Cloudflare R2 vs Raff Object Storage: Pricing and Backups (2026)

Introduction

Raff Object Storage vs Cloudflare R2 is a comparison between predictable bundled object storage and low-cost S3-compatible storage with free egress. Raff Technologies offers object storage for teams that want simple pricing, S3-compatible tooling, and unlimited API requests. Cloudflare R2 offers low per-GB storage pricing, no egress fees, a generous free tier, and strong integration with the Cloudflare ecosystem.

Object storage is a cloud storage model that stores files as objects inside buckets, making it useful for backups, application uploads, static assets, logs, media files, build artifacts, and archive data. The important decision is not only whether the provider supports the S3 API. The real decision is how the pricing model behaves when your workload starts reading, writing, syncing, restoring, and serving objects at scale.

This comparison is written for practical workloads: VM backups, database dumps, application media, static assets, rclone sync jobs, Restic repositories, user-uploaded files, and public assets. It focuses on pricing, egress, API request costs, S3 compatibility, operational simplicity, and which storage model is easier to reason about for developers and small teams.

Quick Verdict

Cloudflare R2 is usually cheaper when your workload stores a lot of data, sends a lot of egress, and stays within moderate request volume. R2 Standard storage is priced at $0.015/GB-month, includes free egress, and has a free tier of 10 GB storage, 1 million Class A operations, and 10 million Class B operations per month.

Raff Object Storage is usually easier to predict when you want a bundled storage plan with unlimited API requests. Raff’s base plan is $7/month and includes 100 GB storage, 1 TB egress, and unlimited API requests. That makes it especially simple for backups, VM-to-object-storage workflows, application files, and teams that do not want request charges to become a separate cost model.

The short version is this: choose Cloudflare R2 if free egress and Cloudflare ecosystem integration are your main priorities. Choose Raff Object Storage if you want simple S3-compatible storage tied closely to your Raff infrastructure, predictable API usage, and a billing model with fewer variables.

Raff Object Storage Overview

Raff Object Storage is S3-compatible storage designed for developers, startups, agencies, and small teams that need a straightforward place to store files outside a VM. It is useful for backups, database dumps, media uploads, logs, build artifacts, static assets, and application data.

Raff Object Storage uses the familiar S3 workflow. Existing tools such as AWS CLI, rclone, Restic, Boto3, and other S3 SDKs can connect by changing the endpoint URL to:

https://s3.raffusercloud.com

For example, an AWS CLI command can target Raff Object Storage with the endpoint flag:

aws s3 ls \
  --endpoint-url https://s3.raffusercloud.com

This makes Raff useful when your application already expects an S3-style object store, but you want a simpler operating model than a hyperscale object storage bill.

The base pricing is easy to understand: $7/month includes 100 GB storage, 1 TB egress, and unlimited API requests. Excess storage is $0.07/GB/month, and excess egress is $0.01/GB transferred.

For teams running apps or backups on Raff VMs, this creates a clean workflow: the VM runs the workload, object storage holds the files or backup data, and the bill remains readable.

For hands-on setup, start with How to Use Raff S3 Object Storage with AWS CLI. For file sync and backup workflows, use Sync Files to Raff Object Storage with rclone.

Cloudflare R2 Overview

Cloudflare R2 is S3-compatible object storage built around low storage pricing and zero egress fees. It is especially attractive for teams serving public assets, storing media, reducing AWS S3 egress costs, or building applications inside the Cloudflare ecosystem.

Cloudflare R2 Standard storage is priced at $0.015/GB-month. Infrequent Access storage is priced at $0.01/GB-month, with a 30-day minimum storage duration and retrieval fees. Infrequent Access operations also cost more: Class A is $9.00/million, Class B is $0.90/million, and data retrieval from Infrequent Access costs $0.01/GB. Cloudflare R2 does not charge egress bandwidth fees, but it does charge for Class A and Class B operations after the free tier.

Cloudflare R2 Free Tier Limits

Cloudflare’s R2 free tier includes:

• 10 GB-month storage
• 1 million Class A operations per month
• 10 million Class B operations per month
• free egress

That free tier is meaningful for testing, prototypes, small static assets, and low-traffic projects.

Cloudflare R2 also works naturally with Cloudflare Workers, Cloudflare Pages, Cloudflare DNS, and Cloudflare’s broader edge network. If your workload already uses Cloudflare heavily, R2 may fit into your architecture with very little friction.

The trade-off is that R2 pricing is not only storage. It also includes operation classes. If you have many reads, writes, lists, or small object accesses, you need to estimate operation volume, not just stored data.

Cloudflare R2 Pricing vs Raff Object Storage Pricing

The main difference between Raff Object Storage and Cloudflare R2 is not only the price per GB. It is how each provider structures the bill.

Raff uses a bundled model. You pay $7/month for 100 GB storage, 1 TB egress, and unlimited API requests. This is easier to reason about when your workload has unpredictable request volume but predictable storage size.

