What you’ll learn: This article compares Ceph and MinIO in terms of performance, licensing, and real-world S3-compatible object storage costs. Includes lab-tested benchmarks and detailed cost models for developers and infrastructure teams. Written by engineers with direct experience deploying both solutions in production and lab environments.

Summary for the impatient

• MinIO is fast, simple, and no longer truly open-source in production.
• Ceph is complex but mature, fully open-source, and multi-purpose.
• If you’re running >10TB and care about S3 egress or multi-tenant control, Ceph may be cheaper long-term.
• If you want no ops overhead, managed Ceph is a real option.
• Ceph is also ideal if you’re looking for a scalable, self-hosted S3-compatible storage platform with full multi-tenant support.

1. Real-world S3-Compatible Object Storage Benchmark

We ran both MinIO and Ceph on a 4-node test cluster (each node: 8 vCPU, 64GB RAM, 4x2TB NVMe), using Rook for Ceph and the MinIO Operator for MinIO.

Test setup

• 50TB of object data
• Simulated monthly pattern: ~20M PUT/GET ops, 10TB outbound
• Tools: s3-benchmark, fio, and custom S3-compatible Python workloads

Performance benchmark results

While MinIO shows better raw throughput in synthetic benchmarks, Ceph delivers significantly more in terms of real-world durability, multi-tenancy, and enterprise-grade features—critical for long-term, production-grade deployments.

Ceph offers comprehensive enterprise-grade features out-of-the-box, while MinIO requires additional licensing or lacks coverage in critical areas like multi-tenancy and observability.

Metric (under simulated multi-tenant load)	Ceph (RGW)	MinIO
Throughput (GET)	~400 MB/s per node	~650 MB/s per node
PUT latency (P95)	~48 ms	~22 ms
Multi-tenant ACLs	Fine-grained (via RGW)	Basic (unless licensed)
Quotas	Native + enforced	Commercial only
Object versioning	Supported	Supported
Kubernetes native	Mature (Rook)	Decent (Operator)
Production durability	Mature (multi-site replication, CRUSH)	Basic (no CRUSH-like replication)
Observability integration	Built-in (Prometheus, Grafana ready)	Minimal, Add-ons required
Licensing risk	None (LGPL)	High (AGPL+Commercial)

Ceph offers comprehensive enterprise-grade features out-of-the-box, while MinIO requires additional licensing or lacks coverage in critical areas like multi-tenancy and observability.

In short: MinIO is fast in benchmarks, but Ceph delivers consistent performance under real-world conditions—and comes with built-in production features that save time, reduce risk, and lower total cost of ownership at scale.

2. Licensing & Open Source Philosophy

• MinIO switched to AGPLv3 + commercial licensing since ~2022. Using it in production without a commercial agreement is legally risky (especially in SaaS environments).
• Ceph remains LGPL and is part of many distributions. No licensing surprises.

This distinction is often overlooked in forums and blog posts. We’ve encountered multiple companies surprised by the implications of AGPL when considering MinIO. For many, Ceph presents a safer open source object storage alternative with well-established licensing and community governance.

3. S3 Cost Comparison: Ceph vs MinIO vs AWS

While surface-level costs might look similar, Ceph offers far greater enterprise value at the same or lower total cost, especially when managed with expert support. Below, we compare the broader cost-to-capability ratio.

Let’s break down a typical S3-compatible usage pattern:

• 50TB storage
• 10TB monthly egress
• 20 million object operations (GET/PUT)

Estimated monthly cost

Provider	Storage	Egress	API Ops	License/Infra	Total est. / month
AWS S3	~950 €	~850 €	~120 €	–	~1920 €
MinIO (licensed)	0	0	0	~800 €	~800 €
Ceph (self-hosted)	0	0	0	0 (infra cost only)	~0* (infra/staff)
Ceph (managed)	0	0	0	~650 €	~650 €

*Assumes infrastructure is already provisioned and in-house expertise is available.

Ceph offers the best value by combining lower operational costs with full enterprise-grade storage features—unlike MinIO or AWS S3, which incur higher total ownership costs. It’s not just about cost—Ceph is a full enterprise-grade S3 storage solution that avoids vendor lock-in and long-term licensing risks.

4. Who Should Use Which? (Ceph vs MinIO Use Cases)

Choosing Ceph means choosing long-term flexibility, deep feature support, and true open-source governance—essential for enterprise-grade object storage.

Use Case	Recommended Solution
Running edge compute or CI pipelines	MinIO
Need S3 + quotas + multitenancy	Ceph
Want S3 but no ops/infra team	Managed Ceph
Building a lightweight object store	MinIO (if licensed)

This guidance is based on actual production deployments observed by our team.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Is Ceph better than MinIO for S3 workloads?

If you need multi-tenant features, quota control, erasure coding, or native integration with Kubernetes, Ceph offers more flexibility. For raw performance and simplicity, MinIO excels.

Can I use MinIO for free in production?

Not safely. As of 2022, MinIO switched to an AGPL license that makes production use legally risky without a commercial agreement.

How much does AWS S3 actually cost with 50TB of data?

Typical usage (50TB storage, 10TB egress, 20M API ops/month) will result in ~1900€ monthly cost. Egress and API calls are the real hidden costs.

What is the best open source S3-compatible alternative to AWS?

Ceph is a fully open-source, production-grade alternative that supports S3, block, and file storage. It’s complex to manage, but scalable and license-free.

Final Take: Ceph vs MinIO in a Nutshell

Ceph is not just an open-source alternative—it’s an enterprise-ready, Kubernetes-native, production-proven platform that delivers more than just raw storage.

MinIO is performant and great for simple, fast S3-compatible object storage — but licensing and enterprise features are now gated. Ceph is powerful but complex, and only shines when you’re ready to manage it — or work with someone who does.

If you care about avoiding egress surprises, multi-protocol storage, or owning your object infrastructure — Ceph deserves a close look. It remains one of the most powerful cloud storage alternatives to AWS S3 for organizations that prioritize sovereignty, scale, and freedom.

Ready to take control of your object storage?

Ceph offers more than just cost savings—it’s your way out of vendor lock-in and unpredictable egress fees.
If you’re considering a move away from AWS S3 or want to compare MinIO and Ceph in your environment:

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