Object Storage Ledger 2026: 23 Products Scored
S3-compatible object storage software you run yourself, scored on API fidelity, immutability, durability, performance, deployment freedom, security, operations and tiering since 2015, plus credibility, risk and lock-in, from public records only.
Where the field put its effort, 2016 to 2026
Each square is one capability area in one year, with the score gains of all 23 S3-compatible object storage products added up. The brighter it is, the more the field moved there; 1, 2 and 3 mark that year's biggest pushes.
| ’16 | ’17 | ’18 | ’19 | ’20 | ’21 | ’22 | ’23 | ’24 | ’25 | ’26 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S3 API fidelity | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | |||||
| Immutability and compliance | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Durability and resilience | 1 | 3 | 2 | ||||||||
| Performance and scale | 2 | 1 | 3 | ||||||||
| Deployment freedom | 3 | ||||||||||
| Security and multi-tenancy | 3 | 2 | |||||||||
| Operations | 2 | 2 | |||||||||
| Protocols beyond S3 | 1 | 3 | |||||||||
| Lifecycle and tiering | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | |||||
| Ecosystem and openness |
Biggest pushes overall: Immutability and compliance (+67), Lifecycle and tiering (+37.5), S3 API fidelity (+37).
Top focus each year: 2016 Durability and resilience; 2017 Protocols beyond S3; 2018 Performance and scale; 2019 S3 API fidelity; 2020 Immutability and compliance; 2021 Immutability and compliance; 2022 Lifecycle and tiering; 2023 Immutability and compliance; 2024 Immutability and compliance; 2025 Immutability and compliance; 2026 Immutability and compliance.
Reports in this series
How the Object Storage Ledger scores MinIO, Ceph RGW, SeaweedFS, RustFS, Scality, Cloudian, StorageGRID, ObjectScale and the rest: fixed anchors, object lock evidence and public records only.
The open-source S3 and Swift gateway inside IBM Storage Ceph and OpenShift Data Foundation: deep multisite durability, no vendor or support of its own.
Cloudian HyperStore pairs a long-standing compliance-mode Object Lock record with a 2024 to 2026 push into GPUDirect and NVIDIA-certified AI storage, with release notes that could not be read.
DataCore Swarm, formerly Caringo, runs on any x86 server with Veeam and NetBackup immutability, while its public record on scale and S3 depth stays thin.
Dell ObjectScale, the merged ECS line since 4.0, scores on durability, scale and 2026 S3 over RDMA work, while staying tied to Dell hardware and login-gated release notes.
Everpure FlashBlade serves NFS, SMB and S3 from one all-flash system, with Object Lock, three Veeam listings and S3 over RDMA, on Everpure hardware only.
Hitachi HCP and VSP One Object (2024) score on multi-site durability and security, held back by packaged hardware and a single documented lock mode.
IBM COS on-prem keeps Cleversafe's dispersed erasure coding and compliance-mode Object Lock; its recent release record is thin, so it is not ranked.
IBM's supported Ceph: the upstream RGW object store plus 24x7 support, Glacier tiering and a published support policy, sold per TiB with no list price.
AIStor carries the MinIO code base forward as a closed, quote-priced product that ships fast and announces more AI than it dates.
MinIO's AGPLv3 server is frozen: source only from 2025-10-15, maintenance mode in December, archived 2026-04-25, with no fixes since its last release.
StorageGRID is NetApp's object store on appliances, VMs and Linux hosts, with the most complete Object Lock record in this group and a documented deprecation calendar.
The Apache 2.0 gateway behind OpenShift's Multicloud Object Gateway: S3 buckets over cloud, object and file backends, with object lock only since July 2026.
Nutanix Objects ships steady updates inside Nutanix Unified Storage, with strong operations, a Veeam caveat on compliance mode, and runs only on Nutanix AOS.
Ceph RGW and the NooBaa gateway packaged as OpenShift operators: object storage with strong DR and short support windows, only on OpenShift.
Quantum ActiveScale pairs geo-spread erasure coding with a tape-backed Glacier class on qualified hardware, from an owner that reshaped its finances in 2025.
Qumulo Core adds a native S3 API to a file platform: Object Lock in compliance mode and a Veeam v13 claim, with no lifecycle rules or STS.
A young Apache 2.0 S3 server written in Rust, GA since 2026-09-16, whose maturity rests on its own README and vendor claims; owner funding is not public.
