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Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) vs Azure NetApp Files comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 17, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
3.7
Amazon EFS offers scalable, cost-effective storage with minimal maintenance, enhancing productivity and benefiting businesses through pay-as-you-go pricing.
Sentiment score
7.4
Azure NetApp Files provides high performance and flexibility, enabling significant cost savings and improved IT management despite initial costs.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
5.5
Customers find Amazon EFS support reliable, though resolution times may vary based on the complexity and support plan.
Sentiment score
7.4
Microsoft and NetApp provide Azure NetApp Files with varying support quality, appreciated for complex issues despite regional inconsistencies.
While the time to respond was good, the time to resolve was not optimal, as it took more than a week.
Regional Manager at Aspire Lifestyles
Amazon's support model is consistent across services.
AWS Architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Training and support depend on the plan you have, with centralized support being very helpful in case issues arise.
Head of Engineering - Data and Machine Learning at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Microsoft has limitations with Azure Files, which do not support disaster recovery, so they approached NetApp for help based on their experience in on-premises and cloud storage.
Cloud Architect at IBM
They have top-notch people.
Cloud/Data/Database Manager at a government with 10,001+ employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
6.6
Amazon EFS offers scalable and cost-effective file storage, but users occasionally face challenges with scalability, latency, and connections.
Sentiment score
7.6
Azure NetApp Files offers flexible scaling and cost efficiency for large deployments, despite regional and minimum storage limitations.
Its auto-scaling feature is a crucial point, providing high scalability that I would rate at ten out of ten.
Senior DevOps Engineer at Alibaba Group
Elastic File Systems allow me to scale up or down easily.
Data Engineer at Softtech Cloud Technologies
It is very cost-effective, and there's no need for initial charges.
Head of Engineering - Data and Machine Learning at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Scalability is high. I would say it's probably around nine because it's quite a robust solution that can scale up to maybe even five hundred terabytes of data.
Cloud Architect at IBM
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.1
Amazon EFS is generally stable, with users praising reliability, though some report minor issues mitigated by strong support.
Sentiment score
8.4
Azure NetApp Files is highly stable, offering reliable performance, seamless migrations, and no downtime, even under increased loads.
Amazon EFS is extremely stable, as it is managed by AWS.
Senior DevOps Engineer at Alibaba Group
While I experienced an EFS mount dropping, it was related to server issues rather than EFS itself.
AWS Architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
In terms of storage stability, I believe it's robust and stable, with a high level of redundancy in the cloud backend.
Cloud Architect at IBM
 

Room For Improvement

Amazon EFS needs improved connectivity, Windows integration, cost transparency, and one-click setup for enhanced user experience and support.
Azure NetApp Files needs enhanced disaster recovery, cost-effective pricing, improved support, and broader regional availability to boost user adoption.
Database-type workloads do not run properly on Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) because at the end of the day, it is a network file system and requests must travel from one place to another and then return.
Sr. Technical Account Manager at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees
Enabling AI-driven or automatic features would be beneficial for new or nontechnical users.
Senior DevOps Engineer at Alibaba Group
In my project, there are challenges related to AWS, such as ensuring proper security measures with IMS code and encryption.
Data Engineer at Softtech Cloud Technologies
I would definitely expect NetApp to come up with that solution so that customers can start using it because they do not have confidence in backup as it is still in preview.
Cloud Architect at IBM
I would like for them to have more compression so that it can avoid using more storage.
Cloud/Data/Database Manager at a government with 10,001+ employees
 

Setup Cost

Amazon EFS charges based on usage with higher costs compared to S3, making it less budget-friendly.
Azure NetApp Files is costly with a four-terabyte minimum, but its premium features compete with Oracle and Amazon.
EFS could cost around $30 to $50 per month for similar usage.
Senior DevOps Engineer at Alibaba Group
Amazon EFS is more costly compared to other storage options available from AWS.
AWS Architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Elastic File Systems can be expensive due to the nature of data transfer costs.
Data Engineer at Softtech Cloud Technologies
It is expensive, especially with NetApp Ultra Storage.
Cloud/Data/Database Manager at a government with 10,001+ employees
It's highly priced, and there's no cost reservation option available compared to Azure Files.
Cloud Architect at IBM
 

