Cloud Storage Pricing 2026: S3 vs Azure Blob vs Google Cloud Storage
Storage pricing is deceptively complex. Retrieval fees, early deletion penalties, minimum storage duration, and API call charges all vary by provider and tier. The cheapest per-GB tier is not always cheapest in total.
Object Storage Comparison
Per-GB/month storage cost. US region. Request and retrieval fees shown separately.
| Tier | AWS S3 | Azure Blob | GCP Cloud Storage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hot / Standard | $0.023/GB | $0.018/GB | $0.020/GB |
| Warm / Cool / Nearline | $0.0125/GB (IA) | $0.010/GB | $0.010/GB |
| Cold / Coldline | $0.004/GB (Glacier IR) | $0.0045/GB | $0.004/GB |
| Archive | $0.0036/GB (Deep Archive) | $0.00099/GB | $0.0012/GB |
| Retrieval (Archive) | $0.02/GB (12 hrs) | $0.02/GB (15 hrs) | $0.05/GB (days) |
| PUT (per 1k requests) | $0.005 | $0.0065 | $0.005 |
| GET (per 1k requests) | $0.0004 | $0.0004 | $0.0004 |
| Min Storage Duration | 90 days (IA), 180 days (Glacier) | 30 days (Cool), 180 days (Archive) | 30 days (Nearline), 365 days (Archive) |
Total Cost Is Not Just $/GB
Azure Archive is the cheapest per-GB. But for data accessed quarterly, retrieval costs change the total picture.
Worked Example: 10 TB accessed once per quarter
| Cost Component | AWS Glacier IR | Azure Archive | GCP Coldline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Storage (annual) | $480.00 | $118.80 | $480.00 |
| Retrieval (4x/year, 10 TB each) | $800.00 | $800.00 | $400.00 |
| Total Annual Cost | $1,280.00 | $918.80 | $880.00 |
GCP Coldline is 4% cheaper than Azure Archive when you factor in quarterly retrieval. The cheapest storage tier is not always the cheapest total cost.
Block Storage Comparison
| Type | AWS EBS | Azure Managed Disks | GCP Persistent Disk |
|---|---|---|---|
| General Purpose SSD | $0.08/GB (gp3) | $0.096/GB (E series) | $0.170/GB (pd-ssd) |
| Standard HDD | $0.023/GB (sc1) | $0.030/GB (S series) | $0.040/GB (pd-standard) |
| Snapshots | $0.05/GB/mo | $0.05/GB/mo | $0.026/GB/mo |
Note: GCP block storage (pd-standard) costs 73% more than AWS sc1 for standard HDD. This is a significant difference for storage-heavy workloads.
Data Lifecycle Policies
AWS
S3 Intelligent-Tiering
- Fully automatic tier movement
- No retrieval fees for frequent access tier
- $0.0025/1k objects/month monitoring fee
- Best option when access patterns are unpredictable
Azure
Access Tier Management
- Manual or policy-based tier transitions
- Lifecycle management rules by age, access, or filter
- Hot, Cool, Cold, and Archive tiers
- Requires more configuration than AWS
GCP
Autoclass
- Automatic tier transitions (released 2024)
- Similar to S3 Intelligent-Tiering
- Moves between Standard, Nearline, Coldline, Archive
- No additional monitoring fee
Storage Cost Calculator
Estimate total annual storage cost including retrieval and API charges.
AWS S3
$2,826/year
Azure Blob
$2,212/year
GCP Cloud Storage
$2,458/year
Estimates based on US-region pricing. Does not include API request charges, egress, or early deletion penalties.