Backblaze B2 vs Wasabi: Cheap Storage Splits at Restore Time

Backblaze B2 is the cheaper steady-storage choice for the backup sizes modeled here: its Pay-Go rate is $6.95 per TB-month, while Wasabi’s standard Pay-Go rate is $7.99 per TB-month across its listed regions. B2 also makes the first 10 GB of storage free, has no minimum storage-duration fee and includes downloads up to three times average monthly stored data.

Restore terms complicate the choice when downloads become unusually large. The Wasabi Pay-Go FAQ sets a 1 TB monthly active-storage minimum and a 90-day minimum billing period for deleted objects; it treats monthly downloads no greater than active storage as a good fit for free egress. This comparison uses standard Wasabi Object Storage Pay-Go, which the FAQ prices separately from its Cloud NAS product. For a stable backup downloaded once, B2’s lower storage bill is decisive in these examples. For repeated full restores, B2 has a published overage price, while Wasabi’s free-egress guideline makes its published storage bill an incomplete comparison.

What three backup sizes cost to keep

These are illustrative monthly charges for one standalone Pay-Go account holding a constant-size backup throughout a 30-day billing cycle. The calculation treats 1 TB as 1,024 GB, the conversion Wasabi uses in its pricing examples, and assumes that B2’s free 10 GB is available to this backup. It excludes taxes, backup software, optional services and any Wasabi objects deleted before the modeled month. A repository that grows or shrinks will produce a different bill because storage is measured over time.

• 300 GB stored: B2 costs about $1.97 after its free 10 GB; Wasabi costs $7.99 because the account is below its 1 TB monthly minimum. The modeled difference is $6.02.
• 1 TB stored: B2 costs about $6.88 after its free 10 GB; Wasabi costs $7.99. The modeled difference is $1.11.
• 5 TB stored: B2 costs about $34.68; Wasabi costs $39.95. The modeled difference is $5.27.

Wasabi’s minimum has its largest effect on the small repository: the 300 GB set is billed at the same storage minimum as the 1 TB set. Above that threshold, the minimum ceases to drive the result, but Wasabi’s higher listed rate still does. There is no capacity-only crossover in these published Pay-Go prices that makes the stable 5 TB set cheaper to store at Wasabi. Discounts or contracted rates would call for a separate calculation.

What a small restore and a full recovery add

Suppose the stored set remains unchanged and a 50 GB file restore occurs in one month. In a different month, suppose the entire set is downloaded once after a failure. Neither restore adds a modeled transfer charge at either provider: 50 GB is below every set’s active volume, and one full download equals that volume. The storage estimates above therefore remain the modeled bills for those two months.

For B2, a stable 300 GB set gives an illustrative 900 GB monthly free-egress allowance; a stable 1 TB set gives 3 TB, and a stable 5 TB set gives 15 TB. Those allowances follow average stored data over the billing cycle, rather than the amount present at the instant of a download. If a backup is uploaded late in the month and immediately restored, its monthly average is lower, so the full download may consume a greater share of the allowance than these steady-state examples imply.

Wasabi’s test is different: it compares downloads during the month with active storage volume. A single full restore sits at the guideline, while even a second full download would exceed it if active storage stayed unchanged. The guideline concerns the suitability of a workload for free egress; it is not a published allowance that accumulates unused transfer for later months.

Why four full restores split the costs

Consider a hypothetical month in which the unchanged backup is downloaded four times. B2’s free allowance covers traffic equal to three copies. Its published $0.01-per-GB price applies to the fourth copy, adding $3.00 for 300 GB, $10.24 for 1 TB, or $51.20 for 5 TB. With storage included, the modeled B2 totals are $4.97, $17.12 and $85.88, respectively. These figures assume ordinary billable egress rather than a qualifying partner route.

Four copies also exceed Wasabi’s guideline of monthly downloads no greater than active storage. Wasabi does not provide a matching standard per-GB overage price that would turn this example into a comparable dollar total. Its policy says a workload that exceeds the guideline regularly may face a service limit or suspension. A single exceptional recovery month is therefore different from a recurring pattern, but neither makes four free full restores a published entitlement.

This distinction matters for a migration, repeated recovery exercises or a backup that several systems may need to retrieve at once. B2 exposes a calculable transfer charge once its allowance is used. Wasabi’s listed storage charge remains predictable, but a planned high-download workload needs terms suitable for that pattern before its restore cost and availability can be treated as settled.

How backup rotation changes Wasabi’s bill

Frequent replacement of backup objects creates a separate cost at Wasabi. Its minimum storage-duration policy charges for the remaining minimum period when an object is deleted early. Under standard Pay-Go’s 90-day period, a hypothetical 1 TB batch kept for exactly 30 days and then deleted still has 60 days of billable deleted storage. At the listed rate, that remaining period represents about $15.98, potentially appearing across later billing cycles.

The deleted-storage charge pays out the object’s minimum billing period; it does not mean the deleted backup remains available to restore. If backup software continually replaces full objects, charges for retired objects can overlap with charges for their replacements. Conversely, a backup application that changes only a small portion of existing objects may incur much less deleted-storage usage. The object lifetime and replacement pattern matter more than the size of the newest visible backup alone.

B2 has no corresponding minimum-duration charge, although versions or snapshots that the backup software continues to retain still occupy billable storage. An open Wasabi Pay-Go account also remains subject to its monthly active-storage minimum when active storage falls below the threshold, including when the account has no active data. These are different charges: the account minimum concerns active-storage billing, while early-deletion charges concern individual objects.

Which bill fits the backup?

On published Pay-Go terms, B2 is the lower-cost choice for all three steady storage sets and gives a defined price for downloads beyond its free allowance. Its advantage is clearest for a sub-terabyte repository or one that frequently deletes young objects. Wasabi offers a straightforward storage bill for a stable repository above its minimum when monthly downloads stay within its active-storage guideline. For a backup likely to need repeated full restores, the deciding issue is the expected download pattern and the terms Wasabi will apply to it, not the advertised storage rate alone.

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