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Object storage · October 2026 Edition

Backblaze B2 vs Azure Blob Storage

Five of fourteen models named Backblaze B2 first on the direct prompt; one named Azure Blob Storage. Backblaze B2 was named by fourteen of the fourteen models and Azure Blob Storage by thirteen and Backblaze B2 carries 62 labels and Azure Blob Storage 42, so the shares are not directly comparable.

Backblaze B2

endorsed leader

Named in two categories this edition.

Azure Blob Storage

criticized challenger

Named in one category this edition.

First-choice share46%6%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate5%31%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#1#5A position in a field of 9; printed, not drawn.
Labels6242A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, Backblaze B2 reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.Amazon S3 was named alongside these two in eight of the fourteen direct answers. Backblaze B2 vs Cloudflare R2 · Backblaze B2 vs Amazon S3 · Backblaze B2 vs Wasabi Object Storage

Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all fourteen models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category; every quote names the model and the prompt it came from. Both figures come from the object storage page.

By framing

How many of the fourteen models made each the first choice, per way of asking, and how many argued against it.
Backblaze B2First choices, of fourteen modelsAzure Blob Storage
Direct511 against Azure Blob Storage
Paraphrase801 against Azure Blob Storage
Comparative00
Budget-constrained1103 against Azure Blob Storage
Scale-constrained02
Negative203 against Backblaze B2 · 7 against Azure Blob Storage
Bars are first choices, 0 to 14 each sideModels that argued againstA model can name both, so the two sides of a row do not sum to fourteen.

Across every category in the October 2026 Edition, Backblaze B2 and Azure Blob Storage were named in the same answer eighty-five times, of the 195 answers naming Backblaze B2 and the 129 naming Azure Blob Storage. In those answers Azure Blob Storage took the first choice five times and Backblaze B2 twenty-four.

Every model, every framing

The eighty-four answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where Backblaze B2 and Azure Blob Storage stood in it.
ModelDirectParaphraseComparativeBudget-constrainedScale-constrainedNegative
Claude Haiku 4.5
GPT-5.4 mini
Gemini 3.5 Flash
Perplexity Sonar
Grok 4.1 Fast
Mistral Small
DeepSeek V4 Flash
Llama 4 Maverick
Qwen 3.7 Flash
Kimi K2
GLM 4.7 FlashX
MiniMax M2.5
GPT-6 Luna
Muse Glimmer 30B
Backblaze B2 Azure Blob Storage first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, Backblaze B2 on the left and Azure Blob Storage on the right.

The direct prompt

The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where Backblaze B2 and Azure Blob Storage stood in it.

Backblaze B2 first, Azure Blob Storage not the choice

5 of 14 modelsAzure Blob Storage was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.
Grok 4.1 FastBackblaze B2 alternatives: Cloudflare R2, Wasabi Object Storage
Mistral SmallBackblaze B2 alternatives: Amazon S3, Cloudian HyperStore
DeepSeek V4 FlashBackblaze B2 alternatives: Amazon S3, Cloudflare R2
Qwen 3.7 FlashBackblaze B2, Wasabi Object Storage
GLM 4.7 FlashXBackblaze B2 alternatives: Amazon S3, Cloudflare R2, MinIO AIStor, Wasabi Object Storage

Azure Blob Storage first, Backblaze B2 an alternative

1 of 14 modelsBackblaze B2 was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.
MiniMax M2.5Amazon S3, Azure Blob Storage alternatives: Backblaze B2, Google Cloud Storage, Wasabi Object Storage

Neither was the first choice, one was named

6 of 14 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.
GPT-5.4 miniAmazon S3 alternatives: Azure Blob Storage, Google Cloud Storage
Gemini 3.5 FlashCloudflare R2 alternatives: Backblaze B2, Wasabi Object Storage
Perplexity SonarGoogle Cloud Storage alternatives: Amazon S3, Backblaze B2, Wasabi Object Storage
Kimi K2Cloudflare R2 alternatives: Azure Blob Storage, Backblaze B2, Google Cloud Storage
GPT-6 LunaAmazon S3 alternatives: Azure Blob Storage, Cloudflare R2, Google Cloud Storage
Muse Glimmer 30Bno first choice alternatives: Amazon S3, Backblaze B2, Cloudflare R2, Wasabi Object Storage

Neither was named

2 of 14 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.
Claude Haiku 4.5no first choice
Llama 4 Maverickno first choice

Bold names in an answer are the products the judge labeled a first choice; a model naming several gives each of them that label. The full answer text for every row is in the record.

By buyer segment

The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment and they are never added together. The figures above are the mid-market standing, which is the one the category orders by.
Small business
Backblaze B2 leads by forty-seven points.
Backblaze B247%#1 of 9
Azure Blob Storage0%#9 of 9
The full small business standing →
Mid-marketThe figures above
Backblaze B2 leads by forty points.
Backblaze B246%#1 of 9
Azure Blob Storage6%#5 of 9
The full mid-market standing →
Enterprise
The order flips: Azure Blob Storage leads at enterprise.
Azure Blob Storage6%#4 of 12
Backblaze B22%#6 of 12
The full enterprise standing →

What the models said about Backblaze B2

Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of seven in this category shown.

“Your downloads are much larger than your stored volume... model the excess before committing.” GPT-6 Luna · negative prompt · soft negative
“Some users mention limited regional redundancy (only US‑based by default).” MiniMax M2.5 · negative prompt · soft negative
“they may lack integration with other services and can become more expensive” Mistral Small · negative prompt · soft negative
“Backblaze B2 gives the best balance of transparent low storage pricing, broad S3 compatibility, free egress allowance and no minimum retention” Muse Glimmer 30B · paraphrase prompt · first choice
“In practice most budget-limited companies start with Backblaze B2 for storage cost, and pair it with Cloudflare for free unlimited egress.” Muse Glimmer 30B · budget prompt · first choice
“The Best All-Rounder: Backblaze B2 ... widely considered the best balance between rock-bottom pricing and enterprise-grade stability.” Qwen 3.7 Flash · budget prompt · first choice

What the models said about Azure Blob Storage

Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of eight in this category shown.

“"avoid or be cautious about ... those with high egress fees or minimum retention periods, such as GCS and Azure Cold"” Muse Glimmer 30B · negative prompt · hard negative
“Avoid hyperscalers (AWS/GCP/Azure) on tight budgets due to egress/API add-ons.” Grok 4.1 Fast · budget prompt · hard negative
“High egress fees (e.g., AWS S3: $0.09/GB after free tier; GCS/Azure similar) lead to unpredictable bills and vendor lock-in” Grok 4.1 Fast · negative prompt · soft negative
“Start with AWS S3 or Azure Blob — native integration, massive ecosystem, but watch egress costs.” DeepSeek V4 Flash · scale prompt · first choice
“I'd recommend Amazon S3 or Azure Blob Storage due to their enterprise-grade security” MiniMax M2.5 · direct prompt · first choice
“Check AWS S3 / Azure Blob: If you are already deep in one ecosystem.” Qwen 3.7 Flash · scale prompt · first choice
Also compared

Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category, each against each. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.