Object storage · AWS vs Google Cloud
Amazon S3 vs Cloud Storage
The Google Cloud equivalent of Amazon S3 is Cloud Storage, which stores objects in buckets in regional, dual-region, or multi-region locations.
Side-by-side comparison
| Aspect | Amazon Web Services | Google Cloud |
|---|---|---|
| Service | Amazon S3 | Cloud Storage |
| Lifecycle | Generally available | Generally available |
| What it is | Object storage in buckets, with 11 nines of durability, a choice of storage classes, versioning, replication, Object Lock, and fine-grained IAM and bucket policies. General purpose buckets hold any object type; directory, table, and vector buckets are specialized bucket types. | Object storage in buckets with regional, dual-region, and multi-region locations, storage classes, and strong global consistency. |
| Pricing model | Per GB-month by storage class, plus per-request charges, retrieval fees for IA and Glacier classes, and data transfer out. | Billed per GB-month by storage class and location, plus operations (per 10,000), retrieval fees for colder classes, and network egress. |
| Docs | Amazon S3 docs | Cloud Storage docs |
| Pricing page | Amazon S3 pricing | Cloud Storage pricing |
Key differences
- Bucket location is chosen at creation; dual-region and multi-region buckets replicate across regions without a separate replication setup.
- All storage classes, including Archive, return data in milliseconds; there is no restore step like S3 Glacier Flexible Retrieval.
- Bucket names are globally unique, as in S3.
Pricing summary
Pricing models only. No prices are quoted because they change by region and over time.
- AWS
- Per GB-month by storage class, plus per-request charges, retrieval fees for IA and Glacier classes, and data transfer out. Amazon S3 pricing →
- GCP
- Billed per GB-month by storage class and location, plus operations (per 10,000), retrieval fees for colder classes, and network egress. Cloud Storage pricing →
And on Azure?
Direct match Azure's equivalent is Azure Blob Storage. AWS vs Azure comparison →
FAQ
What is the Google Cloud equivalent of Amazon S3?
The Google Cloud equivalent of Amazon S3 is Cloud Storage, which stores objects in buckets in regional, dual-region, or multi-region locations.
How does pricing compare between Amazon S3 and Cloud Storage?
AWS: Per GB-month by storage class, plus per-request charges, retrieval fees for IA and Glacier classes, and data transfer out. Google Cloud: Billed per GB-month by storage class and location, plus operations (per 10,000), retrieval fees for colder classes, and network egress. Check the official pricing pages for current rates.
What is the Azure equivalent?
Azure Blob Storage (direct match). The Azure equivalent of Amazon S3 is Azure Blob Storage.