Amazon S3 Glacier vs. Google Drive

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Amazon S3 Glacier
Score 9.2 out of 10
N/A
The Amazon S3 Glacier storage classes are purpose-built for data archiving, providing a low cost archive storage in the cloud. According to AWS, S3 Glacier storage classes provide virtually unlimited scalability and are designed for 99.999999999% (11 nines) of data durability, and they provide fast access to archive data and low cost.
$0
Per GB Per Month
Google Drive
Score 8.7 out of 10
N/A
Google Drive is a cloud file storage, synchronization, and collaboration platform and service, that features Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides for document editing and presentation.
$6
per month
Pricing
Amazon S3 GlacierGoogle Drive
Editions & Modules
Bulk Retrieval Pricing
$0.0025
Per GB Per Month
Storage Pricing
$0.004
Per GB Per Month
Retrieval Pricing
$0.01
Per GB Per Month
Expedited Retrieval Pricing
$0.03
Per GB Per Month
Basic
$6.00
per month
Business
$12.00
per month
Enterprise
Contact Vendor for Quote
per month
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Amazon S3 GlacierGoogle Drive
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsDiscounts are available for students, educators, and non profit organizations.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Amazon S3 GlacierGoogle Drive
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Amazon S3 GlacierGoogle Drive
File Sharing & Management
Comparison of File Sharing & Management features of Product A and Product B
Amazon S3 Glacier
-
Ratings
Google Drive
8.6
203 Ratings
2% above category average
Versioning00 Ratings8.3179 Ratings
Video files00 Ratings7.9172 Ratings
Audio files00 Ratings8.0166 Ratings
Document collaboration00 Ratings9.1200 Ratings
Access control00 Ratings8.8198 Ratings
File search00 Ratings8.9202 Ratings
Device sync00 Ratings9.0189 Ratings
Cloud Storage Security & Administration
Comparison of Cloud Storage Security & Administration features of Product A and Product B
Amazon S3 Glacier
-
Ratings
Google Drive
8.4
197 Ratings
3% below category average
User and role management00 Ratings8.4186 Ratings
File organization00 Ratings8.1196 Ratings
Device management00 Ratings8.799 Ratings
Cloud Storage Platform
Comparison of Cloud Storage Platform features of Product A and Product B
Amazon S3 Glacier
-
Ratings
Google Drive
8.8
197 Ratings
4% above category average
Performance00 Ratings8.7195 Ratings
Reliability00 Ratings9.1197 Ratings
Storage Reports00 Ratings8.587 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Amazon S3 GlacierGoogle Drive
Small Businesses
Barracuda Essentials
Barracuda Essentials
Score 9.2 out of 10
SugarSync
SugarSync
Score 10.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Barracuda Essentials
Barracuda Essentials
Score 9.2 out of 10
Druva Data Resiliency Cloud
Druva Data Resiliency Cloud
Score 9.6 out of 10
Enterprises
Microsoft Exchange
Microsoft Exchange
Score 8.5 out of 10
Druva Data Resiliency Cloud
Druva Data Resiliency Cloud
Score 9.6 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Amazon S3 GlacierGoogle Drive
Likelihood to Recommend
8.0
(7 ratings)
8.7
(204 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
9.9
(5 ratings)
Usability
6.0
(1 ratings)
8.6
(36 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(7 ratings)
Support Rating
-
(0 ratings)
7.7
(48 ratings)
In-Person Training
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
8.0
(3 ratings)
Configurability
-
(0 ratings)
6.0
(1 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
5.0
(1 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
Amazon S3 GlacierGoogle Drive
Likelihood to Recommend
Amazon AWS
If your organization has a lot of archival data that it needs to be backed up for safekeeping, where it won't be touched except in a dire emergency, Amazon Glacier is perfect. In our case, we had a client that generates many TB of video and photo data at annual events and wanted to retain ALL of it, pre- and post- edit for potential use in a future museum. Using the Snowball device, we were able to move hundreds of TB of existing media data that was previously housed on multiple Thunderbolt drives, external RAIDs, etc, in an organized manner, to Amazon Glacier. Then, we were able to setup CloudBerry Backup on their production computers to continually backup any new media that they generated during their annual events.
Read full review
Google
Talking about being well-suited, Uplode and the download process are good. It shows how much has been completed, which helps the user know whether the download is a success or failure. This is not in Outlook. Regarding less appropriate, it should provide a document edit facility and document compression so that all file-related work can be completed in one place.
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Pros
Amazon AWS
  • Cheap storage of backup data.
  • Can be used as a part of the entire suite of tools from Amazon, without requiring you to leave the familiar stack.
Read full review
Google
  • Any user with access can store a file using different platforms like Android, IOS, Windows, or Ubuntu (Desktop version)
  • You can share files with any number of different users with different access rights or you can even keep it public by providing the access link and assign different rights for public access
  • You can open Excel/Word files using google software Sheets/Docs in the browser environment without having to install software like Microsoft Office etc on your Windows OS
Read full review
Cons
Amazon AWS
  • Accessing data stored in Glacier is slow. That shouldn't be a surprise, but it is undesirable nonetheless.
