Direct answer: at public annual prices, storing 1 TB for a year costs IDrive e2 USD 59.50, Backblaze B2 83.40 or Wasabi 95.88; 10 TB costs IDrive 595, B2 834 and Wasabi 958.80; 100 TB costs IDrive 5,950, B2 8,340 and Wasabi 9,588. Small and short-term workloads differ: B2 bills actual storage, IDrive has a 1 TB minimum (USD 6) and Wasabi has a 1 TB minimum plus a 90-day minimum retention; at 400% egress B2/IDrive charge overage while Wasabi does not.
This guide is for IT, operations, backup admins and procurement teams buying S3-compatible object storage or cloud backup. Data cut-off: 5 November 2026; prices are US public list prices in USD, excluding tax, with no FX conversion; the TCO is an editorial calculation, not a vendor quote. All three sell “hot storage”, but the billing focus differs: per-TB monthly price, egress, minimum retention/minimum monthly charge, API requests, and annual/reserved discounts. Comparing only USD/TB will be wrong for small volumes or heavy egress.
Check the per-TB monthly price, then the free egress multiple and overage price; then the minimum retention/monthly charge (small and short-term projects are hit by these); finally add API, migration, support and tax. A USD 6 IDrive, a USD 6.95 B2 and a USD 7.99 Wasabi are not the same bill.
Three kinds of “hot storage”: pay-as-you-go, no egress fee, annual
Backblaze B2 bills actual storage at USD 6.95/TB/month, with free egress up to 3× average stored, USD 0.01/GB beyond, free API requests and no minimum file size or minimum retention; the high-throughput B2 Overdrive is USD 15/TB/month with unlimited egress but a multi-PB commitment. Wasabi is USD 7.99/TB/month with free egress/API, but has 90-day minimum retention, a 1 TB minimum monthly charge and reserved capacity from 25 TB. IDrive e2 is USD 6/TB/month (0.006/GB/month), USD 59.50/TB/year (first year at 50% off), free egress up to 3×, free API and no minimum retention, but bills a 1 TB minimum.
| Platform | Positioning | Pricing | Egress | Minimum retention/monthly |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Backblaze B2 | Pay-as-you-go hot storage/backup | 6.95/TB/month | 3× free, overage 0.01/GB | No minimum retention; actual storage |
| Backblaze B2 Overdrive | High throughput/multi-PB | From 15/TB/month | Unlimited | Multi-PB commitment |
| Wasabi | No-egress-fee hot storage | 7.99/TB/month | Free | 90-day minimum; 1 TB minimum monthly |
| IDrive e2 | Low-cost S3-compatible/annual | 6/TB/month; 59.50/TB/year | 3× free, overage 0.01/GB | No minimum retention; 1 TB minimum |
Sources: Backblaze B2 Pricing, Wasabi Pricing and IDrive e2 Pricing (all accessed 5 November 2026). This is editorial grouping, not a vendor taxonomy; “minimum retention/monthly” covers only what the pricing pages verify and the contract governs the rest.
The official 2026 price lists
Backblaze B2: USD 6.95/TB/month, monthly or annual, free egress 3×, overage USD 0.01/GB, free API, no minimum file size/retention; B2 Overdrive from USD 15/TB/month with unlimited egress. Wasabi: USD 7.99/TB/month, free egress/API, 90-day minimum retention, 1 TB minimum monthly, reserved capacity from 25 TB. IDrive e2: 0.006/GB/month (USD 6/TB/month), annual USD 59.50/TB/year, first year 29.75 (limited 50% off), free egress 3×, free API, no minimum retention, 1 TB minimum.
