MinIO vs Wasabi (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, MinIO and Wasabi share a 2.2 GPA, and only MinIO has a free plan.
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. Wasabi grades higher on ease of use. They get the same grade on value for money, features and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Wasabi
S3-compatible cloud object storage at a flat per-TB rate
Which one is for you
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
Pick Wasabi if
- Fits if you already run backup software that speaks S3 and want a flat bill
- Works for IT teams buying capacity of 25 TB or more for a few years at a time
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a folder that syncs to your laptop, as it is object storage only
- Pricey if you store little, because you pay for at least 1 TB a month
- Watch out: deleted data is billed for 90 days on Pay as You Go and 30 days on reserved capacity
- Watch out: Reserved Capacity is 1, 3 or 5 years, from 25 TB, and auto-renews unless you cancel 30 days ahead
How we grade them
| 2.2GPAMinIOFair | 2.2GPAWasabiFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CThe free tier is single-node and Enterprise Lite and Enterprise are quoted on request, so there is no price to compare. | C$7.99 per TB a month on Pay as You Go, a little above the $6.95 middle of file storage, and billing has a monthly minimum tied to 1 TB. Reserved Capacity starts at 25 TB and has no published price. |
| Free plan and trial | 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. | CThe trial is 100 GB for 30 days with a company email, or 10 GB for 14 days with a free email address. The listing does not say whether a card is needed, and there is no free plan. |
| Features | CS3 API, replication, security and management for object storage. It is not a file-sync app, and clustering is paid. | CFlat per-TB pricing, object lock, 16 regions and S3 compatibility cover the job for backup. The listing's own gaps keep it at C: a 90-day minimum on deleted data and no sync app at all. |
| Ease of use | DDeployed on your own servers or cloud and run by operators. No store rating on record. | CNo store rating on record. You connect it through S3 tools or backup software such as Veeam, which means keys, buckets and settings to work out first. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb console, S3 API and Kubernetes, Prometheus, NVIDIA and Databricks listed. | BWeb console only, with no desktop or phone apps, but it works with backup and AI tools such as Veeam, Commvault, Rubrik, Cohesity, MLflow and LangChain. |
| Best for | S3-compatible object storage for engineers | cheap object storage for backups with no egress fees |
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: MinIO and Wasabi. How we grade
Where they differ
- MinIO is self-hostable, according to its own site.
At a glance
| MinIO | Wasabi | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | Not published | $7.99 per TB / month |
| Free plan | AIStor Free: the full AIStor feature set on a single-node deployment, with community Slack and documentation support. Redistribution is prohibited. | None |
| Free trial | 60-day free trial of Enterprise Lite and Enterprise | Free trial: 100 GB for 30 days with a company email, 10 GB for 14 days with a free email address |
| Web | ||
| Made by | MinIO, Inc. | Wasabi Technologies |
| Price read from | min.io | wasabi.com |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
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.
Wasabi
- Deleted data is still billed for the minimum storage duration: 90 days on Pay as You Go, 30 days on reserved capacity.
- Pay as You Go has a monthly minimum tied to 1 TB of active storage per account.
- Reserved Capacity starts at 25 TB, is bought for 1, 3 or 5 years and auto-renews annually unless canceled with 30 days' notice.
- It is object storage for developers and IT teams, not a consumer sync app.
Key features
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.
Wasabi
- Flat capacity pricing
- One rate per TB covers storage; the pricing page lists $0 for egress and API requests on both purchase options.
- S3-compatible storage
- The site describes S3-compatible storage that works with AI frameworks and backup products such as Veeam, Commvault, Rubrik and Cohesity.
- Immutability and object lock
- Object-lock immutability and Multi-User Authorization are offered to protect backups from ransomware.
- 16 storage regions
- Regions span North America, Europe and Asia Pacific, with a stated 11 nines of durability.
Plans
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.
Wasabi
Pay as You Go$7.99
per TB / month, billed on actual usage
Billed per GB per day, no egress or API fees. 90-day minimum storage and a monthly minimum tied to 1 TB. Basic support.
Reserved Capacity StorageCustom
A fixed capacity block bought for 1, 3 or 5 years, from 25 TB. Larger and longer terms are discounted. Premium support.
Ways to pay less
MinIO
No public discounts listed.
Wasabi
- Other savings
Migration incentives through December 31, 2026
The homepage says special migration incentives for moving data to Wasabi are available through December 31, 2026; terms are not stated.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, MinIO or Wasabi?
As of Nov 13, 2026, MinIO publishes no starting price, and Wasabi starts at $7.99 per TB / month.
Which has a free plan, MinIO or Wasabi?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only MinIO has a free plan. Wasabi does not, though it has a free trial.
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.