  • Retrieving a large amount of data can be expensive; Glacier's intended use is as an archive of rarely-accessed data.
  • Some users regard Glacier with fear and uncertainty. Slow retrieval time and high retrieval cost are the greatest risks of using Glacier, and they are also the Glacier interaction that most users have the least experience with.
Read full review
Google
  • Having a little bit more control and clarity over what is shared and how it is shared would be a useful improvement.
  • Could be more robust and flexible as far as assigning restrictions.
  • Google Sheets could be enhanced because Excel really is not there yet as a product with equal capabilities as there are still quite a few limitations to the functionality.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
Amazon AWS
No answers on this topic
Google
For its compatibility, easiness, quick responses, user interface, storage capacity, files management and file listings. These are some of the reasons for giving higher ratings and Google Drive has become an integral part of my professional life. We use this software on daily basis and most of the time saving lot of time.
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Usability
Amazon AWS
It is difficult to delete the data as you have to wait for inventory and then bucket modification has to expire.
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Google
It's easy enough to use for computer users of all ages and skill levels. I am an advanced user, and I think the hardest part might be showing someone how to download and set up the app on their device if they weren't too familiar with computers, but overall it is very easy to understand.
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Reliability and Availability
Amazon AWS
No answers on this topic
Google
Always available
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Performance
Amazon AWS
No answers on this topic
Google
The documents load fairly quickly and also update in real time, especially given the fact that multiple people can be using it at once. The "Offline" feature works great to allow the user to make edits and access the document without access to the internet, and then sync changes later once they're back.
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Support Rating
Amazon AWS
No answers on this topic
Google
It takes a few days for customer support to get back to you. Although, I have not had to use support too often. Once you get an email back, they are very thorough and work hard to fix the problem quickly. It is a really great resource and a great way to get the help you need if you're stuck. A phone call also works quickly but you have to call during specific times.
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In-Person Training
Amazon AWS
No answers on this topic
Google
The effective google workspace using training that my organization received and was conducted by me (as a team lead of the ICT team) was mind-blowing and as a result, our staff is performing well in terms of using the application for their daily jobs than before. Now, in my institution, all teachers and all the administrative personnel are very much interested in cloud storage facilities, in previous my institution was afraid of losing all important documents in the cloud storage. But, after having received the training they are now realized that if anyone has only one google account then he or she can use 15GB of cloud storage freely and they are now happy because now it is not necessary for anyone to carry the traditional pen drive.
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Implementation Rating
Amazon AWS
No answers on this topic
Google
It's an extremely easy software to implement, once you sign up for a google account you automatically have access to google drive with a set amount of storage space. The business or Google Suite accounts have more storage space than a regular free account, but setting up and accessing google drive is very easy in both cases
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Alternatives Considered
Amazon AWS
Since the rest of our infrastructure is in Amazon AWS, coding for sending data to Glacier just makes sense. The others are great as well, for their specific needs and uses, but having *another* third-party software to manage, be billed for, and learn/utilize can be costly in money and time.
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Google
Apple Drive dosn't offer that much storage and doesn't provide vast features with collaborative tools like docs , spreadsheet and forms etc. Google drive also allows you to search for files and folders that contain certain words in their title or content in any perticular file. therefore search is very deep and reliable and hepls to access your data easily
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Scalability
Amazon AWS
No answers on this topic
Google
I have always been able to access
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Return on Investment
Amazon AWS
  • Helped us meet compliance requirements while minimizing costs.
  • Simple integration with almost no changes required to our existing S3 management policies.
Read full review
Google
  • It has given our operation remote capabilities
  • Easier to access and understand client's need through collaborative enviroment
  • availability to digital resources fast and easy
  • saved our operation hundreds of dollars in physical storage (both investment and maintenance)
  • our operation became easier for new staff to get onboard: small learning curve to use it
Read full review
ScreenShots

Google Drive Screenshots

Screenshot of Google Drive PriorityScreenshot of Comment on Microsoft Files in Google DriveScreenshot of Shared drives