File Storage · head to head
Ceph vs IDrive e2
Ceph
File Storage
Open source distributed storage providing object, block and file from one cluster
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
IDrive e2
File Storage
Low cost S3-compatible object storage with egress included up to a multiple of what you store
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Ceph ceph assumes an operator who understands placement groups, CRUSH rules and recovery tuning, so organisations without dedicated storage staff routinely end up with a cluster that works until the first failure and then does not.; IDrive e2 the included egress is capped as a multiple of stored data, so a small bucket that serves a lot of traffic exhausts the allowance quickly and the economics stop looking cheap exactly where a CDN backed store would still be free.
- They diverge on capability: Ceph covers RADOS object store, IDrive e2 covers S3-compatible endpoints.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Ceph and IDrive e2 actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (File Storage).
What each one covers
Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.
Only in Ceph
- RADOS object store
- RADOS Gateway
- RBD block devices
- CephFS
- CRUSH placement
- Erasure coded pools
Only in IDrive e2
- S3-compatible endpoints
- Included egress allowance
- Object lock
- Versioning
- Regional endpoints
- Cross region replication
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Ceph
- Backing a private cloud where virtual machine disks, shared filesystems and an S3 endpoint all need the same hardwarenot IDrive e2
- Growing past the point where a proprietary array upgrade costs more than a rack of commodity serversnot IDrive e2
- Research and media environments with petabytes of data and staff who can operate storagenot IDrive e2
- Providing an S3 endpoint on premises with multi site replication under your own controlnot IDrive e2
IDrive e2
- The offsite copy in a three two one backup chain driven by Veeam, restic or a NAS backup clientnot Ceph
- Replacing an S3 bucket whose cost is dominated by storage rather than by requestsnot Ceph
- Small teams who want predictable monthly object storage billing with no request line itemsnot Ceph
- Archiving media or logs that must stay accessible without a retrieval delaynot Ceph
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Ceph
- Ceph assumes an operator who understands placement groups, CRUSH rules and recovery tuning, so organisations without dedicated storage staff routinely end up with a cluster that works until the first failure and then does not.
- Small clusters are inefficient: three way replication means a third of raw capacity is usable, and erasure coding needs enough failure domains to be safe, so the economics only work above a certain size.
- Recovery and rebalancing generate heavy internal traffic, so a failed disk can degrade client latency across the cluster unless backfill is throttled correctly beforehand.
- Upgrades must follow a strict daemon order across monitors, managers, OSDs and gateways, and a mistake in that order on a live cluster is difficult to reverse.
- Because it is self hosted, every byte served to the internet is transit you pay for on your own links, so the free licence does not mean free egress and bandwidth planning becomes your problem rather than the providers.
IDrive e2
- The included egress is capped as a multiple of stored data, so a small bucket that serves a lot of traffic exhausts the allowance quickly and the economics stop looking cheap exactly where a CDN backed store would still be free.
- The region list is short compared with the hyperscalers, so data residency requirements outside the main markets are hard to satisfy and multi region designs have fewer options.
- S3 compatibility covers the common calls but not the long tail, so software that relies on less common features can fail in ways that are hard to diagnose against a provider with thin public documentation.
- Support is organised around a consumer and small business backup product rather than a platform engineering organisation, so escalating a storage layer problem takes longer than it would with a specialist provider.
- IDrive publishes far less about the underlying architecture, durability engineering and incident history than its competitors, so due diligence on the storage layer is largely taking the vendor at its word.
Pricing, plan by plan
Ceph
Free- CephFree
- Full functionality, no capacity limit
- Object, block and file interfaces
- Community support via mailing list and Slack
IDrive e2
Free- FreeFree
- 10 GB stored
- S3 API access
- Egress within the included allowance
- Pay as you go$4/month
- Roughly 4 USD per terabyte stored per month
- Egress included up to a multiple of stored data
- No per operation charge on standard usage
Which should you pick?
Choose Ceph if
- You need rados object store.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Linux.
- You also want rados gateway.
Choose IDrive e2 if
- You need s3-compatible endpoints.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, API.
- You also want included egress allowance.
Questions people ask
- Is Ceph or IDrive e2 better?
- Neither clearly leads. Ceph starts at Free and IDrive e2 at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Ceph or IDrive e2?
- Ceph starts at Free and IDrive e2 at Free.
- Does Ceph or IDrive e2 run on more platforms?
- Ceph runs on Linux. IDrive e2 runs on Web, API.
- Can I use Ceph for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is Ceph best used for?
- Ceph is most often used for backing a private cloud where virtual machine disks, shared filesystems and an s3 endpoint all need the same hardware, growing past the point where a proprietary array upgrade costs more than a rack of commodity servers, research and media environments with petabytes of data and staff who can operate storage, providing an s3 endpoint on premises with multi site replication under your own control. Of those, backing a private cloud where virtual machine disks, shared filesystems and an s3 endpoint all need the same hardware and growing past the point where a proprietary array upgrade costs more than a rack of commodity servers are not what IDrive e2 is typically brought in for.
- What can Ceph do that IDrive e2 cannot?
- Ceph covers RADOS object store, RADOS Gateway, RBD block devices, CephFS. IDrive e2 covers S3-compatible endpoints, Included egress allowance, Object lock, Versioning.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Ceph: How many nodes do I need to start?
Three is the practical minimum for a replicated cluster with real fault tolerance, and most production advice starts at five once you account for maintenance windows.
IDrive e2: Is the egress genuinely free?
It is included up to an allowance tied to how much you store, not unlimited. Read heavy workloads on a small bucket will exceed it.
Ceph: Is it faster than a SAN?
Not on single stream latency. It wins on aggregate throughput and on growing without a forklift upgrade, which is a different property from raw speed.
IDrive e2: Does it work with Veeam and restic?
Yes, both treat it as a standard S3 endpoint, and object lock is supported for immutable backup chains.
Ceph: Can I buy support?
Yes. IBM sells IBM Storage Ceph and SUSE and others have offered supported builds; the upstream project itself is free.
IDrive e2: Is there a minimum retention period?
No fixed minimum retention charge on standard storage, which is a real difference from providers that bill ninety days on early deletion.
Ceph: Should I use it just for S3?
If object is all you need, a dedicated object store is simpler to run. Ceph earns its complexity when you need block and file as well.
IDrive e2: How does it compare with Backblaze B2?
The rates are close. B2 is the better documented and more widely integrated service; e2 is cheaper at list and has a different egress allowance model.
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