, and competitive pricing for high-capacity deployments.

To learn more, read our detailed NetApp StorageGRID vs. VAST Data Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

NetApp StorageGRID vs. VAST Data

December 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

Pure Storage FlashBlade

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the File and Object Storage category, the mindshare of Pure Storage FlashBlade is 5.5%, down from 5.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NetApp StorageGRID is 4.6%, down from 5.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VAST Data is 4.3%, up from 4.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

File and Object Storage Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Pure Storage FlashBlade	5.5%
NetApp StorageGRID	4.6%
VAST Data	4.3%
Other	85.6%

File and Object Storage

Featured Reviews

MikaelHellström

IT Manager at Regin Dalarna

Has handled backup storage needs reliably and supports seamless upgrades

In environments requiring high throughput and low latency, Pure Storage FlashBlade provides high throughput and normal latency, but we do not have any application that requires low latency right now, so the latency of three to five milliseconds is considered kind of high. Pure Storage FlashBlade's ability to integrate with enterprise applications is not important for us, as we only want to present an S3 bucket for our backup, which we have done, and it works very fast. We use the Purity software's data reduction techniques; we have a backup software that compresses everything before sending it to the S3 bucket, achieving a data reduction of 1.1 to one. I would recommend Pure Storage FlashBlade to other companies because it's a very fast and scalable solution for anyone who needs it. On a scale of 1-10, I rate this solution an 8.

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Michael Lopez

Sr Systems Engineer at a outsourcing company with 10,001+ employees

Has reduced storage costs and improved snapshot management for large data workloads

The advanced features of NetApp StorageGRID which our upper management wouldn't agree to use, include the S3 feature. We are heavy into AWS, and my thoughts were to develop a small dev environment or even a POC environment on-prem. That's still up in the air as we continue on. Currently, AI has taken over everything with a focus on AI. The upgrades of NetApp StorageGRID present a challenge. It's a rolling upgrade, node by node. At one point, one node would not upgrade. The positive aspect is that it didn't take down the entire environment. The environment remained functional on two different versions. The scalability of NetApp StorageGRID has been proven as we've expanded twice. We started with six or seven nodes and have grown to 15 nodes. It does take time for synchronization to complete. From what I've seen, it took a couple of months for it all to sync up once adding nodes. However, it was transparent. It captured the addition and performed effectively, all happening in the background, steadily and surely.

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Alan Powers

HPC CTO at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees

Stability-wise, a device that has been up and running for years

The failover capability and resiliency are some of the solution's valuable features. The big thing is resilience because it has richer coding in it, so multiple devices can't fail. Also, one can still access a number of CBoxes that can allow one to access their file system. Once a device fails, it fails the transparency of the end-user, and it just starts using another resource. The encryption capability, the snapshots, along with a whole bunch of features make the tool valuable. VAST Data keeps adding more and more features all the time.

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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 most valuable features include the ease of implementation, ease of use and the speed that you can do backup and recovery on."

"It performs well and it is also very fast."

"The product is scalable and easy to expand."

"Among its most appealing features are its ease of handling and minimal maintenance requirements."

"We have seen a reduction in the total cost of ownership by around 20%."

"The most valuable feature of this solution is performance."

"The solution provides many controllers."

"The main feature I have found to be product replication."

More Pure Storage FlashBlade pros

"The scalability is very effective for our customers."

"Duplication, interface and the manageability is good and simple."

"The management portals have most significantly improved our data retrieval times. They've made it much easier to restore data compared to our previous methods."

"The feature of NetApp StorageGRID that has significantly improved data storage management for my customers is the value of the S3 API because it allows developers who are not infrastructure-oriented to use it and write code against it."

"It improves our operational efficiency."

"NetApp StorageGRID is a great alternative to AWS S3 buckets."

"Cost-effective and easy to deploy."

"It has improved our operational efficiency through time consumption and logistics by 40 to 50 percent. Everything that had to do with our legacy tape solution has been improved and is now more efficient."

More NetApp StorageGRID pros

"This has been one of the most reliable storage systems that I have ever used."

"The solution is useful for machine learning and scientific applications, including computer simulations."

Cons

"I would also like to see better support for CIFS workloads."

"Commvault has mainly driven the Analytics, providing data and reports. However, the product has room for improvement, especially regarding storage analytics. Upgrading firmware has caused issues, requiring feature disabling to revert to traditional backups. The firmware upgrades sometimes affect Commvault backups."

"They need better integration with public clouds along with a better hybrid solution."

"Compared to, for example, Hitachi NAS, the solution is not mature at all. It's just in its infancy as far as technology goes."

"Its configuration should be easier."

"File storage needs a lot of improvement. Mainframe connectivity also needs improvement because it requires additional components to be integrated with Pure Storage FlashBlade. If you want to keep your backup data, then this becomes an even more expensive solution because Pure Storage FlashBlade will not be able to meet your backup needs."

"Its configuration should be easier."

"The documentational aspect of FlashBlade needs improvement."

More Pure Storage FlashBlade cons

"The processes around installation and upgrade need improvement."

"There was a small amount of confusion when working with StorageGRID and Active Directory for access. We had to do things three to four times resulting in our engineer troubleshooting a couple of things. The location of the menu, along with what is inside the menu: configurations, settings, etc., is not straightforward to users. Most users are Windows-based. So, when make logical changes to the menu which are not similar to Windows, users and administrators get confused."

"The integration with more apps has room for improvement."

"If I could change anything in NetApp StorageGRID, that would be pricing."

"Data retrieval speed could be better."

"One key improvement I'd like to see in StorageGRID is enhanced visibility for management purposes."

