Backblaze B2
Usage BasedAffordable S3-compatible cloud storage.
Published 12 October 2026
Scores
Popularity3/5
A recognized name among developers and sysadmins for backups and the usual cheap S3 alternative, but with far less mindshare than Amazon S3.
Learning Curve2/5
Bucket creation and key scoping are short, and S3-compatible clients work after swapping in the B2 endpoint.
Flexibility3/5
Covers public and private buckets, versioning, and Object Lock, but has no storage classes, lifecycle tiers into archive, or deep event integrations.
Performance3/5
Solid for backups and asset storage, with fewer regions and a smaller edge presence than the hyperscalers, which a partner CDN usually offsets.
Portability4/5
The S3-compatible API and free egress to partner CDNs make moving data in or out straightforward, though the native B2 API is specific to Backblaze.
About Backblaze B2
Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage is a low-cost object store from Backblaze, a company that began in consumer backup. B2 exposes both its own native API and an S3-compatible API, so common SDKs, backup tools, and file-upload libraries connect by changing the endpoint and keys.
Its appeal is price and simplicity. Storage is billed at a flat per-TB rate, there are no minimum object sizes or minimum retention periods, and the standard API calls are free for pay-as-you-go accounts. The first 10 GB are free, which suits prototypes and small apps.
Egress is free up to three times your average monthly storage, and traffic to partner CDNs and compute providers such as Cloudflare, Fastly, and bunny.net is free without limit. Putting a CDN in front of a public bucket therefore keeps delivery of images and downloads inexpensive. Buckets can be public or private, with application keys scoped to a single bucket.
B2 suits backups, archives, media libraries, and uploads from a web app on any host. It is narrower than Amazon S3, with fewer regions, no archive tiers, and a smaller set of event and analytics integrations, but for straightforward file storage it covers the essentials at a fraction of the price.
Key Features
- S3-compatible API alongside a native B2 API
- Flat per-TB storage pricing with no minimum object size or retention period
- Free egress up to three times average monthly storage
- Free egress to partner CDNs and compute providers
- Public and private buckets with bucket-scoped application keys
- Object Lock and versioning for immutable backups
- First 10 GB of storage free
Pros
- Storage costs roughly a third of Amazon S3 Standard
- Free egress allowance and CDN partner links keep delivery cheap
- Standard API calls are free on pay-as-you-go accounts
- Works with most backup tools and S3 SDKs without code changes
- Simple, predictable billing compared with multi-dimension cloud pricing
Cons
- Fewer regions than the large cloud providers, so latency can be higher for some users
- No storage-class tiers or archive pricing like S3 Glacier
- Egress beyond three times stored data is billed
- Smaller ecosystem of event triggers and managed integrations than S3
Backblaze B2 Pricing
Usage Based- · First 10 GB of storage free
- · Free egress up to 3x average monthly storage
- · $6.95 per TB-month of storage
- · Egress beyond the free allowance at $0.01 per GB
- · Class A, B, and C API calls free; Class D calls $0.004 per 10,000
Tech Stacks with Backblaze B2
MERN Stack
ProjectMongoDB, Express, React, Node.js: the classic JavaScript full-stack. A well-trodden path with massive community support and job-market demand.
Frontend
Programming
Databases
Hosting
Authentication
Python Web (FastAPI + React)
ProjectA clean separation of concerns: React on the frontend, FastAPI serving a typed REST API, and PostgreSQL for persistent storage (MySQL, MariaDB, and serverless Postgres hosts are also available). Docker keeps environments consistent.
React + Django
ProjectReact frontend with a Django REST API backend, a popular Python full-stack combination.
Tools Related to Backblaze B2
Works well with Backblaze B2(2)
Backblaze B2 stores the files while Cloudflare caches and serves them; traffic from B2 to Cloudflare is free of egress charges, which keeps public asset delivery cheap.
Backblaze B2 holds the files and bunny.net serves them from its CDN; egress from B2 to bunny.net is free, which pairs low-cost storage with low-cost delivery.
Alternatives to Backblaze B2(3)
Backblaze B2 has lower per-TB storage prices and suits backups and archives; R2 charges nothing for egress and integrates with Workers. Both are S3-compatible, so switching between them is mostly an endpoint change.
Backblaze B2 is S3-compatible at roughly a third of the storage price, with free egress up to three times stored data; Amazon S3 has more storage classes, regions, and AWS integrations.
Backblaze B2 is S3-compatible, works from any host, and costs much less per TB for large libraries and backups. Vercel Blob trades a proprietary API for effortless setup on Vercel projects.