Alibaba Object Storage Service
Object storage solutions
Storage management software
- Features
- Ease of use
- Ease of management
- Quality of support
- Affordability
- Market presence
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What is Alibaba Object Storage Service
Alibaba Object Storage Service (OSS) is a cloud object storage service for storing and retrieving unstructured data such as backups, media assets, logs, and data lake files. It targets developers, IT teams, and data engineering teams that need API-accessible storage integrated with Alibaba Cloud compute and data services. OSS supports multiple storage classes and lifecycle policies to manage cost and retention, and it provides region-based deployment options to meet latency and data residency needs.
Multiple storage classes and lifecycle
OSS provides multiple storage classes (for example, standard and infrequent access tiers) and lifecycle rules to transition or expire objects based on age and prefixes. This supports common patterns such as backup retention, log archiving, and media libraries with changing access frequency. These controls reduce the need for external tooling to manage tiering and retention at scale.
Broad API and tooling support
OSS exposes REST APIs and SDKs that fit typical application and data pipeline integration patterns. It also supports common transfer approaches (console, CLI/SDK-based uploads, and multipart upload for large objects). This makes it practical for teams building cloud-native applications that need programmatic object storage rather than file shares.
Integration with Alibaba Cloud ecosystem
OSS integrates with other Alibaba Cloud services for compute, networking, and data processing, enabling architectures where storage is a shared layer across workloads. This is useful for teams standardizing on a single cloud provider for identity, monitoring, and billing. Compared with standalone storage offerings, the tighter platform integration can simplify deployment and operations within Alibaba Cloud.
Ecosystem lock-in considerations
While OSS uses standard object storage concepts, many operational conveniences are strongest when paired with Alibaba Cloud-native services. Organizations running multi-cloud or hybrid environments may need additional integration work for identity, monitoring, and data movement. This can increase switching costs compared with more provider-agnostic storage strategies.
Regional availability and compliance fit
Service capabilities and available regions can vary, and buyers often need to validate region-specific compliance, data residency, and cross-border transfer requirements. For global deployments, teams may need to architect around where OSS regions are available relative to users and other systems. This can affect latency, replication design, and governance processes.
Cost model can be complex
Object storage pricing typically includes multiple dimensions such as storage by class, requests, data retrieval, and egress. Workloads with frequent small-object operations, high retrieval from colder tiers, or significant outbound transfer can see costs that are harder to predict. Teams usually need tagging, monitoring, and lifecycle governance to keep spend aligned with usage.
Plan & Pricing
Pricing model: Pay-as-you-go (per-GB/month) with optional pre-purchased Storage Plans (subscription-style capacity packs: Standard (LRS) and IA (LRS)).
Free tier / trial: Free trial available for new users: Individual users receive 500 GB/month + an additional fixed 5 GB/month (505 GB total) for one month; Enterprise users receive 1 TB/month + 5 GB/month (1,029 GB) for one month. (Free trial applies only to Standard (LRS) storage and has prerequisites).
Example pay-as-you-go unit prices (USD per GB per month, region-dependent — examples taken from official pricing tables):
- Standard Storage (LRS): 0–5 GB = Free (appears as a 5 GB fixed free quota); >5 GB = approximately USD 0.0160–0.0170 per GB/month depending on region.
- Standard Storage (ZRS): ~USD 0.0180–0.0200 per GB/month (region-dependent).
- Infrequent Access (IA) (LRS): ~USD 0.00842–0.00978 per GB/month.
- Infrequent Access (IA) (ZRS): ~USD 0.01056–0.01173 per GB/month.
- Archive Storage (LRS/ZRS): ~USD 0.0036–0.0054 per GB/month.
- Cold Archive Storage: ~USD 0.00099–0.0020 per GB/month.
- Deep Cold Archive Storage: USD 0.0011 per GB/month (shown for some regions).
Other billable items (examples):
- Outbound data transfer (egress) — charged separately per region/zone.
- API operation calling fees — charged per operation.
- OSS Accelerator (example shown): ~USD 0.1003 per GB/month (region-specific).
- Value-added services (image processing, data processing) billed separately.
Storage Plans (examples from official storage-plan table, Global Regions, monthly prices):
- Standard (LRS) Storage Plan — 100 GB: USD 1.40 per month (also 6-month and 1-year discounted options).
- Standard (LRS) Storage Plan — 1 TB: USD 14.34 per month.
- IA (LRS) Storage Plan — 100 GB: USD 1.08 per month; 1 TB: USD 11.06 per month. (See official Storage Plans table for many capacity tiers and 6-month / 1-year discounts.)
Discounts / purchasing options:
- Pay-as-you-go (hourly billing) or purchase Storage Plans (1 month / 6 months / 1 year) at discounted rates.
- Region-specific pricing; capacity-based Storage Plans provide multi-month discounts (e.g., 17% off for 6 months, 25% off for 1 year as shown).
Notes / caveats:
- Unit prices vary by region and storage redundancy (LRS vs ZRS) and by storage class (Standard, IA, Archive, Cold/Deep Cold Archive).
- Free quotas and the "0~5GB Free" line on pricing pages are tied to official free-quota/new-user rules; consult the Free Quota page and Billing Overview for exact eligibility and duration.
Seller details
Alibaba Group Holding Limited
Hangzhou, China
1999
Public
https://www.alibabagroup.com/
https://x.com/AlibabaGroup
https://www.linkedin.com/company/alibaba-group/
