{"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://williamcallahan.com/blog/vercel-blob-vs-hetzner-digitalocean-aws-s3-object-storage-comparison","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://williamcallahan.com/#website"},"url":"https://williamcallahan.com/blog/vercel-blob-vs-hetzner-digitalocean-aws-s3-object-storage-comparison","name":"Vercel Blob vs Hetzner vs DigitalOcean vs AWS S3: Object Storage Showdown","description":"Comparing Vercel Blob's new general availability pricing and features against Hetzner Object Storage, DigitalOcean Spaces, and traditional AWS S3 to help you choose the right object storage solution.","datePublished":"2025-05-23T08:00:00.000Z","dateModified":"2025-05-23T08:00:00.000Z","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https://williamcallahan.com/blog/vercel-blob-vs-hetzner-digitalocean-aws-s3-object-storage-comparison#breadcrumb"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https://williamcallahan.com/blog/vercel-blob-vs-hetzner-digitalocean-aws-s3-object-storage-comparison#primaryimage"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https://williamcallahan.com/#person","name":"William Callahan","description":"William Callahan's personal website - startup investor, Techstars founder, and software engineer writing about technology and startups.","url":"https://williamcallahan.com/","sameAs":["https://twitter.com/williamcallahan","https://github.com/WilliamAGH","https://linkedin.com/in/williamacallahan"],"image":"https://s3-storage.callahan.cloud/images/other/profile/william-sf_94bf11cf.png"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://williamcallahan.com/#website","url":"https://williamcallahan.com/","name":"William Callahan","description":"Website for William Callahan, a startup investor and Techstars founder, with a public journal of all startup investments he's ever made. Writes about technology, programming, Y Combinator, Techstars, and other accelerators, AI, and more.","publisher":{"@id":"https://williamcallahan.com/#person"}},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://s3-storage.callahan.cloud/images/other/profile/william-sf_94bf11cf.png","url":"https://s3-storage.callahan.cloud/images/other/profile/william-sf_94bf11cf.png","contentUrl":"https://s3-storage.callahan.cloud/images/other/profile/william-sf_94bf11cf.png","caption":"William Callahan portrait","width":512,"height":512},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https://williamcallahan.com/blog/vercel-blob-vs-hetzner-digitalocean-aws-s3-object-storage-comparison#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://williamcallahan.com/","name":"Home"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://williamcallahan.com/blog","name":"Blog"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://williamcallahan.com/blog/vercel-blob-vs-hetzner-digitalocean-aws-s3-object-storage-comparison","name":"Vercel Blob vs Hetzner vs DigitalOcean vs AWS S3: Object Storage Showdown"}}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://williamcallahan.com/blog/vercel-blob-vs-hetzner-digitalocean-aws-s3-object-storage-comparison#primaryimage","url":"https://s3-storage.callahan.cloud/images/other/blog-posts/s3-object-storage-vercel-digitalocean-hetzner-aws-3rd_9230ddc1.png","contentUrl":"https://s3-storage.callahan.cloud/images/other/blog-posts/s3-object-storage-vercel-digitalocean-hetzner-aws-3rd_9230ddc1.png","caption":"Vercel Blob vs Hetzner vs DigitalOcean vs AWS S3: Object Storage Showdown","width":1200,"height":630},{"@type":"Article","@id":"https://williamcallahan.com/blog/vercel-blob-vs-hetzner-digitalocean-aws-s3-object-storage-comparison#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://williamcallahan.com/blog/vercel-blob-vs-hetzner-digitalocean-aws-s3-object-storage-comparison"},"author":{"@id":"https://williamcallahan.com/#person"},"headline":"Vercel Blob vs Hetzner vs DigitalOcean vs AWS S3: Object Storage Showdown","datePublished":"2025-05-23T08:00:00.000Z","dateModified":"2025-05-23T08:00:00.000Z","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https://williamcallahan.com/blog/vercel-blob-vs-hetzner-digitalocean-aws-s3-object-storage-comparison"},"publisher":{"@id":"https://williamcallahan.com/#person"},"image":{"@id":"https://williamcallahan.com/blog/vercel-blob-vs-hetzner-digitalocean-aws-s3-object-storage-comparison#primaryimage"},"articleSection":"Blog","inLanguage":"en-US","articleBody":"\nVercel just announced that [Vercel Blob](https://vercel.com/docs/vercel-blob) is now generally available on all plans. It's already powering production apps like v0.dev and storing over 400 million files. A good time to compare it with other popular object storage options like Hetzner Object Storage, DigitalOcean Spaces, and AWS S3.\n\n## The Elephant in the Room: S3 Compatibility\n\nSomething often overlooked: most modern object storage solutions are S3-compatible, meaning you can use the AWS SDK to interact with them directly from any programming language. You're not locked into AWS's ecosystem—just point your S3 client to a different endpoint and use alternative services with minimal code changes.\n\n\n\n## Feature Comparison\n\nFeature comparison:\n\n| Feature | Vercel Blob | Hetzner Object Storage | DigitalOcean Spaces | AWS S3 |\n|---------|-------------|------------------------|---------------------|--------|\n| Underlying Technology | AWS S3 backend | Ceph clusters | Proprietary (S3-compatible) | Native AWS infrastructure |\n| S3 API Compatibility | Partial (proxied to S3) | Yes (S3-compatible) | Yes (S3-compatible) | Native |\n| Durability | 11 nines (via S3) | Not explicitly stated | Not explicitly stated | 11 nines |\n| Global CDN | Yes (Vercel Edge Network) | No built-in CDN | Yes (built-in, 25+ PoPs) | Optional (CloudFront) |\n| Data Center Locations | AWS regions, global cache | Germany, Finland | 5 regions (US, EU, Asia) | Dozens globally |\n| Storage Classes | Single (standard) | Single (standard) | Single (standard) | Multiple (Standard, IA, Glacier, etc.) |\n| Advanced Features | Deep Vercel integration, global caching, simple API | S3 API, Ceph, WORM, public URLs | Built-in CDN, simple UI | Lifecycle, Object Lock, Replication, Batch Ops, rich IAM |\n\n## Pricing Comparison\n\nPricing comparison:\n\n| Provider | Storage Price (per GB/month) | Data Transfer Out (per GB) | Minimum Monthly Price | Free Tier |\n|----------|------------------------------|---------------------------|----------------------|------------|\n| Vercel Blob | $0.023 | $0.05 (regional) | $0 (with Hobby plan) | 1GB storage & 10GB transfer (Hobby), 5GB storage & 100GB transfer (Pro) |\n| Hetzner Object Storage | ~$0.0064 (1TB for $5.99) | $0.0013 ($1.20/TB) | $5.99 | 1TB storage & 1TB transfer included in base price |\n| DigitalOcean Spaces | $0.02 | $0.01 | $5 | 250GB storage & 1,024GB transfer included in base price |\n| AWS S3 (Standard) | $0.023 (first 50TB) | $0.09 | $0 (pay as you go) | 5GB storage & 100GB transfer (AWS Free Tier, 12 months) |\n\n## Cost Comparison for Different Storage Needs\n\nCost comparison for different storage volumes:\n\n| Provider | Price for 250GB | Price for 1TB | Price for 5TB |\n|----------|-----------------|---------------|---------------|\n| Vercel Blob | ~$5.75 (Hobby + extra) | ~$23.00 (Hobby + extra) | ~$115.00 (Hobby + extra) |\n| Hetzner Object Storage | $5.99 (for 1TB) | $5.99 | ~$29.95 (5TB) |\n| DigitalOcean Spaces | $5.00 | ~$20.00 | ~$100.00 |\n| AWS S3 (Standard) | ~$5.75 | ~$23.00 | ~$115.00 |\n\n*Note: These calculations focus on storage costs only and don't include data transfer or API operation costs, which can significantly impact your total bill depending on usage patterns.*\n\n## Integration with Modern Programming Languages\n\nAll these services integrate easily with modern languages. Here are some examples:\n\n\n

