Guide
What API requests cost when your backup tool talks to object storage
Prices checked · Vendor details further down checked
A million uploads cost $5.00 at Amazon S3 and Azure Blob Storage and $4.98 at Google Cloud Storage. Cloudflare R2, Filebase and Telnyx Cloud Storage include a million uploads and ten million reads free each month. 10 vendors never charge for requests: Akamai Cloud Object Storage, Backblaze B2, DigitalOcean Spaces, Hetzner Object Storage, IDrive e2, OVHcloud Object Storage, Scaleway Object Storage, Storj, Vultr Object Storage and Wasabi.
| Vendor | Uploads and lists | Reads | Free each month | 1 million uploads | 10 million reads |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Akamai Cloud Object Storage Object Storage · United States (US East) | Free | Free | All free | Free | Free |
 Backblaze B2 B2 Cloud Storage · United States (US West) | Free | Free | All free | Free | Free |
 Cloudflare R2 Standard · Automatic location | $0.0045 per 1,000 | $0.00036 per 1,000 | 1 million uploads, 10 million reads | Free | Free |
| DigitalOcean Spaces Spaces Standard Storage · United States (New York 3) | Free | Free | All free | Free | Free |
| Filebase Object Storage · Distributed worldwide | $0.0045 per 1,000 | $0.00036 per 1,000 | 1 million uploads, 10 million reads | Free | Free |
| Hetzner Object Storage Object Storage · Germany (Falkenstein) | Free | Free | All free | Free | Free |
| IDrive e2 IDrive e2 · United States (Virginia) | Free | Free | All free | Free | Free |
| OVHcloud Object Storage Standard 3-AZ · France (Paris) | Free | Free | All free | Free | Free |
 Scaleway Object Storage Standard Multi-AZ · France (Paris) | Free | Free | All free | Free | Free |
 Storj Standard · Distributed worldwide | Free | Free | All free | Free | Free |
 Telnyx Cloud Storage Regular Storage · United States (US East) | $0.0005 per 1,000 | $0.00004 per 1,000 | 1 million uploads, 10 million reads | Free | Free |
| Vultr Object Storage Standard · United States (New Jersey) | Free | Free | All free | Free | Free |
 Wasabi Hot Cloud Storage · United States (US East 1) | Free | Free | All free | Free | Free |
| Oracle OCI Object Storage Standard · United States (Ashburn) | $0.00034 per 1,000 | $0.00034 per 1,000 | 50,000 requests of any kind | $0.32 | $3.38 |
| Google Cloud Storage Standard · United States (South Carolina) | $0.005 per 1,000 | $0.0004 per 1,000 | 5,000 uploads, 50,000 reads | $4.98 | $3.98 |
| Amazon S3 S3 Standard · United States (Northern Virginia) | $0.005 per 1,000 | $0.0004 per 1,000 | None | $5.00 | $4.00 |
| Azure Blob Storage Hot LRS · United States (East US) | $0.005 per 1,000 | $0.0004 per 1,000 | None | $5.00 | $4.00 |
| Tigris Standard · Automatic location | $0.005 per 1,000 | $0.0005 per 1,000 | 10,000 uploads, 100,000 reads | $4.95 | $4.95 |
Each vendor's main storage class. Uploads and lists are what vendors call Class A requests (PUT, COPY, POST, LIST); reads are Class B (GET and the rest). Each month's free requests come off first.
Put your own numbers through the calculator to see what this charge does to a normal month and to the month you restore.
