by BackblazeObject storage
S3-compatible hot storage at $6.95 per TB a month in all 4 regions, with free read, write and list calls and free egress up to 3x what you store.
Hot S3-compatible storage at a flat $6.95 per TB a month, with read, write and list calls free and egress free up to 3x what you store.
You pay mainly for capacity. Storage is $6.95 per TB a month at the same rate in all 4 regions, the usual S3 calls cost nothing, and downloads are free up to three times your average stored data, so a monthly bill follows how much you keep rather than how often you use it. Versioning, compliance-mode Object Lock, Cloud Replication and customer-provided keys come with standard storage at no extra charge. Teams storing backups, media or datasets get S3 tools and data protection without per-request or minimum-duration costs.
Against 3 other products we reviewed in Object storage: what you pay for with each, the five access facts, the plan limits we recorded and each review's bottom line. The note under the table says how each one was checked.
| Metric | Backblaze B2 | Cloudflare R2 | Google Cloud Storage | Amazon S3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What you're paying for | Worth the priceHot S3-compatible storage at a flat $6.95 per TB a month, with read, write and list calls free and egress free up to 3x what you store. | Worth the priceS3-compatible storage where downloads carry no egress fee, so serving or moving data out costs only the requests it takes. | Compliance includedHot to archive storage in one API, with cross-region buckets, retention locks that cannot be undone and compliance papers you accept yourself. | Compliance includedThe S3 API itself, with compliance-mode Object Lock, replication and a self-serve HIPAA BAA in place, billed per use with no minimum charge. |
| Overall score | 8.6Best | 8.1 | 7.3 | 6.4 |
| Free option | Free plan | Free plan | Free plan | Free trial |
| Card to start | No card needed | –Not measured | Card required | –Not measured |
| Getting access | Self-serve | Self-serve | Self-serve | Self-serve |
| Starter priceCheapest paid plan | $6.95/TB/mo | $0.015/GB-month | $0.02/GiB-month | $0.023/GB-mo |
| Pricing model | Usage-based | Usage-based | Usage-based | Usage-based |
| Pricing page | Public prices | Public prices | Public prices | Public prices |
| Standard storage price | $6.95/TB per 30 days, billed per byte-hour; same in all 4 regions | $0.015/GB-month | $0.02/GiB-month (Iowa, us-central1; prorated to the sub-second) | $0.023/GB-month (US East, first 50 TB; binary GB) |
| Egress to the internet | Free up to 3x average stored data, then $0.01/GB; free to listed CDN and compute partners | No egress fee for any storage class | $0.12/GiB for the first 10 TiB (all destinations except China and Australia); free within the same Google Cloud location | $0.09/GB for the first 10 TB (US East); 100 GB a month free across AWS |
| Request fees | Class A, B and C calls free; event notifications (Class D) $0.004 per 10,000 after 2,500 a day | Class A $4.50 per million; Class B $0.36 per million | Class A $0.005 per 1,000; Class B $0.0004 per 1,000 (Standard, single region) | PUT, COPY, POST, LIST $0.005 per 1,000; GET $0.0004 per 1,000 |
| Free option | First 10 GB always free, no credit card | 10 GB-month, 1 million Class A and 10 million Class B a month, permanent | 5 GB-months, 5,000 Class A, 50,000 Class B and 100 GB egress a month, permanent (3 US regions); $300 credit for 90 days | No permanent free storage; up to $200 in credits for new accounts |
| Reference scenario (1 TB/mo) | $6.95, egress and calls free within the rules, computed | $23.10, no egress charge, computed | $149.00 in Iowa, $120 of it egress, computed | $122.00 in US East, $90 of it egress, computed |
| Billing minimums | None stated (no minimum file size, storage duration or monthly charge) | None on Standard; 30 days on Infrequent Access | None on Standard; 30 to 365 days on colder classes | None on S3 Standard; 30 to 180 days on colder classes |
| S3 API | S3-compatible, next to the B2 Native API | S3-compatible; versioning, Object Lock and replication calls not implemented | Interoperability mode (XML API with HMAC keys) | Native (the S3 API itself) |
| Versioning and object lock | Versioning on by default; compliance-mode Object Lock | No versioning; R2 bucket locks the account can remove | Versioning; Bucket Lock and Object Retention Lock (Locked mode cannot be removed) | Versioning; compliance-mode Object Lock |
| Replication | Cloud Replication within or between regions (another region needs a second account) | No built-in replication | Built into dual- and multi-region buckets; cross-bucket replication | Cross-Region and Same-Region Replication |
