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Panasas ActiveStor vs Panzura CloudFS comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 3, 2026

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

Panasas ActiveStor
Ranking in NAS
22nd
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Panzura CloudFS
Ranking in NAS
5th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
14
Ranking in other categories
File System Software (2nd), Cloud Storage (6th), Cloud Storage Gateways (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the NAS category, the mindshare of Panasas ActiveStor is 1.7%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Panzura CloudFS is 2.6%, down from 3.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
NAS Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Panzura CloudFS2.6%
Panasas ActiveStor1.7%
Other95.7%
NAS
 

Featured Reviews

MW
Project Manager at Realnux
A stable solution with good performance and bandwidth
The tool's setup is not difficult. The deployment is completed within two to three days and we would require three engineers to handle the process. First, we need to install the software which can take around two to three hours. Next, comes the configuration and connection to the central network which is complex. It can take about eight to ten hours to complete.
Anil Rahulwar - PeerSpot reviewer
L3 Storage Engineer at Capgemini
Global collaboration on large design files has become faster, more secure, and reliably governed
Improvements for Panzura CloudFS can be challenging, as the product is very powerful, but performance at scale sometimes requires tuning. Some organizations report latency spikes when handling extremely large datasets with high concurrency. Improvements in real-time sync speed are required. Stronger support for multi-cloud or hybrid deployments would reduce vendor lock-in, and enhanced security could include expanded zero-trust access controls. Enhancing real-time sync speeds across continents and built-in metadata tagging for smarter queries would also be beneficial. Additionally, while Panzura CloudFS is optimized for office and edge clients, more native mobile apps or lightweight remote access options would facilitate secure collaboration for field teams. Automatic file tagging or classification would expedite searching across millions of files.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"We've found the product to be quite flexible."
"The stability is excellent and we've found the product's performance to be very good."
"I am impressed with the tool's performance and bandwidth."
"For instance, if I'm in India but need to access data in China or Spain, it simplifies the process and enhances collaboration."
"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."
"We consolidated every file share and NAS in the organization over to Panzura CloudFS; it has done a great job with that."
"Panzura CloudFS has helped to increase the network resilience by 100%."
"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. We don't have to maintain a huge on-prem storage array, which is nice. It just works, and we haven't had any issues this whole time."
"Panzura CloudFS is an excellent enterprise file system solution that simplifies collaboration, enhances data accessibility, and delivers reliable cloud-backed storage management across multiple locations."
"Panzura has not increased its data storage costs."
"Its most valuable features are the collaboration, the file snapshots, and the data protection the solution provides."
 

Cons

"The solution is quite expensive."
"We have received complaints from customers that the tool is not easy to use. The tool's local technical service is slow. The solution is good for Linux customers and not for customers with other operating systems like Windows. The solution should provide storage without client software integration."
"There are some features in Panzura CloudFS that are not up to standard. The initial deployment takes a long time, and the administration of these deployments requires specialized people."
"There could be a slightly better dashboard or a better pane of glass. When something goes wrong somewhere, there should be a little bit better alerting with issues before they become a big problem."
"There are a few file types that do not work well with Panzura CloudFS. Specifically, the GIS data formats, such as a geo database, have been found better kept outside of Panzura CloudFS."
"It is a little costly. The NFS service needs development. While Windows and SMB are effective, the NFS service shows some lag, making it a pain point for our many clients who use Linux devices."
"Improvements for Panzura CloudFS can be challenging, as the product is very powerful, but performance at scale sometimes requires tuning."
"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."
"I would say that improving user interface and accessibility is really key."
"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."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution's price is reasonable."
"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 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."
"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."
"Overall, it is quite costly compared to NetApp and similar solutions."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Construction Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business1
Midsize Enterprise8
Large Enterprise9
 

Questions from the Community

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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

ActiveStor
Panzura Freedom
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Advanced Mask Technology Center Airbus Argonne National Laboratory The University of Texas at Dallas School of Arts Technology and Emerging Communication Башнефть Boeing Bosch California Academy of Sciences Caltech Canon Case Western Reserve University Conoco Phillips Deluxe DirecTV Fairfield Technologies United States Federal Reserve Garvan Institute of Medical Research Goodyear Halliburton Harvard Medical School Honeywell In-Depth Geophysical Intel Kawasaki Lockheed Martin 3M Magseis Fairfield Mammal Studios The Man Group McLaren Mercedes-Benz MINES ParisTech NASA US Navy National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center NBCUniversal National Institutes of Health Nio National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Northrup Grumman Novartis Partners Healthcare Procter & Gamble PGS Pratt & Whitney Rutherford Appleton Lab Siemens Sim International Sinopec Solers Square Cnix TGS Toyota Motorsport GMBH Toppan Turner UMass Medical School United Technologies University of Georgia University of California Los Angeles University of Minnesota University of Notre Dame University of California San Diego Center for Microbiome Innovation Whiskytree
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 Panasas ActiveStor vs. Panzura CloudFS and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
909,725 professionals have used our research since 2012.