Cloudflare R2 uses a usage-based model. You pay for storage and operations, while egress is free. This can be extremely cost-effective for high-egress workloads, especially when operation volume stays manageable.

For low-operation storage workloads, Cloudflare R2 will often be cheaper. For operation-heavy workloads, Raff’s unlimited API requests can make costs easier to predict.

This is the key pricing question:

Will your storage cost be driven mostly by capacity and egress, or by API operations?

If it is capacity and egress, R2 is very strong. If it is frequent sync jobs, many small objects, heavy list operations, repeated reads, and backup tooling that generates many operations, Raff may be easier to budget.

Example Monthly Cost Scenarios

The table below uses simple assumptions to show how the two pricing models behave.

For Cloudflare R2, the estimates assume Standard storage, the monthly free tier is applied, and there are no billable operations beyond the included free tier unless stated. For Raff Object Storage, the estimates use Raff’s bundled plan and published excess storage pricing.

The last row is the important one. R2 can be very inexpensive for storage and egress, but operation charges still matter. Cloudflare’s own documentation gives an asset-hosting example where 100,000 small files read 10,000,000 times per day produces a monthly total of $104.40, driven by Class B operations.

That does not make R2 bad. It means you need to understand your access pattern.

If your workload stores large files and serves them with moderate request volume, R2 can be excellent. If your workload creates many object operations, especially frequent reads and lists, request pricing becomes part of the design.

API Requests and Operation Costs

Object storage workloads often look cheap until request volume appears.

Backups, static assets, logs, media files, and application uploads do not all behave the same way. Some workloads store a small number of large files. Others store millions of small files. Some read occasionally. Others read constantly.

Cloudflare R2 separates operations into Class A and Class B.

Class A operations tend to mutate state. Examples include operations such as writing, listing, copying, and multipart upload actions.

Class B operations tend to read existing state. Examples include operations such as GetObject, HeadObject, and reading object metadata.

Raff Object Storage includes unlimited API requests in the base plan. That does not mean every workload should ignore architecture, but it does make billing simpler. You do not need to separately model how many API calls a backup tool or application will generate.

The infrastructure operator’s view matters here: storage pricing is not just price per GB. Storage pricing is the behavior of the bill under your real workload.

A database backup archive behaves differently from a public image gallery. A static asset bucket behaves differently from an application bucket with frequent object metadata checks. A Restic repository behaves differently from a simple monthly tarball upload.

The right provider depends on which pattern you actually have.

Egress and Public Delivery

Cloudflare R2 is extremely strong on egress. R2 does not charge data transfer fees for egress directly from R2, including through the S3 API, Workers API, and r2.dev domains.

That makes R2 attractive for public assets, media delivery, software downloads, and use cases where data leaves object storage frequently.

Raff Object Storage includes 1 TB egress in the base plan, then charges $0.01/GB for excess egress. For many small and medium workloads, 1 TB is enough. For very high-egress public asset delivery, Cloudflare R2’s free egress is a major advantage.

This is why the recommendation should be honest.

If your workload is mostly public delivery and egress is the dominant cost, Cloudflare R2 is often the stronger fit.

If your workload is backups, restore testing, application files, internal exports, or VM-adjacent storage, Raff’s bundled pricing and unlimited API requests may be the simpler operational choice.

The practical question is:

Are you optimizing for public data delivery or for predictable infrastructure storage?

R2 is better aligned with the first. Raff is better aligned with the second.

S3 Compatibility: Similar Workflow, Different Details

Both Raff Object Storage and Cloudflare R2 support S3-compatible workflows. That means common tools such as AWS CLI, rclone, Boto3, Restic, and many S3 SDKs can usually work by changing endpoint URLs and credentials.

But S3-compatible does not mean identical to AWS S3.

Cloudflare’s own S3 compatibility documentation lists implemented and unimplemented S3 API features. It also notes that R2 uses the auto bucket region, with us-east-1 or an empty value as aliases for compatibility with tools that require a region.

Raff Object Storage is also S3-compatible and is designed for the common workflows most small teams use: uploads, downloads, backups, sync jobs, SDK integrations, and application file storage.

The key migration rule is simple:

If your application uses standard S3 operations, migration is usually straightforward. If your application depends on provider-specific features, test carefully before switching.

For example, standard upload/download workflows are usually easy. Deep AWS-specific behavior, advanced lifecycle automation, object lock, event notifications, or ecosystem-specific triggers may require more planning.

Backup and Restore Workflows

Object storage is often most valuable when it stores data outside the VM that created it.

A VM can fail. A deployment can overwrite files. A database can become corrupted. A user can delete data by mistake. A ransomware incident can affect the live system. In all of these cases, an off-server copy gives you a separate recovery path.

Raff Object Storage is a natural fit for VM backups because it sits close to the rest of the Raff infrastructure workflow. You can run a Linux VM, back up files or databases into object storage, and use familiar tools such as rclone, Restic, or AWS CLI.

Cloudflare R2 is also strong for backups, especially if you want low storage cost and free egress for restore testing. For large backup repositories, R2’s per-GB price can be very attractive.

