Archive cost calculator
Enter the size of your library and how long you want to keep it to see what one copy costs on each option.
Lowest storage cost: Hard drives, $300 for 5 years.
| Option | Storage cost | Restore whole library |
|---|---|---|
| Hard drives | $300 | $0 |
| Glacier Deep Archive | $594 | $903 |
| Backblaze B2Free downloads up to 3 times what you store each month. | $4,170 | $0 |
| Wasabi | $4,794 | $0 |
| Cloudflare R2 Infrequent Access | $6,000 | $100 |
| LTO-9 tape | $8,100 | $0 |
- Storage cost is for one copy over the years you chose. Restore is the one-time cost to get the whole library back out.
- Hard drives are bought once, and real drives come in fixed sizes, so a small library pays for some empty space.
- Tape is an estimate: an $8,000 drive plus $100 per 18 TB tape.
- Backblaze B2 restore is $0 because downloads are free up to 3 times what you store each month.
Prices were checked in September 2026 and are US list prices. The main figure covers storage only. Read how these numbers were put together in The Cheapest Way to Archive Video Footage (2026).
storage audit
Free and personal. We'll show you what you pay now, what owning it would cost, and exactly what the move involves.