S3 Compatible Storage Cost Comparison: Cloudflare R2, Digitalocean Spaces, Vultr etc
If you’re streaming videos online—whether it’s for a side project, a startup, or something bigger—finding the right place to store your content matters. There are a bunch of S3-compatible options out there, each with their own mix of pricing, speed, and features. In this post, I’ve compared some of the most popular ones like DigitalOcean, Cloudflare R2, Vultr, Storj, Wasabi, Backblaze B2, IDrive e2, and Scaleway. The goal is simple: help you figure out which one makes the most sense for your video streaming setup in 2025.
| Feature / Provider | DigitalOcean | Cloudflare R2 | Vultr | Storj | Wasabi | Backblaze B2 | IDrive e2 | Scaleway |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S3 Compatible | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Storage Cost | $0.02/GB | $0.015/GB | $0.02/GB | $0.004/GB | ~$0.0059/GB (1TB min) | $0.005/GB | $0.004/GB | €0.01/GB |
| Free Tier | 250GB + 1TB BW | Yes | 250GB + 1TB BW | No | No | 10GB storage + 1GB BW | 10GB free | 75GB free |
| Egress Fees | $0.01/GB (after 1TB) | Free (to Cloudflare CDN) | $0.01/GB | $0.007/GB | ✅ Free | $0.01/GB (free to CF) | 1TB free, then $0.01/GB | €0.02/GB |
| CDN Integration | ❌ Manual | ✅ Native w/ CF CDN | ❌ Manual | ❌ Not ideal | Via 3rd-party CDN | Via Cloudflare (Bandwidth Alliance) | Optional | Optional |
| Latency | 🟡 Moderate | 🟢 Very Low | 🟡 Moderate | 🔴 High (cold) | 🟢 Good | 🟢 Good | 🟢 Good | 🟢 Good |
| Request Cost (GET/PUT) | Included | ✅ Free | Included | ✅ Free | Included | Small fees per request | Small fees | Included |
| Best Use Case | Small streaming | Main streaming CDN | Small/medium streaming | Backup/archive | Large scale public streaming | Backup + affordable egress | Budget streaming | EU streaming |
| Notes | Simple pricing | No egress to CF CDN | Predictable cost | Cold storage, decentralized | 90-day retention min | S3-compatible via API | Competitive pricing | Based in Europe |
✅ TL;DR Recommendations:
- Best for public/global video streaming: Cloudflare R2, Wasabi
- Best for budget/low-traffic streaming: IDrive e2, Backblaze B2, Vultr
- Best for archival + occasional streaming: Storj, Backblaze B2
- Best in Europe: Scaleway