The difference is operational simplicity.

With Raff, you get a bundled object storage plan and unlimited API requests. With R2, you get lower storage cost and free egress, but you must account for Class A and Class B operations.

For backups, the best provider depends on how your backup tool behaves.

A daily database dump uploaded once per day is mostly storage-driven. R2 is likely cheaper.

A backup repository that performs frequent listing, metadata checks, chunk operations, and restore tests may create more API operations. In that case, Raff’s unlimited request model may be easier to forecast.

For broader backup planning, start with Cloud Server Backup Strategies, then choose the storage target that matches your restore requirements.

Developer Experience

Cloudflare R2 has a strong developer experience if your team already uses Cloudflare. It fits naturally with Workers, Pages, DNS, CDN workflows, and Cloudflare-managed edge applications. If you want to serve assets through Cloudflare or build serverless logic with Workers, R2 is very appealing.

Raff Object Storage has a strong developer experience if your workload already runs on Raff VMs. Your app, server, backups, support path, and storage can live inside one infrastructure provider. For small teams, that reduces operational sprawl.

Both support the basic S3 pattern:

• create a bucket
• generate access credentials
• configure the endpoint
• upload objects
• retrieve objects
• use standard tools and SDKs

The difference is where the storage fits.

If Cloudflare is already your edge and application platform, R2 fits naturally.

If Raff is already where your VMs and applications run, Raff Object Storage fits naturally.

When Raff Object Storage Is the Better Choice

Choose Raff Object Storage when predictable storage billing and VM-adjacent workflows matter more than the lowest possible per-GB storage price.

Raff is a strong fit for:

• Linux VM backups
• database dumps
• Restic repositories
• rclone sync jobs
• application uploads
• media files for small apps
• static assets for low-to-medium traffic sites
• log archives
• build artifacts
• export files
• internal tools
• agency and client projects
• teams that do not want to model request charges

Raff is especially useful when the object storage workload belongs to an application already running on Raff. A VM can run the app, object storage can hold the files, snapshots and backups can protect the server, and the billing model stays readable.

Choose Raff when your question is:

Can we get S3-compatible storage with predictable pricing, unlimited API requests, and fewer billing variables?

When Cloudflare R2 Is the Better Choice

Choose Cloudflare R2 when free egress, low per-GB storage pricing, and Cloudflare ecosystem integration matter most.

R2 is a strong fit for:

• public static assets
• high-egress media delivery
• Cloudflare Workers applications
• Cloudflare Pages workflows
• teams already using Cloudflare DNS and CDN
• large storage volumes with moderate request activity
• S3 egress cost reduction
• multi-cloud object storage strategies
• projects that benefit from Cloudflare’s global network

Cloudflare R2 is especially strong when your biggest concern is data transfer out of object storage. If egress dominates your bill, R2’s free egress model is hard to ignore.

Choose R2 when your question is:

Can we store and serve objects with low storage cost, free egress, and tight Cloudflare integration?

Migration Considerations

Migrating between Raff Object Storage and Cloudflare R2 is usually practical if your workload uses standard S3-compatible operations.

A typical migration path looks like this:

1. Create the destination bucket.
2. Generate access credentials.
3. Configure rclone, AWS CLI, or your SDK for both endpoints.
4. Copy a small test directory first.
5. Verify object count, file size, metadata, and permissions.
6. Run the full sync.
7. Update the application endpoint.
8. Test uploads, downloads, restore workflows, and public access.
9. Keep the old bucket temporarily until the new workflow is verified.

Tools such as rclone are helpful because they can connect to many S3-compatible providers and move objects between them.

Migration requires more care if your workload depends on provider-specific features. For example, Cloudflare Workers bindings, public r2.dev delivery patterns, R2-specific lifecycle behavior, or unsupported S3 features should be tested before production cutover.

For simple backups and file storage, migration is usually clean.

For integrated application architectures, test the full workflow before switching.

Final Recommendation

Raff Object Storage vs Cloudflare R2 is not a question of which service is universally better. It is a question of which cost model and operating model fits your workload.

Choose Raff Object Storage if you want predictable S3-compatible storage for Raff VM backups, application files, database exports, logs, media, and restore workflows. Raff’s $7/month base plan includes 100 GB storage, 1 TB egress, and unlimited API requests, which makes it easier for small teams to understand the bill before the workload grows.

Choose Cloudflare R2 if you want lower per-GB storage pricing, free egress, a free tier, and deep fit with Cloudflare Workers, Pages, CDN, DNS, and edge workflows. R2 is especially strong for high-egress public assets and teams already building inside the Cloudflare ecosystem.

The practical rule is simple:

Use Cloudflare R2 when egress savings and Cloudflare integration are the main goals.

Use Raff Object Storage when predictable request pricing, Raff VM integration, and storage simplicity matter more.

If you are new to Raff Object Storage, start with How to Use Raff S3 Object Storage with AWS CLI, then try Sync Files to Raff Object Storage with rclone for backup and file sync workflows.