Which cloud provider is cheapest for NAS backup?

Storj at ~$4/TB/month is nominally cheapest but decentralized with variable performance. Practical sweet spot: Backblaze B2 (~$6/TB/month) with native Synology integration and generous egress.

What's the difference between Backblaze Personal and B2?

Backblaze Personal ($7/month unlimited) is for Mac/PC with the Backblaze client. B2 is object storage for NAS, servers, custom apps. Different products from the same vendor.

Do I need encryption for cloud backup?

Yes, always. Cloud providers have theoretical access. Client-side encryption (Restic, Borg, Hyper Backup with password) ensures only you can decrypt.

How fast is a cloud restore?

On a 200 Mbit/s connection: 1 TB = 12 hours, 10 TB = 5 days. For large restores, Backblaze B2 offers SSD ship service (US): data arrives on SSD by mail.

Is AWS Glacier Deep Archive worth it?

Only for ultra-long-term archive. Storage is 1/23 of S3 Standard ($1/TB/month) but restore initialization takes 12-48 hours plus egress cost. Not for active backup, makes sense for 10-year archives.

Cloud Backup for NAS: Which Provider Actually Pays Off

Updated: 2026-04-29

Local NAS RAID protects against drive failure. Not against fire, theft, ransomware, or a second catastrophic hardware failure. Off-site backup is mandatory. Here's the honest 2026 comparison of the relevant cloud providers.

Short version

For 1-50 TB NAS backup: Backblaze B2 or Wasabi are the best 2026 options. Backblaze B2 = $6/TB/month, no egress fee under 3× storage size. Wasabi = $7/TB/month, no egress (90-day minimum storage). AWS S3 is 3-5× pricier, only worth it for hybrid setups. Storj = decentralized, $4/TB/month, variable restore speed.

The providers compared

Backblaze B2 (~$6/TB/month). Storage-only market leader. Native Synology integration via Hyper Backup, Restic/Borg/Rclone friendly. Egress: first 3× monthly storage size free (so on 10 TB storage you can pull 30 TB/month free). Locations: US and EU.

Wasabi (~$7/TB/month). Direct B2 competitor. No egress cost, no API cost. BUT: 90-day minimum storage commit (delete data sooner and you still pay for 90 days). Bad for volatile workloads, perfect for stable NAS backups. Locations EU, US, APAC.

AWS S3 ($23/TB/month standard, $1/TB Glacier Deep Archive). Standard storage too expensive. Glacier Deep Archive is dramatically cheap but restore takes 12-48 hours and costs extra. Only meaningful as ultimate cold backup.

Storj (~$4/TB/month). Decentralized storage over the Storj network. End-to-end encrypted by design. Restore speed depends on available nodes, often fast but not guaranteed. Interesting for tech-savvy users.

iDrive e2 (~$5/TB/month). S3-compatible API, US-based. Competitive pricing but smaller reputation than Backblaze/Wasabi.

Which client/tool

Synology DSM: Hyper Backup is native and supports Backblaze B2, Wasabi, S3, Azure, Google Cloud directly. Client-side encryption (AES-256). Versioning built in. Recommended on Synology.

QNAP: Hybrid Backup Sync 3 (HBS 3). Similar to Synology Hyper Backup.

Linux/TrueNAS/Unraid: Restic or Borg are the best open-source picks. Restic has cloud-first design, Borg focuses on local/SSH. Both dedupe and encrypt client-side.

Universal: Rclone – swiss army knife for cloud sync. All providers, simple crypt layer for encryption.

10 TB NAS backup cost math

Backblaze B2: 10 × $6 × 12 = $720/year. Egress 30 TB/month free = effectively no restore cost.
Wasabi: 10 × $7 × 12 = $840/year. No egress.
AWS S3 Standard: 10 × $23 × 12 = $2760/year. Egress separate ($90/TB).
AWS Glacier Deep Archive: 10 × $1 × 12 = $120/year. But restore $90/TB plus 12-48h wait.
Storj: 10 × $4 × 12 = $480/year. Egress $7/TB.

Encryption: non-negotiable

Cloud data must be encrypted – always. Three layers:

Client-side (best practice): Restic, Borg, Rclone-crypt, Cryptomator. Key stays with you, provider only sees unreadable bytes.
Tool-managed: Synology Hyper Backup with password. Key lives in NAS, provider can't decrypt.
Server-side encryption (SSE): Provider manages keys. Practically useless – if provider gets compromised, data does too.

Gold standard: client-side encryption with locally stored recovery key (in password manager + printed in safe).

Restore performance

When it counts: how long does restore take?

Backblaze B2 / Wasabi: 50-200 Mbit/s depending on connection. 1 TB = 12-50 hours. Workable.
Backblaze B2 SSD ship service: Data arrives on SSD by mail (US) – $200-500 depending on size. For large restores (50+ TB) more efficient than download.
AWS Glacier Deep Archive: 12-48h wait for restore initialization, then standard download. Plus egress cost.

Important: run a test restore quarterly. A backup you can't restore is not a backup.

Hybrid strategy

For large setups (50+ TB) a multi-tier strategy often pays off:

Frequently accessed data (photos, documents): Backblaze B2 for fast restore
Rarely accessed archive (old videos, logs): AWS Glacier Deep Archive at cents
Local as first tier: Second NAS or external HDD rotation

Recommendation

1-5 TB home backup: Backblaze Personal ($7/month unlimited). Mac/PC only, not NAS. For NAS data: Backblaze B2.

5-50 TB NAS: Backblaze B2 or Wasabi. Both solid. Wasabi a bit pricier but more predictable (no egress risk).

50+ TB: Hybrid – B2 for current data + Glacier for archive. Or physical off-site NAS at family/office.

More on backup strategy layers: Backup strategies guide.

Backup strategies for NAS

RAID is not a backup

Hot spare vs cold spare

Bitrot & ZFS scrubbing

RAID Calculator