Class A writes and lists; Class B reads
Class A and Class B are billing groups, not universal API standards. On Cloudflare R2, Class A contains writes and higher-overhead calls such as PutObject, ListObjects, CopyObject, multipart creation and parts, and lifecycle transitions. Class B contains reads and metadata calls such as GetObject, HeadObject, and bucket-location lookups. [1]
Provider mappings differ. Amazon S3 prices request types by storage class, Google Cloud publishes Class A and B schedules, Azure groups write, read, list, and other transactions, and Oracle publishes one request meter rather than a directly comparable A/B split. The operation map must be checked before multiplying a request count by a rate. [2] [3] [4] [5]
Show the tableas checked 25 to 26 July 2026
| Operation pattern | R2 billing class | Backup implication | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| PutObject, CopyObject, ListObjects | Class A | Backups pay for new objects and listings even when the bytes are deduplicated [1] | [1] |
| CreateMultipartUpload, UploadPart, CompleteMultipartUpload | Class A | One large logical file can create several billable operations [1] | [1] |
| GetObject and HeadObject | Class B | Restores, integrity checks, and metadata probes can scale with object count [1] | [1] |
| DeleteObject and AbortMultipartUpload | Free operation on R2 | The request is free, but deleting an Infrequent Access object early can still leave a minimum-duration storage charge [1] | [1] |
Cloudflare subtracts two different monthly allowances
Cloudflare R2 Standard includes 1 million Class A operations and 10 million Class B operations each month. Standard then charges $4.50 per million Class A and $0.36 per million Class B. R2 rounds usage to the next billing unit. [1]
Infrequent Access does not receive the Standard free tier. Its published rates are $9.00 per million Class A and $0.90 per million Class B, plus $0.01 per GB of retrieval and a 30-day minimum duration. Free egress does not make those other meters disappear. [1]
Show the tableas checked 25 to 26 July 2026
| R2 storage class | Class A | Class B | Other restore charges | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | $4.50 per million after 1 million free monthly | $0.36 per million after 10 million free monthly | Retrieval: not charged; egress: not charged | [1] |
| Infrequent Access | $9.00 per million; Standard free allowance does not apply | $0.90 per million; Standard free allowance does not apply | $0.01/GB retrieval; egress: not charged; 30-day minimum | [1] |
Backup layout determines the operation profile
Backup software does not send one request per terabyte. It creates objects, packs, indexes, metadata, multipart parts, listings, and verification reads according to its repository design and settings. Capacity alone therefore cannot predict the request bill. [6] [7] [8] [10]
Smaller objects and parts generally raise request counts, while larger packs can reduce PUT and GET counts but increase the amount read or rewritten for maintenance and small restores. Deduplication, retention pruning, immutability, concurrency, and integrity checks change the mix again. The safe input is a measured operation log from the intended tool and workload, not a generic requests-per-TB constant. [7] [9] [10]
Show the tableas checked 25 to 26 July 2026
| Tool | Published storage behavior | Likely effect on requests | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| restic | Repository pack files contain one or more encrypted data or tree blobs; indexes and snapshots are separate repository files [6] | Packing can make object count much lower than source-file count, while backup, check, restore, and prune still read indexes and touch pack files | [6] |
| rclone | Files map to objects; large files can use multipart uploads, and the S3 backend performs a HEAD after upload by default [7] | Many small files create many PUT and metadata operations; large multipart files add create, part, complete, and verification calls | [7] |
| Kopia | Content is split into blocks and smaller blocks are combined into roughly 20 to 40 MB packs, with separate metadata and index blobs [8] | Pack writes reduce the number of payload objects, while indexes, metadata, compaction, and maintenance create their own read, write, list, and delete profile | [8] [9] |
| Veeam | Veeam documents that smaller blocks create extra object-storage I/O, while larger blocks can make incremental backups larger [10] | Block-size and job-design choices trade request pressure against incremental size; product, job type, immutability, and maintenance prevent one universal request ratio | [10] [11] |
A request-heavy R2 month can cost more than expected
Suppose an R2 Standard repository records 3 million Class A operations and 12 million Class B operations in one month. The 1 million Class A and 10 million Class B allowances are applied independently. [1]
The arithmetic produces $9.72 in operation charges before storage. Egress remains not charged, but that does not offset the paid requests. The same counts on R2 Infrequent Access would use different rates and receive no Standard free allowances. [1]
Show the tableas checked 25 to 26 July 2026
| Line | Arithmetic | Charge | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Class A billable operations | 3 million - 1 million free = 2 million | 2 x $4.50 = $9.00 | [1] |
| Class B billable operations | 12 million - 10 million free = 2 million | 2 x $0.36 = $0.72 | [1] |
| Operation total | $9.00 + $0.72 | $9.72 | [1] |
| Internet egress | not charged on R2 | $0.00 | [1] |
Request prices and free allowances at all 18 vendors
The comparison covers all 18 vendors. We show a number only when the vendor's official page publishes a rule for the representative offer; otherwise the cell says not published or not comparable. Rates tied to a class or region are labeled. [2] [1]
