Google Cloud Storage vs Wasabi

Updated November 2026 · AppBreakup editorial

Google Cloud Storage

Google Cloud's object storage service for files, backups, data lakes and website assets.

Free plan + paid

Visit Google Cloud Storage Google Cloud Storage profile

Wasabi

S3-compatible cloud object storage with flat per-terabyte pricing and no egress or API fees.

Paid

Visit Wasabi Wasabi profile

The short answer

Google Cloud Storage suits teams already running on Google Cloud that want object storage beside BigQuery and their compute, with four storage classes. Wasabi suits businesses storing backups and archives that want a flat per-terabyte price with no egress or API fees. The main difference is billing: Google charges for operations and outbound transfer; Wasabi does not.

Google Cloud Storage or Wasabi: our take

Both services store files as objects in buckets and serve them over an API, and Wasabi speaks the Amazon S3 API so most S3 tools work with it after changing the endpoint and keys. Where they differ is pricing and how they fit into a wider platform.

Google Cloud Storage is pay-as-you-go for storage, operations and outbound data transfer. It offers four storage classes, Standard, Nearline, Coldline and Archive, with minimum storage durations on the colder three, and lifecycle rules or Autoclass can move objects between them automatically. 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 (Iowa + Oregon). There is a free tier of 5 GiB Standard storage per month and $300 in free credits for new customers. The many line items make bills harder to predict, but it plugs directly into BigQuery, Vertex AI and Cloud Run.

Wasabi starts at $7.99 per TB/month with no egress or API fees, and everything sits in a single hot tier with no retrieval delays. The catches are a 90-day minimum storage duration on pay-as-you-go, a minimum monthly charge tied to 1 TB, and no permanent free tier, only a time-limited trial. It runs 16 storage regions and supports object lock, which is why it is widely used as an immutable backup target for tools like Veeam, Commvault and Rubrik.

Choose Google Cloud Storage if your apps and analytics already live on Google Cloud, you need cold archive classes, or you have only a few gigabytes to store. Choose Wasabi if you are storing terabytes of backups, media or datasets that get downloaded often and want a bill you can predict.

Choose Google Cloud Storage if…

Teams on Google Cloud that need durable object storage close to their compute and analytics.
You want a free option (Wasabi is paid only)
Four storage classes with automatic lifecycle moves
Small monthly free allowance plus starting credits

Choose Wasabi if…

Businesses storing backups or archives that want predictable S3-compatible storage bills
No fees for egress or API requests
Works with S3 tools and most backup software

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.

What is Wasabi?

Wasabi Hot Cloud Storage is an object storage service that speaks the Amazon S3 API, so most tools that write to S3 can use it by changing an endpoint and keys. Its selling point is billing: you pay a flat monthly rate per terabyte stored, with no separate charges for downloading data or for API requests, which makes costs easier to predict than on the big cloud providers. All data sits in a single always-available tier, with no cold storage and no retrieval delays. It is widely used as a backup target for tools like Veeam, Commvault and Rubrik, with object lock for immutable, ransomware-resistant copies, and also for media archives and AI datasets. Wasabi runs storage regions in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. Pricing is pay-as-you-go or reserved capacity bought for one to five years, and there is a free trial. Note the 90-day minimum storage duration and a minimum monthly charge tied to 1 TB on pay-as-you-go.

Side by side

Attribute	Google Cloud Storage	Wasabi
Pricing	Free plan + paid	Paid
Open source	No	No
Self-hostable	No	No
Platforms	Web	Web
Best for	Teams on Google Cloud that need durable object storage close to their compute and analytics.	Businesses storing backups or archives that want predictable S3-compatible storage bills
Status	Active	Active