Backblaze B2 vs MinIO (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, MinIO grades higher than Backblaze B2: 2.2 against 2.0 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
MinIO grades higher on the free plan. They get the same grade on value for money, features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Backblaze B2
S3-compatible object storage billed per terabyte
Which one is for you
Pick Backblaze B2 if
- Fits if you have developers or an IT person to point backup tools at an S3 bucket
- Works for teams storing terabytes of backups that rarely get read back
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a folder that syncs to your laptop, as there is no consumer sync app
- Tight if you read a lot back: egress beyond 3 times your stored data costs $0.01 per GB
- Watch out: API calls past the first 2,500 a day cost $0.004 per 10,000 on Class D transactions
- Watch out: B2 Overdrive is $15 per TB and up, with a multi-petabyte commitment bought by quote
Pick MinIO if
- Fits if you run your own infrastructure and need S3-style storage
- Works for data teams that want a single test node for free
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you want a file-sync or sharing app
- Not for you if you want a managed service, as it runs on your own servers
- Watch out: the pricing page says the original AGPLv3 edition is end of life with no fixes or security patches
- Watch out: clusters need a paid subscription whose price is not published
How we grade them
| 2.0GPABackblaze B2Fair | 2.2GPAMinIOFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | C$6.95 per TB a month matches the category's middle price. This is a different kind of product from consumer storage, billed by the terabyte. | CThe free tier is single-node and Enterprise Lite and Enterprise are quoted on request, so there is no price to compare. |
| Free plan and trial | CThe first 10 GB is always free, with free egress up to 3 times what you store, and you'll pass 10 GB quickly. | BFree single-node deployment with the full feature set and community support. Redistribution is prohibited, and there is a 60-day trial of the paid tiers. |
| Features | CStorage through an S3-compatible API with lifecycle and partner integrations, but the page shows no consumer sync app. It does its narrow job fully. | CS3 API, replication, security and management for object storage. It is not a file-sync app, and clustering is paid. |
| Ease of use | DIt needs an API, keys and tooling, so it's a developer service. No store rating on record. | DDeployed on your own servers or cloud and run by operators. No store rating on record. |
| Platforms and integrations | BThe vendor lists 8 integrations and an S3 API, but it is web only, with no apps. | BWeb console, S3 API and Kubernetes, Prometheus, NVIDIA and Databricks listed. |
| Best for | cheap object storage for developers and IT teams | S3-compatible object storage for engineers |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Backblaze B2 and MinIO. How we grade
Where they differ
- MinIO is self-hostable, according to its own site.
At a glance
| Backblaze B2 | MinIO | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $6.95 per TB / month | Not published |
| Free plan | The first 10 GB of storage is always free, with free egress up to 3x the data stored. | AIStor Free: the full AIStor feature set on a single-node deployment, with community Slack and documentation support. Redistribution is prohibited. |
| Free trial | None listed | 60-day free trial of Enterprise Lite and Enterprise |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Backblaze | MinIO, Inc. |
| Price read from | backblaze.com | min.io |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Backblaze B2
- Egress beyond 3x the average monthly data stored costs $0.01 per GB, except to partner CDNs and compute services.
- Class D API transactions cost $0.004 per 10,000 calls after the first 2,500 each day.
- B2 Overdrive needs a multi-petabyte commitment and is sold by quote.
- It is a storage service for developers and IT teams; the page shows no consumer sync app.
MinIO
- Clustered, highly available deployments need a paid Enterprise Lite or Enterprise subscription; the free tier is single-node only.
- No Enterprise Lite or Enterprise prices are published; both are quoted on request.
- The pricing page says the original open-source MinIO edition (AGPLv3) is end of life with no fixes or security patches.
- This is infrastructure software for operators, not a consumer file-sync or sharing app.
Key features
Backblaze B2
- S3-compatible object storage
- The page describes S3-compatible storage for active archiving, backup and recovery, media and application workloads.
- No minimums on files or duration
- There are no minimum file size or storage duration fees, and class A, B and C API calls are free on pay as you go.
- Free egress allowances
- Egress is free up to 3x the average data stored, and free to partner CDNs and compute services such as Cloudflare, Fastly and bunny.net.
- Capacity commitments
- Customers can commit to a set amount of storage for 1 to 5 years, billed for the full term at contract start with a locked rate.
MinIO
- S3-compatible object storage
- AIStor is described as fully S3-compatible, with S3 Express, an Iceberg catalog and SFTP also listed among its protocols.
- Replication
- The feature list names active-active, synchronous and asynchronous, multi-site, bucket and batch replication.
- Security
- Encryption, a key management server, a data firewall and immutability are listed, and the page shows FIPS 140-3, SOC 2 and ISO 27001 badges.
- Management
- An admin console, quality-of-service controls, lifecycle management, audit trail and Prometheus metrics are listed.
- Sized by usable capacity
- Subscription pricing follows usable storage capacity after erasure-code overhead, not raw disk.
Plans
Backblaze B2
Backblaze B2$6.95
per TB / month, billed monthly on byte-hours stored
Pay as you go, or commit to capacity for 1 to 5 years with discounts. Free egress up to 3x stored data, then $0.01/GB.
B2 Overdrive$15
per TB / month and up
For AI, HPC and research workloads: dedicated vaults, unlimited free egress and a multi-petabyte commitment. Sold by quote.
MinIO
Free$0
Single-node deployment with community Slack and documentation support; no resiliency beyond one node.
Enterprise LiteCustom
Multi-node, horizontally scalable, for capacity under 400 TiB. Priced on request; optional direct-to-engineer support with a sub-5-day SLA.
EnterpriseCustom
Multi-node with 24/7/365 direct-to-engineer support, a sub-4-hour SLA and dedicated onboarding. Priced on request.
Ways to pay less
Backblaze B2
- Other savings
Discounts for volume and term commitments
The pricing page says discounts are available when you commit to volume and a 1 to 5 year term; the amounts are not published.
MinIO
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Backblaze B2 or MinIO?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Backblaze B2 starts at $6.95 per TB / month, and MinIO publishes no starting price.
Which has a free plan, Backblaze B2 or MinIO?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Backblaze B2 and MinIO have a free plan.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.