Wasabi is a public cloud object storage service in the same class as the following public cloud services:
Although Wasabi and the three major public cloud object storage service providers listed above offer basic browser-based management consoles for file uploads/downloads, the dominant model is for customers to provide their own storage applications to use with these services. This model is in contrast to services like Carbonite, CrashPlan, Dropbox, and Google Drive, which generally include storage client applications for end-user platforms (Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, etc.).
Wasabi’s approach to end-user client applications is essentially the same as Amazon S3: Build a strong partner ecosystem and let the customer decide which client application works best for their needs.
If you need an end-user storage client to work with Wasabi, any storage client that works with S3 will generally work with Wasabi. For a list of these clients, visit wasabi.com/interop. Or, contact Wasabi Support if you need a specific recommendation for your use case.
Difference Between Wasabi and Amazon S3
Wasabi is designed to be 100% bit-compatible with Amazon Web Services (AWS) S3. Any storage application that uses AWS S3 can also use Wasabi without any code changes to the storage application.
Both Wasabi and Amazon S3 offer high durability: 99.999999999% (11 × 9s). However, there are several important price and performance differences:
Price: Wasabi charges roughly 1/5th the price of AWS S3 for storage and has a much simpler pricing model. Wasabi only charges for storage. There are no additional charges for egress or API requests.
Performance: Wasabi has higher sustained read and write speeds. In addition, with Wasabi, the time to first byte is less when compared to AWS S3.
Immutability: A Wasabi bucket can be made immutable at the time of creation. This setting protects data from accidental or malicious deletion or overwriting, bugs in application software, and hackers. It is an important component in HIPAA, CJIS, FINRA, and other regulatory requirements. This Wasabi approach to immutability is simple in contrast to a more complicated AWS S3 approach.
For a short comparison of AWS S3 and Wasabi, watch Wasabi vs. Amazon S3.
Storage Classes Wasabi Offers
Wasabi currently offers a single class of object storage. Wasabi recognizes that Amazon offers several different object storage classes (S3, S3 Infrequent Access, and Glacier) to meet various customer performance and price requirements. At Wasabi, this range of service classes is not necessary because Wasabi can provide better performance than Amazon S3 at lower prices than Amazon Glacier.