Amazon S3 vs Google Cloud Storage
Updated November 2026 · AppBreakup editorial
Amazon S3
AWS's object storage service, with many storage classes from hot data to deep archive.
Google Cloud Storage
Google Cloud's object storage service for files, backups, data lakes and website assets.
The short answer
Amazon S3 suits teams building on AWS that want many storage classes, Glacier archives and integration with nearly every AWS service. Google Cloud Storage suits teams on Google Cloud that want storage close to BigQuery, Vertex AI and Cloud Run. The biggest difference is the ecosystem each plugs into; both are pay-as-you-go object stores that bill for outbound transfer and have complex pricing.
Amazon S3 or Google Cloud Storage: our take
Both services store files as objects in buckets behind an API, with lifecycle rules to move data to cheaper tiers. Amazon S3 offers more classes: Standard, Intelligent-Tiering, Infrequent Access, Express One Zone and the Glacier classes, with Glacier Deep Archive from $0.00099 per GB a month for long-term archives. It adds versioning, cross-region replication, fine-grained access policies, event notifications to serverless functions, and is designed for 11 nines of durability. Its API is the one most other providers copy. New AWS customers can get up to $200 in credits.
Google Cloud Storage has four main classes, Standard, Nearline, Coldline and Archive, with minimum storage durations on the colder three, and Autoclass can move objects between them based on access. Buckets can be regional, dual-region or multi-region; dual-region Standard storage is listed at $0.022 per GB/month for each region SKU. It includes 5 GiB of Standard storage per month free and $300 in free credits for new customers, and plugs directly into BigQuery, Vertex AI and Cloud Run.
Both charge per request and per gigabyte transferred out, so bills depend heavily on access patterns, and neither suits teams that want zero egress fees. The choice usually follows where your compute already runs: S3 for AWS workloads, especially those that need deep archive tiers or wide service integrations; Cloud Storage for analytics and machine-learning work on Google Cloud. Moving storage away from your compute provider tends to add transfer costs and latency.
Which should you pick?
Choose Amazon S3 if…
- Teams building on AWS that need archive tiers, lifecycle rules and deep service integrations
- Many storage classes, including automatic tiering and Glacier archives
- Integrates with nearly every AWS service
Choose Google Cloud Storage if…
- Teams on Google Cloud that need durable object storage close to their compute and analytics.
- Four storage classes with automatic lifecycle moves
- Small monthly free allowance plus starting credits
About each app
What is Amazon S3?
Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service) is the object storage service from Amazon Web Services and the one whose API most other providers copy. You store files as objects in buckets and access them over the S3 API, SDKs, the AWS console or command line. S3 offers a range of storage classes, from Standard for frequently used data through Intelligent-Tiering, which moves objects between tiers automatically, to Glacier classes for cheap long-term archives. Around storage it adds lifecycle rules, versioning, replication across regions, fine-grained access policies, event notifications to serverless functions and integration with nearly every AWS analytics and AI service. Pricing is pay-as-you-go per gigabyte stored, per request and per gigabyte transferred out, so bills depend heavily on access patterns, and a free tier is available to new AWS accounts. It runs in AWS regions worldwide. It suits teams already on AWS or needing its archive tiers and ecosystem.
What is Google Cloud Storage?
Google Cloud Storage keeps files of any size as objects in buckets and serves them over an API, the Google Cloud counterpart to Amazon S3. It offers four main storage classes, Standard, Nearline, Coldline and Archive, which trade a lower monthly price for minimum storage periods on the colder classes. Lifecycle rules and Autoclass can move objects between classes automatically based on access. Buckets can be regional, dual-region or multi-region, and the service plugs directly into BigQuery, Vertex AI, Cloud Run and the rest of Google Cloud. Developers use it for app uploads, static assets, backups, analytics data and machine-learning datasets. Pricing is pay-as-you-go for storage, operations and outbound data transfer, with a small monthly free allowance and starting credits for new customers. It is a sensible default for teams already running on Google Cloud, and less so for those wanting zero egress fees.
Side by side
| Attribute | Amazon S3 | Google Cloud Storage |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan + paid | Free plan + paid |
| Open source | No | No |
| Self-hostable | No | No |
| Platforms | Web | Web |
| Best for | Teams building on AWS that need archive tiers, lifecycle rules and deep service integrations | Teams on Google Cloud that need durable object storage close to their compute and analytics. |
| Status | Active | Active |
Verified facts, compared
Facts both apps publish, checked on each vendor's own site.
| Fact | Amazon S3 | Google Cloud Storage |
|---|---|---|
| Storage classes | Standard, Intelligent-Tiering, Infrequent Access, Express One Zone, Glacier | Standard, Nearline, Coldline, Archive |
| Free Tier | Up to $200 in credits for new AWS customers | 5 GiB Standard storage per month |
Amazon S3 vs Google Cloud Storage pricing
Amazon S3: free plan + paid
- Automatic tiering: S3 Intelligent-Tiering source
- Intelligent-Tiering Deep Archive: From $1 per TB a month source
- Free Tier: Up to $200 in credits for new AWS customers source
Google Cloud Storage: free plan + paid
- Free tier: 5 GiB Standard storage per month source
- Free plan: Yes, 5 GB-months of Standard storage source
Platforms
| Platform | Amazon S3 | Google Cloud Storage |
|---|---|---|
| Web |
Amazon S3 facts
7 of 7 verified- Automatic tiering
- S3 Intelligent-Tiering
- Checked Nov 8, 2026aws.amazon.com(opens source in a new tab)
- “You pay a monthly monitoring and automation charge per object stored in the S3 Intelligent”
- Archive storage
- S3 Glacier classes
- Checked Nov 1, 2026aws.amazon.com(opens source in a new tab)
- “For cost-optimized, long-term data storage, archive data using Amazon S3 Glacier storage classes to lower costs, eliminate operational complexities, and gain new insights.”
