Wasabi: The Unknown S3 Storage Hero at an Incredible Price
Why I switched from AWS S3 to Wasabi for homelab backups — with a pricing breakdown, migration guide, and comparison with Backblaze B2.
When most people think about cloud object storage, AWS S3 immediately comes to mind. But there’s a hidden gem in the storage world that delivers the same S3-compatible experience at a fraction of the cost: Wasabi Hot Cloud Storage. If you’re tired of unpredictable AWS bills with egress fees that can eclipse your storage costs, it’s time to discover Wasabi.
How I’ve Used Wasabi
In my homelab environment, I’ve integrated Wasabi for several critical use cases:
- Long-term backups: Using tools like rclone and restic, I sync important data to Wasabi buckets for off-site disaster recovery
- Container image storage: Storing Docker/Podman container images that need to be accessible but don’t require the premium pricing of major cloud providers
- Archive storage: Historical logs, old project files, and documentation that must be retained but aren’t frequently accessed
- Continuous integration artifacts: Build outputs and release packages that need reliable, fast access without egress penalties
The beauty of Wasabi lies in its simplicity. Since it’s S3-compatible, I didn’t need to rewrite any scripts or change my backup workflows. I simply pointed my existing S3 tools to Wasabi’s endpoints, updated my credentials, and everything worked seamlessly.
Features of Wasabi: More Than Just Cheap Storage
Pricing That Actually Makes Sense
Wasabi’s pricing model is refreshingly straightforward: $6.99 per TB per month for storage in US and European regions. That’s it. No complicated tier structures, no surprise bills at the end of the month.
Compare this to AWS S3:
- AWS S3 Standard: ~$23.55 per TB/month for storage (first 50 TB)
- Plus egress fees: $90 per TB for data downloads
- Plus API request fees: GET, PUT, LIST operations all cost extra
Let’s look at a real-world example: storing 1 TB of data and downloading 10% of it (100 GB) per month:
- AWS S3: $32.55 ($23.55 storage + $9.00 egress)
- Wasabi: $6.99 (storage only, zero egress fees)
That’s 82% savings on a simple use case. For data-intensive workloads, the savings can reach 60-80% of total cloud storage costs.
S3 Compatibility: Drop-in Replacement
Wasabi implements the S3 API, which means:
- Full S3 API compatibility: Most S3 SDKs and tools work without modification
- Standard features: Versioning, lifecycle management, object tagging, and IAM policies
- Bucket policies: Fine-grained access control just like S3
- Event notifications: Trigger workflows based on object changes
Any tool that works with S3 generally works with Wasabi. This includes popular backup tools like Veeam, rclone, Duplicati, and Borg, as well as development frameworks using AWS SDKs.
No Egress Fees: Download Your Data Freely
This is Wasabi’s killer feature. Unlike AWS, which charges $0.09 per GB for downloads, Wasabi has zero egress fees. This makes Wasabi ideal for:
- Frequent backup testing and validation
- Content distribution (though consider a CDN for high-bandwidth needs)
- Development and testing environments where data moves frequently
- Disaster recovery scenarios where you might need to restore large datasets quickly
Always-Hot Storage
Wasabi offers a single storage tier that’s always immediately accessible. There’s no concept of “cold” or “glacier” storage with retrieval delays. All your data is instantly available with consistent performance, which simplifies architecture decisions significantly.
Important Considerations
Wasabi does have a 90-day minimum storage duration policy. If you delete data before 90 days, you’re still billed for the full 90-day period. This makes Wasabi less suitable for very short-term storage needs, but perfect for backups, archives, and any data you intend to keep for months or years.
There’s also a 1 TB minimum monthly charge and a 4 KB minimum file size for billing purposes. These are reasonable constraints for most use cases.
Why Use S3-Compatible Storage from Wasabi and Backblaze B2 Instead of AWS
Avoid Vendor Lock-in
Staying with AWS makes it financially painful to leave. AWS’s egress fees create a moat around your data—you can check in anytime you like, but you can never leave (without paying a hefty exit fee).
