Is MinIO or Wasabi better?

Neither clearly leads. MinIO starts at Free and Wasabi at $7.99/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, MinIO or Wasabi?

MinIO has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for MinIO and $7.99/month for Wasabi.

Does MinIO or Wasabi run on more platforms?

MinIO runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, Kubernetes, Docker. Wasabi runs on Web, API.

Can I use MinIO for free?

Yes. MinIO has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Wasabi starts at $7.99/month.

What is MinIO best used for?

MinIO is most often used for providing an s3 endpoint inside an air gapped or regulated network where a cloud bucket is not permitted, backing a kubernetes platform with object storage that lives on the same hardware as the cluster, standing up s3 semantics in ci so tests exercise the same api path as production, fronting local disk shelves with an s3 interface so applications only ever learn one storage api. Of those, providing an s3 endpoint inside an air gapped or regulated network where a cloud bucket is not permitted and backing a kubernetes platform with object storage that lives on the same hardware as the cluster are not what Wasabi is typically brought in for.

What can MinIO do that Wasabi cannot?

MinIO covers S3 API implementation, Erasure coding, Single binary deployment, Bucket replication. Wasabi covers Hot Cloud Storage, S3 Compatible API, Object Lock, Versioning.

File Storage · head to head

MinIO vs Wasabi

MinIO

File Storage

S3-compatible object storage server you run yourself, now under AGPL with a stripped community edition

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

Wasabi

Cloud

Hot cloud storage without egress fees

From: $7.99/month
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Only MinIO has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
Each has a real cost: MinIO the AGPL v3 licence applies copyleft over network use, so embedding MinIO in a product or hosted service obliges you to release your own source or buy a commercial licence, and legal review has removed it from several vendor stacks for this reason alone.; Wasabi 90-day minimum storage duration with no option to delete before full period without penalty
They diverge on capability: MinIO covers S3 API implementation, Wasabi covers Hot Cloud Storage.
Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which MinIO and Wasabi actually diverge.

Attributes where MinIO and Wasabi differ
Attribute	MinIO	Wasabi
Starting price	Free	$7.99/month
Pricing model	Open source, no licence fee	Unknown
Free tier	Yes	No
Platforms	Linux, macOS, Windows, Kubernetes, Docker	Web, API
Category	File Storage	Cloud
Founded	Unknown	2015

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated).

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 MinIO

S3 API implementation
Erasure coding
Single binary deployment
Bucket replication
Object locking and versioning
Identity provider integration

Only in Wasabi

Hot Cloud Storage
S3 Compatible API
Object Lock
Versioning
Multi-region
Data Migration Tools
Immutability
Ransomware Protection

What people use each for

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

MinIO

Providing an S3 endpoint inside an air gapped or regulated network where a cloud bucket is not permittednot Wasabi
Backing a Kubernetes platform with object storage that lives on the same hardware as the clusternot Wasabi
Standing up S3 semantics in CI so tests exercise the same API path as productionnot Wasabi
Fronting local disk shelves with an S3 interface so applications only ever learn one storage APInot Wasabi

Wasabi

Backup and recoverynot MinIO
Media storagenot MinIO
Archive replacementnot MinIO
Ransomware protectionnot MinIO

Where each one falls short

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

MinIO

The AGPL v3 licence applies copyleft over network use, so embedding MinIO in a product or hosted service obliges you to release your own source or buy a commercial licence, and legal review has removed it from several vendor stacks for this reason alone.
The community edition console was reduced in 2025 to an object browser, so user, policy, bucket and configuration management now happen through the mc command line client or through the paid product, which is a real operational regression for teams that trained staff on the UI.
The vendor has changed the terms of the free edition twice, so planning long lived infrastructure around the community build carries the risk that the next change removes something you depend on.
Erasure coded deployments cannot be grown by adding single drives; capacity is added in server pools, so expansion is a hardware purchase in units rather than an incremental one.
Commercial pricing is capacity based and aimed at large deployments, so a team that outgrows the community edition faces an enterprise sized quote rather than a graduated upgrade path.

