AWS S3 Glacier compared to Cloud Cold Storage
AWS: Powering Compute & Hot Cloud Storage
Amazon Web Services (AWS) leads the cloud industry with scalable compute services like EC2, letting businesses run workloads without hardware constraints. AWS S3 offers versatile storage tiers: low-latency S3 Standard for frequent access, cost-efficient Standard-IA for less-used data, and Glacier for archival. While AWS provides robust durability and lifecycle management, retrievals, API calls, and data egress come with additional fees.
Cloud Cold Storage: Smarter Nearline Storage
Cloud Cold Storage is built for data that doesn’t need constant access. With a flat-rate pricing model, zero retrieval or egress fees, and proven 99.999% durability, it’s simple, predictable, and cost-effective. Perfect for backups, compliance records, or any nearline archive, Cloud Cold Storage delivers reliable storage without the complexities or hidden costs of traditional cloud archival services.
Cloud Cold Storage vs AWS S3 Glacier (Flexible Retrieval)
Save up to 57% per terabyte compared with AWS S3 Glacier Flexible Retrieval, with no retrieval or egress fees.
| Comparison | Cloud Cold Storage | AWS S3 Glacier (Flexible Retrieval) |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing (per GB / month) | $0.00155 / GB-month ($1.55 per TB) | $0.0036 / GB-month (~$3.60 per TB) |
| Minimum storage duration | No minimum — billed monthly | 90 days minimum |
| Retrieval latency | Seconds to minutes (streamed from your dedicated media) | Minutes to hours depending on retrieval tier |
| Retrieval / egress fees | None — no API, egress or retrieval fees | Extra retrieval & restore fees apply |
| API & ecosystem | S3-compatible interface, simple migration | Full AWS S3 API support within AWS ecosystem |
| Durability & infrastructure | 99.999% durability; same datacentre provider as AWS/GCP/Azure hardware. No power required once written until data is requested. | 99.999999999% durability across AZs |
| Best fit | Low-cost nearline archive with instant streaming & predictable billing | AWS native archive with longer retrieval times |
All pricing shown as representative public cloud rates (US East example, October 2025). Actual costs vary by region and usage. Cloud Cold Storage pricing from CloudColdStorage.com.