5 Cheap S3-Compatible Storage Providers in 2026

5 Cheap S3-Compatible Storage Providers in 2026

Jonas Scholz - Co-Founder von sliplane.ioJonas Scholz
4 min

Cheap S3-compatible storage is not just about the lowest price per GB.

That is the trap. A provider can look cheap for storage and then quietly become expensive when users download files, your app makes lots of API requests, or you restore a backup.

This post compares cheap S3-compatible storage providers in 2026, with the usual caveat: always check the current pricing page before moving a serious workload.

What "cheap" means

For S3-compatible storage, cheap means the whole bill is reasonable.

That includes:

  • Storage price
  • Egress price
  • Request/API fees
  • Retrieval fees
  • Minimum storage durations
  • Included transfer
  • Free tier
  • How often your app reads and writes objects

The cheapest provider for backups is not always the cheapest provider for public file delivery.

Quick comparison

ProviderCheap because...Watch out forBest for
Sliplane5 EUR / 250 GB, no per-bucket fees, egress fees, or request feesBlock pricingApps and predictable storage
Backblaze B2Low per-TB storageEgress after allowanceBackups and archives
WasabiNo egress/API feesMinimum duration behaviorLarge stable datasets
Cloudflare R2Free egress and free tierRequest fees after free tierPublic assets
DigitalOcean Spaces$5 bundle with storage/transferAdditional transfer/storageSmall apps

1. Sliplane Object Storage

Sliplane Object Storage is cheap when you want predictable app storage.

You get 250 GB for 5 EUR/month, excluding tax. The first GB is free. There are no egress fees, no ingress fees, and no request fees.

That makes the real bill easy to understand. If your app stores 250 GB and users download files, you still do not get a separate bandwidth bill from Sliplane Object Storage.

Sliplane does not charge per bucket, so splitting uploads, backups, staging assets, and customer files into separate buckets does not change the bill.

Use Sliplane if:

  • You want cheap S3-compatible storage for apps.
  • You want no egress or request fees.
  • You want German storage.
  • You hate storage pricing calculators.

Skip it if:

  • You only store a few GB and want the largest possible free tier.
  • You need archive classes.
  • You need storage in many regions.
Try Sliplane Object Storage

Create S3-compatible storage in Germany with no per-bucket fees, no egress fees, no request fees, and simple 5 EUR per 250 GB pricing.

2. Backblaze B2

Backblaze B2 is one of the cheapest well-known S3-compatible providers at TB scale.

As of July 2026, Backblaze lists B2 Cloud Storage at $6.95 per TB per month, with free transactions and free egress up to 3x average monthly storage. Additional egress is $0.01 per GB.

Use Backblaze B2 if:

  • You store lots of backup/archive data.
  • Your downloads are moderate.
  • You want a low per-TB price.

Skip it if:

  • You need unlimited free egress.
  • You need German storage.
  • You want storage in your app platform.

3. Wasabi

Wasabi is cheap for large hot-storage workloads that stick around.

It has no egress fees and no API request fees. As of July 2026, Wasabi lists pay-as-you-go pricing starting at $7.99 per TB per month.

The important detail is minimum duration/deleted-object behavior. Wasabi can be great for long-lived objects and less great for short-lived temporary files.

Use Wasabi if:

  • You want no egress/API fees.
  • You store large datasets.
  • Your files are retained for a while.

Skip it if:

  • Your app creates and deletes files constantly.
  • You want a German provider.
  • You want app-hosting integration.

4. Cloudflare R2

Cloudflare R2 can be cheap if egress is the expensive part of your current storage bill.

R2 Standard storage is listed at $0.015 per GB-month, with free egress. The free tier includes 10 GB-month storage, 1 million Class A operations, and 10 million Class B operations per month.

Request fees are the thing to estimate.

Use R2 if:

  • You serve lots of data.
  • You already use Cloudflare.
  • You can estimate request volume.

Skip it if:

  • You want no request fees.
  • You want German/EU storage positioning.
  • You have many tiny reads.

5. DigitalOcean Spaces

DigitalOcean Spaces is cheap and simple for small apps.

As of July 2026, Spaces starts at $5/month with 250 GiB storage and 1 TiB outbound transfer. Additional storage and transfer are billed separately.

Use DigitalOcean Spaces if:

  • You already use DigitalOcean.
  • You want a small-app bundle.
  • Your transfer fits inside the included amount.

Skip it if:

  • You want no egress limits.
  • You want German storage.
  • You want no request/egress complexity at all.

Which cheap S3 provider should you choose?

If you care most about...Pick
Predictable cheap app storageSliplane
Lowest per-TB backup storageBackblaze B2
No egress/API fees for long-lived dataWasabi
Free egress and Cloudflare ecosystemCloudflare R2
Simple $5 app bucket bundleDigitalOcean Spaces

Conclusion

The cheapest S3-compatible provider depends on your access pattern.

For backups, Backblaze B2 and Wasabi are strong. For public downloads, Cloudflare R2 is strong. For small apps, DigitalOcean Spaces is easy.

For predictable app storage with no egress fees and no request fees, Sliplane Object Storage is hard to beat.

For the Europe-specific version, read 5 Cheap Object Storage Providers in Europe in 2026.

Cheap S3-compatible storage without surprise fees

Sliplane Object Storage gives you 250 GB for 5 EUR/month with no egress fees and no request fees.