{
  "verifiedAt": "2026-09-01",
  "currency": "USD",
  "notes": "Expanded 2026-08-16 from the S3 trio; every row carries currency + per-vendor referral status (verified / pending / absent / deferred). 2026-08-21 (STORAGE-PAGE-AUDIT): recount — 27 vendor rows after the 2026-09-01 collapse of OVH to its single Standard class (DECIDED), 26/27 rows priceCaptured:true; ionos is priceCaptured:false (honest partial: GBP storage rate captured, egress null) so compute returns null and it renders outside numeric ranking. 2026-09-01 (STORAGE-NUMBERS-AND-PERKS pass): OVH rates re-verified against ovhcloud.com/en/public-cloud/prices/ per-region JSON — Standard $0.0081103/GiB uniform across all 33 regions, egress and API calls free on all OVH classes. See per-row notes for live-verification dates. NUMERIC-R4 2026-08-23: per-row pricingCapturedAt stamps added (from row-level verified dates or catalog verifiedAt) matching the vector-db provenance contract. 2026-09-01 (FRESH-REVERIFY): all 27 vendors re-fetched via dracon live capture (direct+Jina, /tmp/catalog-captures/v2); Backblaze B2 $6.95/TB (0.00695/GB) drift from $5.00, Bunny single-region $0.01/GB (additional +$0.005/region) from $0.005 additional-only; Contabo object-storage retired to Storage VPS (priceCaptured retained but product note updated); Vultr Cloudflare-challenged via Jina (retained prior $0.018) and Hetzner/Scaleway/Wasabi/Storj/OVH verified no change.",
  "vendors": [
    {
      "slug": "bunny",
      "name": "Bunny Storage",
      "vendor": "Bunny.net",
      "kind": "object-storage",
      "s3Compatible": true,
      "regions": [
        "EU",
        "US",
        "Asia",
        "SA"
      ],
      "storagePerGbMonth": 0.01,
      "egressPerGb": 0.01,
      "freeStorageGb": 0,
      "freeEgressGb": 0,
      "classAPer1k": 0,
      "classBPer1k": 0,
      "minimumCommitment": "$1/mo billing minimum; pay-as-you-go",
      "affiliateWired": false,
      "url": "https://bunny.net/storage/",
      "pricingUrl": "https://bunny.net/pricing/storage/",
      "notes": "Bunny Storage Standard Tier HDD: $0.01/GB single-region, $0.02/GB for 2 regions (up to 9 regions, +$0.005/GB per additional beyond 2 — e.g., 3 regions $0.025/GB). Edge Tier SSD $0.02/GB per region (up to 15). Egress $0.01/GB to anywhere; no API fees; free egress to Bunny CDN. Verified 2026-09-01 via https://bunny.net/pricing/storage/.",
      "currency": "USD",
      "basePlanMonthly": 1,
      "priceCaptured": true,
      "priceNote": null,
      "referral": {
        "status": "verified",
        "name": "Bunny.net Referral Program",
        "type": "cash",
        "url": "https://bunny.net?ref=6uevqujmyc",
        "referee_benefit": null,
        "referrer_benefit": "$20 cash per referred customer (payout via Bunny dashboard)",
        "source_url": "https://bunny.net/affiliate/",
        "verified_at": "2026-08-21",
        "notes": "Live re-check 2026-08-25 (bunny.net/affiliate/): referrer-only program — $20 per new paying customer to the referrer; no referee discount or credit exists. referee_benefit stays null and the reader-facing 'You get' CTA is hidden per user decision 2026-08-24."
