Cloud Backup Costs 2026: B2 vs. Wasabi vs. Storj Update

In May 2026 we published the comparison of common cloud backup providers: Cloud backup provider comparison: B2, Storj, Wasabi, AWS. Several months have passed since then and prices and conditions have shifted in several places, so it is time for an update.

Important note up front: we do not quote concrete prices here in detail, because they may change again between writing and reading. All relevant provider URLs are linked — please consult the official pricing pages before making a decision. What we deliver here is the structural overview, the models, the trade-offs and realistic use-case recommendations.

What Has Changed Since May 2026

Three movements are notable:

1. Backblaze B2 has further expanded its free-egress partner model. With partner networks such as Cloudflare, Fastly and Bunny.net, egress is free in many constellations. For SMB backup restore tests, which mostly run via Fastly or direct access, this is a real TCO advantage.

2. Wasabi has adjusted its minimum storage period. The “90-day rule” (deleted or overwritten data is still charged for 90 days) remains in place, but Wasabi has expanded regional storage tiers. Important for EU compliance: explicitly select an EU region (Frankfurt, Amsterdam).

3. Storj has consolidated. The decentralised model is more mature in 2026, more storage nodes in the EU. Egress model still usage-based, no minimum terms.

4. Hetzner Storage Box as a European alternative gained significant popularity in 2026. S3-compatible object storage at very low prices and without egress fees in the standard variant.

The Providers Overview — Structural Trade-offs

Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage (pricing page)

• Model: pay-as-you-go for storage and egress
• Egress via bandwidth partners (Cloudflare, Fastly, Bunny.net) often free
• S3-compatible API, mature
• Region: USA, EU (Amsterdam)
• Pro: easy to calculate, good reputation, good tooling integration (Restic, Veeam, Duplicati)
• Con: no “cold” tier — restore is always “warm” and priced accordingly

Wasabi (pricing page)

• Model: pay-per-GB storage, no egress charge in the standard plan
• 90-day minimum storage rule (data counts for at least 90 days)
• S3-compatible API
• Region: USA, EU (Frankfurt, Amsterdam, London)
• Pro: no egress surprise, good for frequent restore tests
• Con: 90-day rule makes backups with very short retention expensive

Storj (pricing page)

• Model: decentralised, data distributed across many nodes
• Storage and egress priced separately, both low
• S3-compatible API, native SDK
• Region: globally distributed — explicitly select region for EU compliance
• Pro: low pricing, decentralised architecture, good for multi-region resilience
• Con: less established with classic backup tools, latency can vary

Hetzner Storage Box (pricing page)

• Model: fixed monthly flat rate per storage size
• Included traffic in large volumes
• Access via SFTP, SMB, WebDAV, FTPS — no native S3 on the classic Storage Box
• Hetzner offers separately Object Storage with S3 API (pricing)
• Region: Germany (Falkenstein, Nuremberg)
• Pro: cheap, German provider, GDPR-uncomplicated
• Con: no S3 API on Storage Box itself — for Restic/Borg etc. via SFTP backend

AWS S3 Glacier Deep Archive (pricing page)

• Model: extremely low storage price, high egress costs, long retrieval times (hours to a day)
• 180-day minimum storage
• Region: globally available, EU regions present
• Pro: cheapest storage price on the market — useful for long-term archive
• Con: restore takes long, egress expensive, complexity in calculation

Calculation Examples — Volumes 1 TB, 10 TB, 100 TB per Month

Since we do not quote concrete prices, we show the relative behaviour of the models for typical use cases. Calculate your own numbers with the respective providers’ pricing calculators.

Use case A: 1 TB backup, monthly full restore test (1 TB egress)

Egress share dominates here. Wasabi and Hetzner are clearly ahead (no egress). B2 with Cloudflare partner also cheap. AWS Deep Archive unsuitable — retrieval costs make every test painful.

