S3 Demand Index · Q2 2026
S3 Demand Index Q2 2026: Which Providers Visitors Click Through To
s3compare.io is built in public, and the data behind it matters to us as much as the table. So we are starting the S3 Demand Index: every quarter we publish one signal the price table cannot show, which providers visitors actually open after comparing. Same method every time, so the editions stay comparable. This one covers April to June 2026.
Key Findings
- One provider takes a quarter of all clicks. MEGA S4, the cheapest listing in the table at $2.63 per TB and month, received 24% of outbound clicks and leads every region: 35% in DACH, 20% to 21% elsewhere.
- The rest is spread thin. Nine providers hold between 4% and 9% each, together 63%. The remaining ten providers share the last 13%. No other provider reaches 10% overall.
- Below the leader, the headline price stops explaining the order. The cheapest products of those nine run from $4.00 to $12.30 per TB. Hetzner, the most expensive of them, gets as many clicks as Rabata at $4.90.
- AWS is a European phenomenon in this data. Second in Europe outside DACH with 11%, fourth in North America with 9%, fifth in Asia with 7%, and 3% in DACH.
- Second place is regional. Hetzner in DACH with 19%, AWS in the rest of Europe, Rabata and Storj tied in Asia and again in North America.
Overall: Share of Outbound Clicks
Top 10 providers by share of all outbound clicks from s3compare.io to a provider's pricing page, April to June 2026. The price columns show the cheapest product of that provider in our table: storage in USD per TB and month, and the egress price of that same product. MEGA's egress is free within a fair-use ratio.
| Provider | Share of clicks | Lowest listed $/TB/month | Egress $/TB (same product) |
|---|---|---|---|
| MEGA S4 | 24% | $2.63 | $0.00 |
| AWS S3 | 9% | $4.00 | $90.00 |
| Storj | 9% | $7.00 | $7.00 |
| Rabata | 8% | $4.90 | $0.00 |
| Hetzner | 8% | $12.30 | $1.20 |
| ZERO-Z3 | 7% | $8.80 | $5.40 |
| IDrive e2 | 7% | $4.95 | $10.00 |
| Backblaze B2 | 6% | $6.00 | $10.00 |
| Telnyx | 5% | $6.14 | $0.00 |
| IONOS | 4% | $8.00 | $36.00 |
By Visitor Region
Top 5 per region; the chart above shows the first four. Where the fifth place is shared, all providers on that share are listed together. Region is derived from the visitor's IP address at the time of the visit. Latin America, Africa and Oceania are included in the overall figures but had too few clicks for a separate table.
DACH
Germany, Austria, Switzerland
| Provider | Share |
|---|---|
| MEGA S4 | 35% |
| Hetzner | 19% |
| Backblaze B2, Rabata, Storj, Telnyx, Wasabi, ZERO-Z3 | 5% each |
Europe (other)
Rest of Europe, UK included
| Provider | Share |
|---|---|
| MEGA S4 | 21% |
| AWS S3 | 11% |
| Rabata | 9% |
| ZERO-Z3 | 9% |
| Hetzner | 8% |
Asia
Asia incl. Middle East
| Provider | Share |
|---|---|
| MEGA S4 | 20% |
| Rabata | 9% |
| Storj | 9% |
| IDrive e2 | 8% |
| AWS S3, Hetzner | 7% each |
North America
US, Canada, Mexico
| Provider | Share |
|---|---|
| MEGA S4 | 20% |
| Rabata | 11% |
| Storj | 11% |
| AWS S3 | 9% |
| IDrive e2 | 8% |
Do Buyers Click the Cheapest?
Partly. The cheapest listing gets the most clicks in every region, so the headline price decides who gets the first look. Below the leader, price stops explaining the order: Hetzner at $12.30 per TB collects as many clicks as Rabata at $4.90, and Storj at $7.00 as many as AWS, whose cheapest tier costs $4.00 but charges $90 per TB to get data out again.
What the table does show is a pattern on the total bill. Eight of the ten most clicked providers charge $10 per TB or less for egress, three of them nothing at all. The two exceptions, AWS at $90 and IONOS at $36, still make the top ten, but on the strength of a known name rather than the numbers.
Our reading, not something this data proves: visitors compare the whole row, not just the storage price, and they open a provider they already know or one in their own region even when it is not the cheapest. For a provider, a low headline price gets you into the shortlist. A transparent total cost and a regional presence get you the click.
Method
Outbound clicks from s3compare.io to provider pricing pages, April to June 2026, from our self-hosted analytics. Shares only. A click is interest after a comparison, not a purchase. Delisted providers and non-provider links are excluded, ties are ordered by clicks, then alphabetically. s3compare.io is run by Zero Services GmbH; ZERO-Z3 is treated like every other row. Next edition: Q3 2026, early October.