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File Storage · head to head

Cloudflare R2 vs Nasuni

Cloudflare R2 logo

Cloudflare R2

File Storage

S3-compatible object storage that charges nothing for egress to the internet

From
Free
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

  • Only Cloudflare R2 has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Cloudflare R2 there is no archive tier below Infrequent Access, so genuinely cold data costs roughly ten to fifteen times what it would cost in a deep archive class and there is nowhere cheaper to lifecycle it to.; 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: Cloudflare R2 covers Zero egress billing, Nasuni covers Edge caching appliances.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Cloudflare R2 and Nasuni actually diverge.

Attributes where Cloudflare R2 and Nasuni differ
AttributeCloudflare R2Nasuni
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelPer gigabyte stored per monthquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, APIWeb, Windows, VMware, Hyper-V, AWS, Azure

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 Cloudflare R2

  • Zero egress billing
  • S3 API compatibility
  • Worker binding
  • Jurisdictional restriction
  • Infrequent Access tier
  • Custom domain serving

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.

Cloudflare R2

  • Serving a large media or asset library to the public where transfer out, not storage, is the dominant costnot Nasuni
  • Hosting a container or artefact registry that thousands of CI runners pull from every daynot Nasuni
  • Distributing model weights or open datasets that are downloaded far more often than they are updatednot Nasuni
  • Moving off S3 specifically to stop paying data transfer charges on a read heavy bucketnot Nasuni

Nasuni

  • Consolidating file servers across many branch offices onto one namespace without shipping data between sitesnot Cloudflare R2
  • Replacing a NAS plus backup plus offsite replication stack with a single recovery modelnot Cloudflare R2
  • Engineering or media teams in different regions who need to work on the same large project filesnot Cloudflare R2
  • An organisation that has been hit by ransomware on file shares and needs version level rollback rather than tape restoresnot Cloudflare R2

Where each one falls short

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

Cloudflare R2

  • There is no archive tier below Infrequent Access, so genuinely cold data costs roughly ten to fifteen times what it would cost in a deep archive class and there is nowhere cheaper to lifecycle it to.
  • Class A operations are billed at 4.50 USD per million, so a workload that writes millions of small objects can spend more on operations than on the storage those objects occupy.
  • Infrequent Access carries both a retrieval fee and a thirty day minimum storage duration, so data that is deleted or re-read sooner ends up more expensive than if it had stayed on Standard.
  • You choose a location hint rather than a region, so you cannot prove to an auditor which datacentre holds an object unless you use a jurisdiction restricted bucket, and jurisdictions are limited.
  • Support level follows your Cloudflare account plan rather than the storage spend, so a team on a low tier account gets ticket support with no storage specific SLA, and an R2 incident is a Cloudflare incident you cannot fail over from because the free egress only exists inside Cloudflare.

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

Cloudflare R2

Free
  • Free tierFree
    • 10 GB stored per month
    • 1 million Class A operations
    • 10 million Class B operations
  • Standard$0.015/month
    • Per gigabyte stored per month
    • 4.50 USD per million Class A operations
    • 0.36 USD per million Class B operations
  • Infrequent Access$0.01/month
    • Per gigabyte stored per month
    • Per gigabyte data retrieval fee
    • Thirty day minimum storage duration

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 Cloudflare R2 if

  • You need zero egress billing.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, API.
  • You also want s3 api compatibility.
Cloudflare R2 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 Cloudflare R2 or Nasuni better?
Neither clearly leads. Cloudflare R2 starts at Free and Nasuni at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Cloudflare R2 or Nasuni?
Cloudflare R2 has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Cloudflare R2 and On request for Nasuni.
Does Cloudflare R2 or Nasuni run on more platforms?
Cloudflare R2 runs on Web, API. Nasuni runs on Web, Windows, VMware, Hyper-V, AWS, Azure.
Can I use Cloudflare R2 for free?
Yes. Cloudflare R2 has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Nasuni starts at On request.
What is Cloudflare R2 best used for?
Cloudflare R2 is most often used for serving a large media or asset library to the public where transfer out, not storage, is the dominant cost, hosting a container or artefact registry that thousands of ci runners pull from every day, distributing model weights or open datasets that are downloaded far more often than they are updated, moving off s3 specifically to stop paying data transfer charges on a read heavy bucket. Of those, serving a large media or asset library to the public where transfer out, not storage, is the dominant cost and hosting a container or artefact registry that thousands of ci runners pull from every day are not what Nasuni is typically brought in for.
What can Cloudflare R2 do that Nasuni cannot?
Cloudflare R2 covers Zero egress billing, S3 API compatibility, Worker binding, Jurisdictional restriction. Nasuni covers Edge caching appliances, Object storage back end, Continuous versioning, Global file lock.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Cloudflare R2: Is egress really free, with no hidden transfer charge?

Yes for data served out of R2 to the internet. You still pay per operation for the requests that serve it, and if you pull data into R2 from another provider you pay that provider the egress on the way in.

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.

Cloudflare R2: How does the total cost compare with S3 for a public download bucket?

Storage is more expensive per terabyte than S3 Infrequent Access, but S3 charges roughly 90 USD per terabyte served. Any bucket that serves more than about a fifth of its stored volume each month is cheaper on R2.

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.

Cloudflare R2: Can I use R2 without using the rest of Cloudflare?

Yes, it works through the plain S3 API from anywhere. You lose the Worker binding and the free CDN caching in front of it, which is where a lot of the practical benefit sits.

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.

Cloudflare R2: Does R2 have a cold archive class like Glacier?

No. Infrequent Access is the coldest tier, at two thirds of the Standard rate plus retrieval fees.

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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