      },
      "durability": "99.999999999% (11 9s)",
      "sla": "99.9%",
      "objectLock": true,
      "versioning": true,
      "minRetentionDays": 0,
      "sovereignty": "EU & US (Slovenia / Global Edge)",
      "ecosystemFeature": "Built-in Bunny Global CDN, Video Stream Transcoder & Optimizer",
      "pricingCapturedAt": "2026-09-01"
    },
    {
      "slug": "cloudflare-r2",
      "name": "R2",
      "vendor": "Cloudflare",
      "kind": "object-storage",
      "s3Compatible": true,
      "regions": [
        "automatic"
      ],
      "storagePerGbMonth": 0.015,
      "egressPerGb": 0,
      "freeStorageGb": 10,
      "freeEgressGb": null,
      "classAPer1k": 0.0045,
      "classBPer1k": 0.00036,
      "minimumCommitment": "None",
      "affiliateWired": false,
      "url": "https://developers.cloudflare.com/r2/",
      "pricingUrl": "https://developers.cloudflare.com/r2/pricing/",
      "notes": "$15.00/TB/mo with $0 egress worldwide. High Class A request fees ($4.50/1M writes) and expensive base storage compared to Hetzner/Bunny/B2. Best strictly when outbound egress volume is massive and writes are minimal.",
      "currency": "USD",
      "priceCaptured": true,
      "priceNote": "Storage is $15.00/TB and Class A write operations are $4.50/1M ($1,345.50/mo on 10M daily uploads after the 1M/mo free Class-A tier). Outbound egress is $0.00. NUMERIC-R4 2026-08-23: free-ops allowances captured from live developers.cloudflare.com/r2/pricing (Workers Free: 1M Class-A + 10M Class-B requests/mo) and modeled via freeClassAMillions/freeClassBMillions.",
      "referral": {
        "status": "absent",
        "verified_at": "2026-08-21",
        "url": null,
        "name": "None — Cloudflare has no public partner program"
      },
      "durability": "99.999999999% (11 9s)",
      "sla": "99.99%",
      "objectLock": true,
      "versioning": true,
      "minRetentionDays": 0,
      "sovereignty": "Global Edge (US Cloud Act)",
      "ecosystemFeature": "Zero Egress worldwide, Cloudflare Workers native binding, Instant edge cache",
      "freeClassAMillions": 1,
      "freeClassBMillions": 10,
      "pricingCapturedAt": "2026-09-01"
    },
    {
      "slug": "backblaze-b2",
      "name": "B2 Cloud Storage",
      "vendor": "Backblaze",
      "kind": "object-storage",
      "s3Compatible": true,
      "regions": [
        "US-West",
        "EU"
      ],
      "storagePerGbMonth": 0.00695,
      "egressPerGb": 0.01,
      "freeStorageGb": 10,
      "freeEgressGb": null,
      "freeEgressPolicy": "First 3x stored amount in egress free per month",
      "classAPer1k": 0,
      "classBPer1k": 0,
      "minimumCommitment": "None",
      "affiliateWired": false,
      "url": "https://www.backblaze.com/b2/cloud-storage.html",
      "pricingUrl": "https://www.backblaze.com/b2/cloud-storage-pricing.html",
      "notes": "Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage — $6.95/TB/mo (0.00695/GB) as of 2026-09-01 live pricing (was $5.00/TB 2026-08-21); $0.01/GB egress, 10GB free storage, 3× egress allowance free, no minimum fees. Verified via https://www.backblaze.com/cloud-storage/pricing.",
      "currency": "USD",
      "priceCaptured": true,
      "priceNote": "NUMERIC-R4 2026-08-23: freeStorageGb corrected 0→10 per live check of backblaze.com/cloud-storage/pricing (\"First 10GB storage is always free\").",
      "referral": {
        "status": "absent",
        "verified_at": "2026-08-21",
        "url": null,
        "notes": "B2B partner/tech-alliance only; no self-serve publisher affiliate"
