Top Amazon Glacier Alternatives for Affordable Cloud Archiving

Amazon Glacier stands out as a remarkably low-cost online storage web service, designed specifically for data archiving and long-term backup. With storage costs as low as $0.01 per gigabyte per month and acceptable retrieval times of 3 to 5 hours, it's an excellent solution for infrequently accessed data. Amazon's aim was to encourage businesses to transition from on-premise tape backup drives to cloud-based solutions. However, while Amazon Glacier is highly efficient for its niche, many users seek an Amazon Glacier alternative that might offer faster access, different pricing models, or more tailored features. This article explores the best options available.

Top Amazon Glacier Alternatives

While Amazon Glacier excels in cost-effectiveness for long-term archival, a growing number of cloud storage providers offer compelling alternatives with varying features, speed, and pricing structures. Discover which service best aligns with your data storage and retrieval needs.

Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage

Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage is a robust, reliable, and affordable cloud storage solution. It's an excellent Amazon Glacier alternative for developers building applications or IT professionals storing corporate data. Available on Freemium, Mac, Windows, Linux, and Web platforms, Backblaze B2 offers cloud storage, cloud sync, command-line interface, and object storage capabilities, often providing faster access at competitive rates.

Zoolz Cloud

Zoolz Cloud is an easy-to-use online backup solution that surprisingly uses Amazon Glacier as its backend for its 'cold storage' options, but provides a much more user-friendly interface. It's a Commercial service available on Mac, Windows, and Web, offering comprehensive backup and cloud storage features. For those who like the underlying Glacier economics but prefer a simpler front-end, Zoolz is a strong Amazon Glacier alternative.

Google Cloud Storage Coldline

Google Cloud Storage Coldline offers ultra low-cost, highly-durable, and highly available archival storage, making it ideal for cold storage needs similar to Amazon Glacier. This Commercial web-based service provides robust cloud sync capabilities and is part of Google's expansive cloud ecosystem, offering a compelling alternative for those already in the Google Cloud environment or seeking diverse cloud providers.

Wasabi

Wasabi presents a compelling Amazon Glacier alternative by promising storage that is simpler, faster than Amazon S3, and less expensive than Glacier, without the complex retrieval fees. This Commercial web-based service focuses purely on hot cloud storage but at cold storage prices, making it ideal for data that needs to be archived but might also require relatively fast access without egress charges.

Ultimately, the best Amazon Glacier alternative depends on your specific needs regarding retrieval speed, pricing model simplicity, existing infrastructure, and feature requirements. Evaluate these options carefully to find the cloud archiving solution that offers the optimal balance for your business.