Best Backup Storage for Self-Hosters in 2026: the price nobody shows you
Every comparison of backup storage quotes a price per terabyte. That number is real, but it is not the number that decides your bill. Most self-hosters do not back up a terabyte. They back up a database, a config directory and a photo folder - a few tens of gigabytes - and what they actually pay is set by each provider's minimum , not by the per-terabyte rate. We tested this on our own data. We…
A common method of comparing backup storage providers lists their price per terabyte. However, this figure does not represent the actual cost a self-hoster will be paying. Most self-hosters do not store a full terabyte; they store a few tens of gigabytes, such as databases, configuration directories, and photo folders.
The actual cost is determined by the minimum amount a provider charges, not the per-terabyte rate. To illustrate, two separate object storage backups were conducted: an ERP database and a hosting panel. The total size of these backups was 2,640 GB, or 43 GB.
When this modest 43 GB is priced at six different providers, the results show a stark contrast. The headline price for egress (data transfer out) varies significantly between providers. For instance, Backblaze B2 offers the storage at no cost up to 3x your average monthly storage, then $0.01/GB. AWS S3 Standard, on the other hand, charges $24.50/TB, with $0.09/GB after 100 GB of data transferred per month.
Hetzner Storage Box charges a flat €3.20 for unlimited storage, Hetzner Object Storage charges a flat €6.49 for 1 TB of storage and 1 TB of egress, and Infomaniak charges CHF 4.18/TB plus CHF 1.84 per device.
Only Backblaze B2 and AWS S3 charge based on the actual amount of data stored. In this scenario, with 43 GB of data, the difference in price is significant. At 43 GB, the flat pricing offered by Hetzner Storage Box, Hetzner Object Storage, and Infomaniak is the most cost-effective option. Beyond a certain size, Wasabi's $0 egress starts to become competitive.
The key takeaway is that the choice of storage provider depends on the size of your data relative to the minimum charge of each provider. For small datasets, providers like Backblaze B2 are the most economical. As your data grows, the choice shifts to providers with flat-rate pricing or those offering generous egress allowances. It's crucial to consider both the storage cost and the cost of data retrieval, especially in the event of a restore.
Written by urgent.news from Dev.to's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