| Platform | Pay-as-you-go (USD/TB/month) | Annual (USD/TB/year) | Free egress | Egress overage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Backblaze B2 | 6.95 | 83.40 (monthly × 12) | 3× average storage | 0.01/GB |
| B2 Overdrive | From 15.00 | Custom | Unlimited | — |
| Wasabi | 7.99 | 95.88 (monthly × 12) | Unlimited | 0 |
| IDrive e2 | 6.00 | 59.50 (first year 29.75) | 3× active storage | 0.01/GB |
Sources: Backblaze B2 Pricing (6.95/TB/month, 3× free egress, 0.01/GB overage, free API, no minimum retention; Overdrive from 15/TB/month), Wasabi Pricing (7.99/TB/month, free egress/API, 90-day minimum, 1 TB minimum, RCS from 25 TB), IDrive e2 Pricing (0.006/GB/month, 59.50/TB/year, first year 29.75, 3× free egress, 0.01/GB overage, 1 TB minimum). USD, excluding tax; annual B2/Wasabi figures are editorial monthly × 12.
1 / 10 / 100 TB: annual cost at zero egress
At zero egress, 1 TB costs IDrive 59.50 (annual), B2 83.40 and Wasabi 95.88; 10 TB costs IDrive 595, B2 834 and Wasabi 958.80; 100 TB costs IDrive 5,950, B2 8,340 and Wasabi 9,588. IDrive annual is cheapest, B2 is about 13% below Wasabi, and Wasabi's premium buys unlimited egress and 90-day minimum retention. On B2/Wasabi monthly × 12, the annual cost is 83.40/95.88 per TB.
| Stored | Backblaze B2 | Wasabi | IDrive e2 (annual) | Lowest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 TB | 83.40 | 95.88 | 59.50 | IDrive |
| 10 TB | 834 | 958.80 | 595 | IDrive |
| 50 TB | 4,170 | 4,794 | 2,975 | IDrive |
| 100 TB | 8,340 | 9,588 | 5,950 | IDrive |
Editorial calculation, not a quote. B2 = 6.95×TB×12; Wasabi = 7.99×TB×12; IDrive = 59.50×TB (annual); excludes tax, egress overage, API, support, migration and reserved discounts. The 50 TB row shows linearity; Wasabi 50 TB can negotiate reserved capacity and the contract governs.
The table says IDrive has the lowest list price, but do not order yet: IDrive's USD 29.75/TB first-year price is a limited 50% discount and returns to 59.50 in year two; Wasabi's 7.99 includes unlimited egress, while B2's 6.95 includes only 3× egress. If backups are restored/downloaded often, egress can eat B2's discount; if egress is low, IDrive/B2 are cheaper.
Egress scenarios: 50% and 400% downloads
For 10 TB stored: at 5 TB/month egress (50%), B2's free allowance is 30 TB, IDrive's is 30 TB and Wasabi is unlimited, so all three charge zero egress; annual cost stays 834/720/958.80. At 40 TB/month egress (400%), B2/IDrive allow 30 TB free and charge 10 TB × 0.01/GB = USD 100/month = 1,200/year, raising annual cost to 2,034/1,920; Wasabi stays 958.80 and becomes the cheapest. The higher the egress, the more Wasabi's no-egress fee is worth.
| 10 TB stored, monthly egress | Backblaze B2 | Wasabi | IDrive e2 | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 TB (0%) | 834 | 958.80 | 720 | No egress |
| 5 TB (50%) | 834 | 958.80 | 720 | Within 3× free |
| 30 TB (300%) | 834 | 958.80 | 720 | Exactly 3× |
| 40 TB (400%) | 2,034 | 958.80 | 1,920 | 10 TB overage × 0.01/GB × 12 |
Editorial calculation, not a quote. B2 free egress is 3× average storage, overage 0.01/GB; IDrive free egress is 3× active storage, overage 0.01/GB; Wasabi egress is free. Excludes tax, API, support and migration; actual egress uses the billing-period average and short peaks may differ.
This is the most important decision point: backup/archive usually has low egress, so IDrive/B2; frequent restores, media distribution or AI training-set downloads have high egress, so Wasabi can overtake. At 10 TB and 400% egress, Wasabi 958.80 is 1,075.20 below B2 2,034 and 961.20 below IDrive 1,920; but at 1–2 TB/month egress, Wasabi's 90-day minimum retention and 1 TB minimum make small projects more expensive.