| SOC 2 / ISO 27001 | Own SOC 2 Type 2 report; ISO 27001 held by its data centres | Cloudflare SOC 2 Type II names R2; ISO 27001:2022 | Google Cloud SOC 2 Type II (quarterly, names Cloud Storage); ISO 27001 | AWS SOC 2 report in AWS Artifact; ISO 27001 list names S3 |
| HIPAA BAA | On request for covered entities | Enterprise customers only | Self-serve in the console (IAM & Admin) | Self-serve in AWS Artifact |
| Regions | 4 (US East, US West, EU Central, CA East); one per account | 6 location hints (best effort); EU, US and FedRAMP jurisdictions | 43, including 13 in Europe, plus dual-regions and ASIA, EU and US multi-regions | 36, including EU and AWS GovCloud (US) |
| Bottom line | From its public pages, Backblaze B2 has the lowest list price in our 1 TB scenario, with free API calls, egress free up to 3x storage and solid data protection. Each account sits in one of 4 regions, with one storage class. | From its public pages, Cloudflare R2 removes the egress fee and keeps billing simple, with a permanent free tier and no minimums on Standard. Versioning, the S3 Object Lock API and replication are not implemented, so it suits serving data more than strict retention. | From its public pages, Google Cloud Storage has nearly every protection and compliance feature we score, publishes every price in USD and keeps a permanent free tier. Internet egress, billed per GiB, is the main cost, and S3 support is an interoperability mode. | From its public pages, Amazon S3 is the reference S3 service and has every protection and compliance feature we score. Storage and requests are priced per use with no minimum, and internet egress, billed per GB, is the main cost to plan for. |
Evidence: Backblaze B2: facts checked 2026-10-15 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; Cloudflare R2: facts checked 2026-10-15 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; Google Cloud Storage: facts checked 2026-10-15 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; Amazon S3: facts checked 2026-10-15 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run. Prices in USD as listed, excluding tax. "–" means not recorded.
Review from public pages
Written from Backblaze B2's public pages (pricing, security or privacy, and docs) as read on Oct 15, 2026. We did not sign up, and no hands-on run is published yet.
We read the Backblaze B2 product, pricing, transaction pricing, sign-up and B2 Overdrive pages, the trust center, compliance and security pages, the support plans page, the Terms of Service, SLA and DPA, and the B2 docs (data regions, S3-Compatible API, bucket versions, Object Lock, lifecycle rules, Cloud Replication, application keys, encryption, Bucket Access Logs, caps and alerts, account deletion) on Oct 15, 2026; we did not sign up, create keys or call the API for this review. The help center returned an access challenge, so we used the docs, which cover the same ground.
The pages make the cost model clear. Storage is billed per byte-hour at $6.95 per TB per 30 days, the same in US East, US West, EU Central and CA East, and the transaction pricing page lists every S3 call by class, with Classes A to C free. Egress is free up to 3x your average stored data over the billing cycle. The sign-up docs ask for an email, a password and a data region, and the sign-up page says no credit card is required. The region cannot be changed after the account is created.
A few points need a question. The buckets docs still describe 1 GB of free downloads a day, and the encryption docs mention nominal Class C charges that the pricing page lists as free. The Cloud Replication docs say encryption must be set when a bucket is created, while the encryption docs say it can be enabled later. And on the pricing table, the hidden screen-reader labels say support is included with B2 Reserve, while the visible cells say 'Add-on'.
Storing 1 TB, downloading 1 TB and making 11 million calls a month comes to $6.95 at list price (computed): the download is within 3x the data stored, and the calls are Class A and B, which are free.
vs Cloudflare R2: The same scenario computes to $7.99 on Wasabi, $23.10 on Cloudflare R2 and $122 on Amazon S3.
Class A, B and C calls are free on pay-as-you-go. The only billed class is outbound event notifications, at $0.004 per 10,000 after 2,500 a day.
vs Cloudflare R2: Cloudflare R2 charges $4.50 per million Class A and $0.36 per million Class B operations.
The pricing page lists no minimum file size, storage duration or monthly charge, storage is billed per byte-hour, and the first 10 GB is free.
Compared: Wasabi bills at least 1 TB a month, 90 days per object and 4 KB per object on Pay as You Go.
Buckets are versioned by default, and the Object Lock docs say compliance mode cannot be removed by any user. Object Lock and legal hold cost nothing extra, and replication has no service or egress fee.
vs Cloudflare R2: Cloudflare R2 has no object versioning, and its bucket locks can be removed by the account.
