Wasabi Hot Cloud Storage vs. Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage Comparison

Who Should You Choose, and Why?

✋ Most important consideration

Storage on Backblaze B2 is cheaper than Wasabi, but Backblaze charges for bandwidth/egress and operations while Wasabi does not.

🤔 Strongly consider Wasabi over Backblaze if

You store your files for long periods of time and only access them occasionally.
You need HIPAA-compliant storage.

🤔 Strongly consider Backblaze over Wasabi if

You overwrite or delete a considerable amount of your files within 90 days of upload.

📝 Other Notes

While both providers promote an 100% compatible S3 API, they are not exactly the same in implementation and may have different restrictions compared to the AWS S3 API.
There is a minimum file storage period of 90 days with Wasabi.

Wasabi Hot Cloud Storage

Wasabi provides a cost-effective solution for cases where certain files need to be accessed swiftly, but only occasionally. Its robust architecture and competitive pricing make it suitable for businesses that require occasional, high-speed data access without consistent, heavy usage. This flexibility allows businesses to efficiently manage their storage costs while ensuring rapid data retrieval when needed.

Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage

Backblaze B2 is a great choice for storing data that requires frequent or semi-frequent access, without the need for deep integration with services native to other cloud platforms such as AWS. Its simplicity and competitive pricing make it a compelling choice for businesses seeking a straightforward, cost-effective cloud storage solution. The service also excels in delivering a reliable and robust platform for storing and retrieving data as per business requirements.

We put all the information below in an interactive quiz to make your object storage provider choice easy.

Get my free object storage evaluation

It takes 5 minutes

“Gotchas”

Backblaze B2’s replication factors are limited to 1 or 2 regions, and Wasabi just a few more.
Backblaze B2 has a weekly 2-hour maintenance window.
If you migrate storage and keep the rest of your infrastructure on another provider (like AWS), you will incur new ongoing transfer costs. Example: Moving from Amazon S3 to Backblaze B2 or Wasabi but having storage interactions with Amazon EC2 boxes can be expensive on egress.
Wasabi will charge you for a minimum of 3 months of storage for any uploaded data. For example, if you upload a file and then delete it within 1 month, you’ll get charged for the remaining 2 months.
Wasabi’s zero fee egress does not allow you to download more than you have stored.
While no explicit limits are stated on the website, Wasabi may also limit the number of operations based on your volume of storage.

Feature Comparison

Feature

Management

Performance

Reliability

Security

Availability

Use Case Suitability

Pricing Comparison

Integration With Other Services

Not all object storage providers have the integrations or compatibility with tools like IPFS, Filezilla or specific CDN providers.

Compliance Requirements

Compliance with standards like PCI DSS, HIPAA, ISO 27001, FedRAMP and more have been tracked and recorded.

Helpful Links

Product Information

Backblaze and Wasabi are both part of the Bandwidth Alliance which provides free egress to CDNs like Cloudflare CDN for approved use cases.

Pricing Pages

Other

‍

Learn about Cloud Object Storage

Learn more about Cloud Object Storage from our deep dive posts created with the help of the leading industry analysts in the field.

Cloud Object Storage Vendors

Cloud Object Storage Features

Cloud Object Storage Pricing Guide

What Is Cloud Object Storage

About the Author

Louis-Victor Jadavji, Cofounder of Taloflow

Louis-Victor Jadavji (or "LV") is a recognized leader in the cloud services industry. He's helped 50+ digital native companies like ModusBox, Later, and NS1 choose the right cloud stack for their applications. His work has been featured in Forbes (30 Under 30 All-Star), HuffPost, The New York Times, The Globe and Mail, and Inc. Magazine.