Direct answer: for 100TB stored, 1TB = 1,000GB, counting only storage and retrieval GB (not requests, logs, replication or egress), 2026 us-east-1 S3 monthly costs are roughly: Standard 2,250, Intelligent-Tiering all-Frequent 2,250 + monitoring, Standard-IA 1,250, One Zone-IA 1,000, Glacier Instant Retrieval 400, Glacier Flexible Retrieval 360 and Glacier Deep Archive 99. Adding monthly retrieval changes the ranking: at 10% retrieval, Standard-IA 1,350, One Zone-IA 1,100, Glacier Instant 700, Glacier Flexible 460 and Deep Archive 299; at 100% retrieval, Glacier Instant 3,400 is above Standard 2,250, Standard-IA ties at 2,250, and Glacier Flexible 1,360/Deep Archive 2,099 stay lower but carry 90/180-day minimums and hour-level restores.
This guide is for engineering, platform and procurement teams choosing an S3 storage class, designing lifecycle tiering or moving backups/archives out of Standard. Data cut-off: 5 November 2026; prices are AWS US East (N. Virginia, us-east-1) public S3 pricing and the AWS Price List API, in USD, excluding tax; the TCO is an editorial calculation, not an AWS quote. All prices use an editorial 1TB = 1,000GB convention; actual bills use GB-month and may differ slightly with billing units/rounding.
A low storage rate is not a low total: IA/Glacier add retrieval fees, minimum storage durations, minimum billable object sizes and request fees. At 100TB, Standard-IA saves 1,000/month in storage versus Standard, but its 0.01/GB retrieval consumes that saving if you retrieve 100TB/month; Glacier Instant’s 0.03/GB retrieval breaks even at about 61.7TB/month. Calculate “how much you retrieve each month” before choosing a class.
Seven S3 storage classes: rate, retrieval, minimum duration
us-east-1 public prices: Standard is 0.023/GB-month for the first 50TB, 0.022 for the next 450TB and 0.021 over 500TB; Intelligent-Tiering Frequent matches Standard, Infrequent is 0.0125, Archive Instant 0.004, Archive Access 0.0036 and Deep Archive Access 0.00099, plus 0.0025 per 1,000 objects/month monitoring; Standard-IA 0.0125 and One Zone-IA 0.01, both with 0.01/GB retrieval; Glacier Instant 0.004 with 0.03/GB retrieval; Glacier Flexible 0.0036 with standard retrieval 0.01/GB (bulk 0, expedited 0.03); Deep Archive 0.00099 with standard retrieval 0.02/GB (bulk 0.0025/GB).
| Class | Storage $/GB/month | Retrieval $/GB | Minimum duration | Minimum billable object | Retrieval time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | 0.023 (first 50TB); 0.022 (next 450TB); 0.021 (>500TB) | 0 | None | None | Milliseconds |
| Intelligent-Tiering | Frequent 0.023/0.022/0.021; Infrequent 0.0125; Archive Instant 0.004; Archive 0.0036; Deep Archive 0.00099 | 0 (all access tiers) | Per tier/docs | Below 128KB not auto-tiered | Milliseconds to hours |
| Standard-IA | 0.0125 | 0.01 | 30 days | 128KB | Milliseconds |
| One Zone-IA | 0.01 | 0.01 | 30 days | 128KB | Milliseconds |
| Glacier Instant Retrieval | 0.004 | 0.03 | 90 days | 128KB | Milliseconds |
| Glacier Flexible Retrieval | 0.0036 | Standard 0.01; bulk 0; expedited 0.03 | 90 days | 40KB metadata | Minutes to hours |
| Glacier Deep Archive | 0.00099 | Standard 0.02; bulk 0.0025 | 180 days | 40KB metadata | About 12 hours |
Sources: AWS S3 Pricing (us-east-1) and the AWS Price List API (AmazonS3 and AmazonS3GlacierDeepArchive, November 2026 publication). Accessed 5 November 2026; USD, excluding tax; Intelligent-Tiering tier/minimum terms follow the official docs; retrieval times/minimums are official descriptions, not performance guarantees.