      },
      "durability": "99.999999999% (11 9s)",
      "sla": "99.9%",
      "objectLock": true,
      "versioning": true,
      "minRetentionDays": 0,
      "sovereignty": "US & EU (Amsterdam)",
      "ecosystemFeature": "Cloudflare Bandwidth Alliance ($0 egress to CDN), Fastly Alliance, Veeam native",
      "pricingCapturedAt": "2026-09-01"
    },
    {
      "slug": "wasabi",
      "name": "Wasabi Hot Storage",
      "vendor": "Wasabi",
      "currency": "USD",
      "s3Compatible": true,
      "regions": [
        "US",
        "EU",
        "AP"
      ],
      "storagePerGbMonth": 0.00799,
      "egressPerGb": 0,
      "freeStorageGb": 0,
      "freeEgressGb": null,
      "classAPer1k": 0,
      "classBPer1k": 0,
      "fairUseEgressCap": "1:1 egress-to-storage ratio (overage throttled/suspended)",
      "minimumCommitment": "Pay-as-you-go; no free tier",
      "url": "https://wasabi.com/",
      "pricingUrl": "https://wasabi.com/pricing/",
      "notes": "$7.99/TB/mo (pay-as-you-go) with free egress, no API fees. 30-day free trial available. Captured 2026-08-16 from wasabi.com/pricing. Ops: free (no API request fees).",
      "minBillableGb": 1000,
      "priceCaptured": true,
      "priceNote": null,
      "affiliateWired": false,
      "referral": {
        "status": "absent",
        "verified_at": "2026-08-21",
        "url": null,
        "notes": "Wasabi partners = reseller/MSP network; no consumer publisher program"
      },
      "kind": "object-storage",
      "durability": "99.999999999% (11 9s)",
      "sla": "99.99%",
      "objectLock": true,
      "versioning": true,
      "minRetentionDays": 90,
      "sovereignty": "US & EU (Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Paris, London)",
      "ecosystemFeature": "$0 API request fees, Wasabi Ball offline appliance, Veeam/MSP integration",
      "pricingCapturedAt": "2026-09-01"
    },
    {
      "slug": "storj",
      "name": "Storj",
      "vendor": "Storj Labs",
      "currency": "USD",
      "s3Compatible": true,
      "regions": [
        "global"
      ],
      "storagePerGbMonth": 0.007,
      "egressPerGb": 0.007,
      "freeStorageGb": null,
      "freeEgressGb": null,
      "classAPer1k": 0,
      "classBPer1k": 0,
      "minimumCommitment": "$5/mo invoice minimum",
      "url": "https://www.storj.io/",
      "pricingUrl": "https://www.storj.io/pricing",
      "notes": "Storj DCS — $7.00/TB storage (0.007/GB) + $7.00/TB egress (0.007/GB), S3-compatible decentralized. Verified 2026-09-01 via https://www.storj.io/pricing (page JS shell but pricing documented as $7/TB via Jina/corp docs).",
      "basePlanMonthly": 5,
      "priceCaptured": true,
      "priceNote": null,
      "affiliateWired": false,
      "referral": {
        "status": "absent",
        "verified_at": "2026-08-21",
        "url": null,
        "notes": "Storj partner portal is B2B; no consumer affiliate"
      },
      "kind": "object-storage",
      "durability": "99.999999999% (11 9s Erasure Coded)",
      "sla": "99.9%",
      "objectLock": true,
      "versioning": true,
      "minRetentionDays": 30,
      "sovereignty": "Decentralized Zero-Knowledge / Global Nodes",
      "ecosystemFeature": "End-to-end client-side encryption, 25K+ distributed nodes, Web3 native",
      "pricingCapturedAt": "2026-09-01"
    },
    {
      "slug": "hetzner",
      "name": "Hetzner Object Storage",
      "vendor": "Hetzner",
      "currency": "EUR",
      "s3Compatible": true,
      "regions": [
        "EU"
      ],
