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Microsoft Azure Block Storage vs Microsoft Azure File 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:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
4.3
Microsoft Azure Block Storage offers significant cost savings and ease of management, proving valuable for data backup and disaster recovery.
Sentiment score
2.5
Microsoft Azure File Storage offers effective file sharing and potential cost savings, making it ideal for medium-sized businesses.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
5.0
Microsoft Azure Block Storage support is responsive for priority issues, but delays and expertise inconsistencies challenge users.
Sentiment score
6.4
Microsoft Azure File Storage support quality varies by user status and subscription, with generally positive feedback but some noted delays.
Support quality is good, but the main issue is the delay in handling tickets.
The response time for enterprise support needs improvement.
The perspective documentation is good.
Microsoft technical support is very prompt.
As and when we require, they are able to provide solutions or guide us toward solutions.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
6.8
Microsoft Azure Block Storage offers reliable scalability, supporting auto-scaling and manual scaling to meet diverse enterprise requirements efficiently.
Sentiment score
6.5
Microsoft Azure File Storage is praised for scalable, adaptive infrastructure, supporting various enterprise sizes with efficient, flexible cloud capabilities.
The ability to scale is well-supported.
It is a significant advantage of the product.
We are on a premium plan, which should handle scalability automatically.
We successfully handled a huge transaction during an iPhone launch without any issues.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.5
Azure Block Storage is generally stable, with high ratings, though some large users report regional reliability concerns.
Sentiment score
6.5
Microsoft Azure File Storage is stable and reliable, though occasional VPN disconnects and challenges with large files are noted.
It isn't as stable as sound storage systems in a premise environment.
Overall, the stability is very good.
None of the other storage vendors have all these features so easily manageable and fast to set up as Block Storage.
I rate the stability of Microsoft Azure File Storage as a seven out of ten.
We sometimes encounter glitches with bigger files, but everything else works as expected.
 

Room For Improvement

Microsoft Azure Block Storage needs better documentation, UI, support, pricing flexibility, security, third-party integration, and performance improvement.
Microsoft Azure File Storage needs transparency, better usability, and enhancements in migration, performance, security, and predictive tools.
Its compatibility with various platforms could be enhanced to allow for a seamless operation across different cloud environments.
Some alternatives are cheaper and available for long trial periods before the payment.
Enabling SFTP on Microsoft Azure Block Storage didn’t allow us to get the IP address, as Azure doesn’t support it.
Some chunking logics need to be better to address issues with processing bigger files.
There is a limitation on the storage capacity, like four terabytes.
The information is not readily available on the internet, so we have to double-check and understand everything.
 

Setup Cost

Microsoft Azure Block Storage offers pay-as-you-go pricing, seen as competitive yet pricey, with discounts available for specific usage.
Microsoft Azure File Storage pricing lacks transparency, often higher than competitors, but offers scalability with pay-as-you-go and discounts.
For medium-sized companies, especially when discussing cost and scalability, it can be quite expensive.
The cost for Azure Data Factory, utilized for intensive data migration, was high but expected, as it's a one-time activity.
It is reasonable, however, it can be cheaper.
I would rate it three or three and a half out of ten on the pricing scale.
I would rate the pricing of Microsoft Azure File Storage seven or eight, where one is high and ten is low.
The pricing for Microsoft Azure File Storage is five out of ten, not so expensive and not so low.
 

Valuable Features

Microsoft Azure Block Storage offers scalable, reliable storage with encryption, easy management, and seamless integration, supporting diverse data types and fast access.
Microsoft Azure File Storage excels in security, scalability, ease of integration, user-friendliness, reliability, cost-effectiveness, and global accessibility.
The tool allows me to download to my device, control access, and manage data with ease.
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.
I can store data, use the storage account as a queue, and the pricing is also quite economical.
It is satisfying our requirements with encryption and security features in place.
File storage is complemented by OCR with Azure Cognitive Service.
Microsoft Azure File Storage saves time compared to AWS.
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Azure Block Storage
Ranking in Public Cloud Storage Services
13th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
65
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Microsoft Azure File Storage
Ranking in Public Cloud Storage Services
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
52
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Public Cloud Storage Services category, the mindshare of Microsoft Azure Block Storage is 1.0%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Azure File Storage is 9.6%, down from 13.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Public Cloud Storage Services Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Microsoft Azure File Storage9.6%
Microsoft Azure Block Storage1.0%
Other89.4%
Public Cloud Storage Services
 

Featured Reviews

MatsHagberg Olsson2 - PeerSpot reviewer
Empowers secure data management with affordable tools and minimal hassle
The most valuable feature is that it's very affordable in comparison to competitors. The absolute best feature is the Azure Storage Explorer tool. The tool allows me to download to my device, control access, and manage data with ease. Additionally, the joint use of Azure portal further facilitates management depending on my location.
PrashanthR - PeerSpot reviewer
Seamlessly streamlines document processing with advanced file storage and OCR integration
We need to store data over there. We process documents through Kofax Time is a major benefit, as well as ease of processing. With configuration, it happens quite easily, and we can finish tasks early. File storage is complemented by OCR with Azure Cognitive Service. This enhances the processing…
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
14%
Computer Software Company
13%
Healthcare Company
10%
Performing Arts
10%
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business25
Midsize Enterprise13
Large Enterprise24
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business17
Midsize Enterprise8
Large Enterprise24
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Microsoft Azure Block Storage?
We use the solution to develop SaaS platforms on Azure. We utilize various Microsoft components like block storage and databases for this purpose.
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?
Based on my experience, the feature they need to introduce for Microsoft Azure Block Storage is key rotations and asymmetric keys for access. Though we have solutions, it is lacking in these areas.
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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Azure File Storage?
The pricing for Microsoft Azure File Storage is five out of ten, not so expensive and not so low.
 

Also Known As

MS Azure Block Storage
MS Azure File Storage
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Mazda, BlinkBox, Rakuten Showtime, Xbox One, Serko, ChronoDrive
Talon, Camden
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Azure Block Storage vs. Microsoft Azure File Storage and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
869,202 professionals have used our research since 2012.