"Beyond the initial setup, this product is a little bit difficult to configure."

"The user interface of NetApp StorageGRID might need some tweaks, and configuration is maybe a little bit confusing for those who are not so experienced."

More NetApp StorageGRID cons

"The write performance could be improved because it is less than half of the read performance."

"The read/write ratio is an area in the solution with some flaws and needs improvement."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Support is a separate line item. Support is a different cost, but whatever your support is now, that's what you're going to pay forever. If your support's $100 today, six years from now it's $100. It doesn't fluctuate unless you upgrade it, or change it, etc."

"Our customers have seen a reduction in TCO."

"Licensing fees are paid yearly."

"The price of this solution could be made more affordable."

"In my opinion, we have paid the right price for the product. I don't think that it is too much or too little."

"I feel that the price could always be lowered."

"I rate the tool's pricing a seven to eight out of ten."

"I have seen ROI. It has allowed me to increase the density of my VMs without having to purchase anything additional."

More Pure Storage FlashBlade pricing and cost advice

"With respect to pricing, it is okay. This product is mid-range."

"The pricing is quite flexible and depends on the specific customer requirements. The initial cost is primarily based on the desired capacity, so it's not a fixed price."

"While we have been able to save money on storage costs, it could be better."

"Our licensing is in INR it was around 25 lakhs, which is roughly two million."

"We save money on storage costs from this solution since it allows us to have a source of revenue from customers consuming the service."

"It is very cost-effective."

"NetApp is not known for being the cheapest storage option on the market. Almost all of the other storage options we looked at were less expensive than StorageGRID. The price is one thing to criticize, which is what we hear internally and from customers as well. They find the cost of the terabytes in this class of storage a little bit higher than expected."

"I rate the product pricing around five out of ten—it's negotiable, depending on the circumstances."

More NetApp StorageGRID pricing and cost advice

"Price-wise, VAST Data is not the cheapest, not the most expensive one."

"We acquired VAST Data as a one-time, capital purchase."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Computer Software Company

Government

Financial Services Firm

20%

Manufacturing Company

15%

Computer Software Company

12%

University

Financial Services Firm

13%

Manufacturing Company

12%

Computer Software Company

12%

University

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	11
Midsize Enterprise	11
Large Enterprise	21

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	5
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	11

No data available

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Pure Storage FlashBlade?

The tool's most valuable feature is its fast performance, especially in handling snapshots. It helps during power out...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Pure Storage FlashBlade?

Regarding pricing, it is okay; we needed exactly this in size, and the price was a lot lower than competitors, making...

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What needs improvement with Pure Storage FlashBlade?

In my opinion, one way Pure Storage FlashBlade can be improved is by having more compatibility between the FlashArray...

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What do you like most about NetApp StorageGRID?

The management portals have most significantly improved our data retrieval times. They've made it much easier to rest...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NetApp StorageGRID?

As an administrator, I was not involved in the pricing of NetApp StorageGRID. From what I understood, it was cheaper ...

See all answers

What needs improvement with NetApp StorageGRID?

The upgrades of NetApp StorageGRID present challenges. It's a rolling upgrade, node by node. At one point, one node w...

See all answers

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Comparisons

Dell PowerScale (Isilon) vs Pure Storage FlashBlade

Compared 18% of the time

MinIO vs Pure Storage FlashBlade

Compared 9% of the time

Pure Storage FlashArray vs Pure Storage FlashBlade

Compared 8% of the time

Red Hat Ceph Storage vs Pure Storage FlashBlade

Compared 6% of the time

Qumulo vs Pure Storage FlashBlade

Compared 4% of the time

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MinIO vs NetApp StorageGRID

Compared 21% of the time

Dell ObjectScale vs NetApp StorageGRID

Compared 20% of the time

Red Hat Ceph Storage vs NetApp StorageGRID

Compared 15% of the time

Dell PowerScale (Isilon) vs NetApp StorageGRID

Compared 6% of the time

Quantum ActiveScale vs NetApp StorageGRID

Compared 2% of the time

More NetApp StorageGRID Competitors

Pure Storage FlashArray vs VAST Data

Compared 9% of the time

NetApp AFF vs VAST Data

Compared 8% of the time

Dell PowerScale (Isilon) vs VAST Data

Compared 7% of the time

MinIO vs VAST Data

Compared 7% of the time

Databricks vs VAST Data

Compared 6% of the time

More VAST Data Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Pure Storage FlashBlade

January 2026

Download Pure Storage FlashBlade product report

Buyer's Guide

NetApp StorageGRID

January 2026

Download NetApp StorageGRID product report

Buyer's Guide

NVMe All-Flash Storage Arrays

January 2026

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Also Known As

No data available

Storage GRID

No data available

Overview

FlashBlade is the industry’s most advanced scale-out storage for unstructured data, powered by a modern, massively parallel architecture to consolidate complex data silos (like backup appliances and data lakes) and accelerate tomorrow’s discoveries and insights.

Pure Storage

Store and manage unstructured data at scale using NetApp StorageGRID for secure, durable object storage. Place content in the right location, at the right time, and on the right storage tier, optimizing workflows and reducing overall costs for globally distributed rich media.

NetApp

Innovation to break decades of data storage trade-offs.

VAST Data

Sample Customers

ServiceNow, Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, Dominos, Man AHL

ASE, DARZ GmbH

Norwest Venture Partners, General Dynamics Information Technology, Ginkgo Bioworks

Buyer's Guide

NetApp StorageGRID vs. VAST Data

December 2025

Free Report: NetApp StorageGRID vs. VAST Data

Find out what your peers are saying about NetApp StorageGRID vs. VAST Data and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.

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