Alternatives / Amazon S3
These alternatives include S3-compatible object storage servers, distributed storage platforms, decentralized cloud storage, and an embedded engine built on object storage. SlateDB is an adjacent technology that uses object storage; it does not replace S3.
Written by Maxime DERAME
Last updated:
An S3-compatible store implements a subset of Amazon's S3 API so AWS SDKs, rclone, backup software, media services, and data platforms can often use it by changing the endpoint and credentials. Compatibility varies: check the exact APIs your application needs, including policies, versioning, Object Lock, lifecycle rules, notifications, multipart uploads, encryption, replication, ACLs, and S3 Select.
Amazon S3 is object storage, where applications access objects by keys through APIs. Ceph also provides block storage through RADOS Block Device and a distributed filesystem through CephFS. That flexibility suits private clouds, but a full Ceph cluster can be unnecessary if an application only needs an S3 endpoint for uploads.
Garage targets geo-distributed machines and heterogeneous hardware. Ceph is suited to larger clusters in data centers and private clouds. Alarik can start smaller and scale toward distributed erasure-coded storage. Storj distributes encrypted, erasure-coded data across an external storage network rather than a cluster you operate.
MinIO was historically a widely adopted S3-compatible server, but its Community server repository is archived and no longer actively maintained. The repository remains under AGPL-3.0 while MinIO Inc. focuses commercially on AIStor. For new deployments, evaluate maintenance status alongside historical popularity and feature compatibility.
MinIO, Ceph RGW, Garage, and Alarik expose S3-compatible object-storage services. Storj offers S3 access through a gateway to a decentralized hosted network. SlateDB is different: it is an embedded database engine that uses an object store as its persistence layer and does not replace S3.
Teams look for Amazon S3 alternatives to run object storage on their own infrastructure, avoid AWS dependency, use an S3-compatible API, or distribute data across servers and locations. S3 compatibility can make migration as simple as changing an endpoint and credentials, but implementations differ in API coverage, durability, replication, and operational complexity.
| Alternative | Type | License | Status | GitHub popularity | S3 compatible | Self-hosted |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MinIO | Object storage | AGPL-3.0 | Open source / archived | ~61.4k | Yes | Yes |
| Ceph | Distributed storage | LGPL/GPL components | Open source | ~17k | Yes, via RGW | Yes |
| Garage | Object storage | AGPL-3.0 | Open source | ~4.6k GitHub mirror | Yes | Yes |
| SlateDB | Embedded storage engine | Apache-2.0 | Open source | ~3k | No | Embedded |
| Storj | Decentralized storage | AGPL-3.0 | Open source / commercial network | ~3.3k | Yes, via gateway | Distributed network |
| Alarik | Object storage | Apache-2.0 | Open source | ~500+ | Yes | Yes |
Want a lightweight self-hosted S3-compatible server
Garage has an established self-hosted distributed design for small and medium deployments, including geo-distributed environments. Alarik is a newer Apache-2.0 option with a broad S3-oriented feature set.
Need enterprise-scale distributed storage
Ceph combines S3-compatible object storage through RGW with block and file storage for large private-cloud and data-center clusters.
Want geo-distributed self-hosting
Garage is designed to replicate data across physical locations and tolerate unreliable links and heterogeneous servers.
Prefer a permissive license
Alarik uses Apache-2.0, though its younger project and smaller deployment history should be weighed against that license flexibility.
Already run MinIO
The MinIO Community server repository is archived and unmaintained; assess migration to an actively developed implementation such as Garage or Alarik.
Want decentralized cloud storage
Storj encrypts and distributes data across independent storage nodes and provides S3-compatible access through a gateway.
Building a database on top of object storage
SlateDB is an embedded LSM-tree storage engine that uses an object store as its durable persistence layer; it is not an S3 server.
Need the simplest architecture for uploads or backups
A dedicated S3-compatible server such as Garage or Alarik is usually simpler to operate than a full distributed platform such as Ceph.
Want a mature historical project ecosystem
MinIO has the largest historical GitHub community in this list, but its archived and unmaintained Community server status matters for new deployments.