\n Using AWS SDK v3 with any S3-compatible service:\n\n ```typescript\n import { S3Client, PutObjectCommand } from \"@aws-sdk/client-s3\";\n\n // Configure for AWS S3\n const s3Client = new S3Client({\n region: \"us-east-1\",\n credentials: {\n accessKeyId: \"YOUR_ACCESS_KEY\",\n secretAccessKey: \"YOUR_SECRET_KEY\"\n }\n });\n\n // For Hetzner or DigitalOcean, just change the endpoint\n const hetznerClient = new S3Client({\n region: \"eu-central-1\",\n endpoint: \"https://s3.eu-central-1.hetzner.com\",\n credentials: {\n accessKeyId: \"YOUR_ACCESS_KEY\",\n secretAccessKey: \"YOUR_SECRET_KEY\"\n }\n });\n\n // Upload example\n async function uploadFile(client, bucket, key, body) {\n const command = new PutObjectCommand({\n Bucket: bucket,\n Key: key,\n Body: body\n });\n\n return client.send(command);\n }\n ```\n\n For Vercel Blob, you can use their dedicated SDK:\n\n ```typescript\n import { put } from '@vercel/blob';\n\n export async function uploadToVercelBlob(file) {\n const blob = await put(file.name, file, {\n access: 'public',\n });\n\n return blob.url;\n }\n ```\n