Small/short-term: minimum retention and minimum monthly
500 GB for one month: B2 bills actual 3.48; IDrive's 1 TB minimum charges 6; Wasabi's 1 TB minimum charges 7.99. 1 TB for 30 days then deleted: B2 6.95; IDrive 6; Wasabi's 90-day minimum charges three months, 23.97. Short POCs, temporary migrations and quarterly projects should watch Wasabi's 90 days; B2/IDrive have no minimum retention and fit “use and delete”.
| Scenario | Backblaze B2 | Wasabi | IDrive e2 | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 500 GB × 1 month | 3.48 | 7.99 | 6.00 | B2 actual; others 1 TB minimum |
| 1 TB × 1 month | 6.95 | 7.99 | 6.00 | Pay-as-you-go monthly |
| 1 TB × 30 days, deleted | 6.95 | 23.97 | 6.00 | Wasabi 90-day minimum |
| 1 TB × 12 months | 83.40 | 95.88 | 59.50 | IDrive annual |
Editorial calculation, not a quote. B2 6.95/TB/month actual; Wasabi 7.99/TB/month, 1 TB minimum, 90-day minimum retention; IDrive 6/TB/month, 1 TB minimum, no minimum retention, annual 59.50/TB/year. Excludes tax, API, egress and support.
Many people see Wasabi's 7.99 and “no egress fee” but miss the 90-day minimum: a one-time 1 TB migration deleted after 30 days costs 23.97, 3.4× B2 and 4× IDrive. Conversely, if you know you will store for a year or more and egress heavily, the 90-day rule is irrelevant and free egress is the bigger saving.
Hidden costs: first-year discount, reserved capacity, support, migration
IDrive's USD 29.75/TB first-year price is a limited 50% discount and returns to 59.50; Wasabi's 7.99 is pay-as-you-go, with reserved capacity negotiable above 25 TB (1/3/5 years) and discounts by capacity/term; B2 offers annual/multi-year commitments, and Overdrive starts at 15/TB with a multi-PB commitment. API is free at all three, but support, migration, compliance, cross-region replication and object lock/immutability need separate confirmation; tax is excluded.
| Platform | Hidden cost/term | Public price | When it applies |
|---|---|---|---|
| IDrive e2 | First-year 50% then list | 29.75 first year, 59.50/year after | Year two onward |
| Wasabi | 90-day minimum retention | Three months billed | Short-term/temporary data |
| Wasabi | Reserved capacity | From 25 TB, custom | Long-term large capacity |
| Backblaze B2 | Annual/multi-year commitment | Custom discount | Long-term large capacity |
| Backblaze B2 | Overdrive | From 15/TB/month | High throughput/multi-PB |
| All three | Support/migration/compliance/replication | Extra/to confirm | Enterprise requirements |
Sources: Backblaze B2 Pricing (annual/multi-year, Overdrive from 15/TB, multi-PB commitment), Wasabi Pricing (90-day minimum, RCS from 25 TB, 1/3/5 years), IDrive e2 Pricing (first year 29.75, then 59.50, 1 TB minimum). Accessed 5 November 2026; USD, excluding tax; support/migration/compliance prices follow the sales quote.
