Cohesity SmartFiles vs Pure Storage FlashBlade comparison

Cohesity and Pure Storage are both solutions in the File and Object Storage category. Cohesity is ranked #17 with an average rating of 9.0, while Pure Storage is ranked #8 with an average rating of 8.8. Cohesity holds a 0.5% mindshare in FaOS, compared to Pure Storage’s 5.8% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Cohesity users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 94% of Pure Storage users who would recommend it.

Cohesity SmartFiles

Read 1 Cohesity SmartFiles review

194 Views
65 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Pure Storage FlashBlade

Read 38 Pure Storage FlashBlade reviews

3,679 Views
935 Comparison Views

94% willing to recommend

Cohesity SmartFiles

Pure Storage FlashBlade

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Cohesity SmartFiles and Pure Storage FlashBlade based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Red Hat, Nutanix, Dell Technologies and others in File and Object Storage.

To learn more, read our detailed File and Object Storage Report (Updated: June 2025).

Buyer's Guide

File and Object Storage

June 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

Cohesity SmartFiles

Ranking in File and Object Storage

17th

Average Rating

9.0

Reviews Sentiment

8.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Pure Storage FlashBlade

Ranking in File and Object Storage

8th

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

All-Flash Storage (16th), Software Defined Storage (SDS) (8th)

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the File and Object Storage category, the mindshare of Cohesity SmartFiles is 0.5%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Pure Storage FlashBlade is 5.8%, down from 6.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

File and Object Storage

Featured Reviews

Stefan-Motsch

Evangelist / CTO at fgnext

Enables effective data management with reliable backup and recovery

Cohesity SmartFiles ( /products/cohesity-smartfiles-reviews ) aids in data management with features like full-text search through indexed documents. The architecture supports backup, ransomware awareness, and data management on a converged platform, offering triple-protocol access (NFS, CIFS, and S3 ( /products/amazon-s3-reviews )) while facilitating gradual improvements in access rights management. It allows for redundant setups, with automated backup and recovery options in a cloud environment.

Read full review

Eric Black

Solutions Architect at Recovery Point Systems

The ability to leverage multi-tenancy along with immutability is a huge benefit for us

The only thing I feel FlashBlade is missing is the SOS API. If it had SOS API, that would put it well over the top. Veeam Backup specifically has started to streamline their API, and they are doing that with SOS API. They have optimized it. Any of the S3 devices out there that support this SOS API can have far more API calls at once. On our side, that translates to better restoration. With SOS API, it can leverage far more restorations at a single given time or read from the device in simple terms. That results in maximizing the output and throughput from the device itself.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Cohesity SmartFiles aids in data management with features like full-text search through indexed documents."

"We have integrated it with VMware. The integration process is pretty good. Especially with VMware, it helps with the capacity of it."

"It helps simplify our storage, because the user interface is very simple and the installation is easy."

"The tool's most valuable feature is its fast performance, especially in handling snapshots. It helps during power outages when we need to quickly move data between different data centers. It ensures efficient replication and helps maintain our data centers' uptime."

"The most valuable feature is Safe Mode."

"We have seen a reduction in the total cost of ownership by around 20%."

"Pure Storage FlashBlade is user-friendly. It's replication feature is great because it has active replication and active DR. That's the beauty of the product. It's a perfect solution for block storage."

"The ease of deployment and management has helped us simplify our storage. We also do not have to worry about capacity management as much. A lot of these things are native to Pure Storage."

"The most valuable features of FlashBlade include its replication capabilities, reports, and easy allocation. Everything is user-friendly."

More Pure Storage FlashBlade pros

Cons

"Users must remember that running DataProtect and files on the same cluster could threaten access if there is a platform failure. It's not suitable for applications needing high I/O or low latency."

"I would like to see the licensing fees improved as well as the price per terabytes."

"The documentational aspect of FlashBlade needs improvement."

"An area for improvement in Pure Storage FlashBlade is its price. It could be reduced. The technical support for Pure Storage FlashBlade also needs improvement. It used to be good, with more experienced engineers. Nowadays, it isn't, and it takes longer for support to solve problems."

"There could be improvements in public cloud integration."

"Recently, while upgrading the version code, one of the controllers failed. Replacing the controller took between 14 to 20 days."

"The speed could be improved."