Class names are not perfectly portable. Backblaze adds Class C and D, Azure uses transaction groups, and Oracle's single request rate is not comparable to a distinct A/B schedule. A backup estimate must map actual calls to the selected vendor's categories. [13] [4] [5]
Show the table (18 vendors)as checked 25 July to 12 October 2026
| Provider | Published operation rule | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Amazon S3 | S3 Standard us-east-1: Class A-style PUT/COPY/POST/LIST $0.005 per 1,000; Class B-style GET/SELECT/other $0.0004 per 1,000; monthly free allowance 0. Rates rise for several cold classes [2] | [2] |
| Azure Blob Storage | Hot LRS East US representative rates: writes $0.005 per 1,000 and reads $0.0004 per 1,000; monthly free allowance 0. Rates vary by tier, region, redundancy, and operation group [12] | [12] |
| Google Cloud Storage | Standard us-east1: Class A $0.005 per 1,000 after 5,000 free monthly; Class B $0.0004 per 1,000 after 50,000 free monthly. Cold-class rates are higher [3] | [3] |
| Cloudflare R2 | Standard: Class A $4.50 per million after 1 million free monthly; Class B $0.36 per million after 10 million free monthly. Infrequent Access: $9.00 and $0.90 per million with no Standard free tier [1] | [1] |
| Backblaze B2 | Class A and Class B: not charged. Backblaze also publishes Class C as free and a separate paid Class D schedule, so its taxonomy extends beyond A/B [13] | [13] |
| Wasabi | conditional: API requests are free, but Wasabi's free API request policy lets it limit or suspend an application it has not validated if that application puts an inefficient, unreasonable load on the service; there is no per-request price [14] | [14] |
| IDrive e2 | not charged; IDrive states it imposes no additional API-call charge [15] | [15] |
| DigitalOcean Spaces | not charged; DigitalOcean says Spaces has no per-request fees and its flat rate includes unlimited uploads and API requests [26] | [16] [26] |
| Scaleway Object Storage | not charged for the operation classes in the offer we checked [17] | [17] |
| OVHcloud Object Storage | not charged for the operation classes in the offer we checked [18] | [18] |
| Hetzner Object Storage | not charged for S3 operations such as PUT, GET, and DELETE; egress remains separate [19] | [19] |
| Akamai Cloud Object Storage | not charged. Akamai says per-request charges will not appear on invoices earlier than October 1, 2027, and publishes no request rates [20] | [20] |
| Vultr Object Storage | not charged; Vultr charges only for capacity and outbound transfer, not for API requests [27] | [21] [27] |
| Storj | not charged for the Class A and Class B operations in the offer we checked [22] | [22] |
| Oracle OCI Object Storage | not comparable to distinct A/B classes: one Object Storage request rate of $0.00034 per 1,000 after 50,000 free monthly [5] | [5] |
| Tigris | Class A $0.005 per 1,000 after 10,000 free monthly; Class B $0.0005 per 1,000 after 100,000 free monthly [23] | [23] |
| Filebase | Class A $4.50 per million after 1 million free monthly; Class B $0.36 per million after 10 million free monthly [24] | [24] |
| Telnyx Cloud Storage | US: Class A $0.50 per million after 1 million free monthly; Class B $0.04 per million after 10 million free monthly. EU: state-change $5.00 per million and reads $0.40 per million with no published free allowance [25] | [25] |
Sources
Every figure above comes from one of these pages, on the date shown. Each numbered reference in the text links to its entry here. Vendors change prices; if a date looks old, check the source. Three vendors publish a downloadable price feed and the rest are re-checked by hand, which is why the dates are not uniform.
Source pages checked 27 sources
- 1 Cloudflare R2 docs: Pricing developers.cloudflare.com · checked 26 July 2026
- 2 AWS: Amazon S3 pricing aws.amazon.com · checked 26 July 2026
- 3 Google Cloud Storage pricing cloud.google.com · checked 26 July 2026
- 4 Azure: Blob Storage pricing azure.microsoft.com · checked 26 July 2026
- 5 Oracle Cloud PaaS and IaaS global price list (PDF) www.oracle.com · checked 25 July 2026
- 6 restic 0.18.0 design: Terminology restic.readthedocs.io · checked 26 July 2026
- 7 rclone docs: Amazon S3 storage providers rclone.org · checked 26 July 2026
- 8 Kopia docs: Architecture kopia.io · checked 26 July 2026
- 9 Kopia docs: Using different storage classes kopia.io · checked 26 July 2026
- 10 Veeam guide: General considerations and limitations helpcenter.veeam.com · checked 26 July 2026
- 11 Veeam guide: Object storage repositories helpcenter.veeam.com · checked 26 July 2026
- 12 Azure retail price list, Blob Storage (East US) prices.azure.com · checked 25 July 2026
- 13 Backblaze: B2 API pricing (Class A, B, C, D) www.backblaze.com · checked 26 July 2026
- 14 Wasabi: Pay as you go pricing FAQs wasabi.com · checked 12 October 2026
- 15 IDrive e2: Plans and pricing www.idrive.com · checked 26 July 2026
- 16 DigitalOcean: Spaces Object Storage pricing www.digitalocean.com · checked 26 July 2026
- 17 Scaleway: Storage pricing www.scaleway.com · checked 25 July 2026
- 18 OVHcloud: Public Cloud prices www.ovhcloud.com · checked 25 July 2026
- 19 Hetzner Object Storage docs: Overview docs.hetzner.com · checked 26 July 2026
- 20 Akamai Object Storage docs: Pricing techdocs.akamai.com · checked 27 September 2026
- 21 Vultr docs: How is Object Storage billed? docs.vultr.com · checked 26 July 2026
- 22 Storj pricing www.storj.io · checked 26 July 2026
- 23 Tigris pricing www.tigrisdata.com · checked 26 July 2026
- 24 Filebase docs: Pricing filebase.com · checked 26 July 2026
- 25 Telnyx Cloud Storage docs: Billing developers.telnyx.com · checked 26 July 2026
- 26 DigitalOcean: Amazon s3 vs digitalocean spaces www.digitalocean.com · checked 12 October 2026
- 27 Vultr: Object Storage www.vultr.com · checked 12 October 2026