Azure Blob Storage vs. Azure Cosmos DB

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Azure Blob Storage
Score 8.5 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft's Blob Storage system on Azure is designed to make unstructured data available to customers anywhere through REST-based object storage.
$0.01
per GB/per month
Azure Cosmos DB
Score 7.9 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB is Microsoft's Big Data analysis platform. It is a NoSQL database service and is a replacement for the earlier DocumentDB NoSQL database.N/A
Pricing
Azure Blob StorageAzure Cosmos DB
Editions & Modules
Block Blobs
$0.0081
per GB/per month
Azure Data Lake Storage
$0.0081
per GB/per month
Files
$0.058
per GB/per month
Managed Discs
$1.54
per month
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Azure Blob StorageAzure Cosmos DB
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details——
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Azure Blob StorageAzure Cosmos DB
Considered Both Products
Azure Blob Storage
Chose Azure Blob Storage
We didn't actually evaluate anything but Azure Blob Storage since it worked so well for backups and Audit logs and the price point was good enough for us.
Azure Cosmos DB

No answer on this topic

Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Azure Blob StorageAzure Cosmos DB
NoSQL Databases
Comparison of NoSQL Databases features of Product A and Product B
Azure Blob Storage
-
Ratings
Azure Cosmos DB
9.9
7 Ratings
11% above category average
Performance00 Ratings10.07 Ratings
Availability00 Ratings10.07 Ratings
Concurrency00 Ratings10.07 Ratings
Security00 Ratings10.07 Ratings
Scalability00 Ratings10.07 Ratings
Data model flexibility00 Ratings9.07 Ratings
Deployment model flexibility00 Ratings10.07 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Azure Blob StorageAzure Cosmos DB
Small Businesses
Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage
Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage
Score 9.2 out of 10
IBM Cloudant
IBM Cloudant
Score 7.6 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Pure Storage FlashBlade
Pure Storage FlashBlade
Score 9.8 out of 10
IBM Cloudant
IBM Cloudant
Score 7.6 out of 10
Enterprises
Pure Storage FlashBlade
Pure Storage FlashBlade
Score 9.8 out of 10
IBM Cloudant
IBM Cloudant
Score 7.6 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Azure Blob StorageAzure Cosmos DB
Likelihood to Recommend
9.9
(9 ratings)
10.0
(7 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
7.6
(4 ratings)
Usability
8.0
(1 ratings)
8.8
(2 ratings)
Support Rating
9.0
(3 ratings)
9.2
(2 ratings)
User Testimonials
Azure Blob StorageAzure Cosmos DB
Likelihood to Recommend
Microsoft
Blob storage is well suited to hosting/sharing zipped files rather than several smaller files, as folder enumeration/listing is not supported. Files uploaded are case-sensitive, so users need to be educated on the correct naming convention format if they are delegating the file-sharing process outside of IT.
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Microsoft
Like any NoSQL database, whether it's MongoDB or not, it's best suited for unstructured data. It's also well suited for storing raw data before processing it and performing any type of ETL on the data.
Read full review
Pros
Microsoft
  • Easy to work with - drag and drop
  • Capable of long term retention
  • Relatively low cost
  • Good for different data formats
  • Allows archival storage
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Microsoft
  • Scalable Instantly and automatically serverless database for any large scale business.
  • Quick access and response to data queries due to high speed in reading and writing data
  • Create a powerful digital experience for your customers with real-time offers and agile access to DB with super-fast analysis and comparison for best recommendation
Read full review
Cons
Microsoft
  • If we are transferring huge amount of data (outbound), it can get quite expensive.
  • With new features being added constantly, although a good thing, at times it becomes difficult to keep up with the changes. Documentation needs to keep UpToDate and should include best practices.
  • Performance can be improved especially when it comes to cold storage.
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Microsoft
  • Expensive, so be careful of the use case.
  • We had a thought time migrating from traditional DBs to Cosmos. Azure should provide a seamless platform for the migration of data from on-premises to cloud.
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Likelihood to Renew
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
It's efficient, easy to scale, and works. We do have to do a bit of administration, but less now than when we started with this a couple of years ago. Microsoft continues to improve its self-management capability.
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Usability
Microsoft
Blob storage is fairly simple, with several different options/settings that can be configured. The file explorer has enhanced its usability. Some areas could be improved, such as providing more details or stats on how many times a file has been accessed. It is an obvious choice if you're already using Azure/Entra.
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Microsoft
It has very good compatibility and adaptability with other APIs and developers can safely create new apps because it is compatible with various tools and can be easily managed and run under the cloud, and in terms of security, it is one of the best of its kind, which is very powerful and excellent.
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Support Rating
Microsoft
Microsoft has improved its customer service standpoint over the years. The ability to chat with an issue, get a callback, schedule a call or work with an architecture team(for free) is a huge plus. I can get mentorship and guidance on where to go with my environment without pushy sales tactics. This is very refreshing. Typically support can get me to where I need to be on the first contact, which is also nice.
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Microsoft
Microsoft is the best when it comes to after-sales support. They have a well-structured training and knowledge base portal that anyone can use. They are usually quick to respond to cases and are on point for on-call support. I have no complaints from a support standpoint. Pretty happy with the support.
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Alternatives Considered
Microsoft
Azure Blob Storage is the best choice to store files when the app runs in Azure. It also has some advantages over S3, like Shared Access Signatures, that make it easy to control access to files directly via a URL. Azure Blob Storage is very fast and we have not had any major issues with it after using it for several years.
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Microsoft
Cosmos DB is unique in the industry as a true multi-model, cloud-native database engine that comes with solutions for geo-redundancy, multi-master writes, (globally!) low latency, and cost-effective hosting built in. I've yet to see anything else that even comes close to the power that Cosmos DB packs into its solution. The simplicity and tooling support are nice bonus features as well.
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Return on Investment
Microsoft
  • Azure has increased the flexibility of where we place data within our organization.
  • It has proven to be very reliable and always accessible.
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Microsoft
  • It's made managing raw data much easier
  • It provides a way to maintain raw data at a low cost
  • It's easy to massage the data
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ScreenShots