Amazon S3 vs Google Cloud Storage Nearline comparison

Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google are both solutions in the Public Cloud Storage Services category. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.8, while Google is ranked #9 with an average rating of 7.5. Amazon Web Services (AWS) holds a 13.6% mindshare in PCSS, compared to Google’s 8.7% mindshare. Additionally, 98% of Amazon Web Services (AWS) users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Google users who would recommend it.

Amazon S3

Read 83 Amazon S3 reviews

2,849 Views
2,792 Comparison Views

98% willing to recommend

Google Cloud Storage Nearline

Read 10 Google Cloud Storage Nearline reviews

1,588 Views
1,572 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Amazon S3

Google Cloud Storage Nearline

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 1, 2024

Amazon S3 and Google Cloud Storage Nearline offer cloud storage solutions, each with unique strengths. Amazon S3 holds an advantage due to its extensive features and configuration options, although Google Cloud Storage Nearline is noted for its cost-effectiveness and customer support.

Features: Amazon S3 features data replication, lifecycle policies, and integration with AWS services. Google Cloud Storage Nearline offers low-latency access, lower retrieval costs for infrequent data, and seamless integration with Google Cloud services.

Room for Improvement: Amazon S3 could enhance cost predictability, simplify pricing structure, and improve user interface. Google Cloud Storage Nearline can improve documentation, offer more intuitive management tools, and enhance data migration options.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Amazon S3 is noted for straightforward deployment and comprehensive customer service, including reliable AWS support. Google Cloud Storage Nearline is also easy to deploy, with responsive support and useful resources.

Pricing and ROI: Amazon S3's setup costs are higher but offer significant long-term ROI due to robust features and reliability. Google Cloud Storage Nearline stands out for lower initial costs and favorable ROI for infrequently accessed data.

To learn more, read our detailed Amazon S3 vs. Google Cloud Storage Nearline Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Amazon S3 vs. Google Cloud Storage Nearline

July 2025

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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 S3

Ranking in Public Cloud Storage Services

2nd

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Google Cloud Storage Nearline

Ranking in Public Cloud Storage Services

9th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the Public Cloud Storage Services category, the mindshare of Amazon S3 is 13.6%, up from 11.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Google Cloud Storage Nearline is 8.7%, up from 7.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Public Cloud Storage Services Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Amazon S3	13.6%
Google Cloud Storage Nearline	8.7%
Other	77.7%

Public Cloud Storage Services

Featured Reviews

Roberto Costa

Senior Data & AI Engineer at Imprint

Have used multiple features effectively and find the pricing reasonable

What I appreciate most about Amazon S3 is the tiering of the objects; with the tiering, we can determine if an object won't be accessed frequently and send it to cold storage or a Glacier storage unit, which greatly lowers AWS costs. The inventory feature, called S3 Inventory, is a cool feature as well. The object access point is another notable feature. Amazon S3 has many useful features; I can simply host my website, which has to be a static web page, but even so, it's beneficial to put my code inside of Amazon S3 as a static website that people worldwide can access. I have worked with many petabytes of data stored in Amazon S3, and I have never had any performance issues, stability issues, or anything similar.

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Victor Oladejo

Data Engineer at Electronics Collections Group

A reliable solution for long-term data storage with room for improvement regarding its cost efficiency

The suggestion for improvement primarily revolves around cost efficiency. Currently, Google Cloud Storage Nearline charges a minimum of thirty days for data access. I propose a more flexible approach. Instead of a fixed thirty-day minimum charge, there could be a programmatic adjustment based on data access patterns. For instance, if Google Cloud notices that certain data is no longer frequently accessed, they could automatically adjust the billing. When data isn't actively used, the charges for access to that data should decrease. This approach would ensure that users are billed fairly for the actual access they require, especially when data access patterns vary over time.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Amazon S3 is highly stable."

"The solution auto-scales so it is easily scalable."

"Amazon S3 is very stable. I don't worry about data stored in the S3 bucket as it's safe."

"The tool offers great scalability to its users."

"The main aspect we like is that it's been easy to use."

"The solution's most valuable feature is its security, as it does not provide public access."

"The versioning of this solution for accidental deletion has been most valuable."

"The most valuable features are VNet, virtual machines, and Elastic Kubernetes Service."

More Amazon S3 pros

"It provides the necessary support and flexibility to manage data storage effectively, especially during times of variable data flow."

"The capacity and space on offer are excellent."

"I find the flexibility in storing documents or data and the ease of retrieval valuable with this solution."

"The data structure and the types of data that are supported are very good."

"The most valuable aspect of Google Cloud Storage Nearline is its integration with the wider Google Cloud ecosystem."

"The most valuable feature of Nearline is the access. It's helpful to move data that is generated once a month, such as salary information, to Nearline."

"It can isolate files and stop them from corrupting other files."

"The best part of Nearline storage is the ability to take backups at optimal costs and its availability across multiple regions."

More Google Cloud Storage Nearline pros

Cons

"The product should enable users to create their own shortcuts."

"I didn't find the user interface very friendly."