Downloads are free up to 3x your average stored data, then $0.01/GB, and unlimited to listed partner CDNs and compute services.
vs Amazon S3: Wasabi asks that monthly downloads stay at or below active storage; Amazon S3 bills $0.09/GB after 100 GB a month.
The region is chosen at sign-up and cannot be changed. A second region needs a second account, and moving means re-uploading, with storage billed in both places while you do.
Workaround: Open a second account (plus-addressing is allowed) and use Cloud Replication, which has no service or egress fee.
Lifecycle rules hide and delete file versions; there is no colder class to move data to. Every version is kept by default, and hidden versions are billed as stored data.
Workaround: A lifecycle rule can keep only the last version, or keep prior versions for a set number of days.
Key management and Cloud Replication are set in the web console or Native API. The S3 API has no object ACLs, IAM roles, object tagging or website configuration, and the master key does not work with it.
Workaround: Create a standard application key in the console for S3 tools, and set replication rules there. Lifecycle rules can also be set through the S3 API.
The compliance page lists ISO 27001 through its certified data centres, not for Backblaze itself, and offers a HIPAA BAA on request to business customers who are covered entities.
Workaround: Compliance documents are shared through Whistic, and Sales sends the SOC 2 Type 2 report to eligible customers.
B2 bills storage per byte-hour at $6.95 per TB per 30 days, the same in all 4 regions; the transaction pricing page gives $0.00695 per GB a month, so 1 TB is 1,000 GB. The first 10 GB is free. Class A, B and C calls are free, and event notifications cost $0.004 per 10,000 after 2,500 a day. Egress is free up to 3x average stored data, then $0.01/GB. Our scenario is $6.95 a month (computed, 30-day month). Costs grow with downloads above 3x (5 TB out on 1 TB stored bills 2 TB, $20, computed), with versions kept forever, and with a replica in a second region. TERA support is $250 a month on pay-as-you-go. Annual capacity (1 to 5 years, billed at contract start) and B2 Overdrive (from $15 per TB, multi-petabyte commitment) are quoted by sales. Taxes are not stated.
Data comes out through the S3-compatible API with any S3 tool, the B2 CLI, console ZIP snapshots or a USB snapshot drive (price not stated). Downloads are free up to 3x stored data, then $0.01/GB. To close, delete files, buckets, keys and snapshots, then disable B2; fees accrue until data is removed. Compliance-locked files cannot be deleted before their date; the Object Lock FAQ says a lock set longer than intended means closing the B2 account.
From its public pages, Backblaze B2 has the lowest list price in our 1 TB scenario, with free API calls, egress free up to 3x storage and solid data protection. Each account sits in one of 4 regions, with one storage class.
| Limit | As recorded |
|---|---|
| Standard storage price | $6.95/TB per 30 days, billed per byte-hour; same in all 4 regions |
| Egress to the internet | Free up to 3x average stored data, then $0.01/GB; free to listed CDN and compute partners |
| Request fees | Class A, B and C calls free; event notifications (Class D) $0.004 per 10,000 after 2,500 a day |
| Free option | First 10 GB always free, no credit card |
| Reference scenario (1 TB/mo) | $6.95, egress and calls free within the rules, computed |
| Billing minimums | None stated (no minimum file size, storage duration or monthly charge) |
| S3 API | S3-compatible, next to the B2 Native API |
| Versioning and object lock | Versioning on by default; compliance-mode Object Lock |
| Replication | Cloud Replication within or between regions (another region needs a second account) |
| SOC 2 / ISO 27001 | Own SOC 2 Type 2 report; ISO 27001 held by its data centres |
| HIPAA BAA | On request for covered entities |
| Regions | 4 (US East, US West, EU Central, CA East); one per account |
Read from the vendor's public pages on Oct 15, 2026. No hands-on run is published yet. How we check
We have not published a sign-up run for Backblaze B2 yet. The access facts above were read from its sign-up and pricing pages on Oct 15, 2026.
We have not published API calls for Backblaze B2 yet.
Backblaze B2 lists 4 plans. The cheapest paid plan, Pay as you go, costs $6.95/TB/mo.
Prices as listed, USD, excluding tax; observed 2026-10-15.
Source: backblaze.com pricing page. Prices change; the observed date above is when our agent read them.
We read the pricing, docs, security and legal pages of three object storage services on the same day and scored them on the same six indicators. What each one charges for egress and requests, what 1 TB a month costs, and who should pick which.