ARTESCA is Scality's backup-first object store, sold as software, appliance or a combined Veeam appliance, with a Veeam Ready record since 2021 and a cyber guarantee tied to compliance mode.
Scality RING is a petabyte-scale object store for providers and large enterprises, validated by Veeam since 2019, whose 2026 story is AI announcements with few readable release notes.
An Apache 2.0 store with weekly releases, wide protocol reach and an Iceberg catalog; object lock has no backup-vendor validation and self-healing is paid.
VAST's S3 shares one namespace with NFS, SMB and block: STS, both lock modes and fast releases on certified platforms, with many 2026 items pending.
An Apache 2.0 S3 front end for POSIX file systems, Azure Blob and other S3 services, shipping monthly in 2026; durability and capacity come from the backend.
Scality's open-source S3 server: a wide S3 handler set and frequent patch releases, with durability left to the backend and stale public docs.
Part of the Object Storage Ledger (edition 2026-10-16). How the scores work: methodology.
Open-source engines, commercial software and appliance-bound platforms share one table, and the immutable backup target is the buying case that runs through all of it: object lock modes and backup-vendor validation carry a domain of their own. MinIO Community Edition is kept as a flagged end-of-life entry because it is still widely deployed; its scorecard dates each step of the wind-down. Cloud object storage services are not scored here; their prices and egress terms belong to a tracker.
| Ceph RADOS Gateway (RGW, upstream) | MinIO AIStor | IBM Storage Ceph (formerly Red Hat Ceph Storage) | SeaweedFS (open source and Enterprise Edition) | NetApp StorageGRID | Cloudian HyperStore | Versity S3 Gateway (VersityGW) | VAST Data Platform | Dell ObjectScale (formerly ECS) | Everpure FlashBlade (formerly Pure Storage, Purity//FB) | NooBaa (Multicloud Object Gateway engine) | Red Hat OpenShift Data Foundation (RGW and the Multicloud Object Gateway) | Nutanix Objects (Nutanix Unified Storage) | Scality RING | RustFS | Hitachi Content Platform and VSP One Object | Qumulo Core S3 API | Scality ARTESCA | Quantum ActiveScale | DataCore Swarm (formerly Caringo) | Zenko CloudServer (Scality open-source S3 server) | IBM Cloud Object Storage on-premises (ClevOS, formerly Cleversafe) (not ranked) | MinIO Community Edition (not ranked) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capability today /100 | 81.5 | 78.6 | 81.2 | 69.3 | 74.0 | 77.0 | 56.6 | 68.2 | 71.9 | 63.0 | 58.2 | 68.1 | 63.9 | 71.9 | 59.6 | 67.0 | 58.5 | 62.5 | 62.0 | 59.8 | 46.6 | 64.6 | 61.0 |
| Capability 2015 | 45.0 | 26.2 | 45.5 | 24.7 | 53.9 | 48.8 | n/a | n/a | 51.2 | n/a | 26.0 | n/a | n/a | 48.5 | n/a | 50.0 | 34.7 | n/a | 36.7 | 45.0 | n/a | 50.1 | 26.2 |
| Capability 2022 | 74.9 | 71.5 | 72.9 | 54.0 | 66.0 | 68.5 | n/a | 53.4 | 60.9 | 46.6 | 41.2 | 57.1 | 54.8 | 68.0 | n/a | 52.7 | 44.6 | 49.5 | 50.5 | 57.6 | 45.6 | 55.4 | 71.5 |
| Momentum since 2022 | +6.6 | +7.1 | +8.3 | +15.3 | +8.0 | +8.5 | +15.7 | +14.8 | +11.0 | +16.4 | +17.0 | +11.0 | +9.1 | +3.9 | +50.0 | +14.3 | +13.9 | +13.0 | +11.5 | +2.2 | +1.0 | +9.2 | -10.5 |
