AWS Storage Gateway review
A flexible AWS gateway for file, block, and virtual tape workloads.
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
AWS Storage Gateway connects on-premises applications to AWS storage through standard protocols, helping organizations back up, archive, migrate, or process data without rewriting existing applications. It covers three gateway types: S3 File Gateway for NFS and SMB access, Volume Gateway for iSCSI block storage, and Tape Gateway for an iSCSI virtual tape library. Gateways can run as virtual machines, a hardware appliance, or an Amazon EC2 instance, making the product a fit for organizations with hybrid infrastructure and existing AWS operations.
Its main strength is breadth across storage workloads. Files can be stored as Amazon S3 objects, virtual tapes can be archived to S3 Glacier or Glacier Deep Archive, and point-in-time volume backups can be stored as Amazon EBS snapshots. Local read-through and write-back caching keeps frequently used or recently written data available near applications. The platform also connects with Amazon CloudWatch, CloudTrail, IAM, KMS, and AWS Backup, giving AWS-focused teams a broad set of adjacent services for monitoring, auditing, access control, encryption, and backup workflows.
Pricing is usage-based at $0.01 per GB written to AWS, billed monthly. Data transfer into AWS is free, and there is no charge for reading data from AWS. Pricing varies by region and gateway type, so deployment planning should account for the specific gateway configuration. AWS Storage Gateway is a strong choice for teams standardizing on AWS while retaining on-premises applications and storage protocols. Organizations seeking a free tier, a cloud-neutral gateway, or a newly available Amazon FSx File Gateway deployment should consider alternatives.
AWS Storage Gateway pros and cons
- Where it wins
- Supports NFS, SMB, iSCSI, and virtual tape interfaces
- Connects with S3, Glacier, EBS, AWS Backup, and security services
- Local read-through and write-back caching supports frequent data access
- Where it doesn't
- No free plan is available
- Usage pricing varies by region and gateway type
- Amazon FSx File Gateway is unavailable to new customers
AWS Storage Gateway fact sheet, pricing and score →
Advertiser disclosure: iTechGuides is reader-supported. Vendors can pay for top positions in our rankings and for a place on other products' pages, and we may earn a commission when you click some links. Bought places stand at the number bought; this page and our disclosure say so. Paying vendors may get a fuller, more detailed review from our editors, and that review can change their score. How we rank.
Last updated · How we research and update