1TB / 10TB / 100TB: storage-only monthly cost
At 1TB = 1,000GB: 1TB Standard 23, Standard-IA 12.50, One Zone-IA 10, Glacier Instant 4, Glacier Flexible 3.60, Deep Archive 0.99; 10TB 230/125/100/40/36/9.90; 100TB Standard 2,250 (50TB×0.023 + 50TB×0.022), Standard-IA 1,250, One Zone-IA 1,000, Glacier Instant 400, Glacier Flexible 360, Deep Archive 99. Intelligent-Tiering all-Frequent matches Standard plus monitoring; 100TB/100k objects is about 0.25/month, and smaller objects/more objects raise monitoring.
| Capacity | Standard | Intelligent-Tiering (all Frequent) | Standard-IA | One Zone-IA | Glacier Instant | Glacier Flexible | Deep Archive |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1TB | 23.00 | 23.00 + monitoring | 12.50 | 10.00 | 4.00 | 3.60 | 0.99 |
| 10TB | 230.00 | 230.00 + monitoring | 125.00 | 100.00 | 40.00 | 36.00 | 9.90 |
| 100TB | 2,250.00 | 2,250.00 + monitoring | 1,250.00 | 1,000.00 | 400.00 | 360.00 | 99.00 |
Editorial calculation, not a quote. 1TB = 1,000GB; storage only, excluding requests, retrieval, monitoring, replication, logs, egress and tax; Standard uses 0.023 for the first 50TB and 0.022 for the next 450TB; Intelligent-Tiering uses the all-Frequent storage ceiling and actual auto-tiering savings depend on access patterns; monitoring is 0.0025 per 1,000 objects/month, about 0.25 for 100TB/100k objects.
100TB with monthly retrieval: 0% / 10% / 100%
For 100TB stored and 0/10TB/100TB retrieved per month: Standard stays 2,250; Standard-IA 1,250/1,350/2,250; One Zone-IA 1,000/1,100/2,000; Glacier Instant 400/700/3,400; Glacier Flexible (standard retrieval) 360/460/1,360; Deep Archive (standard) 99/299/2,099. At 10% retrieval every archive class beats Standard; at 100% Glacier Instant is above Standard, Standard-IA ties, and Glacier Flexible/Deep Archive stay lower but with restore times and minimum durations.
| Class | 0% retrieval | 10% retrieval (10TB) | 100% retrieval (100TB) | Boundary vs Standard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | 2,250 | 2,250 | 2,250 | Baseline; no retrieval fee/minimum |
| Standard-IA | 1,250 | 1,350 | 2,250 | Ties at 100% retrieval |
| One Zone-IA | 1,000 | 1,100 | 2,000 | Single AZ; still below Standard at 100% |
| Glacier Instant | 400 | 700 | 3,400 | Breaks even at about 61.7% retrieval |
| Glacier Flexible (standard) | 360 | 460 | 1,360 | 90-day minimum; standard retrieval |
| Deep Archive (standard) | 99 | 299 | 2,099 | 180-day minimum; about 12 hours |
Editorial calculation, not a quote. Formula = storage + retrieved GB × retrieval rate; 100TB = 100,000GB; excludes requests, monitoring, replication, logs, egress, tax, early-delete fees and restore request fees. Glacier Flexible/Deep Archive use standard retrieval; bulk is cheaper but slower, expedited is more expensive. Intelligent-Tiering is excluded because its savings depend on automatic tiering and cannot be modelled with a fixed retrieval ratio.
Break-even: how much retrieval makes a colder class worthwhile?
