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File Storage · head to head

LucidLink vs Nasuni

LucidLink logo

LucidLink

File Storage

Cloud filesystem that streams large media files on demand instead of syncing them

From
$7/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Nasuni logo

Nasuni

File Storage

Cloud file storage that keeps the authoritative copy in object storage and caches it at each site

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: 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.; Nasuni subscription is based on managed capacity, so cold data that would cost almost nothing in an archive tier keeps paying the full platform rate, and there is limited incentive structure to delete.
  • They diverge on capability: LucidLink covers Filespaces, Nasuni covers Edge caching appliances.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which LucidLink and Nasuni actually diverge.

Attributes where LucidLink and Nasuni differ
AttributeLucidLinkNasuni
Starting price$7/monthOn request
Pricing modelPer member per month plus storagequote
PlatformsmacOS, Windows, Linux, iOSWeb, Windows, VMware, Hyper-V, AWS, Azure

Identical on both: free tier (No), 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 LucidLink

  • Filespaces
  • On-demand streaming
  • Client-side encryption
  • Customer-managed keys
  • Bring your own storage
  • Snapshots

Only in Nasuni

  • Edge caching appliances
  • Object storage back end
  • Continuous versioning
  • Global file lock
  • Rapid site recovery
  • Ransomware detection

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

LucidLink

  • A post house with editors in three countries cutting from one shared 4K rush library without shipping drivesnot Nasuni
  • A broadcaster giving freelancers access to a project for a fortnight without provisioning VPN and a NAS mountnot Nasuni
  • A game studio sharing multi-gigabyte asset builds where syncing every file to every workstation is impracticalnot Nasuni
  • An architecture practice opening large point cloud and BIM files from a laptop on a hotel connectionnot Nasuni

Nasuni

  • Consolidating file servers across many branch offices onto one namespace without shipping data between sitesnot LucidLink
  • Replacing a NAS plus backup plus offsite replication stack with a single recovery modelnot LucidLink
  • Engineering or media teams in different regions who need to work on the same large project filesnot LucidLink
  • An organisation that has been hit by ransomware on file shares and needs version level rollback rather than tape restoresnot LucidLink

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

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.

Nasuni

  • Subscription is based on managed capacity, so cold data that would cost almost nothing in an archive tier keeps paying the full platform rate, and there is limited incentive structure to delete.
  • Every site needs an appliance, virtual or physical, which is a footprint and a patching obligation at locations that previously had only a file server or nothing.
  • A read that misses the local cache is fetched from object storage, so the first access to a cold large file is at cloud latency and users experience it as the system being slow at random.
  • Global file lock serialises access across regions, so genuinely collaborative editing of the same large files still involves waiting for another site to release the lock rather than merging.
  • The object storage underneath is your contract, so API transaction and egress charges from Azure or AWS land on your cloud bill and are not covered by the Nasuni subscription you were quoted against.

Pricing, plan by plan

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

Nasuni

On request
  • Nasuni File Data Platform$undefined/year
    • Subscription based on managed capacity
    • Edge appliances at each site
    • Continuous versioning and rapid recovery

Which should you pick?

Choose LucidLink if

  • You need filespaces.
  • You work on macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS.
  • You also want on-demand streaming.
LucidLink review

Choose Nasuni if

  • You need edge caching appliances.
  • You work on Web, Windows, VMware, Hyper-V, AWS, Azure.
  • You also want object storage back end.
Nasuni review

Questions people ask

Is LucidLink or Nasuni better?
Neither clearly leads. LucidLink starts at $7/month and Nasuni at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, LucidLink or Nasuni?
LucidLink starts at $7/month and Nasuni at On request.
Does LucidLink or Nasuni run on more platforms?
LucidLink runs on macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS. Nasuni runs on Web, Windows, VMware, Hyper-V, AWS, Azure.
What is LucidLink best used for?
LucidLink is most often used for a post house with editors in three countries cutting from one shared 4k rush library without shipping drives, a broadcaster giving freelancers access to a project for a fortnight without provisioning vpn and a nas mount, a game studio sharing multi-gigabyte asset builds where syncing every file to every workstation is impractical, an architecture practice opening large point cloud and bim files from a laptop on a hotel connection. Of those, a post house with editors in three countries cutting from one shared 4k rush library without shipping drives and a broadcaster giving freelancers access to a project for a fortnight without provisioning vpn and a nas mount are not what Nasuni is typically brought in for.
What can LucidLink do that Nasuni cannot?
LucidLink covers Filespaces, On-demand streaming, Client-side encryption, Customer-managed keys. Nasuni covers Edge caching appliances, Object storage back end, Continuous versioning, Global file lock.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

Nasuni: Do I still need a backup product?

That is the pitch: continuous versioning in object storage replaces the backup schedule for file data. Databases and virtual machines still need their own tooling.

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.

Nasuni: Who owns the storage account?

You do. Nasuni writes into object storage you contract for, which also means the cloud provider bills you directly for it.

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.

Nasuni: How fast is recovery of a whole site?

An appliance can be serving files within hours because data is pulled on demand, but performance stays degraded while the cache refills.

Nasuni: Is pricing published?

No. Nasuni sells through quotes based on managed capacity and site count, so comparisons need a real proposal rather than a list price.

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