\n\n\n\n

\n Using boto3 with any S3-compatible service:\n\n ```python\n import boto3\n\n # Configure for AWS S3\n s3_client = boto3.client(\n 's3',\n region_name='us-east-1',\n aws_access_key_id='YOUR_ACCESS_KEY',\n aws_secret_access_key='YOUR_SECRET_KEY'\n )\n\n # For Hetzner or DigitalOcean, just change the endpoint\n do_client = boto3.client(\n 's3',\n region_name='nyc3',\n endpoint_url='https://nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com',\n aws_access_key_id='YOUR_ACCESS_KEY',\n aws_secret_access_key='YOUR_SECRET_KEY'\n )\n\n # Upload example\n def upload_file(client, bucket, key, file_path):\n return client.upload_file(file_path, bucket, key)\n ```\n

\n\n\n\n

\n Using the AWS SDK for Go with any S3-compatible service:\n\n ```go\n package main\n\n import (\n \"context\"\n \"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go-v2/aws\"\n \"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go-v2/config\"\n \"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go-v2/credentials\"\n \"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go-v2/service/s3\"\n )\n\n func main() {\n // Configure for AWS S3\n cfg, _ := config.LoadDefaultConfig(context.TODO(),\n config.WithRegion(\"us-east-1\"),\n config.WithCredentialsProvider(credentials.NewStaticCredentialsProvider(\n \"YOUR_ACCESS_KEY\", \"YOUR_SECRET_KEY\", \"\",\n )),\n )\n s3Client := s3.NewFromConfig(cfg)\n\n // For Hetzner or DigitalOcean, add custom endpoint resolver\n customResolver := aws.EndpointResolverWithOptionsFunc(func(service, region string, options ...interface{}) (aws.Endpoint, error) {\n return aws.Endpoint{\n URL: \"https://s3.eu-central-1.hetzner.com\",\n }, nil\n })\n\n hetznerCfg, _ := config.LoadDefaultConfig(context.TODO(),\n config.WithRegion(\"eu-central-1\"),\n config.WithEndpointResolverWithOptions(customResolver),\n config.WithCredentialsProvider(credentials.NewStaticCredentialsProvider(\n \"YOUR_ACCESS_KEY\", \"YOUR_SECRET_KEY\", \"\",\n )),\n )\n hetznerClient := s3.NewFromConfig(hetznerCfg)\n\n // Upload example\n // s3Client.PutObject(...)\n }\n ```\n

\n\n\n## When to Choose Each Service\n\nEach has strengths:\n\n### Vercel Blob\n\n**Best for:**\n- Vercel-hosted applications\n- Projects needing tight integration with Vercel's platform\n- Applications benefiting from global CDN caching\n- Developers who value simplicity and ease of use\n\n### Hetzner Object Storage\n\n**Best for:**\n- Budget-conscious projects with large storage needs\n- European-based workloads (GDPR compliance)\n- Bulk storage with low egress requirements\n- Developers looking for the lowest cost option\n\n### DigitalOcean Spaces\n\n**Best for:**\n- DigitalOcean customers\n- Projects needing built-in CDN capabilities\n- Developers who prefer a simple UI and predictable pricing\n- Applications with moderate storage and bandwidth needs\n\n### AWS S3\n\n**Best for:**\n- Enterprise applications requiring advanced features\n- Workloads needing global distribution\n- Projects requiring multiple storage tiers\n- Applications with complex access control requirements\n- Existing AWS customers\n\n## Bottom Line\n\nVercel Blob is now a viable option in the object storage market. While its pricing for raw storage matches AWS S3, its data transfer costs are lower thanks to Vercel's global caching network.\n\nFor pure cost efficiency, Hetzner Object Storage is hard to beat, especially for large storage volumes. DigitalOcean Spaces offers a good middle ground with its built-in CDN and simple pricing structure.\n\nAWS S3 has the most features, but at a premium price, especially for data transfer. Its feature set and global presence suit enterprise applications with complex requirements.\n\nWith S3-compatible APIs across all these services, you're not locked into any single provider. You can start with one service and migrate to another as your needs change, often with minimal code changes.\n","keywords":"vercel, aws, cloud, storage, hetzner, digitalocean"}]}