Cloudflare R2 vs Backblaze B2
Why people compare these: Buyers compare them when optimizing for cost-driven object storage and deciding between Cloudflare adjacency and backup/media-oriented economics
The real trade-off: Cloudflare ecosystem adjacency and delivery economics vs cost-driven storage mechanics optimized for backups and large datasets
Common mistake: Treating both as interchangeable because they’re “cheap storage” instead of modeling request volume, egress, and access pattern differences
At-a-glance comparison
Cloudflare R2 ↗
S3-compatible object storage often evaluated to reduce egress-driven spend and support edge-adjacent workflows. Fit depends on access pattern, request pricing, and Cloudflare ecosystem alignment.
- ✓ Positioned for egress-sensitive workloads where bandwidth dominates total cost
- ✓ S3-compatible API surface can reduce migration friction for many tools
- ✓ Strong adjacency to Cloudflare ecosystem and edge delivery patterns
Backblaze B2 ↗
Cost-driven object storage for backups and media libraries, often evaluated versus Wasabi and S3 when the decision is pricing mechanics (egress + requests) rather than raw storage price.
- ✓ Often chosen for cost-driven storage economics in backup and media use cases
- ✓ S3-compatible API option supports many common tools and workflows
- ✓ Good fit when storage footprint is large and hyperscaler complexity is unnecessary
Where each product pulls ahead
These are the distinctive advantages that matter most in this comparison.
Cloudflare R2 advantages
- ✓ Strong Cloudflare ecosystem adjacency for delivery-heavy patterns
- ✓ Often compelling when egress dominates cost for public content
- ✓ S3-style workflows for many tools with a simpler operational model
Backblaze B2 advantages
- ✓ Clear fit for backup/archive and large storage footprints
- ✓ Cost-driven mechanics when access pattern is understood
- ✓ Simpler storage story than hyperscaler governance-heavy setups
Pros & Cons
Cloudflare R2
Pros
- + You’re Cloudflare-centric and want tighter ecosystem adjacency
- + Your workload is delivery-heavy and egress dominates cost
- + You want S3-style workflows without hyperscaler complexity
- + You can validate request costs under real read/write behavior
- + You don’t need hyperscaler-grade enterprise governance for this workload
Cons
- − Not a full hyperscaler ecosystem; enterprise governance breadth may be limited
- − S3-compatible does not guarantee parity in behavior, features, or pricing mechanics
- − Request-heavy access patterns can still create meaningful costs
- − Operational fit depends on your network topology and Cloudflare usage patterns
Backblaze B2
Pros
- + Your primary use case is backups, archives, or a large media library
- + You’re optimizing for cost-driven storage economics over ecosystem adjacency
- + Your restore frequency is predictable and you can model requests/egress
- + You want a simpler operational surface area than hyperscaler governance
- + You can validate regional footprint and performance for your users
Cons
- − Not a hyperscaler ecosystem; governance and integrations can be narrower
- − Request-heavy or restore-heavy access patterns can change economics materially
- − Region footprint and latency/performance expectations must be validated
- − Advanced features and integrations may not match hyperscaler parity
Which one tends to fit which buyer?
These are conditional guidelines only — not rankings. Your specific situation determines fit.
- → Pick Cloudflare R2 if: You’re delivery-heavy or Cloudflare-centric and egress/network paths dominate your cost model
- → Pick Backblaze B2 if: You’re storage-heavy (backups/media) and want cost-driven economics with predictable restore behavior
- → Model request volume and restore frequency—those often matter more than storage $/GB
- → The trade-off: Cloudflare adjacency and delivery economics vs backup/media-oriented storage mechanics
Sources & verification
We prefer to link primary references (official pricing, documentation, and public product pages). If links are missing, treat this as a seeded brief until verification is completed.