At 100TB, comparing storage + retrieval only: Standard-IA saves 1,000/month and retrieves at 0.01/GB, breaking even at 100TB/month (100%); One Zone-IA saves 1,250, break-even 125TB (above total capacity, so 100% retrieval still lower); Glacier Instant saves 1,850, break-even 61.7TB/month; Glacier Flexible saves 1,890, break-even 189TB (above total capacity); Deep Archive saves 2,151, break-even 107.5TB (above total capacity). “Above total capacity” is only storage + retrieval arithmetic; minimum durations, restore time, request fees, single-AZ risk and operations change the decision.
| Class | Monthly saving vs Standard | Retrieval $/GB | 100TB break-even retrieval | How to read it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard-IA | 1,000 | 0.01 | 100TB (100%) | Saves only if monthly retrieval is below full volume |
| One Zone-IA | 1,250 | 0.01 | 125TB (125%) | Arithmetic still lower at 100%, but single AZ |
| Glacier Instant | 1,850 | 0.03 | 61.7TB (61.7%) | Above about 62% retrieval it loses |
| Glacier Flexible | 1,890 | 0.01 (standard) | 189TB (189%) | Arithmetic still lower at 100%; slow restore |
| Deep Archive | 2,151 | 0.02 | 107.5TB (107.5%) | Arithmetic still lower at 100%; 12h/180 days |
Editorial calculation, not a quote. Break-even = storage saving/retrieval rate; 100TB = 100,000GB. Excludes request fees, monitoring, early-delete fees, restore requests, replication, egress, tax; “above 100%” only means the arithmetic remains lower when retrieving the full 100TB every month, not that the workload is a good fit; single-AZ/restore time/compliance need separate judgment.
Hidden costs: requests, monitoring, minimums, small objects
S3 is more than storage: Standard PUT/COPY/POST/LIST is 0.005 per 1,000 and GET/other 0.0004 per 1,000; Standard-IA PUT 0.01 per 1,000 and GET 0.001 per 1,000; Glacier Instant PUT 0.02 per 1,000 and GET 0.01 per 1,000; Glacier Flexible/Deep Archive add restore requests and expedited/bulk request fees. IA/One Zone have a 30-day minimum, GIR/GFR 90 days and Deep Archive 180 days; early deletion is charged for the remaining days. IA/GIR have a 128KB minimum billable object; GFR/Deep Archive add 40KB metadata per object (8KB Standard + 32KB archive rate). Intelligent-Tiering monitoring is 0.0025 per 1,000 objects/month, objects below 128KB are not auto-tiered and stay at Frequent rates.
| Item | Key terms for Standard/IA/Glacier | Easy to miss |
|---|---|---|
| Requests | Standard PUT 0.005/1,000, GET 0.0004/1,000; IA PUT 0.01/1,000, GET 0.001/1,000; GIR PUT 0.02/1,000, GET 0.01/1,000 | Lifecycle transitions, restores, LIST and batch operations are separate |
| Minimum duration | IA 30 days; GIR/GFR 90 days; Deep Archive 180 days | Early delete/overwrite/transition bills the remaining days |
| Minimum object | IA/GIR 128KB; GFR/Deep Archive 40KB metadata | Many small objects are billed as 128KB/40KB |
| Intelligent-Tiering | 0.0025 per 1,000 objects/month monitoring; below 128KB not auto-tiered | With many objects, monitoring can exceed storage savings |
| Restore/egress | Glacier restore requests/time; public egress separate | Cross-region replication, acceleration, logs/inventory are separate |
Sources: AWS S3 Pricing, AWS S3 Storage Classes and the AWS Price List API (us-east-1). Accessed 5 November 2026; USD, excluding tax; request prices convert the official per-1,000/10,000 rates to per 1,000; minimums/minimum objects/monitoring follow the official pages; Deep Archive metadata details follow the page notes.
Which class fits which scenario?
