MinIO Is Deprecated: Best Alternatives for S3-Compatible Storage
For years, MinIO was the obvious answer whenever an engineering team needed S3-compatible object storage outside AWS. You wanted an S3-compatible API on Kubernetes? You needed object storage for backups? You wanted something you could run locally with Docker Compose? The answer was the same - MinIO. That recommendation has changed. In 2026, the open-source MinIO project is no longer a maintained…
In 2026, the open-source MinIO project is no longer maintained, leaving engineering teams searching for alternative S3-compatible storage solutions. Three prominent alternatives are Garage, RustFS, and SeaweedFS.
Garage is a Rust-based distributed object storage system that implements the S3 API. Its decentralized architecture allows for operation across multiple locations, making it ideal for deployments with geographically dispersed nodes. Unlike MinIO, Garage's focus is on distributed storage rather than simply replicating MinIO's API.
RustFS offers a similar S3-compatible API to MinIO but shares a similar design philosophy with Garage. RustFS is also written in Rust and employs a distributed model consisting of nodes and drives. This may be the best option for those who want to replace an existing MinIO installation while maintaining a familiar application layer.
SeaweedFS takes a more comprehensive approach, supporting multiple storage interfaces including S3, FUSE, HDFS, WebDAV, and SFTP. While SeaweedFS may have more infrastructure than necessary for a simple S3-compatible API, its broad support for various storage systems makes it a compelling choice for those with additional requirements beyond object storage.
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