# Object storage: what AI models recommend, October 2026

Gane Index, October 2026 Edition. Asked as "object storage service" and as "S3-compatible cloud storage", six framings each, to fourteen models with search on, on behalf of a mid-market B2B company. Page: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/cloud/object-storage/2026-10

This is the permanent record of the October 2026 Edition, published October 1, 2026 and superseded since. The current standing: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/cloud/object-storage/index.md

**Standing:** Backblaze B2 leads with 46% of first choices; verdict clear leader. 52 first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts.

## First-choice share

| Rank | Product | Share | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | [Backblaze B2](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/backblaze-b2/index.md) | 46% | 5% | 62 |
| 2 | [Cloudflare R2](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/cloudflare-r2/index.md) | 19% | 17% | 47 |
| 3 | [Amazon S3](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/amazon-s3/index.md) | 12% | 34% | 67 |
| 4 | [Wasabi Object Storage](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/wasabi-object-storage/index.md) | 10% | 28% | 54 |
| 5 | [Azure Blob Storage](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/azure-blob-storage/index.md) | 6% | 31% | 42 |
| 6 | [DigitalOcean Spaces](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/digitalocean-spaces/index.md) | 2% | 8% | 26 |
| 7 | [Google Cloud Storage](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/google-cloud-storage/index.md) | 2% | 21% | 47 |
| 8 | [Cloudian HyperStore](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/cloudian-hyperstore/index.md) | 2% | 0% | 10 |
| 10 | [MinIO AIStor](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/minio-aistor/index.md) | 0% | 14% | 22 |

Rank is by share of first choices among all 51 products named; products with the same share are tied, and the order among them carries no meaning. The table lists those with at least 10 labels.

## Each model's first choice on the direct prompt

- Claude Haiku 4.5: no first choice
- GPT-5.4 mini: Amazon S3; alternatives Azure Blob Storage, Google Cloud Storage
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: Cloudflare R2; alternatives Backblaze B2, Wasabi Object Storage
- Perplexity Sonar: Google Cloud Storage; alternatives Amazon S3, Backblaze B2, Wasabi Object Storage
- Grok 4.20: Backblaze B2; alternatives Cloudflare R2, Wasabi Object Storage
- Mistral Small: Backblaze B2; alternatives Amazon S3, Cloudian HyperStore
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: Backblaze B2; alternatives Amazon S3, Cloudflare R2
- Llama 4 Maverick: no first choice
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: Backblaze B2, Wasabi Object Storage
- Kimi K2: Cloudflare R2; alternatives Azure Blob Storage, Backblaze B2, Google Cloud Storage
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: Backblaze B2; alternatives Amazon S3, Cloudflare R2, MinIO AIStor, Wasabi Object Storage
- MiniMax M2.5: Amazon S3, Azure Blob Storage; alternatives Backblaze B2, Google Cloud Storage, Wasabi Object Storage
- GPT-6 Luna: Amazon S3; alternatives Azure Blob Storage, Cloudflare R2, Google Cloud Storage
- Muse Glimmer 30B: no first choice; alternatives Amazon S3, Backblaze B2, Cloudflare R2, Wasabi Object Storage

## Sources the answers cite

74 of 84 answers came back with a source list, from 14 of 14 models. Sites named in the most answers:

- digitalocean.com: 39 answers, 51 citations
- github.com: 32 answers, 32 citations
- backblaze.com: 27 answers, 39 citations
- solved.scality.com: 24 answers, 34 citations
- g2.com: 23 answers, 34 citations
- mixpeek.com: 21 answers, 26 citations
- cloudian.com: 20 answers, 31 citations
- sourceforge.net: 19 answers, 20 citations

Pages named in the most answers:

- https://digitalocean.com/resources/articles/object-storage-solutions-cloud-data (36 answers)
- https://github.com/mixpeek/awesome-object-storage (32 answers)
- https://solved.scality.com/object-storage-solutions-small-business (16 answers)
- https://atlantic.net/managed-services/top-object-storage-providers-2026-a-guide-to-the-best-solutions-available (15 answers)
- https://backblaze.com/cloud-storage/pricing (15 answers)
- https://geekflare.com/software/best-object-storage (14 answers)
- https://sourceforge.net/software/object-storage/for-mid-size-business (13 answers)
- https://g2.com/categories/object-storage-solutions (12 answers)
- https://mixpeek.com/blog/object-storage-comparison-2026 (11 answers)
- https://aimultiple.com/cloud-object-storage (11 answers)

## Warned against

- Amazon S3: 23 of 67 labels negative. "Avoid hyperscalers (AWS/GCP/Azure) on tight budgets due to egress/API add-ons." (Grok 4.20, budget prompt)
- Wasabi Object Storage: 15 of 54 labels negative. "Services to Avoid ... Wasabi Technologies | • 90‑day minimum retention per object" (MiniMax M2.5, negative prompt)
- Azure Blob Storage: 13 of 42 labels negative. "avoid or be cautious about ... those with high egress fees or minimum retention periods, such as GCS and Azure Cold" (Muse Glimmer 30B, negative prompt)
- Cloudflare R2: 8 of 47 labels negative. "No versioning, no object lock, and no WORM compliance, so it is not suitable for immutable or regulatory backups." (Perplexity Sonar, negative prompt)

## Movement since September 2026

Floor: 11 points of share, measured on the calibration repeat.
Same leader: Backblaze B2 at 45%.

- Wasabi Object Storage: 5% to 11%, +6. Inside the floor by 5 points · rank 5 → 3 of 46.
- Amazon S3: 15% to 9%, −6. Inside the floor by 5 points · rank 3 → 4 of 46.
- Storj: 3% to 0%, −3. Inside the floor by 8 points · rank 7 → 45 of 46.
- Azure Blob Storage: 8% to 6%, −2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 4 → 5 of 46.
- Google Cloud Storage: 0% to 2%, +2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 8 → 6 of 46.
- DigitalOcean Spaces: 0% to 2%, +2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 18 → 7 of 46.
- Cloudian HyperStore: 0% to 2%, +2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 10 → 8 of 46.
- Backblaze B2: 46% to 45%, −1. Inside the floor by 10 points · rank 1 of 46, unchanged.
- IDrive e2: 3% to 2%, −1. Inside the floor by 10 points · rank 6 → 9 of 46.
- Cloudflare R2: 21% to 21%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 2 of 46, unchanged.
- MinIO AIStor: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 9 → 10 of 46.

## Record

- Method: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/methodology
- License: CC BY 4.0. Cite as Gane Index, October 2026 Edition, www.gane.ai/index/it.