Capability matrix: S3 compatibility, egress, minimum retention, scale
All three are S3-compatible, have free API requests and fit backup/archive. B2 wins on pay-as-you-go, no minimum retention, 3× free egress and Overdrive high throughput; Wasabi wins on free egress/API, reserved capacity from 25 TB and frequent restores; IDrive wins on the lowest annual unit price and no minimum retention, but the first-year discount expires and the minimum is 1 TB. For short-term/small choose B2; for heavy egress/long-term choose Wasabi; for the lowest annual price choose IDrive.
| Capability | Backblaze B2 | Wasabi | IDrive e2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| S3 compatible | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| API request fee | Free | Free | Free |
| Free egress | 3× average storage | Unlimited | 3× active storage |
| Minimum retention | None | 90 days | None |
| Minimum monthly | Actual | 1 TB | 1 TB |
| Annual/reserved | Annual/multi-year | RCS from 25 TB | Annual 59.50/TB |
| High-throughput tier | Overdrive 15/TB | RCS/custom | Standard |
| Best fit | Short-term/small/backup | Heavy egress/long-term | Lowest annual/backup |
Sources: the three official pricing pages (accessed 5 November 2026). This is an editorial comparison, not a full feature list; “high-throughput tier” covers only what the pricing pages verify; region coverage, object lock/immutability, replication, compliance certifications and actual performance were not tested.
Which option fits which scenario?
Under 1 TB or short-term/POC: B2 (actual billing) is safest; 1–10 TB with almost no egress: IDrive annual is lowest; 10–100 TB with heavy egress/frequent restores: Wasabi's no-egress fee can overtake; multi-PB/high throughput: B2 Overdrive 15/TB or Wasabi RCS custom; temporary data deleted within 90 days: avoid Wasabi. Before choosing, calculate “storage × months + egress overage + minimum retention”.
- Under 1 TB/short-term: B2 actual USD 6.95/TB/month, no minimum retention; IDrive 1 TB minimum/6; Wasabi 1 TB minimum/7.99 plus 90 days.
- 1–10 TB, low egress: IDrive annual 59.50/TB lowest; B2 83.40/TB; Wasabi 95.88/TB.
- 10–100 TB, heavy egress: Wasabi 958.80 per 10 TB (free egress); B2/IDrive add 0.01/GB beyond 3×.
- Multi-PB/high throughput: B2 Overdrive from 15/TB with unlimited egress; Wasabi RCS from 25 TB, 1/3/5 years.
- Temporary migration/quarterly: B2/IDrive no minimum retention; Wasabi 90-day minimum, deleting at 30 days bills three months.
- Lowest annual price: IDrive 59.50/TB/year (first year 29.75, then list), but confirm renewal and the 1 TB minimum.
What should procurement and acceptance specify?
At least eight things: stored volume/growth, monthly egress/restore frequency, minimum retention/minimum monthly, API/requests, region/compliance, object lock/immutability, support/migration, and a two-week real backup/restore POC. The POC should use the same data and record upload/download speed, retries, restore time, the bill and post-deletion billing, not just USD/TB.
- Volume: current TB, monthly growth, peak; calculate the egress allowance from the 12-month average storage.
- Egress: monthly restore/download; B2/IDrive 3× free, Wasabi unlimited; overage 0.01/GB.
- Retention: short projects avoid Wasabi's 90 days; B2/IDrive no minimum retention.
- Minimum monthly: IDrive/Wasabi 1 TB minimum; B2 actual, good for <1 TB.
- API/requests: all three say free, but confirm List/GET/PUT terms.
- Compliance: region, encryption, object lock/WORM, audit, data residency; confirm by industry.
- Support/migration: migration tools, support SLA, disaster-recovery drills and fees.
- POC: two weeks, real data, backup + restore; record speed, failures, restore time, bill and deletion billing.
FAQ
1 TB: what is cheapest?
Annual: IDrive e2 59.50/year (first year 29.75); B2 83.40/year; Wasabi 95.88/year. Monthly/short-term: B2 6.95/month, IDrive 6/month (1 TB minimum), Wasabi 7.99/month with a 90-day minimum. If you delete after one month, B2/IDrive are cheaper.
10 TB: which one?
Low egress: IDrive 595/year, B2 834/year, Wasabi 958.80/year. Heavy egress (400%): Wasabi 958.80 is cheapest; B2 2,034 and IDrive 1,920 (10 TB overage × 0.01/GB × 12). Calculate monthly egress first.