- Storage classes
- Standard, Intelligent-Tiering, Infrequent Access, Express One Zone, Glacier
- Checked Nov 8, 2026aws.amazon.com(opens source in a new tab)
- “S3 Standard, S3 Intelligent-Tiering, S3 Standard-Infrequent Access”
- Glacier Deep Archive
- From $0.00099 per GB a month
- Checked Nov 8, 2026aws.amazon.com(opens source in a new tab)
- “From just $0.00099 per GB-month”
- Intelligent-Tiering Deep Archive
- From $1 per TB a month
- Checked Nov 8, 2026aws.amazon.com(opens source in a new tab)
- “as little as $1 per TB per month for data that may become rarely accessed over long periods of time.”
- Free Tier
- Up to $200 in credits for new AWS customers
- Checked Nov 8, 2026aws.amazon.com(opens source in a new tab)
- “Starting July 15, 2025, new AWS customers will receive up to $200 in AWS Free Tier credits, which can be applied towards eligible AWS services, including Amazon S3.”
- Durability
- 99.999999999% (11 nines)
- Checked Nov 1, 2026aws.amazon.com(opens source in a new tab)
- “Based on its unique architecture, S3 is designed to provide 99.999999999% (11 nines) data durability and 99.99% availability by default, backed by the strongest SLAs in the cloud.”
Google Cloud Storage facts
6 of 6 verified- Free tier
- 5 GiB Standard storage per month
- Checked Nov 8, 2026cloud.google.com(opens source in a new tab)
- “Get 5 GiB of standard storage, 55,000 operations, 100 GiB of data transfer, and more for free each month.”
- Storage classes
- Standard, Nearline, Coldline, Archive
- Checked Nov 8, 2026cloud.google.com(opens source in a new tab)
- “Product highlights Automatically transition to lower-cost storage classes Standard, nearline, coldline, and archive storage options”
- Minimum duration
- Applies to Nearline, Coldline and Archive
- Checked Nov 8, 2026cloud.google.com(opens source in a new tab)
- “Minimum storage duration A minimum storage duration applies to data stored using Nearline storage, Coldline storage, or Archive storage.”
- Dual-region Standard storage
- $0.022 per GB/month for each region SKU (Iowa + Oregon)
- Checked Nov 8, 2026cloud.google.com(opens source in a new tab)
- “billed at $0.022 per GB per month”
- Free plan
- Yes, 5 GB-months of Standard storage
- Checked Nov 8, 2026cloud.google.com(opens source in a new tab)
- “Resource Monthly Free Usage Limits 1 Standard storage 5 GB-months”
- New customer credit
- $300 in free credits
- Checked Nov 8, 2026cloud.google.com(opens source in a new tab)
- “$300 in free credits and 20+ free products.”
Pros and cons of Amazon S3
- Many storage classes, including automatic tiering and Glacier archives
- Integrates with nearly every AWS service
- Designed for 11 nines of durability
- Available in AWS regions worldwide
- Charges for data transfer out and per request, which makes bills hard to predict
- Pricing tables are complex across classes and regions
- More expensive per gigabyte than budget S3-compatible providers
Pros and cons of Google Cloud Storage
- Four storage classes with automatic lifecycle moves
- Small monthly free allowance plus starting credits
- Works directly with BigQuery and other Google Cloud services
- Regional, dual-region and multi-region bucket options
- Outbound data transfer is billed, unlike Cloudflare R2
- Colder classes carry minimum storage durations
- Pricing has many line items and is hard to predict
Other apps to consider
- WaWasabi
Instead of Amazon S3
S3-compatible with a flat per-terabyte rate and no egress or API fees, for far more predictable bills.
Backblaze B2Instead of Amazon S3
Much cheaper per terabyte, with free egress up to three times your stored data.
Cloudflare R2Instead of Amazon S3
Drop-in S3 API with zero egress fees, good for files served heavily to users.
Azure Blob StorageInstead of Google Cloud Storage
Microsoft's equivalent with Hot to Archive tiers, for teams whose workloads run on Azure.
MinIOInstead of Google Cloud Storage
S3-compatible object store you host yourself, for keeping data on your own hardware.
Amazon S3 vs Google Cloud Storage: common questions
Is Amazon S3 better than Google Cloud Storage?
Amazon S3 suits teams building on AWS that want many storage classes, Glacier archives and integration with nearly every AWS service. Google Cloud Storage suits teams on Google Cloud that want storage close to BigQuery, Vertex AI and Cloud Run. The biggest difference is the ecosystem each plugs into; both are pay-as-you-go object stores that bill for outbound transfer and have complex pricing.
Is Amazon S3 free?
Amazon S3 has a free plan, with paid plans for more features. See its verified pricing facts above for current limits.
Is Google Cloud Storage free?
Google Cloud Storage has a free plan, with paid plans for more features. See its verified pricing facts above for current limits.
Is Amazon S3 or Google Cloud Storage open source?
Neither is open source.
Which platforms do Amazon S3 and Google Cloud Storage support?
Amazon S3: Web. Google Cloud Storage: Web.