Smelt Cloud vs Amazon S3
Amazon S3 is the default object store, and it prices like it: per-gigabyte storage plus per-gigabyte egress every time you read your data back. Smelt removes egress entirely and charges a fraction of the per-terabyte rate on dedicated capacity.
Amazon S3 figures verified Jun 15, 2026
| Dimension | Amazon S3 | Smelt Cloud |
|---|---|---|
| Standard storage | $23 / TB-month ($0.023/GB, first 50 TB) | Vault ~$0.49 / TB-month (3-yr effective) |
| High-performance storage | S3 Express One Zone $160 / TB-month ($0.16/GB) | Molten all-flash ~$4 / TB-month (3-yr effective) |
| Egress to internet | ~$0.09 / GB (tiered) | Free |
| Pricing model | Per-GB storage + per-GB egress + per-request | Dedicated capacity on owned hardware, no egress |
| Durability scope | Multi-AZ (Standard); single-AZ (Express One Zone) | Reed-Solomon erasure coding across nodes |
| Lock-in | Egress fees raise the cost of leaving | Free egress keeps data portable |
Comparisons match the closest Amazon S3 configuration by cores and memory (compute) or by cost per terabyte (storage), and normalize for included storage and egress. Specs for both sides are shown so you can judge the fit.
Smelt Cloud as a Amazon S3 alternative
Teams adopt Smelt Cloud as an Amazon S3 alternative for two reasons: the egress bill and the per-terabyte rate. S3 meters both storage and every byte read back; Smelt charges for neither egress nor per-request operations on dedicated capacity. You trade S3's infinite elasticity and multi-region default durability for an order-of-magnitude lower cost on committed, read-heavy data.
Egress is the hidden cost
S3 storage at $23 per terabyte-month is only half the bill. Reading data back at roughly $0.09 per gigabyte is the line item that dominates for read-heavy workloads. Smelt charges nothing for egress.
An order of magnitude on storage
Against S3 Standard at $23 per terabyte-month, Smelt's Vault at roughly $0.49 is about 47x lower cost on bulk; against S3 Express One Zone at $160, Smelt's all-flash Molten at roughly $4 is about 40x lower cost.
IOPS without the meter
Express One Zone trades storage cost for request performance. Molten gives you the drives' full native NVMe IOPS as a sunk cost, with no per-request or per-IOPS meter.
Where Amazon S3 is the better fit
S3 is serverless, scales infinitely with no commitment, offers eleven-nines multi-region durability by default, and integrates with the entire AWS ecosystem and its compliance posture. For unpredictable workloads, strict multi-region durability, or deep AWS integration, S3 is hard to beat. Smelt wins decisively on cost for committed, read-heavy, or large datasets.
Questions, answered.
How much less does Smelt cost than S3?
On bulk storage, Smelt's Vault at roughly $0.49 per terabyte-month is about 47x lower cost than S3 Standard at $23. With free egress versus S3's roughly $0.09 per gigabyte, the gap widens further for read-heavy workloads. Figures are as of the dates listed in sources.
Is Smelt as durable as S3?
Smelt uses Reed-Solomon erasure coding across nodes. Our single-site durability posture is comparable to single-zone S3 tiers such as S3 Express One Zone rather than to multi-region S3 Standard. For multi-region durability by default, S3 still leads.
Can I use my existing S3 tooling?
Yes. Smelt object storage is exposed over an S3-compatible API, so existing SDKs and tools work without rewrites.
- Amazon S3 pricing — verified Jun 15, 2026
Amazon S3 and other names are trademarks of their respective owners. Smelt Cloud is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Amazon S3. Figures shown are the competitor's public list prices as of the dates above and may change; Smelt figures are effective rates described in our documentation. This comparison is provided for informational purposes.
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