File Storage · head to head
Ceph vs Panzura
Ceph
File Storage
Open source distributed storage providing object, block and file from one cluster
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
Panzura
File Storage
Global file system putting one namespace over object storage across sites
- From
- On request
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Only Ceph has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- 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.; Panzura cloud egress charges apply whenever data is read from the object store into a site that has not cached it, and organisations routinely discover this during a restore or a new site rollout rather than during procurement.
- They diverge on capability: Ceph covers RADOS object store, Panzura covers Global file system.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Ceph and Panzura actually diverge.
Identical on both: 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 Panzura
- Global file system
- Global file locking
- Local caching filers
- Deduplication
- Immutable snapshots
- Cloud mirroring
- Symphony data services
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 Panzura
- Growing past the point where a proprietary array upgrade costs more than a rack of commodity serversnot Panzura
- Research and media environments with petabytes of data and staff who can operate storagenot Panzura
- Providing an S3 endpoint on premises with multi site replication under your own controlnot Panzura
Panzura
- An architecture firm with offices in three cities working on the same Revit models without copy conflictsnot Ceph
- A media company consolidating project storage into object storage while keeping editors on a normal SMB sharenot Ceph
- A manufacturer replacing per-site NAS filers and the backup estate that came with themnot Ceph
- An organisation that needs immutable snapshots of unstructured file data as a ransomware recovery positionnot 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.
Panzura
- Cloud egress charges apply whenever data is read from the object store into a site that has not cached it, and organisations routinely discover this during a restore or a new site rollout rather than during procurement.
- Performance depends entirely on cache hit rates, so a team that works across the whole dataset rather than a hot subset sees latency that a local NAS would not have produced.
- Licence cost is only part of total cost; object storage capacity, per-site filer nodes and egress all sit outside the vendor quote and can exceed it.
- Recovery of a very large dataset is bounded by your internet link and by egress cost, so the practical recovery time after a site loss is often much longer than the snapshot policy implies.
- Encryption keys can be held by the customer, but organisations that accept vendor-managed defaults give up the ability to render the object store unreadable independently, which some regulators now ask about explicitly.
Pricing, plan by plan
Ceph
Free- CephFree
- Full functionality, no capacity limit
- Object, block and file interfaces
- Community support via mailing list and Slack
Panzura
On request- Panzura CloudFS$undefined/year
- Priced by usable capacity under management
- Filer nodes licensed per site, physical or virtual
- Object storage and cloud egress billed by your cloud provider separately
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 Panzura if
- You need global file system.
- You work on Linux, Windows, Web.
- You also want global file locking.
Questions people ask
- Is Ceph or Panzura better?
- Neither clearly leads. Ceph starts at Free and Panzura at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Ceph or Panzura?
- Ceph has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Ceph and On request for Panzura.
- Does Ceph or Panzura run on more platforms?
- Ceph runs on Linux. Panzura runs on Linux, Windows, Web.
- Can I use Ceph for free?
- Yes. Ceph has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Panzura starts at On request.
- 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 Panzura is typically brought in for.
- What can Ceph do that Panzura cannot?
- Ceph covers RADOS object store, RADOS Gateway, RBD block devices, CephFS. Panzura covers Global file system, Global file locking, Local caching filers, Deduplication.
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.
Panzura: Who holds the encryption keys?
Customer-managed keys are supported. Insist on them if you need the ability to revoke access to the object store independently of the vendor, and confirm the key custody model in writing.
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.
Panzura: What does it actually cost to run?
Model three things: the Panzura subscription, the object storage capacity, and cloud egress. The third is the one that catches buyers out during restores and site bring-ups.
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.
Panzura: Does it replace backup?
Immutable snapshots cover many recovery scenarios, but confirm your retention and compliance requirements before removing an existing backup product.
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.
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