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Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) vs Panzura CloudFS comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on May 18, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

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

Categories and Ranking

Amazon EFS (Elastic File Sy...
Ranking in Cloud Storage
9th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
16
Ranking in other categories
File and Object Storage (10th)
Panzura CloudFS
Ranking in Cloud Storage
12th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
8
Ranking in other categories
File System Software (3rd), NAS (10th), Cloud Storage Gateways (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Cloud Storage category, the mindshare of Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) is 7.2%, down from 9.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Panzura CloudFS is 5.8%, up from 5.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Cloud Storage
 

Featured Reviews

MuhammadAzhar Khan - PeerSpot reviewer
Auto-scaling capabilities enhance file management while reducing downtime
The most valuable feature of Amazon EFS is its auto-scaling capability. It's really easy to configure EFS by just creating it and running a command to directly configure it with my servers. It supports unlimited use, and charges are applied based on the file usage at the end of the month. The solution offers reduced downtime and increased durability through its auto-scaling features.
Roger Clark - PeerSpot reviewer
Handles file locks effectively enabling seamless remote collaboration in global teams
It has not reduced the data storage cost. We have been trying to come up with a plan internally to archive project data at a certain time frame. However, our data continues to grow, so at the point of 25 terabytes, we had to buy another 25 terabytes license to exceed that threshold. It would have been nice if they had offered them in increments, of 5, 10, 15, or 20 terabytes than having to get a whole chunk of 25 terabytes again for licensing purposes, which is a little costly. It would be nice if Panzura offered data in increments instead of 25 terabytes per license. They have done a pretty good job of development from the point of offering new products. Pricing seems to be high for certain things, such as the audit feature of Panzura Data Services. It would be nice to see who deleted that 100 gig of data out there. They should make the pricing plan more attractive for a company of our size. We have almost 700 employees over the southeast from Texas to Florida and up to Tennessee, so we are a pretty big region.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Elastic File Systems allow me to share data, provision, and manage capacity and performance in AWS."
"The platform is highly scalable."
"Amazon EFS offers the flexibility of scaling as needed without requiring pre-provisioned storage."
"We can run code and deploy it whenever we want."
"There are huge money savings, as we can save more than half of our costs."
"The first valuable thing is it is scalable."
"I appreciate Amazon's extensive range of services, which makes it a favorable choice."
"Its elasticity and flexible pricing are the most valuable. For Amazon EFS, you are charged based on the storage. It is also very fast and stable with a very simple and intuitive interface."
"Its most valuable features are the collaboration, the file snapshots, and the data protection the solution provides."
"Primarily, it is the way Panzura CloudFS handles the file locks and the way these filers, along with the authoritative copy of all our data, which is about 27 terabytes located in an AWS bucket in the cloud, operate."
"The best features of the Panzura CloudFS solution include collaboration, which is my top priority and top feature. No one else provides this as effectively."
"The assistance of support has been excellent."
"What I appreciate most about Panzura CloudFS is that it really solves the problem we had when we moved all our server workloads to Azure, reducing our on-prem data center footprint sizably."
"Panzura is a hundred percent better than what we had before."
"For instance, if I'm in India but need to access data in China or Spain, it simplifies the process and enhances collaboration."
"It is a very solid product. We keep all of our older files on their system. It is easy to restore if a file gets deleted. We have good disaster recovery. It is very reliable and very quick, and we do not have files that get overwritten because it locks the file."
 

Cons

"The lack of transparency in the costs attached to the product is an area of concern where improvements are required."
"The product's stability has some shortcomings where improvements are required."
"When we faced some issues, the support team took a lot of time to resolve them."
"The user activity needs to be more connected."
"It should be simplified. There are people who don't have cloud experience. It should be storage that we are able to just connect to."
"The deployment is definitely not an easy process."
"EFS could be improved by including a one-click setup."
"The initial setup requires prior experience and technical skills."
"One area for improvement regarding Panzura CloudFS is moving away from on-prem or local Active Directory. We're exploring a transition to Azure AD or Entra ID, aiming to keep the product functional without heavy reliance on the local Active Directory."
"It should be easy for people not on the network to connect and access their files."
"I would like to see that Edge feature because I think the Edge solution is not the working solution for engineering firms, but I would love for that feature to be usable for our company and our employees."
"In terms of improvements for Panzura CloudFS, I would like to see the Edge feature."
"It has not reduced the data storage cost."
"It would be nice if Panzura offered data in increments instead of 25 terabytes per license."
"There are a few file types that do not work well with Panzura CloudFS."
"One area for improvement regarding Panzura CloudFS is moving away from on-prem or local Active Directory. We're exploring a transition to Azure AD or Entra ID, aiming to keep the product functional without heavy reliance on the local Active Directory."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The main challenge with EFS is its cost, which is slightly higher compared to EBS or S3. For one GB or ten GB of data, S3 is much cheaper. EFS could cost around $30 to $50 per month for similar usage."
"Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) offers a pay-as-you-go model, so whenever you use its services, you need to pay."
"It has flexible pricing. You are charged based on your storage."
"I would rate the pricing 7 out of 10."
"The product charges are based on the amount of data stored."
"The product's price depends on the services and the size and capacity at which it is used in a business environment."
"The solution's price is mid-ranged."
"The pricing seems high on certain products and features, such as the audit feature of Panzura Data Services. They should consider more attractive pricing for companies of our size. The renewals are yearly, but the pricing is a little high for us."
"Overall, it is quite costly compared to NetApp and similar solutions."
"It's competitive. I don't know what competitors are charging, but they have been very transparent, which is nice, and we've negotiated to avoid percentage increases."
"The solution's pricing is on the expensive side."
"It is not bad. It is like everything else. Pricing has gone up quite over the last couple of years, but everybody's pricing has gone up. For what they deliver, it is right in line with what everybody else has."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Educational Organization
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
15%
Construction Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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)?
Amazon EFS is more costly compared to other storage options available from AWS.
What are the products that Panzura provides?
Panzura offers four main products: CloudFS, data services, smart apps, and global services. They call this "all-in-one solution" and it's for end-to-end cloud data management. Why is it called that...
What kind of industries does Panzura serve?
Hello, I think businesses from all industries that have their data on a cloud can benefit from Panzura. Especially if you have offices in various locations or your employees are working from home a...
Why was Panzura acquired? Is the acquisition going to cause a change?
I think Panzura may change in a positive direction now that it's been bought by Profile Capital. That's a very big investment company for technology businesses and I think it's an opportunity for ...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Panzura Freedom
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Arcesium, Atlassian, Seeking Alpha, Zend
Petrofac, Komatsu, HCA Healthcare, Vanguard, Disney, Pokemon, US Department of Justice, Gensler, Fluor, AFRY, Milwaukee Tool, Navy Federal Credit Union, TechTarget
Find out what your peers are saying about Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) vs. Panzura CloudFS and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
859,129 professionals have used our research since 2012.