"I encountered some issues with the data lifecycle. Transitioning between S3 storage classes, like moving data from the standard class to Glacier or Glacier Deep Archive, has been challenging."

"There is a limitation with the data upload size, such as the five terabytes restriction. I would like to see an increase in the data upload limit, similar to DynamoDB, where there is no data limit."

"The tool needs to improve its flexibility in support."

"Amazon S3 could improve some of the features, such as indexing, or we should have more information about all the data stored in a single place. This way we can see what data resides where instead of going in different buckets, file locations manually, or searching. An index would be nice, allowing us to directly go to a location to use the date."

"There is a limitation with the data upload size, such as the five terabytes restriction. I would like to see an increase in the data upload limit, similar to DynamoDB, where there is no data limit."

"The solution could improve by having a simpler way to have the detail size of a file in the CLI to be read or understood easier. Today, it's a little raw in the way the details are presented. You have to make some scripts and some modifications to be able to see the information properly of the size of a given bucket or the size of a file."

More Amazon S3 cons

"The pricing is quite high."

"They need a better, more visual, user interface for folders and files."

"The UI could be a little bit more effective."

"One area that needs improvement is the documentation, which I find to be disorganized and not user-friendly."

"The interface for managing file storage in the buckets could be improved."

"They should provide more options or flexibility in terms of pricing."

"The suggestion for improvement primarily revolves around cost efficiency."

More Google Cloud Storage Nearline cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The cost of Amazon S3 is good. The pricing model is based on the usage of the solution."

"The cost is based on the amount of storage required and if we exceed the data transfer rate across regions."

"For pricing, I would give it a six or seven out of ten."

"The price of Amazon S3 should be reduced."

"The pricing depends on your region and is reasonable."

"I use the tool's free tier. I believe that there is a need to make annual payments towards the licensing charges associated with the product."

"The price of Amazon S3 could be less expensive."

"The licensing model is complex."

More Amazon S3 pricing and cost advice

"Google Cloud Storage Nearline is very inexpensive. It costs us less than $50 a month to store our files. We use approximately 10 terabytes. Overall, I would rate the product a five out of five for affordability."

"Right now, for the number of servers and the storage that I have, I would say I'm charged between $125 and $150 per month."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

16%

University

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

17%

Comms Service Provider

10%

University

Financial Services Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	33
Midsize Enterprise	17
Large Enterprise	38

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	5
Midsize Enterprise	1
Large Enterprise	2

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Amazon S3?

We can easily connect to the AWS resources.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Amazon S3?

AWS pricing for Amazon S3 starts at a higher cost, particularly in the standard class. However, with lifecycle management policies, costs can be optimized over time. On a scale from one to ten, I w...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Amazon S3?

Areas of improvement should focus more on the services of Outposts rather than the Amazon S3 portion. AWS should sell Outposts in the Philippines because currently, only a few companies are using i...

See all answers

What do you like most about Google Cloud Storage Nearline?

The most valuable feature of Nearline is the access. It's helpful to move data that is generated once a month, such as salary information, to Nearline.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Google Cloud Storage Nearline?

The storage and access cost of Nearline are considered optimal compared to other cloud storage solutions, although I lack a clear view of other cloud storage costs.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Google Cloud Storage Nearline?

From a storage standpoint, it would be beneficial if the retrieval cost could be optimized, as it is comparatively higher than storage costs in Nearline.

See all answers

Comparisons

NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP vs Amazon S3

Compared 15% of the time

Google Cloud Storage vs Amazon S3

Compared 13% of the time

Microsoft Azure File Storage vs Amazon S3

Compared 10% of the time

Oracle Cloud Object Storage vs Amazon S3

Compared 9% of the time

Microsoft Azure Object Storage vs Amazon S3

Compared 4% of the time

More Amazon S3 Competitors

Amazon S3 Glacier vs Google Cloud Storage Nearline

Compared 93% of the time

More Google Cloud Storage Nearline Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Amazon S3

September 2025

Download Amazon S3 product report

Buyer's Guide

Google Cloud Storage Nearline

September 2025

Download Google Cloud Storage Nearline product report

Also Known As

S3, Simple Storage Service

No data available

Overview

Amazon Simple Storage Service is storage for the Internet. It is designed to make web-scale computing easier for developers.

Amazon S3 has a simple web services interface that you can use to store and retrieve any amount of data, at any time, from anywhere on the web. It gives any developer access to the same highly scalable, reliable, fast, inexpensive data storage infrastructure that Amazon uses to run its own global network of web sites. The service aims to maximize benefits of scale and to pass those benefits on to developers.

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

A low-cost, highly-durable and highly available storage service for infrequently accessed data, data archiving, online backup and disaster recovery. Data is available instantly, not within hours or days. With sub-second average response times and 1 cent per GB/month pricing, Cloud Storage Nearline gives you terrific performance at a low cost.

Google

Sample Customers

Netflix, Airbnb, Thomson Reuters, Zillow, Alert Logic

Information Not Available

Buyer's Guide

Amazon S3 vs. Google Cloud Storage Nearline

July 2025

Free Report: Amazon S3 vs. Google Cloud Storage Nearline

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