| Credibility /25 | 18.5 | 16.0 | 16.5 | 16.0 | 15.5 | 13.5 | 16.0 | 16.0 | 14.5 | 16.0 | 16.0 | 16.0 | 16.5 | 13.5 | 14.5 | 13.5 | 15.5 | 14.5 | 14.5 | 14.0 | 15.5 | 13.0 | 4.0 |
| Commercial risk /25 (lower better) | n/a | 16.0 | 11.5 | 8.0 | 11.0 | 12.5 | n/a | 14.5 | 13.0 | 12.0 | n/a | 13.5 | 12.5 | 13.0 | 10.5 | 15.0 | 14.0 | 12.5 | 15.0 | 12.0 | n/a | 12.0 | 23.0 |
| Technical lock-in /25 (lower better) | 9.0 | 4.0 | 10.5 | 7.0 | 11.0 | 11.0 | 3.0 | 14.0 | 13.0 | 14.5 | 6.5 | 12.0 | 13.5 | 11.5 | 6.0 | 14.0 | 11.5 | 11.0 | 14.0 | 11.0 | 4.5 | 14.0 | 4.0 |
| Integrator fit /20 | 13.5 | 12.5 | 13.0 | 8.5 | 14.0 | 12.5 | 8.0 | 12.5 | 13.0 | 14.0 | 9.5 | 14.0 | 14.0 | 12.5 | 7.0 | 12.0 | 11.0 | 11.5 | 10.0 | 10.5 | 7.0 | 12.5 | 6.0 |
| AI leverage /20 | 3.5 | 7.5 | 3.0 | 5.0 | 5.5 | 6.5 | 3.0 | 8.5 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 6.5 | 8.0 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 5.5 | 2.5 | 4.0 | 2.5 | 2.0 | 2.5 | 3.0 |
| Ledger Index /100 | 66.3 | 64.1 | 62.9 | 61.6 | 61.3 | 60.0 | 59.6 | 59.5 | 59.1 | 58.9 | 58.5 | 58.2 | 57.7 | 57.4 | 56.4 | 54.7 | 54.4 | 54.3 | 51.6 | 50.0 | 49.9 | 52.4 | 38.3 |
| Idea-to-need index | 0.17 | 0.57 | 0.11 | 0.10 | 0.25 | 0.50 | 0.20 | 0.57 | 0.23 | 0.33 | 0.17 | 0.20 | 0.23 | 0.63 | 0.18 | 0.25 | 0.25 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.17 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Archetype | Dependable builder | Real innovator, portfolio-gated | Dependable builder | Dependable builder, open core | Dependable builder | Real innovator, thinly documented | Dependable builder, young | Real innovator, many items pending | Dependable builder, thinly documented | Dependable builder, hardware-bound | Dependable builder, inside ODF | Dependable builder, OpenShift-bound | Dependable builder | Vision-led, thinly documented | Sharp opportunist, young product | Integrated stack | Sharp opportunist | Sharp opportunist | Dependable builder | Sharp opportunist | Dependable builder, maintenance-led | Slow follower | Wound down for the commercial line |
n/a: the product did not exist yet that year, or the score does not apply (an open-source engine has nothing to buy, so it has no commercial risk score). Not ranked: fails an inclusion test; scored for reference only.
Capability by domain today
| Domain | Ceph RADOS Gateway (RGW, upstream) | MinIO AIStor | IBM Storage Ceph (formerly Red Hat Ceph Storage) | SeaweedFS (open source and Enterprise Edition) | NetApp StorageGRID | Cloudian HyperStore | Versity S3 Gateway (VersityGW) | VAST Data Platform | Dell ObjectScale (formerly ECS) | Everpure FlashBlade (formerly Pure Storage, Purity//FB) | NooBaa (Multicloud Object Gateway engine) | Red Hat OpenShift Data Foundation (RGW and the Multicloud Object Gateway) | Nutanix Objects (Nutanix Unified Storage) | Scality RING | RustFS | Hitachi Content Platform and VSP One Object | Qumulo Core S3 API | Scality ARTESCA | Quantum ActiveScale | DataCore Swarm (formerly Caringo) | Zenko CloudServer (Scality open-source S3 server) | IBM Cloud Object Storage on-premises (ClevOS, formerly Cleversafe) (not ranked) | MinIO Community Edition (not ranked) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S3 API fidelity | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4 | 4 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 4 | 3 | 3.5 | 4 | 3.5 | 4 | 3 | 3.5 | 2.5 | 4 | 3.5 | 3 | 3.5 | 3 | 4 |
