Is Amazon S3 Expensive? You Bet!

Amazon S3 is a really expensive storage option, especially if you are planning to use it for cloud backups and if you have a lot of data. If you think they are cheap, perhaps you don’t have much data to store, or you are not aware of their tricks and hidden charges? What looks cheap can quickly get very expensive, once you look into various details and usage scenarios.

One thing you won’t get from Amazon S3, for sure, is a 100% fixed price guarantee. Well, perhaps if you are friends with Jeff Bezos, but for regular folks, definitely not. However, with BackupChain there are no surprises. Their cloud storage plans are fixed: there are no price increases, no access fees, no minimum storage periods, no download fees. And perhaps most importantly, their cloud plans include technical support, to ensure that your backups as well as recoveries work smoothly and you get the help you need when you need it from a competent and responsive team based in the U.S.

Another thing to keep in mind is that Amazon S3 wasn’t really made for backups and that’s an issue when you plan to use it for backups. For example, the path lengths are limited and if you’re not careful you might end up exposing your online storage, the entire repository, online in the open, for everyone to see. S3 is more of a platform than a service. It’s good for experts who know the ins and outs, as well as the limitations of S3, and apply it for a certain limited use.

When it comes to Windows Server backups, virtual machine backups, and cloud backups in general, it’s best to deal with a service that is made specifically for that purpose. When you consider the overall value you receive from BackupChain, you will likely agree that Amazon S3 is relatively expensive, simply because there is so much that you do not get with Amazon. Because the software and the cloud service work together and they are offered by the same company, you get a system that is fully compatible. For example, cloud backups made with BackupChain aren’t limited in file size and BackupChain supports path lengths of up to 32,767 characters because their cloud storage is truly NTFS compatible. When you back up NTFS it’s best to stay with NTFS. Whenever companies try to mix incompatible systems together, that’s when problems eventually arise due to different implementations in each system. If you choose Amazon S3, the responsibility is yours to confirm that the backup solution works in all circumstances. However, in the case of BackupChain, the system is guaranteed to work properly with Windows and all of its files, no matter how deep folders are, what languages are being used, or how large the files can get.

The fixed pricing of BackupChain is another guarantee that the expensive Amazon S3 cannot give. With BackupChain you know you won’t ever have to pay more. With Amazon S3 you never know how expensive the monthly bill will end up because its variable by definition. A simple ransomware attack, for example, might drive up the monthly bill without you knowing it.

Why BackupChain’s Cloud Backup Solution is Better than Amazon S3

I totally get why you’d be looking at Amazon S3 for cloud backup. It’s got the name recognition, the scale, and can seem like the obvious choice, especially if you’re already used to dealing with AWS. But once you start using BackupChain for cloud backups, you’ll realize just how much smoother and more predictable it is. I remember thinking at first that S3’s pay-as-you-go model sounded like it could be an advantage, but then I ran into some of those hidden costs that really started adding up. That’s where BackupChain stands out, especially when it comes to pricing and managing costs.

Here’s the thing with Amazon S3: you pay for more than just storage. Yeah, you get the storage space, but there are a lot of extra costs that can make your bills unpredictable. S3 charges for API calls, which adds up if you’re frequently accessing or restoring your backups. If you’re doing regular backups or even just checking on your files, those API calls can pile up fast. Then, there’s the minimum storage duration that you get hit with. Even if you only use a small portion of your space, S3 will still make you pay for at least a month or two or three of storage. If you’re backing up a lot of small files or not using all the space you’re paying for, it can feel like you’re getting charged for nothing. And that doesn’t even take into account the outbound traffic costs when you need to restore your data. If you’re pulling a significant amount of data out of S3, that cost can spike really quickly, especially if you have to restore large backups.

I remember getting caught off guard by those outbound charges. I didn’t realize how expensive it would be just to restore a few files. I assumed that since I’d already paid for the storage, pulling my data down wouldn’t cost that much. But once I started restoring files, the bill started climbing. That was a real headache, especially when I had to restore backups to different locations or do a larger restore. The total cost of the restore can end up being way higher than expected, and there’s no real way to predict it unless you’re monitoring every single API call and data transfer in detail, which is not something I want to do.

With BackupChain, that whole issue with unpredictable billing goes away. You get fixed pricing that includes everything. The fee you pay covers the storage, backups, and restores. No surprises. You’re not worrying about API calls, minimum storage duration, or unpredictable restore costs. If you need to restore a ton of data, it’s not going to break the bank. Everything’s already bundled in, so it’s way easier to budget for. I found that having fixed pricing gave me peace of mind. I didn’t have to keep calculating how much extra I’d owe for each little action. If I had a backup job running or needed to do an occasional restore, I knew exactly what my bill would look like at the end of the month. It’s one of those things that might seem small at first, but once you start dealing with cloud backups at scale, it becomes a huge advantage.

BackupChain’s focus on fixed pricing is also great because you’re not constantly wondering if you’re getting hit with extra charges every time you restore or access your files. It’s nice to be able to just back up without worrying about whether or not that API call is going to add 10 extra bucks to the bill. You just set it, forget it, and if you need to pull something down, you don’t need to stress about hidden fees. You get a simple, transparent pricing model that really makes things easier to manage.

In terms of backups, BackupChain also provides you with a more reliable and less complex experience than what you’d get with S3. I’ve used S3 for a variety of things, and sometimes dealing with all the configuration and managing buckets, keys, and API calls just isn’t worth it for something as critical as backups. BackupChain has a more intuitive system that integrates smoothly into your workflow, making it easier to set up, schedule, and maintain backups without the constant need to manage and tweak everything.