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How to judge any storage cost comparison

7 questions to ask of any tool, spreadsheet, or quotation that compares what storage costs. Ask them of ours too: our answer is under each.

  • 7 questions, in the order to ask them
  • For a tool, a spreadsheet, or a quotation
  • Our own answer under each

  1. Can you see where every price came from, and when?

    A rate with no source cannot be checked, and a rate with no date may be a year old. Ask for the provider’s own page and the date beside each 1.

    How CloudVerdict answersEvery price names the provider’s own price list or pricing pages, with the date the provider gives it where there is 1, and every result says how old its prices are.

  2. What happens when a charge cannot be priced?

    A comparison that shows a missing charge as nothing makes the option with the most gaps look cheapest. Ask how an incomplete option is marked, and whether it is still ranked.

    How CloudVerdict answersAn option missing a charge is marked Partial, says what is missing, and is not ranked.

  3. Does it price how the data is used, or only how much there is?

    Requests, retrieval, data sent out, minimum storage durations, and small objects can outweigh the storage rate. Ask which of them are in the total.

    How CloudVerdict answersRequests, retrieval, data out, replication to a second region, and minimum durations are in a total wherever a class charges them.

  4. Does anything besides cost change the order?

    A ranking adjusted for suitability, or for who pays to be listed, is not a cost ranking. Ask what the order is based on, and who pays whoever made the comparison.

    How CloudVerdict answersThe order is cost alone. No provider pays to be included or placed.

  5. Can you see what it would cost to recover the data, and to leave?

    The cheapest place to keep data can be the dearest to get it back from. Ask for those figures separately, so they are not buried in a total.

    How CloudVerdict answersOn Premium, a recovery and an exit are priced as figures of their own, beside each option.

  6. Will the same comparison say the same thing in a year?

    An approved decision has to be explained later. Ask whether a saved result keeps its inputs and the prices it used, or is recalculated when prices move.

    How CloudVerdict answersA saved version keeps its inputs, its result with every charge in it, which price lists it used, and what worked it out, and is never recalculated.

  7. Can you check it against something you already know?

    The fastest test of any comparison is a workload you are already billed for. Ask whether you can run your own figures before you pay.

    How CloudVerdict answersThe Free plan compares every provider for a workload of your own, with no card.