S3 Storage Class Cost Comparison Tool - Compare Amazon S3 Storage Class Costs Across Access Patterns and Retention

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Compare Amazon S3 storage class costs across data volume, access frequency, and retention period, entirely in your browser.

All calculations are performed entirely in your browser using client-side JavaScript. No data is transmitted to any server. Your workload parameters never leave your device.

  • This tool is provided "AS IS" without any warranties of any kind.
  • Pricing data is bundled and may be outdated. Refer to the official AWS S3 pricing page for current rates before making purchasing decisions.
  • Lifecycle Transition fees, Cross-Region Replication, Inventory/Analytics charges, Object Lock, and Requester Pays are not modeled (MVP limitations).
  • Figures are rough estimates only; actual AWS bills will differ based on real traffic patterns, metered usage, and additional services.
  • By using this tool, you accept full responsibility for any outcomes.

This tool uses client-side JavaScript for all processing. No data is transmitted to servers, no files are uploaded online, all processing happens locally in your browser. Once loaded, this tool continues to work even without an internet connection. For more details, please refer to our Web Tools Disclaimer.

Workload Presets

Region & Retention

Data Volume

Requests & Data Transfer

Cost Comparison

Pricing region: US East (N. Virginia)
Storage Class Monthly Total Storage + Monitoring Requests Retrieval Data Transfer Retention Total
Enter a data volume to see cost comparisons.

Features

  • Seven Storage Classes: Side-by-side monthly and retention-period cost comparison across S3 Standard, Intelligent-Tiering, Standard-IA, One Zone-IA, Glacier Instant Retrieval, Glacier Flexible Retrieval, and Glacier Deep Archive.
  • Minimum Storage Duration: Reflects the 30 / 90 / 180-day minimums for IA and Glacier tiers, so short retention periods correctly inflate the storage portion.
  • Minimum Object Size Penalty: Applies the 128 KB (IA / Glacier Instant Retrieval) and 40 KB (Glacier Flexible / Deep Archive) billable minimums per object.
  • Tiered Standard Pricing: First 50 TB / next 450 TB / over 500 TB tiers are applied to S3 Standard storage.
  • Multi-Region Pricing: Seven commonly used AWS regions bundled — N. Virginia, Oregon, Ireland, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Singapore, Mumbai.
  • Workload Presets: One-click Hot, Warm, Cold, and Deep-Archive scenarios for quick sanity checks.
  • Bar Chart: Retention total cost is rendered as a DPR-aware Canvas bar chart, with the cheapest class highlighted in the site brand color.
  • Pattern-Based Recommendation: Suggests a storage class based on monthly access ratio (retrieved GB / total GB) and retention length.
  • Live Recalculation: Every result updates instantly as you type — no submit button.
  • Privacy First: 100% client-side JavaScript. Works offline once loaded.

How to Use

  1. Either click a Workload Preset or enter your workload manually.
  2. Select an AWS Region and set the Retention Period in months.
  3. Enter Total Data Size, Number of Objects, and leave Average Object Size on auto-derive (or uncheck to enter manually).
  4. Enter expected monthly requests: PUT / COPY / POST / LIST, GET / SELECT, and Glacier-specific retrieval requests.
  5. Enter the expected monthly Retrieval Size (GB) and Data Transfer Out (GB) — the first 100 GB per month of transfer out is free.
  6. Review the cost table, bar chart, and pattern-based recommendation. The cheapest class over the retention period is highlighted.
  7. Click Copy Summary to capture a plain-text, tab-separated report for design docs or tickets.

Important Notes

  • Pricing data is bundled and may be outdated. Always verify with the official AWS S3 pricing page before making decisions.
  • Intelligent-Tiering is modeled conservatively at the Frequent Access tier price plus the monitoring and automation fee. Actual cost is typically lower because a portion of objects move to infrequent and archive access tiers.
  • Monthly cost shown in the table averages the storage component over the retention period, so IA / Glacier classes with unmet minimum storage duration will visibly inflate.
  • Retrieval Size (GB) is billed per GB for IA and Glacier classes; Standard and Intelligent-Tiering have no per-GB retrieval fee.
  • Data Transfer Out pricing uses a single-tier rate after the first 100 GB/month free; real accounts may qualify for tiered discounts at higher volumes.
  • Not modeled (MVP limitations): Lifecycle transition request fees, Cross-Region / Same-Region Replication, Inventory / Analytics charges, Object Lock / Legal Hold, Requester Pays, S3 Select / S3 Batch Operations fees, and Free Tier credits.

References:
Tech Blog with curated related content
Web Tools Collection

Written by Hidekazu Konishi