SeaweedFS vs Backblaze B2
Both are alternatives to Amazon S3. Here's how they stack up — verified facts, no spin.
Also searched as Backblaze B2 vs SeaweedFS — same comparison, one verdict.
SeaweedFS
Built for billions of small files, where most object stores struggle.
SeaweedFS is a distributed file and object store designed around a specific weakness in the others: enormous numbers of small files. Its architecture keeps metadata lookups fast where conventional object stores slow down, which makes it a strong fit for image, thumbnail and document workloads at scale. Apache-2.0, around 34k stars, with an S3-compatible gateway and tiered storage to cloud back-ends. It is less known than MinIO and that is the main caution — fewer worked examples when something goes wrong.
Backblaze B2
A quarter of S3's storage price, with free egress to partner networks.
B2 is about $0.006 per GB per month — roughly a quarter of S3 Standard — with free egress to Cloudflare and other Bandwidth Alliance partners and generous free egress otherwise. It is S3-API compatible and the company has published its storage-durability statistics for years, which is a level of transparency the hyperscalers do not match. For backups and archives specifically it is very hard to beat on price. It is proprietary and hosted, and the ecosystem around it is small compared with AWS.
Side by side
| SeaweedFS | Backblaze B2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Sovereignty Score | 93 | 42 |
| Open source | Yes | No |
| Self-hostable | Yes | No |
| Local-first | Yes | No |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Proprietary (hosted service) |
| Pricing | Free and open source. You supply the hardware. | About $0.006/GB/month storage; free egress to Bandwidth Alliance partners. Checked 2026-08-04. |
SeaweedFS edges it on the Sovereignty Score, but the right pick depends on the trade-offs below.
SeaweedFS
Strengths
- +Handles billions of small files where other object stores degrade
- +Apache-2.0 — more permissive than MinIO's AGPL
- +S3-compatible gateway plus a real filesystem interface
- +Tiered storage to cloud back-ends for cold data
Trade-offs
- −Smaller community and fewer worked examples than MinIO
- −More moving parts — master, volume and filer servers
- −Documentation is thinner
- −Less battle-tested at enterprise scale
Backblaze B2
Strengths
- +Roughly a quarter of S3's storage price
- +Free egress to Cloudflare and other partner networks
- +S3-compatible API
- +Publishes real durability and drive-failure statistics
Trade-offs
- −Proprietary and hosted
- −Far smaller service ecosystem than AWS
- −Fewer regions, which matters for latency and residency
- −Not built for high-throughput analytics workloads
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Facts verified 2026-08-04. Licenses and pricing change — spotted something out of date? That's a correction we want.