Hot/frequent reads: Standard; unknown/changing access: Intelligent-Tiering (objects >128KB, monitoring manageable); low monthly retrieval but milliseconds: Standard-IA (One Zone-IA if single-AZ risk is acceptable); quarterly retrieval with milliseconds: Glacier Instant (clearly cheaper only below about 62%/month retrieval); backups/archives that can wait minutes-hours: Glacier Flexible; compliance/long-term data that can wait about 12 hours: Deep Archive. For many small objects, frequent overwrites or short deletion cycles, calculate the 128KB/40KB minimums and minimum duration before comparing unit rates.
| Scenario | First choice | Why | Avoid |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hot data/frequent reads | Standard | No retrieval fee/minimum, milliseconds | IA/Glacier (retrieval/restore) |
| Unknown access | Intelligent-Tiering | Automatic tiering, no retrieval fees | Many small objects/high monitoring |
| Low frequency, milliseconds | Standard-IA / One Zone-IA | Storage 0.0125/0.01, retrieval 0.01 | Full retrieval every month |
| Quarterly, milliseconds | Glacier Instant | Storage 0.004, milliseconds | Monthly retrieval above about 62% |
| Backup/archive, hours | Glacier Flexible | Storage 0.0036, bulk retrieval 0 | Milliseconds/frequent retrieval |
| Compliance/long-term, 12 hours | Deep Archive | Storage 0.00099, bulk 0.0025/GB | Delete within 90/180 days or frequent restores |
Sources: AWS S3 Pricing/Storage Classes/Price List API (accessed 5 November 2026). This is an editorial decision matrix, not AWS advice; actual restore time, request throttling, single-AZ risk, compliance retention and access patterns were not tested.
What should procurement and acceptance specify?
At least eight things: total capacity and object count/average size, monthly read/retrieval ratio, restore-time requirement, minimum retention, request types/volume, lifecycle rules, replication/logs/inventory/egress, and early-delete/transition costs. Use a 1–3 month POC with the real object distribution and record storage, requests, retrieval, monitoring, restore and the bill; do not decide on “per-GB price” alone.
- Capacity/objects: total TB, object count, average object size; small objects trigger 128KB/40KB minimums.
- Reads/retrieval: monthly read TB, retrieval ratio, restore time; use the break-even table.
- Retention: 30/90/180-day minimums; short delete/overwrite cycles incur remaining-day charges.
- Requests: PUT/GET/LIST/lifecycle/restore; bulk/expedited have different prices.
- Lifecycle: transition days, reversibility, versions/delete markers; start with a small rollout.
- Replication/logs: cross-region replication, S3 Inventory, logs, analytics, object tags.
- Egress: public/cross-region transfer; CDN origin fetch is separate.
- POC: 1–3 months of real object distribution; record storage/requests/retrieval/monitoring/restore and the bill.
FAQ
100TB all-cold data: what is cheapest?
Storage only: Deep Archive 99/month lowest, Glacier Flexible 360, Glacier Instant 400, One Zone-IA 1,000, Standard-IA 1,250, Standard 2,250. If you delete within 180 days or restore frequently, Deep Archive’s minimum/12-hour restore offsets the low rate.
100TB with 10TB retrieved per month?
Standard 2,250; Standard-IA 1,350; One Zone-IA 1,100; Glacier Instant 700; Glacier Flexible 460; Deep Archive 299. At 10% retrieval every archive class is cheaper, but confirm restore time, request fees and minimums.
100TB with full retrieval every month?
Standard 2,250; Standard-IA 2,250 (tie); One Zone-IA 2,000; Glacier Instant 3,400 (above Standard); Glacier Flexible 1,360; Deep Archive 2,099. Glacier Instant is not for full monthly retrieval; Glacier Flexible/Deep Archive are cheaper but have 90/180-day minimums and hour-level restores.
Is Intelligent-Tiering always cheaper than Standard?
No. All-Frequent storage matches Standard plus 0.0025 per 1,000 objects/month monitoring; it saves only when objects are >128KB, access cools and auto-tiering kicks in. With many small objects, monitoring can exceed the savings.