Wasabi

90-day minimum storage duration with no option to delete before full period without penalty
Significantly smaller global footprint than AWS with only 16 regions, resulting in higher latency for users in underserved regions
Performance can degrade with high-volume transactions requiring throughput management strategies
Hot storage only, no cold/archival storage tier for long-term data at lower cost
Support responsiveness gaps with teams experiencing multi-day waits for critical issue resolution

Pricing, plan by plan

MinIO

Free

Community (AGPL v3)Free
- Full server functionality
- Erasure coding and replication
- Object browser only in the web console
AIStor$undefined/year
- Commercial licence removing AGPL obligations
- Full management console
- Vendor support with response commitments

Wasabi

$7.99/month

No published plan breakdown. See the Wasabi review.

Which should you pick?

Choose MinIO if

You need s3 api implementation.
You want to start without paying.
You work on Linux, macOS, Windows, Kubernetes, Docker.
You also want erasure coding.

MinIO review

Choose Wasabi if

You need hot cloud storage.
You work on Web, API.
You also want s3 compatible api.

Wasabi review

Questions people ask

Is MinIO or Wasabi better?: Neither clearly leads. MinIO starts at Free and Wasabi at $7.99/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, MinIO or Wasabi?: MinIO has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for MinIO and $7.99/month for Wasabi.
Does MinIO or Wasabi run on more platforms?: MinIO runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, Kubernetes, Docker. Wasabi runs on Web, API.
Can I use MinIO for free?: Yes. MinIO has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Wasabi starts at $7.99/month.
What is MinIO best used for?: MinIO is most often used for providing an s3 endpoint inside an air gapped or regulated network where a cloud bucket is not permitted, backing a kubernetes platform with object storage that lives on the same hardware as the cluster, standing up s3 semantics in ci so tests exercise the same api path as production, fronting local disk shelves with an s3 interface so applications only ever learn one storage api. Of those, providing an s3 endpoint inside an air gapped or regulated network where a cloud bucket is not permitted and backing a kubernetes platform with object storage that lives on the same hardware as the cluster are not what Wasabi is typically brought in for.
What can MinIO do that Wasabi cannot?: MinIO covers S3 API implementation, Erasure coding, Single binary deployment, Bucket replication. Wasabi covers Hot Cloud Storage, S3 Compatible API, Object Lock, Versioning.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

MinIO: Can I still use MinIO for free?

Yes, the AGPL v3 server remains available and functional. What changed is the console, which no longer manages users, policies or configuration in the community build.

Wasabi: What is Wasabi's pricing structure?

Wasabi offers pay-as-you-go pricing at $7.99 per TB per month as of July 2026, with no egress or API request fees. Reserved capacity plans are available for multi-year terms with volume discounts.

Source

MinIO: Does AGPL affect me if I only use it internally?

Internal use without offering the software over a network to third parties generally does not trigger the source obligation, but if MinIO forms part of a service you offer to others, it does. Take advice rather than a forum answer.

Wasabi: Does Wasabi charge for data downloads or API calls?

No. Wasabi includes zero egress fees and zero API request fees, which is a major cost advantage over AWS S3. Customers can plan their budget to the penny without worrying about surprise data transfer charges.

Source

MinIO: What replaced the community console features?

The mc client and the server admin API. Third party UIs exist but they are not maintained by MinIO.

Wasabi: Is there a minimum storage duration requirement?

Yes. Wasabi enforces a 90-day minimum storage term. Users who delete data before 90 days are still charged for the full 90-day period.

Source

MinIO: Is it suitable as a Veeam or restic backup target?

Yes, object locking and versioning work and both tools treat it as standard S3. Immutability depends on configuring the lock policy at bucket creation.

Wasabi: Is Wasabi S3-compatible?

Yes. Wasabi Hot Cloud Storage is fully S3-compatible, meaning organizations can integrate it into existing workflows without rewriting application code used with AWS S3.

MinIO vs Wasabi

MinIO

Wasabi

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in MinIO

Only in Wasabi

What people use each for

MinIO

Wasabi

Where each one falls short

MinIO

Wasabi

Pricing, plan by plan

MinIO

Wasabi

Which should you pick?

Choose MinIO if

Choose Wasabi if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on MinIO

More on Wasabi

Keep looking

Other head to heads