      "storagePerGbMonth": 0.00626,
      "egressPerGb": 0.001,
      "basePlanMonthly": 6.49,
      "baseIncludedStorageGb": 1000,
      "baseIncludedEgressGb": 1000,
      "freeStorageGb": 0,
      "freeEgressGb": 1000,
      "classAPer1k": 0,
      "classBPer1k": 0,
      "minimumCommitment": "€6.49/mo base incl. 1 TB",
      "url": "https://www.hetzner.com/object-storage/",
      "pricingUrl": "https://www.hetzner.com/object-storage/",
      "notes": "Hetzner Object Storage — S3-compatible, €5.83/mo base (incl. 1TB storage + 1TB traffic, capped), additional storage €6.26/TB (0.00626/GB) and traffic €1/TB (0.001/GB). Verified 2026-09-01 via https://www.hetzner.com/storage/object-storage/ and E_SLIDERVALUES (EUR 6.49 base / 6.26 additional, USD 7.99/8.86).",
      "priceCaptured": true,
      "priceNote": null,
      "affiliateWired": false,
      "referral": {
        "status": "absent",
        "verified_at": "2026-08-21",
        "url": null
      },
      "kind": "object-storage",
      "durability": "99.999999999% (11 9s Ceph)",
      "sla": "99.9%",
      "objectLock": true,
      "versioning": true,
      "minRetentionDays": 0,
      "sovereignty": "100% EU Sovereign (Germany & Finland)",
      "ecosystemFeature": "100% Green Energy Falkenstein datacenters, 100G internal private peering",
      "pricingCapturedAt": "2026-09-01"
    },
    {
      "slug": "hetzner-storage-box",
      "name": "Hetzner Storage Box",
      "vendor": "Hetzner",
      "currency": "EUR",
      "s3Compatible": false,
      "kind": "file-block-storage",
      "regions": [
        "EU"
      ],
      "storagePerGbMonth": 0.0032,
      "egressPerGb": 0.0001,
      "freeStorageGb": 0,
      "freeEgressGb": null,
      "classAPer1k": 0,
      "classBPer1k": 0,
      "minimumCommitment": "€3.20/mo (BX11 1 TB)",
      "url": "https://www.hetzner.com/storage/storage-box/",
      "pricingUrl": "https://www.hetzner.com/storage/storage-box/",
      "notes": "Managed NAS / file storage. Fixed capacity tiers: 1 TB (€3.20/mo), 5 TB (€9.90/mo), 10 TB (€18.80/mo), 20 TB (€37.60/mo ex VAT). Protocols: SFTP, BorgBackup, WebDAV, Samba, rsync.",
      "priceCaptured": true,
      "priceNote": null,
      "affiliateWired": false,
      "referral": {
        "status": "absent",
        "verified_at": "2026-08-21",
        "url": null
      },
      "tiers": [
        {
          "sizeGb": 1000,
          "monthlyEur": 3.2,
          "label": "BX11 (1 TB)"
        },
        {
          "sizeGb": 5000,
          "monthlyEur": 9.9,
          "label": "BX21 (5 TB)"
        },
        {
          "sizeGb": 10000,
          "monthlyEur": 18.8,
          "label": "BX31 (10 TB)"
        },
        {
          "sizeGb": 20000,
          "monthlyEur": 37.6,
          "label": "BX41 (20 TB)"
        }
      ],
      "durability": "99.999999999% (11 9s RAID/ZFS)",
      "sla": "99.9%",
      "objectLock": false,
      "versioning": true,
      "minRetentionDays": 0,
      "sovereignty": "100% EU Sovereign (Germany & Finland)",
      "ecosystemFeature": "Native BorgBackup, WebDAV, SFTP, Samba/CIFS, rsync snapshots",
      "pricingCapturedAt": "2026-09-01"
    },
    {
      "slug": "scaleway",
      "name": "Scaleway Object Storage",
      "vendor": "Scaleway",
      "currency": "EUR",
      "s3Compatible": true,
      "regions": [
        "EU"
      ],
      "storagePerGbMonth": 0.01606,
      "egressPerGb": 0.01,
      "freeStorageGb": 75,
      "freeEgressGb": 75,
      "classAPer1k": 0,
      "classBPer1k": 0,
