Cold Storage Cost Calculator

Example data table

Illustrative sample inputs and outputs for quick validation.

Formula used

• storage_gb = amount × (1024 if TB else 1)
• billable_months = max(retention_months, tier_min_months)
• storage_cost = storage_gb × storage_rate × billable_months × redundancy_multiplier × region_factor
• retrieval_cost = retrieval_gb × retrieval_rate × region_factor
• request_cost = ((GET/1000)×get_rate + (PUT/1000)×put_rate + (LIST/1000)×list_rate) × region_factor
• transfer_cost = transfer_out_gb × transfer_rate × region_factor
• total_cost = storage_cost + retrieval_cost + request_cost + transfer_cost
• avg_monthly = total_cost ÷ retention_months

How to use this calculator

1. Enter your stored volume and retention duration.
2. Select a tier, then choose a redundancy option.
3. Set a region factor if your region is priced higher.
4. Add retrieval, egress, and request volumes for a typical month.
5. Paste your provider’s published rates in Advanced pricing.
6. Press Calculate cost to view the breakdown.
7. Use CSV or PDF export for sharing and approvals.

Cold storage budgeting for long retention

Cold tiers fit infrequently accessed data kept for audits, legal holds, or disaster recovery. Budgeting starts with retained volume and duration, because storage is billed per gigabyte per month and may enforce minimum billable months. This calculator converts your archive size into billable gigabytes, applies retention rules, and produces an average monthly view for consistent comparisons across projects. Use it to align technical retention goals with financial planning cycles across products and teams.

Cost drivers beyond capacity

In practice, the surprise is often access. Retrieval charges rise when restores become frequent, while transfer out can dominate when datasets are moved to analytics platforms or shared externally. Request fees add up when workloads rely on many small reads, listings, or metadata scans. By separating storage, retrieval, requests, and egress, the calculator shows which behavior drives spend and where policy changes will help. Scenario testing also helps prevent under-budgeting during incident recovery.

Tier selection and minimum duration effects

Deeper archival tiers usually offer lower storage rates but higher retrieval prices and longer minimum durations. If planned retention is shorter than the tier minimum, the estimate reflects enforced billable months. The tier presets provide starting points, and the editable rate fields let you mirror any provider’s price sheet. This supports “what-if” comparisons when compliance rules change or teams request faster restores.

Redundancy and regional pricing factors

Durability targets may require additional copies across zones or regions. That design improves resilience, but it multiplies storage charges. The redundancy option models this as a simple multiplier on storage. Regional differences are handled through one factor, enabling quick adjustments for premium locations. Together, these controls align cost projections with architecture decisions before procurement begins.

Reporting outputs for stakeholder review

Finance and engineering teams need a breakdown they can reuse in approvals, tickets, or dashboards. The calculator provides a component table plus CSV and PDF exports to attach to budgeting documents. Because every rate is editable, you can capture assumptions in the inputs and regenerate reports when prices or usage patterns change. This supports repeatable planning for long-term archives at scale. Clear outputs reduce back-and-forth during reviews and speed up approvals.

FAQs

1) What is a region factor and when should I change it?

Use 1.00 for baseline pricing. Increase it if your chosen region is consistently priced higher, or reduce it for discounted regions. It applies uniformly to keep comparisons fast and consistent.

2) Why does the calculator show billable months greater than my retention?

Some cold tiers enforce minimum durations. If your retention is below that minimum, charges are estimated using the minimum billable months so the total reflects typical billing behavior.

3) Are request costs really important for cold storage?

They can be. Workloads that scan many objects, list frequently, or perform metadata-heavy operations may see request fees become material, even when retrieval volumes are small.

4) Should retrieval be modeled monthly or as a one-time event?

Model it the way you expect to operate. For rare restores, enter an average monthly retrieval based on expected frequency. For heavy restore periods, run separate scenarios and compare totals.

5) How do I match the calculator to my provider’s pricing?

Copy the published rates into the Advanced pricing fields. Keep units consistent with the labels, and update them whenever your provider changes pricing or you negotiate a new contract.

6) Does this include taxes, free tiers, or committed-use discounts?

No. The estimate focuses on metered storage, access, requests, and egress. If you have discounts, incorporate them by adjusting rates or applying a lower region factor for planning.