Is Thanos or Wasabi better?

Neither clearly leads. Thanos 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, Thanos or Wasabi?

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

Does Thanos or Wasabi run on more platforms?

Thanos runs on Kubernetes, Linux, Docker. Wasabi runs on Web, API.

Can I use Thanos for free?

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

What is Thanos best used for?

Thanos is most often used for querying metrics across many clusters or regions from one place, retaining metrics for years without local disk growth, removing the gap that appears when a single prometheus instance restarts. Of those, querying metrics across many clusters or regions from one place and retaining metrics for years without local disk growth are not what Wasabi is typically brought in for.

What can Thanos do that Wasabi cannot?

Thanos covers Global query, Object storage retention, Deduplication, Downsampling. Wasabi covers Hot Cloud Storage, S3 Compatible API, Object Lock, Versioning.

Cloud · head to head

Thanos vs Wasabi

Thanos

Cloud

Highly available Prometheus with long-term object storage

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 Thanos has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
Each has a real cost: Thanos several components — sidecar, store, querier, compactor, ruler — each with its own configuration and failure modes; Wasabi 90-day minimum storage duration with no option to delete before full period without penalty
They diverge on capability: Thanos covers Global query, Wasabi covers Hot Cloud Storage.
Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Thanos and Wasabi actually diverge.

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

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

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 Thanos

Global query
Object storage retention
Deduplication
Downsampling

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.

Thanos

Querying metrics across many clusters or regions from one placenot Wasabi
Retaining metrics for years without local disk growthnot Wasabi
Removing the gap that appears when a single Prometheus instance restartsnot Wasabi

Wasabi

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

Where each one falls short

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

Thanos

Several components — sidecar, store, querier, compactor, ruler — each with its own configuration and failure modes
The compactor is a common source of operational trouble and must not run twice against the same bucket
Query latency over object storage is meaningfully higher than local Prometheus
Object storage costs and API request charges become real at high volume

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

Thanos

Free

ThanosFree
- Full functionality
- No usage limits
- Community support

Wasabi

$7.99/month

No published plan breakdown. See the Wasabi review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Thanos if

You need global query.
You want to start without paying.
You work on Kubernetes, Linux, Docker.
You also want object storage retention.

Thanos 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 Thanos or Wasabi better?: Neither clearly leads. Thanos 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, Thanos or Wasabi?: Thanos has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Thanos and $7.99/month for Wasabi.
Does Thanos or Wasabi run on more platforms?: Thanos runs on Kubernetes, Linux, Docker. Wasabi runs on Web, API.
Can I use Thanos for free?: Yes. Thanos has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Wasabi starts at $7.99/month.
What is Thanos best used for?: Thanos is most often used for querying metrics across many clusters or regions from one place, retaining metrics for years without local disk growth, removing the gap that appears when a single prometheus instance restarts. Of those, querying metrics across many clusters or regions from one place and retaining metrics for years without local disk growth are not what Wasabi is typically brought in for.
What can Thanos do that Wasabi cannot?: Thanos covers Global query, Object storage retention, Deduplication, Downsampling. Wasabi covers Hot Cloud Storage, S3 Compatible API, Object Lock, Versioning.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Thanos: Is Thanos free?

Yes, open source and CNCF-incubating. Costs are the object storage it uses.

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

Thanos: Does Thanos replace Prometheus?

No. It runs alongside existing Prometheus servers, adding global query, deduplication and long-term storage.

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

Thanos: Thanos or VictoriaMetrics?

Thanos layers onto Prometheus using object storage and is the more established multi-cluster answer. VictoriaMetrics is a separate store aiming at lower resource use and fewer moving parts.

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

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.

Thanos vs Wasabi

Thanos

Wasabi

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Thanos

Only in Wasabi

What people use each for

Thanos

Wasabi

Where each one falls short

Thanos

Wasabi

Pricing, plan by plan

Thanos

Wasabi

Which should you pick?

Choose Thanos if

Choose Wasabi if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Thanos

More on Wasabi

Keep looking

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