Use case B: 10 TB backup, quarterly sample restore (about 100 GB egress/quarter)

Very low egress share. Storj becomes cost-attractive here, B2 too. Wasabi good. Hetzner Storage Box is often number one in price for German SMBs. Glacier Deep Archive conceivable for partial volumes with very long retention.

Use case C: 100 TB backup, annual restore test (100 TB egress/year)

Large-volume scenario. Hetzner with its flat-rate strategy gets interesting, Wasabi with no-egress pricing too. B2 depends heavily on whether egress runs via a free partner. With Glacier Deep Archive the restore test alone would generate four- to five-figure egress costs — only sensible if restore is truly extremely rare (real archive).

Recommendation per Use Case

From our consulting practice:

Frequent restore tests, small to medium data volumes (SMBs with 1-10 TB):

• Wasabi (no egress, easy calculation)
• B2 with Cloudflare partner egress
• Hetzner Storage Box (German GDPR comfort zone)

Long-term archive with rare access (compliance, audit, GoBD data):

• AWS S3 Glacier Deep Archive for the “hard” retention (5+ years)
• Glacier Instant Retrieval if fast access is expected
• Storj for decentralised multi-region safety

Large-volume backup from storage systems (50-500 TB):

• Wasabi with own reserved-pricing negotiation
• Hetzner Object Storage for German provider preference
• Hybrid setup: local on TrueNAS plus cloud tier for off-site

3-2-1 for a TrueNAS with ZFS replication:

• Local: TrueNAS replication to a second single-controller NAS
• Cloud: Restic or Veeam with Wasabi/B2 or Hetzner as object storage target

Hidden Costs — What to Watch Out For

Four cost traps that are regularly overlooked in practice:

1. Egress costs on full restore. “What does a full restore cost?” should be calculated before signing. At 100 TB and Glacier Deep Archive the restore can be more expensive than a year of storage.

2. API calls. With backup solutions of high API frequency (many small chunks) PUT requests add up. B2 and AWS price requests separately; Wasabi and Hetzner bundle this.

3. Minimum storage periods. Wasabi 90 days, AWS Glacier 90/180 days. If backup retention is shorter than the minimum period, you still pay.

4. Region surcharges. EU regions are more expensive than US regions at some providers — but necessary for GDPR compliance.

GDPR Aspects

Cloud backups typically contain personal data. Mandatory points in 2026:

• DPA (data processing agreement) with the cloud provider
• Region in the EU — or at least standard contractual clauses plus risk assessment for third countries
• Client-side encryption — the cloud provider only sees encrypted data (see also our parallel article Backup encryption: key management done right)
• Document deletion processes — when GDPR right-to-be-forgotten kicks in, it must be clear how data is removed from backups (or why it is not proportionally possible)

Hetzner as a German company with Frankfurt/Falkenstein locations offers the lowest GDPR overhead. The US providers (Backblaze, Wasabi, AWS) require a DPA and careful configuration of the EU region.

Hybrid Recommendation 2026: Local + Cloud

From our practice: the cost-optimised and most resilient variant for SMBs in 2026 is usually hybrid:

1. Local backup on TrueNAS or PBS for fast restores (RPO minutes, RTO hours)
2. Local replication to a second storage system for redundancy
3. Cloud backup tier for off-site 3-2-1 (RPO hours to a day, RTO several hours on full restore)

Example setup: PBS on local storage, with sync job to Wasabi or Hetzner Object Storage as off-site. Encrypted client-side. Restic with local REST server plus additional backend on cloud.

Conclusion

Cloud backup costs in 2026 are clearer than two years ago — the main providers have consolidated, models have become clearer. Wasabi and Hetzner are the most common recommendations for German SMBs in 2026, B2 stays interesting for customers with established tooling integration, Glacier Deep Archive covers the real long-term archive.

Before any decision: project own volumes, factor in own restore-test frequency, check own GDPR needs. The official pricing pages give the current state — this overview is the structural orientation.

DATAZONE configures the backup tier appropriately to the storage strategy and takes over ongoing monitoring — from initial setup to monthly cost reporting.