"I have not seen ROI."

"There is some room for new features related to authentication and integration with Kubernetes, and other solution using S3 Bucket."

More Pure Storage FlashBlade cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"The pricing is relatively expensive due to the FlashBlade technology. However, for companies needing quick and reliable data access, the cost is justified."

"Support is a separate line item. Support is a different cost, but whatever your support is now, that's what you're going to pay forever. If your support's $100 today, six years from now it's $100. It doesn't fluctuate unless you upgrade it, or change it, etc."

"I understand that it is competitively priced compared to other brands."

"Licensing fees are paid yearly."

"I feel that the price could always be lowered."

"Our licensing is renewed annually."

"The price is a little high."

"It's a costly solution, but Pure Storage FlashBlade doesn't require additional licenses. All of the software is combined into one bundle."

More Pure Storage FlashBlade pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

No data available

Computer Software Company

14%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Educational Organization

11%

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cohesity SmartFiles?

SmartFiles is an economical solution, priced per terabyte on the backend. Initial setup and licensing costs align with the added value provided by simplifying infrastructure management through a co...

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What needs improvement with Cohesity SmartFiles?

Users must remember that running DataProtect and files on the same cluster could threaten access if there is a platform failure. It's not suitable for applications needing high I/O or low latency. ...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Cohesity SmartFiles?

Our customers use Cohesity SmartFiles ( /products/cohesity-smartfiles-reviews ) in conjunction with Cohesity SpanFS ( /products/cohesity-spanfs-reviews ) for network NAS ( /categories/nas ) storage...

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What do you like most about Pure Storage FlashBlade?

The tool's most valuable feature is its fast performance, especially in handling snapshots. It helps during power outages when we need to quickly move data between different data centers. It ensure...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Pure Storage FlashBlade?

The pricing for FlashBlade is between cheap and moderate. FlashBlade is worth the money due to the experience and performance it delivers, including quick response times.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Pure Storage FlashBlade?

Its configuration should be easier. There should be easier language for the configuration.

See all answers

Comparisons

MinIO vs Cohesity SmartFiles

Compared 51% of the time

Dell PowerScale (Isilon) vs Cohesity SmartFiles

Compared 27% of the time

Qumulo vs Cohesity SmartFiles

Compared 22% of the time

More Cohesity SmartFiles Competitors

Dell PowerScale (Isilon) vs Pure Storage FlashBlade

Compared 20% of the time

Red Hat Ceph Storage vs Pure Storage FlashBlade

Compared 11% of the time

MinIO vs Pure Storage FlashBlade

Compared 11% of the time

VAST Data vs Pure Storage FlashBlade

Compared 10% of the time

Pure Storage FlashArray vs Pure Storage FlashBlade

Compared 9% of the time

More Pure Storage FlashBlade Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

File and Object Storage

June 2025

Download Cohesity SmartFiles product report

Buyer's Guide

Pure Storage FlashBlade

June 2025

Download Pure Storage FlashBlade product report

Overview

Cohesity SmartFiles is a versatile platform for file sharing, collaboration, data protection, disaster recovery, analytics, archiving, and compliance.

The solution centralizes and simplifies data management tasks, integrating seamlessly with existing workflows and easily scaling to meet growing storage needs. Advanced search, streamlined management, integration, and robust security are key features valued by users.

Cohesity

FlashBlade is the industry’s most advanced scale-out storage for unstructured data, powered by a modern, massively parallel architecture to consolidate complex data silos (like backup appliances and data lakes) and accelerate tomorrow’s discoveries and insights.

Pure Storage

Sample Customers

1. Acer 2. Adobe 3. AIG 4. Airbus 5. Allstate 6. Amazon 7. American Express 8. Aon 9. Apple 10. ATT 11. Autodesk 12. Bank of America 13. Barclay's 14. Bayer 15. BlackRock 16. Boeing 17. BNP Paribas 18. Cisco 19. Coca-Cola 20. Comcast 21. Dell 22. Deutsche Bank 23. Equinix 24. ExxonMobil 25. Ford 26. GE 27. Google 28. HP 29. IBM 30. Intel 31. JPMorgan Chase 32. Kroger

ServiceNow, Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, Dominos, Man AHL

Buyer's Guide

File and Object Storage

June 2025

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