How should egress be compared?
B2 free egress is 3× average storage, overage 0.01/GB; IDrive free is 3× active storage, overage 0.01/GB; Wasabi is free. At 10 TB stored and 40 TB/month egress, B2/IDrive overage is about 100/month; Wasabi is 0. The higher the egress, the more Wasabi is worth.
What is Wasabi's 90-day minimum retention?
Deleted objects are still billed for 90 days; 1 TB stored for 30 days and deleted still costs about three months, 23.97, not 7.99. Short POCs, temporary migrations and quarterly projects should avoid it; long-term backup/archive is unaffected.
What happens after IDrive's first-year 50%?
1 TB is 29.75 in the first year and returns to 59.50/year; 10 TB is 297.50 first year and 595/year after. Use the renewal price 59.50/TB/year in the TCO, not the first-year price; the promotion terms follow the page.
How does Backblaze's 3× egress work?
Free allowance = average monthly storage × 3. 10 TB stored = 30 TB/month free egress; beyond that USD 0.01/GB. Short peaks/one-time restores may exceed the average; confirm the billing-period calculation.
Under 1 TB: which one?
B2 bills actual storage, 500 GB about 3.48/month; IDrive's 1 TB minimum charges 6/month; Wasabi's 1 TB minimum charges 7.99/month plus 90 days. For under 1 TB or short-term, B2 is the most flexible.
What other costs are hidden?
IDrive returns to list after the first-year discount; Wasabi has 90-day minimum, 1 TB minimum and RCS from 25 TB; B2 has annual/multi-year commitments and Overdrive's multi-PB commitment; support/migration/compliance/replication/object lock need separate confirmation at all three; tax is excluded. API requests are listed as free at all three.
Research method and limitations
This article separates “official facts” from “editorial modelling”: unit prices, free egress, minimum retention, minimum monthly and annual/reserved terms come from the three official pricing pages; the 1/10/50/100 TB and egress scenarios are monthly × 12 arithmetic, not a vendor quote. It does not compare upload/download speed, durability, region coverage, compliance certification or actual restore time.
Eight limitations: (1) only US public list prices are compared, excluding tax, support, migration, compliance, replication and object lock; (2) B2/Wasabi annual figures are monthly × 12, while actual annual/multi-year commitments can negotiate discounts; (3) IDrive's 29.75 first year is a limited 50% discount, and the TCO uses the renewal 59.50; (4) Wasabi's 90-day minimum and 1 TB minimum make short-term/small workloads materially more expensive; (5) B2/IDrive free egress is 3× average/active storage, and short peaks may differ; (6) real backup/restore speed, failure rate and durability were not tested; (7) region, object lock/WORM, replication and industry certifications were not verified; (8) mainland China network, cross-border data and local pricing are excluded. Treat this as a unit-alignment template and replace assumptions with a two-week real backup/restore POC.
Sources and basis
- Backblaze, B2 Cloud Storage Pricing: backblaze.com/cloud-storage/pricing. B2 6.95/TB/month; free egress 3×, overage 0.01/GB; free API; no minimum file size/retention; annual/multi-year; B2 Overdrive from 15/TB/month, unlimited egress, multi-PB commitment. Accessed 5 November 2026.
- Wasabi, Pricing: wasabi.com/pricing. Pay as You Go 7.99/TB/month; free egress/API; 90-day minimum retention; 1 TB minimum monthly; reserved capacity from 25 TB, 1/3/5 years. Accessed 5 November 2026.
- IDrive, e2 Pricing: idrive.com/s3-storage-e2/pricing. 0.006/GB/month (6/TB/month); annual 59.50/TB/year, first year 29.75; free egress 3×, overage 0.01/GB; free API; no minimum retention; 1 TB minimum at 6. Accessed 5 November 2026.
Data cut-off 5 November 2026; prices are public list prices excluding tax; all models are editorial calculations. This is not procurement advice.