Amazon S3 Glacier provides cost-effective archival storage with features like automatic data replication, advanced security, and encryption. It integrates seamlessly with Amazon S3 and allows simple management without needing AWS certification.


| Product | Mindshare (%) |
|---|---|
| Amazon S3 Glacier | 10.1% |
| Amazon S3 | 14.3% |
| Microsoft Azure File Storage | 7.9% |
| Other | 67.7% |
| Type | Title | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Category | Public Cloud Storage Services | Apr 28, 2026 | Download |
| Product | Reviews, tips, and advice from real users | Apr 28, 2026 | Download |
| Comparison | Amazon S3 Glacier vs Amazon S3 | Apr 28, 2026 | Download |
| Comparison | Amazon S3 Glacier vs Nutanix Unified Storage (NUS) | Apr 28, 2026 | Download |
| Comparison | Amazon S3 Glacier vs Google Cloud Storage | Apr 28, 2026 | Download |
| Title | Rating | Mindshare | Recommending | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Azure File Storage | 4.1 | 7.9% | 98% | 53 interviewsAdd to research |
| NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP | 4.4 | 6.4% | 95% | 64 interviewsAdd to research |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 23 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 5 |
| Large Enterprise | 13 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 126 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 59 |
| Large Enterprise | 151 |
Offering scalability and strong durability, Amazon S3 Glacier is ideal for infrequently accessed data, helping businesses save significantly by transferring historical data to affordable storage solutions. It ensures reliable data protection through robust security measures while providing a helpful interface that simplifies management tasks. Users may need to navigate certain complexities, including the cost structure and retrieval times, which could benefit from improvements in deployment simplicity, data transfer speeds, and compliance handling.
What are the key features of Amazon S3 Glacier?Amazon S3 Glacier is widely used for long-term data storage in industries such as finance, where regulatory compliance is crucial. It supports a range of data types, including images and document files. Companies utilize it for backing up valuable data, managing long retention policies, and ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements. It provides a viable cold storage solution for database backups and disaster recovery needs, enabling tailored lifecycle policies that align with specific industry demands.
Amazon S3 Glacier was previously known as Amazon Glacier.
King Cpunty, Illumina, Backupify, Nearmap.com, Scribd, Baylor College of Medicine, SoundCloud
| Author info | Rating | Review Summary |
|---|---|---|
| Project Engineer at Astellas Pharma US | 5.0 | I've found Amazon S3 Glacier to be a simple, cost-effective solution for archiving, with great documentation and support; though integration with retention policies and long-term support guarantees would improve its usefulness for legacy data needs. |
| Sr. Data Engineer at a real estate/law firm with 1,001-5,000 employees | 2.5 | I use Amazon S3 Glacier primarily for low-cost file storage we rarely access. It's secure with KMS encryption, but support is inefficient, and I'm not involved in setup or deployment, so I find it somewhat complicated. |
| Technical Owner at Harman International | 5.0 | We use Amazon S3 Glacier primarily for archiving infrequently accessed data, appreciating its strong security and vast storage capacity. While we find the support could be strengthened, its features significantly outweigh potential drawbacks compared to Google Cloud and Azure. |
| Server Administrator at a tech consulting company with 51-200 employees | 4.5 | I use Amazon S3 Glacier as a backup repository with AWS products like EC2 and Lambda. Its high cost, scalability, and security features are valuable, though pricing concerns exist. The initial setup is easy, and it offers savings for archival purposes. |
| Sr Data Architect at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees | 4.5 | I primarily use Amazon S3 Glacier for data archival, benefiting from its cost-effective storage compared to S3. While retrieval costs are high, it's ideal for historical data. Improvements could include lower retrieval costs and availability in more regions. |
| Sr DevOps Engineer at HTC Global | 4.0 | We primarily use Amazon S3 Glacier for cost-effective, durable data archiving in industries requiring long-term storage. While it saves on operational costs, improvements are needed in transfer rates and configuration management compared to our previous use of standard S3 storage. |
| Manager, Strategic Alliances at Softcell Technologies Limited | 4.5 | We transitioned from on-premises storage to using Amazon S3 Glacier for its scalability, flexibility, and user-friendly interface. Although it could improve in flexibility, user-friendliness, and security, it eliminates the need for on-site infrastructure, saving us costs. |
| Solution architect at Cargill | 5.0 | I use Amazon S3 Glacier for document storage and seamless data transfer within my company. It effectively supports external document integration but could improve with better integration capabilities for migrating from solutions like OpenText to enhance user experience. |