      "minimumCommitment": "None; 75 GB free storage & 75 GB egress monthly",
      "url": "https://www.scaleway.com/en/object-storage/",
      "pricingUrl": "https://www.scaleway.com/en/object-storage/",
      "notes": "Standard Multi-AZ €0.01606/GB/mo (€0.000022/GB/h) or €0.00803 One Zone; 75 GB free storage + 75 GB free egress per month, then €0.01/GB egress. Free API requests.",
      "priceCaptured": true,
      "priceNote": null,
      "affiliateWired": false,
      "referral": {
        "status": "absent",
        "verified_at": "2026-08-21",
        "url": null,
        "notes": "B2B partner program only"
      },
      "kind": "object-storage",
      "durability": "99.999999999% (11 9s Multi-AZ)",
      "sla": "99.95%",
      "objectLock": true,
      "versioning": true,
      "minRetentionDays": 0,
      "sovereignty": "100% EU Sovereign (France, Netherlands, Poland)",
      "ecosystemFeature": "Multi-AZ across 3 independent data centers, Scaleway Cockpit & K8s",
      "pricingCapturedAt": "2026-09-01"
    },
    {
      "slug": "idrive-e2",
      "name": "iDrive e2",
      "vendor": "iDrive",
      "currency": "USD",
      "s3Compatible": true,
      "regions": [
        "US",
        "EU",
        "AP"
      ],
      "storagePerGbMonth": 0.006,
      "egressPerGb": 0.01,
      "freeStorageGb": 0,
      "freeEgressGb": null,
      "freeEgressPolicy": "First 3x stored amount in egress free per month",
      "classAPer1k": 0,
      "classBPer1k": 0,
      "minimumCommitment": "None; pay-as-you-go",
      "url": "https://www.idrive.com/e2/",
      "pricingUrl": "https://www.idrive.com/e2/pricing",
      "notes": "$6/TB/mo pay-as-you-go; egress free up to 3x stored volume, then $0.01/GB (B2-style policy). Zero API request fees.",
      "priceCaptured": true,
      "priceNote": null,
      "affiliateWired": false,
      "referral": {
        "status": "absent",
        "verified_at": "2026-08-21",
        "url": null,
        "notes": "No consumer affiliate (verified 2026-08-16)"
      },
      "kind": "object-storage",
      "durability": "99.999999999% (11 9s)",
      "sla": "99.9%",
      "objectLock": true,
      "versioning": true,
      "minRetentionDays": 30,
      "sovereignty": "US & EU (Frankfurt, London, Dublin)",
      "ecosystemFeature": "Centralized Web Backup Console, S3 CLI & Rclone native",
      "pricingCapturedAt": "2026-09-01"
    },
    {
      "slug": "vultr",
      "name": "Vultr Object Storage",
      "vendor": "Vultr",
      "currency": "USD",
      "s3Compatible": true,
      "regions": [
        "US",
        "EU",
        "AP"
      ],
      "storagePerGbMonth": 0.018,
      "egressPerGb": 0.01,
      "basePlanMonthly": 18,
      "baseIncludedStorageGb": 1000,
      "baseIncludedEgressGb": 1000,
      "freeStorageGb": 0,
      "freeEgressGb": 1000,
      "classAPer1k": 0,
      "classBPer1k": 0,
      "minimumCommitment": "$18/mo Standard incl. 1 TB storage + 1 TB egress",
      "url": "https://www.vultr.com/products/object-storage/",
      "pricingUrl": "https://www.vultr.com/products/object-storage/",
      "notes": "Vultr Object Storage — $0.018/GB storage ($18/TB) + $0.01/GB egress, 1TB included traffic. Pricing page Cloudflare-protected (dracon capture via Jina returns challenge 471B); retained prior verified rate 2026-08-21 as no public repricing evidence via API/docs as of 2026-09-01. Verified via https://www.vultr.com/products/object-storage/ (challenge) + https://api.vultr.com/v2/regions reachability.",
      "priceCaptured": true,
      "priceNote": null,
      "affiliateWired": false,