| Immutability and compliance | 3.5 | 4 | 3.5 | 2.5 | 4.5 | 4 | 2.5 | 3.5 | 4 | 3.5 | 2 | 3 | 2.5 | 3.5 | 2 | 3.5 | 2.5 | 4 | 3 | 3.5 | 2 | 3 | 3.5 |
| Durability and resilience | 5 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2.5 | 4.5 | 3.5 | 4.5 | 3 | 4 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 4.5 | 4 |
| Performance and scale | 4 | 4.5 | 4 | 4 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 3 | 4 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 2.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 4 | 2.5 | 4 | 3.5 | 3 | 3.5 | 2.5 | 2 | 3.5 | 4 |
| Deployment freedom | 4 | 4 | 3.5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 2.5 | 3 | 1 | 3.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 2 | 3.5 | 2.5 | 3 | 2.5 |
| Security and multi-tenancy | 4 | 3.5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4.5 | 3 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3 | 3 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3 | 4 | 2.5 | 3.5 | 2.5 | 3 | 2.5 | 3.5 | 2.5 |
| Operations | 3.5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3.5 | 2.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 4 | 3 | 3.5 | 4 | 3.5 | 3 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3.5 | 2 |
| Protocols beyond S3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 3.5 | 2.5 | 4 | 3 | 3.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 3 | 3 | 3.5 | 3 | 3.5 | 0 | 2.5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Lifecycle and tiering | 3.5 | 3.5 | 4 | 3.5 | 4 | 3.5 | 1.5 | 2.5 | 3 | 2 | 3.5 | 3 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4.5 | 2.5 | 3 | 2.5 | 3.5 |
| Ecosystem and openness | 4.5 | 3 | 3.5 | 4 | 2 | 1.5 | 3.5 | 2 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 3.5 | 3 | 1.5 | 2 | 3.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 3.5 | 1.5 | 2.5 |
Capability by year
| Year | Ceph RADOS Gateway (RGW, upstream) | MinIO AIStor | IBM Storage Ceph (formerly Red Hat Ceph Storage) | SeaweedFS (open source and Enterprise Edition) | NetApp StorageGRID | Cloudian HyperStore | Versity S3 Gateway (VersityGW) | VAST Data Platform | Dell ObjectScale (formerly ECS) | Everpure FlashBlade (formerly Pure Storage, Purity//FB) | NooBaa (Multicloud Object Gateway engine) | Red Hat OpenShift Data Foundation (RGW and the Multicloud Object Gateway) | Nutanix Objects (Nutanix Unified Storage) | Scality RING | RustFS | Hitachi Content Platform and VSP One Object | Qumulo Core S3 API | Scality ARTESCA | Quantum ActiveScale | DataCore Swarm (formerly Caringo) | Zenko CloudServer (Scality open-source S3 server) | IBM Cloud Object Storage on-premises (ClevOS, formerly Cleversafe) (not ranked) | MinIO Community Edition (not ranked) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 45.0 | 26.2 | 45.5 | 24.7 | 53.9 | 48.8 | n/a | n/a | 51.2 | n/a | 26.0 | n/a | n/a | 48.5 | n/a | 50.0 | 34.7 | n/a | 36.7 | 45.0 | n/a | 50.1 | 26.2 |
| 2016 | 49.8 | 26.2 | 50.3 | 24.7 | 53.9 | 48.8 | n/a | n/a | 51.2 | n/a | 26.0 | n/a | n/a | 48.5 | n/a | 50.0 | 34.7 | n/a | 36.7 | 45.0 | 28.6 | 50.1 | 26.2 |