Standard-IA vs One Zone-IA?
Storage 0.0125 vs 0.01, both retrieve at 0.01/GB and have a 30-day minimum. One Zone-IA is cheaper but stores in a single AZ; use it only for re-creatable data that can tolerate single-AZ risk. Otherwise Standard-IA.
Glacier Instant vs Glacier Flexible?
GIR is 0.004 storage, 0.03/GB retrieval, milliseconds; GFR is 0.0036 storage, standard retrieval 0.01/GB (bulk 0), minutes-hours. For milliseconds and low retrieval choose GIR; if you can wait minutes-hours and use bulk restore, choose GFR.
Is Deep Archive really the cheapest?
Storage is 0.00099/GB/month, the lowest, but standard retrieval is 0.02/GB, bulk 0.0025/GB, the minimum is 180 days, restore is about 12 hours, and there are 40KB metadata/request fees. It only fits long-lived, rarely retrieved compliance/backup data that can wait 12 hours.
What other hidden costs exist?
Requests (PUT/GET/LIST/restore), lifecycle transitions, monitoring (IT), early-delete minimums, 128KB/40KB minimum billing, cross-region replication, S3 Inventory/logs/analytics, public egress and tax. This article counts storage + retrieval GB only.
Research method and limitations
This article separates “official facts” from “editorial modelling”: storage/retrieval rates, minimum durations, minimum objects and request prices come from the AWS S3 Pricing page and the AWS Price List API (AmazonS3 and AmazonS3GlacierDeepArchive, us-east-1); the 1TB/10TB/100TB TCO is arithmetic under 1TB = 1,000GB and storage + retrieval GB only, not an AWS quote. It does not compare actual restore time, request throttling, single-AZ risk, cross-region latency or compliance retention.
Eight limitations: (1) only us-east-1 public list prices are used, excluding tax, discounts, private pricing and Reserved Capacity; (2) 1TB = 1,000GB is an editorial convention, while AWS bills GB-month and actual bills may differ slightly; (3) only storage + retrieval GB are counted, excluding requests, monitoring, replication, logs, inventory, egress and tax; (4) Intelligent-Tiering is modelled at the all-Frequent ceiling, not actual auto-tiering, whose savings depend on access patterns; (5) early-delete/overwrite/transition charges under minimum durations are excluded; (6) the 128KB/40KB minimum billing impact on many small objects is excluded; (7) actual restore time, request throttling, single-AZ durability and compliance were not tested; (8) S3 Express One Zone, S3 Tables, other regions and other clouds were not compared. Treat this as a unit-alignment template and replace assumptions with a 1–3 month real-object-distribution POC.
Sources and basis
- AWS, S3 Pricing: aws.amazon.com/s3/pricing. us-east-1: Standard 0.023/0.022/0.021; Standard-IA 0.0125; One Zone-IA 0.01; Glacier Instant 0.004; Glacier Flexible 0.0036; Deep Archive 0.00099; retrieval 0/0.01/0.01/0.03/0.01/0.02; minimums 30/30/90/90/180 days. Accessed 5 November 2026.
- AWS, S3 Storage Classes: aws.amazon.com/s3/storage-classes. Class positioning, minimum durations, minimum objects, restore times/use cases. Accessed 5 November 2026.
- AWS Price List API, AmazonS3 (current): pricing.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/.../AmazonS3/current/index.json. us-east-1 storage/request/retrieval/monitoring prices; Intelligent-Tiering monitoring 0.0025 per 1,000 objects/month. Accessed 5 November 2026.
- AWS Price List API, AmazonS3GlacierDeepArchive (current): pricing.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/.../AmazonS3GlacierDeepArchive/current/index.json. Deep Archive storage 0.00099/GB/month, standard retrieval 0.02/GB, bulk 0.0025/GB. 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.