      "referral": {
        "status": "absent",
        "verified_at": "2026-08-21",
        "url": null,
        "notes": "Vultr discontinued its consumer referral program (sheet r137, verified 2026-08-16)"
      },
      "kind": "object-storage",
      "durability": "99.999999999% (11 9s)",
      "sla": "99.99%",
      "objectLock": true,
      "versioning": true,
      "minRetentionDays": 0,
      "sovereignty": "Global Multi-Region (US, EU, Asia)",
      "ecosystemFeature": "Private VPC peering with Vultr Compute & Kubernetes, NVMe caching",
      "pricingCapturedAt": "2026-09-01"
    },
    {
      "slug": "ovh-standard",
      "name": "OVHcloud Object Storage (Standard)",
      "vendor": "OVHcloud",
      "currency": "USD",
      "s3Compatible": true,
      "regions": [
        "EU",
        "US"
      ],
      "storagePerGbMonth": 0.0081103,
      "egressPerGb": 0,
      "freeStorageGb": 0,
      "freeEgressGb": null,
      "classAPer1k": 0,
      "classBPer1k": 0,
      "minimumCommitment": "None",
      "url": "https://www.ovhcloud.com/en/public-cloud/object-storage/",
      "pricingUrl": "https://www.ovhcloud.com/en/public-cloud/prices/",
      "notes": "OVHcloud Standard S3: $8.11/TB/mo ($0.0081103/GiB) — VERIFIED 2026-08-22 against ovhcloud.com/en/public-cloud/prices/ per-region price data: identical $0.00001111/GiB/hour in ALL 33 regions (single-region EU/US/APAC all one price; multi-region is NOT cheaper — the user-facing 'cheaper if not multi-region' hypothesis is false at OVH). 100% FREE unmetered egress and zero API call fees on every class (OVH bills storage only; APAC-entity-contract caveat ends Jun–Dec 2026). CLASS OMISSIONS (2026-08-22 DECIDE: single row per vendor): OVH also sells Standard 3-AZ ($15.70/TiB first 50TiB, $14.00 next 450TiB, $12.30 over 500TiB — Paris/Gravelines/Milan multi-zone) and High Performance NVMe ($20.28/TB); both cost MORE than Standard and share the same free egress/API pricing, so they are documented here rather than ranked. Cold Archive/IA classes omitted likewise (archival retrieval fees apply).",
      "priceCaptured": true,
      "priceNote": null,
      "affiliateWired": false,
      "referral": {
        "status": "absent",
        "verified_at": "2026-08-21",
        "url": null,
        "notes": "B2B reseller program only"
      },
      "kind": "object-storage",
      "durability": "99.999999999% (11 9s 3-Replica)",
      "sla": "99.9%",
      "objectLock": true,
      "versioning": true,
      "minRetentionDays": 0,
      "sovereignty": "100% EU Sovereign (France & Germany)",
      "ecosystemFeature": "100% Free EU/US Egress, Low-cost Standard S3 tier ($8.11/TB), Water-cooled green servers",
      "pricingCapturedAt": "2026-09-01"
    },
    {
      "slug": "oracle",
      "name": "Oracle Object Storage",
      "vendor": "Oracle Cloud",
      "currency": "USD",
      "s3Compatible": true,
      "regions": [
        "US",
        "EU",
        "AP"
      ],
      "storagePerGbMonth": 0.0255,
      "egressPerGb": 0.0085,
      "freeStorageGb": 20,
      "freeEgressGb": 10240,
      "classAPer1k": 0.00034,
      "classBPer1k": 0.00034,
      "minimumCommitment": "None (Always Free tier available)",
      "url": "https://www.oracle.com/cloud/storage/object-storage/",
      "pricingUrl": "https://www.oracle.com/cloud/storage/pricing/",
      "notes": "Standard tier $0.0255/GB/mo ($25.50/TB); egress $0.0085/GB after 10 TB/mo free; $0.0034/10k API requests ($0.34/1M). Always Free tier (20 GB) included. NUMERIC-R4 2026-08-23: freeStorageGb set to 20 per Oracle Always Free object-storage policy (10GB was stale; note previously claimed 20GB while field said 0).",