| 2017 | 52.9 | 26.2 | 50.3 | 24.7 | 53.9 | 53.0 | n/a | n/a | 51.2 | 40.5 | 26.0 | n/a | n/a | 48.5 | n/a | 50.0 | 34.7 | n/a | 36.7 | 45.0 | 28.6 | 50.1 | 26.2 |
| 2018 | 54.4 | 26.2 | 53.4 | 24.7 | 53.9 | 53.0 | n/a | n/a | 51.2 | 40.5 | 26.0 | n/a | n/a | 48.5 | n/a | 50.0 | 34.7 | n/a | 36.7 | 45.0 | 28.6 | 50.1 | 26.2 |
| 2019 | 69.5 | 48.0 | 53.4 | 45.4 | 56.4 | 59.5 | n/a | 40.5 | 52.7 | 46.6 | 41.2 | n/a | 41.8 | 53.9 | n/a | 52.7 | 35.7 | n/a | 44.5 | 50.4 | 39.3 | 52.5 | 48.0 |
| 2020 | 73.0 | 56.4 | 67.5 | 45.4 | 63.6 | 64.3 | n/a | 40.5 | 53.7 | 46.6 | 41.2 | 57.1 | 41.8 | 53.9 | n/a | 52.7 | 38.1 | n/a | 44.5 | 50.4 | 39.3 | 52.5 | 56.4 |
| 2021 | 74.9 | 56.4 | 72.9 | 45.4 | 63.6 | 65.3 | n/a | 42.4 | 60.9 | 46.6 | 41.2 | 57.1 | 44.2 | 58.7 | n/a | 52.7 | 38.1 | 49.5 | 50.5 | 50.4 | 45.6 | 55.4 | 56.4 |
| 2022 | 74.9 | 71.5 | 72.9 | 54.0 | 66.0 | 68.5 | n/a | 53.4 | 60.9 | 46.6 | 41.2 | 57.1 | 54.8 | 68.0 | n/a | 52.7 | 44.6 | 49.5 | 50.5 | 57.6 | 45.6 | 55.4 | 71.5 |
| 2023 | 77.3 | 71.5 | 75.3 | 54.0 | 66.0 | 71.4 | 40.9 | 55.8 | 66.3 | 58.8 | 41.2 | 58.3 | 55.8 | 69.2 | n/a | 52.7 | 44.6 | 55.4 | 50.5 | 58.8 | 45.6 | 64.6 | 71.5 |
| 2024 | 79.8 | 71.2 | 77.8 | 54.0 | 72.1 | 74.8 | 40.9 | 55.8 | 66.3 | 58.8 | 41.2 | 58.3 | 55.8 | 69.2 | n/a | 53.9 | 53.1 | 58.8 | 61.3 | 59.8 | 45.6 | 64.6 | 71.5 |
| 2025 | 81.5 | 73.9 | 78.8 | 54.0 | 74.0 | 75.8 | 40.9 | 66.7 | 68.2 | 59.8 | 49.0 | 61.5 | 56.5 | 69.2 | 9.6 | 64.8 | 57.3 | 58.8 | 62.0 | 59.8 | 45.6 | 64.6 | 64.0 |
| 2026 | 81.5 | 78.6 | 81.2 | 69.3 | 74.0 | 77.0 | 56.6 | 68.2 | 71.9 | 63.0 | 58.2 | 68.1 | 63.9 | 71.9 | 59.6 | 67.0 | 58.5 | 62.5 | 62.0 | 59.8 | 46.6 | 64.6 | 61.0 |
Driver mix, 2023 to 2026 (% of tagged items)
| Driver | Ceph RADOS Gateway (RGW, upstream) | MinIO AIStor | IBM Storage Ceph (formerly Red Hat Ceph Storage) | SeaweedFS (open source and Enterprise Edition) | NetApp StorageGRID | Cloudian HyperStore | Versity S3 Gateway (VersityGW) | VAST Data Platform | Dell ObjectScale (formerly ECS) | Everpure FlashBlade (formerly Pure Storage, Purity//FB) | NooBaa (Multicloud Object Gateway engine) | Red Hat OpenShift Data Foundation (RGW and the Multicloud Object Gateway) | Nutanix Objects (Nutanix Unified Storage) | Scality RING | RustFS | Hitachi Content Platform and VSP One Object | Qumulo Core S3 API | Scality ARTESCA | Quantum ActiveScale | DataCore Swarm (formerly Caringo) | Zenko CloudServer (Scality open-source S3 server) | IBM Cloud Object Storage on-premises (ClevOS, formerly Cleversafe) (not ranked) | MinIO Community Edition (not ranked) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vision | 14 | 40 | 7 | 9 | 21 | 50 | 18 | 44 | 19 | 30 | 15 | 18 | 20 | 56 | 18 | 14 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Customer need | 71 | 20 | 57 | 64 | 43 | 13 | 73 | 0 | 38 | 30 | 77 | 71 | 53 | 0 | 36 | 21 | 25 | 36 | 50 | 25 | 75 | 75 | 36 |
| Market window | 0 | 10 | 0 | 18 | 21 | 38 | 0 | 33 | 25 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 33 | 45 | 21 | 50 | 45 | 50 | 38 | 0 | 13 | 0 |
| Upstream | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 0 |
| Portfolio | 0 | 30 | 36 | 9 | 14 | 0 | 9 | 22 | 19 | 10 | 8 | 12 | 13 | 11 | 0 | 43 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 25 | 13 | 13 | 64 |
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