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Google Cloud Storage Nearline vs Microsoft Azure Block Storage comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 1, 2024

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

Google Cloud Storage Nearline
Ranking in Public Cloud Storage Services
8th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
11
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Microsoft Azure Block Storage
Ranking in Public Cloud Storage Services
10th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
5.9
Number of Reviews
66
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Public Cloud Storage Services category, the mindshare of Google Cloud Storage Nearline is 6.9%, down from 9.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Azure Block Storage is 2.8%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Public Cloud Storage Services Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Google Cloud Storage Nearline6.9%
Microsoft Azure Block Storage2.8%
Other90.3%
Public Cloud Storage Services
 

Featured Reviews

Seamless integration with cloud services improves workflows but documentation needs enhancement
One area that needs improvement is the documentation, which I find to be disorganized and not user-friendly. The lack of comprehensive walkthrough guides for specific use cases makes it difficult to follow. To enhance the experience, more detailed examples, guides, and tutorials from start to finish would be beneficial. Additionally, the cost compared to other providers like Amazon could be regarded as a downside.
Ajai Jayakumar - PeerSpot reviewer
Solution Architect at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees
Has supported secure file sharing and data automation with minimal setup effort
The encryption feature in Microsoft Azure Block Storage is very good, and the security is excellent. It is easy to map the storage to the virtual servers and user desktops, which is also very beneficial. I can perform automations on the data, such as moving hot data and cold data, and I can select storage based on performance. The security provided by Microsoft around Microsoft Azure Block Storage is a very good function. The replication feature in Microsoft Azure Block Storage is a very good function. The analytic capabilities of Microsoft Azure Block Storage can help optimize resources. I usually work with a third-party tool; our data analytics team uses some custom-made tools for analytics data and dashboards, so we do not use the Microsoft dashboard; we are using a third-party dashboard. It is very easy to manage Microsoft Azure Block Storage. If you have good knowledge of it, it is very easy to manage. Microsoft Azure Block Storage service is a very good, 100% reliable service. It is highly scalable, and performance-wise and reliability-wise, it does not go down. It provides 99.9% uptime without downtime, so it is a very good feature. The backup and restoration efficiency of Microsoft Azure Block Storage is good.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It provides the necessary support and flexibility to manage data storage effectively, especially during times of variable data flow."
"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."
"There are no issues with the integration of Google Cloud Storage Nearline with other Google services."
"The data structure and the types of data that are supported are very good."
"It can isolate files and stop them from corrupting other files."
"Nearline is highly stable."
"Google is always introducing new features and tends to have a new release every month."
"I find the flexibility in storing documents or data and the ease of retrieval valuable with this solution."
"The solution has introduced cool-tier storage that allows us to store and save data."
"The most helpful features of Microsoft Azure Block Storage are the many use cases. Additionally, it can be locked down well and has two-factor authentication."
"The solution is easy to purchase and is a Microsoft product, making procurement straightforward."
"It provides secure cloud storage."
"The ability to increase and scale out is really easy, allowing us to manage a large amount of data with reduced dependency on scalability issues."
"It is easy to integrate with applications."
"RBAC, access control, soft delete, hard delete, and cool and hot storage tiers are some of the features I have found valuable in Azure Block storage."
"The absolute best feature is the Azure Storage Explorer tool."
 

Cons

"One area that needs improvement is the documentation, which I find to be disorganized and not user-friendly."
"The solution needs to offer better System Information and Event Management (SEIM). I'd like to discover how we could implement something like that within Google's cloud."
"The pricing is quite high."
"The UI could be a little bit more effective."
"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."
"The pricing could be improved. It's completely non-competitive at this time."
"Documentation is an area for improvement in Google Cloud Storage Nearline."
"They should provide more options or flexibility in terms of pricing."
"Support is an area where improvements can be made, particularly in response time for enterprise support."
"The folder search capabilities are not really up to par."
"Customer support could be improved, it can be difficult getting appropriate support."
"Overall, I would rate block storage as a six out of ten."
"Microsoft Azure Block Storage could improve by allowing the switching of the hot tier to the cold tier."
"The initial setup of Microsoft Azure Block Storage is more complex than Google Drive, but it is still not too difficult."
"Some alternatives are cheaper and available for long trial periods before the payment."
"Improving the pricing structure would be beneficial."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"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."
"We pay around $300 to $400 a month for some scenarios where consumption is limited. However, going forward, we're seeing the likelihood of the cost coming to around $2,000 as consumption rises."
"The price of Microsoft Azure Block Storage has a fair price. However, the price could be lower."
"I would rate the pricing as five out of ten."
"The price of Microsoft Azure Block Storage is less expensive than other solutions on the market, such as Cloud Storage from GCP."
"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a six or seven out of ten."
"The price of Microsoft Azure Block Storage could be less expensive."
"I use Microsoft Azure Block Storage's free version."
"I would rate the solution’s pricing a nine out of ten and it’s cheaper than Amazon S3."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
University
8%
Construction Company
15%
Marketing Services Firm
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Healthcare Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise2
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business26
Midsize Enterprise14
Large Enterprise25
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Google Cloud Storage Nearline?
My experience with the licensing and cost of Google Cloud Storage Nearline has been positive.
What needs improvement with Google Cloud Storage Nearline?
Documentation is an area for improvement in Google Cloud Storage Nearline. Documentation might cause some issues during deployment in future updates of Google Cloud Storage Nearline. Other than tha...
What is your primary use case for Google Cloud Storage Nearline?
I have integrated Google Cloud Storage Nearline with BigQuery for analytics.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Azure Block Storage?
Our experience with pricing has been positive. The budget for Microsoft Azure services has been within expectations for the last couple of months. The cost for Azure Data Factory ( /products/azure-...
What needs improvement with Microsoft Azure Block Storage?
For improvement in Microsoft Azure Block Storage, they can provide tiered level storages, maybe low-cost storages for storing archive data, but it is already there. I do not think there is much to ...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Azure Block Storage?
I am using Microsoft Azure Block Storage for file sharing, automation accounts, data storage, and archiving, and those are the main use cases.
 

Also Known As

No data available
MS Azure Block Storage
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Mazda, BlinkBox, Rakuten Showtime, Xbox One, Serko, ChronoDrive
Find out what your peers are saying about Google Cloud Storage Nearline vs. Microsoft Azure Block Storage and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
908,858 professionals have used our research since 2012.