By choosing S3-compatible providers like Wasabi or Backblaze B2, you maintain the flexibility to:
- Move between providers without rewriting applications
- Test multiple providers to optimize costs and performance
- Negotiate better pricing knowing you can easily migrate
- Use hybrid or multi-cloud strategies without proprietary APIs
Predictable, Transparent Pricing
AWS pricing requires a business analyst and a crystal ball to estimate accurately. Between storage tiers, request classes, data transfer fees, and regional variations, your monthly bill can be wildly unpredictable.
Wasabi and Backblaze B2 offer transparent, flat-rate pricing:
Wasabi: $6.99/TB/month, no egress fees, no API charges Backblaze B2: $6.00/TB/month, free egress up to 3x your storage (then $0.01/GB), minimal API fees
This predictability allows for accurate budgeting and removes the fear of surprise bills.
Migration from AWS to Wasabi Is Easy
Because Wasabi is S3-compatible, migration is straightforward:
- Create a Wasabi account and set up buckets matching your S3 structure
- Generate access keys from the Wasabi console
- Update your application configuration to point to Wasabi’s S3 endpoints
- Use existing tools like rclone, aws-cli, or s3cmd to copy data:
# Using rclone to sync from AWS to Wasabi
rclone sync aws-s3:my-bucket wasabi:my-bucket --progress
# Using aws-cli with Wasabi endpoint
aws s3 sync s3://aws-bucket s3://wasabi-bucket \
--endpoint-url=https://s3.us-east-1.wasabisys.com- Test your applications against Wasabi to ensure compatibility
- Cut over when you’re confident everything works
For large migrations, Backblaze even offers their Universal Data Migration program where they cover egress costs for migrations over 50TB.
Better Economics for Data-Intensive Workloads
If you’re running workloads that:
- Generate large amounts of log data
- Perform frequent backup validations
- Process and transform data regularly
- Serve media files or large downloads
…then AWS’s egress fees will destroy your budget. Wasabi and Backblaze B2 eliminate this problem entirely.
The Power of Open Standards
By using S3-compatible storage, you’re betting on an open standard rather than a proprietary platform. This means:
- Broader tool compatibility across the ecosystem
- More choices for future migrations
- Better negotiating position with vendors
- Reduced risk of being forced to accept unfavorable terms
Choosing Between Wasabi, Backblaze B2, and AWS
Choose Wasabi if:
- You need truly unlimited egress with no caps
- You want the absolute simplest pricing model
- Your data will be stored for 90+ days (to avoid early deletion fees)
- You need fast, consistent performance for all data
Choose Backblaze B2 if:
- You want the lowest base storage price ($6/TB vs $6.99/TB)
- You can work within the 3x storage egress limit (which is generous)
- You need larger file size support (10TB vs 5TB max)
- You value their transparent culture and public data sharing
Choose AWS S3 if:
- You’re deeply integrated with other AWS services
- You need advanced features like S3 Select or S3 Object Lambda
- You require specific compliance certifications only AWS offers
- Your egress is minimal and storage is your primary cost
Conclusion
Wasabi represents a compelling alternative to AWS S3 for teams and individuals who value predictable pricing, freedom from vendor lock-in, and the financial breathing room that comes from eliminating egress fees. With full S3 compatibility, migrating is straightforward, and the cost savings can be dramatic.
In my homelab, Wasabi has proven itself reliable, fast, and incredibly cost-effective. Whether you’re backing up terabytes of family photos, storing years of security camera footage, or archiving business data, Wasabi deserves serious consideration.
The cloud storage market shouldn’t be dominated by three hyperscalers with complex pricing designed to maximize lock-in. Providers like Wasabi and Backblaze B2 prove that S3-compatible storage can be simple, affordable, and open. Give them a try—your budget will thank you.
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