File Storage · head to head
IDrive e2 vs LucidLink
IDrive e2
File Storage
Low cost S3-compatible object storage with egress included up to a multiple of what you store
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
LucidLink
File Storage
Cloud filesystem that streams large media files on demand instead of syncing them
- From
- $7/month
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Only IDrive e2 has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: 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.; LucidLink additional storage at $7 to $8 per 100GB per month is roughly three to four times raw S3 pricing, so teams with large cold archives pay a heavy premium for data they rarely touch.
- They diverge on capability: IDrive e2 covers S3-compatible endpoints, LucidLink covers Filespaces.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which IDrive e2 and LucidLink 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 IDrive e2
- S3-compatible endpoints
- Included egress allowance
- Object lock
- Versioning
- Regional endpoints
- Cross region replication
Only in LucidLink
- Filespaces
- On-demand streaming
- Client-side encryption
- Customer-managed keys
- Bring your own storage
- Snapshots
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
IDrive e2
- The offsite copy in a three two one backup chain driven by Veeam, restic or a NAS backup clientnot LucidLink
- Replacing an S3 bucket whose cost is dominated by storage rather than by requestsnot LucidLink
- Small teams who want predictable monthly object storage billing with no request line itemsnot LucidLink
- Archiving media or logs that must stay accessible without a retrieval delaynot LucidLink
LucidLink
- A post house with editors in three countries cutting from one shared 4K rush library without shipping drivesnot IDrive e2
- A broadcaster giving freelancers access to a project for a fortnight without provisioning VPN and a NAS mountnot IDrive e2
- A game studio sharing multi-gigabyte asset builds where syncing every file to every workstation is impracticalnot IDrive e2
- An architecture practice opening large point cloud and BIM files from a laptop on a hotel connectionnot IDrive e2
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
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.
LucidLink
- Additional storage at $7 to $8 per 100GB per month is roughly three to four times raw S3 pricing, so teams with large cold archives pay a heavy premium for data they rarely touch.
- Included storage is pooled per member, so adding a seat is also how you buy capacity, and teams with a few heavy users and many light ones buy seats purely for the gigabytes.
- Performance is bounded by the network link and local cache size, so a workstation with a small cache on a poor connection performs far worse than the demonstrations suggest.
- Small-file and metadata-heavy workloads such as code repositories, node modules trees or build outputs perform badly, so it is not a general-purpose file server replacement.
- Customer-managed keys and bring your own storage are Enterprise-tier options, so organisations that cannot let a vendor hold their keys cannot use the published pricing at all.
Pricing, plan by plan
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
LucidLink
$7/month- Starter$7/month
- 100GB included per member, pooled across the team
- Additional storage $7 per 100GB per month
- Client-side encryption
- Business$32/month
- $27 per member per month billed annually
- 400GB included per member, pooled across the team
- Additional storage $8 per 100GB per month
- Enterprise$undefined/year
- Custom pricing and storage terms
- Customer-managed encryption keys
- Bring your own object storage bucket
Which should you pick?
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.
Choose LucidLink if
- You need filespaces.
- You work on macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS.
- You also want on-demand streaming.
Questions people ask
- Is IDrive e2 or LucidLink better?
- Neither clearly leads. IDrive e2 starts at Free and LucidLink at $7/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, IDrive e2 or LucidLink?
- IDrive e2 has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for IDrive e2 and $7/month for LucidLink.
- Does IDrive e2 or LucidLink run on more platforms?
- IDrive e2 runs on Web, API. LucidLink runs on macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS.
- Can I use IDrive e2 for free?
- Yes. IDrive e2 has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. LucidLink starts at $7/month.
- What is IDrive e2 best used for?
- IDrive e2 is most often used for the offsite copy in a three two one backup chain driven by veeam, restic or a nas backup client, replacing an s3 bucket whose cost is dominated by storage rather than by requests, small teams who want predictable monthly object storage billing with no request line items, archiving media or logs that must stay accessible without a retrieval delay. Of those, the offsite copy in a three two one backup chain driven by veeam, restic or a nas backup client and replacing an s3 bucket whose cost is dominated by storage rather than by requests are not what LucidLink is typically brought in for.
- What can IDrive e2 do that LucidLink cannot?
- IDrive e2 covers S3-compatible endpoints, Included egress allowance, Object lock, Versioning. LucidLink covers Filespaces, On-demand streaming, Client-side encryption, Customer-managed keys.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
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.
LucidLink: What does storage actually cost?
$7 per 100GB per month on Starter and $8 per 100GB per month on Business, above the pooled allowance. Model this separately from the seat cost.
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.
LucidLink: Can we hold our own encryption keys?
On the Enterprise tier, yes, along with pointing the filespace at your own S3 or Azure bucket. Not on Starter or Business.
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.
LucidLink: Does it work for source code?
Not well. It is built for large sequential reads. Many small files is the workload it handles worst.
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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