Storage
Object storage
Exact match
What's different
S3 has 'buckets'; Azure has storage accounts → containers → blobs. Google Cloud Storage offers multi-region and dual-region buckets natively.
Storage · Object storage
Amazon S3 equivalent in Azure and Google Cloud
Amazon S3 vs Azure Blob Storage vs Cloud Storage
Object storage, side by side on AWS, Azure and Google Cloud. They're a near 1:1 match, so a migration is mostly configuration.
Key differences at a glance
| Aspect | AWS | Azure | Google Cloud |
|---|---|---|---|
| Structure | Bucket → object | Storage account → container → blob | Bucket → object |
| Maximum object size | 50 TB | About 190.7 TiB (block blob) | 5 TiB |
| Storage classes | Standard, Intelligent-Tiering, Standard-IA, One Zone-IA, Glacier Instant / Flexible Retrieval, Glacier Deep Archive | Hot, Cool, Cold, Archive | Standard, Nearline, Coldline, Archive |
| Minimum storage duration (cold tiers) | Standard-IA 30 days; Glacier Instant & Flexible 90; Deep Archive 180 | Cool 30 days; Cold 90; Archive 180 | Nearline 30 days; Coldline 90; Archive 365 |
| Automatic tiering | S3 Intelligent-Tiering | Lifecycle management rules | Autoclass |
| Consistency | Strong read-after-write | Strong | Strong |
When to choose which
AWS
You need the broadest ecosystem: almost every tool speaks the S3 API.
Azure
You're in the Microsoft ecosystem, or need very large single objects.
Google Cloud
You want multi-region or dual-region buckets and fast archive retrieval (Archive returns data in milliseconds).
Migration tips
- Watch minimum storage durations: deleting cold data early still bills the full minimum period.
- Azure has an extra layer (storage account), which sets redundancy and networking for everything inside it.
- For large migrations, use the cloud's transfer service (DataSync, AzCopy / Storage Mover, Storage Transfer Service), and budget for egress from the source cloud.
Details for Amazon S3 verified November 2026 against official documentation: AWS: Amazon S3 objects overview · Azure Blob Storage · Google Cloud: Storage Transfer Service known limitations.
Quick answers
- What is the Azure equivalent of Amazon S3?
- The Azure equivalent of Amazon S3 is Azure Blob Storage. They're a near 1:1 match, so a migration is mostly configuration.
- What is the Google Cloud equivalent of Amazon S3?
- The Google Cloud equivalent of Amazon S3 is Cloud Storage. They're a near 1:1 match, so a migration is mostly configuration.
- What is the AWS equivalent of Azure Blob Storage?
- The AWS equivalent of Azure Blob Storage is Amazon S3. They're a near 1:1 match, so a migration is mostly configuration.
- What is the Google Cloud equivalent of Azure Blob Storage?
- The Google Cloud equivalent of Azure Blob Storage is Cloud Storage. They're a near 1:1 match, so a migration is mostly configuration.
- What is the AWS equivalent of Cloud Storage?
- The AWS equivalent of Cloud Storage is Amazon S3. They're a near 1:1 match, so a migration is mostly configuration.
- What is the Azure equivalent of Cloud Storage?
- The Azure equivalent of Cloud Storage is Azure Blob Storage. They're a near 1:1 match, so a migration is mostly configuration.