Valuable Features

Amazon EFS provides scalable, secure, and flexible storage with fast data access, auto-scaling, and seamless AWS integration for dynamic workloads.
Azure NetApp Files excels in performance, integration, and scalability, providing high redundancy, data protection, and efficient storage solutions.
Its ease of integration with other AWS services enhances our infrastructure, while the shared storage access improves reliability and processing continuity for our applications.
AWS Architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
They help me process data while maintaining low latency, which is crucial for efficient data processing.
Data Engineer at Softtech Cloud Technologies
It provides extra throughput and IOPS, allowing us to configure it according to the MDA.
Head of Engineering - Data and Machine Learning at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
The most valuable feature is that the sixty-terabyte database snapshot can be done in less than two to three minutes.
Cloud/Data/Database Manager at a government with 10,001+ employees
I think the most valuable feature is using the cross-region replication because this feature was not available in Azure Files, and this was the differentiator.
Cloud Architect at IBM
 

Categories and Ranking

Amazon EFS (Elastic File Sy...
Ranking in Cloud Storage
10th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
18
Ranking in other categories
File and Object Storage (11th)
Azure NetApp Files
Ranking in Cloud Storage
11th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
18
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Migration (7th), Public Cloud Storage Services (13th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Cloud Storage category, the mindshare of Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) is 3.2%, down from 7.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Azure NetApp Files is 3.1%, down from 8.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Cloud Storage Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Amazon EFS (Elastic File System)3.2%
Azure NetApp Files3.1%
Other93.7%
Cloud Storage
 

Featured Reviews

VA
Regional Manager at Aspire Lifestyles
Security features impress while response times need improvement
We use cloud storage security, which is a virus scanner for their infrastructure, as a new addition. Other than that, it focuses on serverless features, such as Lambda and Aurora SQL server databases. CSS cloud storage security, which is offered by AWS, is integrated into our system. It functions as a virus scanner that monitors whenever any incoming file arrives. The AWS service is excellent security-wise, and I have seen some other features besides security, such as automatic scaling that helped us significantly. Regarding integration, it provides us with the benefit that our data is kept within our account only.
Rajat Wadhwa - PeerSpot reviewer
Cloud Architect at IBM
Cross-region replication has delivered seamless disaster recovery for enterprise storage needs
In terms of improvement, I would say cost reservation; the cost is a bit high. If we compare Azure Files and Azure NetApp Files, I know that customers are using less of Azure NetApp due to the cost. If they bring the cost a little bit closer to what Azure Files offers, it can be a great product in the market and bring a lot of business to NetApp. Backup is quite critical. As of now, Azure NetApp Files requires you to use Azure NetApp Backup solution, which is in public preview at the moment. I would definitely expect NetApp to come up with that solution so that customers can start using it because they do not have confidence in backup as it is still in preview. They are still doing some testing and research on that product, which is not officially released for use by multiple customers.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Computer Software Company
10%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Educational Organization
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise8
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise14
 

Questions from the Community

Which file storage system is better - Amazon EFS (elastic file storage) or Azure File Storage?
Amazon EFS is easy to set up: you can use the AWS management console, API, or command-line. Amazon EFS can grow to petabytes and deliver consistent low latencies and high levels of throughput. This...
What do you like most about Amazon EFS (Elastic File System)?
The product's initial setup phase is easy, as per the configurations.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Amazon EFS (Elastic File System)?
We don't need to purchase it; we are just using it and paying Amazon as per the utilization. We make direct payments to Amazon based on our usage.
How does Azure NetApp Files compare to NetApp ONTAP?
Azure NetApp Files is a Microsoft Azure file storage service built on NetApp technology. The platform combines the file capabilities of Azure and NetApp to move critical file-based applications to ...
What needs improvement with Azure NetApp Files?
I would like for them to have more compression so that it can avoid using more storage. Besides this, that's the only issue. I love it. It's like an automated script.
 

Also Known As

No data available
NetApp ANF, ANF
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Arcesium, Atlassian, Seeking Alpha, Zend
SAP, Restaurant Magic
Find out what your peers are saying about Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) vs. Azure NetApp Files and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
895,891 professionals have used our research since 2012.