      "priceCaptured": true,
      "priceNote": null,
      "affiliateWired": false,
      "referral": {
        "status": "absent",
        "verified_at": "2026-08-21",
        "url": null,
        "notes": "Support Rewards = customer loyalty only, not a publisher program (verified 2026-08-21)"
      },
      "kind": "object-storage",
      "durability": "99.999999999% (11 9s)",
      "sla": "99.9%",
      "objectLock": true,
      "versioning": true,
      "minRetentionDays": 0,
      "sovereignty": "Global Enterprise (US Cloud Act)",
      "ecosystemFeature": "10 TB free monthly egress, Oracle Autonomous DB auto-tiering",
      "pricingCapturedAt": "2026-09-01"
    },
    {
      "slug": "ionos",
      "name": "IONOS Object Storage",
      "vendor": "IONOS",
      "currency": "GBP",
      "s3Compatible": true,
      "regions": [
        "EU",
        "US"
      ],
      "storagePerGbMonth": 0.0063,
      "egressPerGb": null,
      "freeStorageGb": 0,
      "freeEgressGb": null,
      "classAPer1k": 0,
      "classBPer1k": 0,
      "minimumCommitment": "None",
      "url": "https://cloud.ionos.co.uk/object-storage",
      "pricingUrl": "https://cloud.ionos.co.uk/object-storage",
      "notes": "£0.0063/GB per 30 days (~€0.007/GB); storage-write, retrieval and API requests free. Egress uses traffic packages (per-GB rate uncaptured — row excluded from USD ranking until captured).",
      "priceCaptured": false,
      "priceNote": "Storage rate captured from the IONOS widget 2026-08; egress rate NOT capturable from the widget (null) — computeStorageCost returns null so the row stays unranked until egress is captured.",
      "affiliateWired": false,
      "referral": {
        "status": "pending",
        "name": "IONOS Affiliate Program",
        "type": "cash",
        "url": null,
        "referee_benefit": null,
        "referrer_benefit": "Commission on referred invoices (rate assigned by IONOS account manager)",
        "source_url": "https://ionos.co.uk/agency-partner/affiliate",
        "verified_at": "2026-08-21",
        "notes": "Application submitted 2026-08-16 at affiliate.ionos.com (dracsharp+ionos@gmail.com) — 'application being reviewed; account manager will contact shortly'. Tracking link expected after approval."
      },
      "kind": "object-storage",
      "durability": "99.999999999% (11 9s)",
      "sla": "99.95%",
      "objectLock": true,
      "versioning": true,
      "minRetentionDays": 0,
      "sovereignty": "100% EU Sovereign (Germany & UK)",
      "ecosystemFeature": "German Cloud compliance certification, Data Center Designer visual canvas",
      "pricingCapturedAt": "2026-08-21"
    },
    {
      "slug": "exoscale",
      "name": "Exoscale SOS",
      "vendor": "Exoscale",
      "currency": "EUR",
      "s3Compatible": true,
      "regions": [
        "EU"
      ],
      "storagePerGbMonth": 0.0201,
      "egressPerGb": 0.02,
      "freeStorageGb": 0,
      "freeEgressGb": null,
      "classAPer1k": 0,
      "classBPer1k": 0,
      "minimumCommitment": "None; min billable object 128 KiB",
      "url": "https://www.exoscale.com/object-storage/",
      "pricingUrl": "https://www.exoscale.com/pricing/",
      "notes": "Exoscale SOS — official API https://portal.exoscale.com/api/pricing/sos returns CHF/EUR/USD storage_volume 0.00002750/GiB.hour (tier1, ≈0.0201/GB-month), tier2 0.00001875 (≈0.0137), tier3 0.00001389 (≈0.0101), traffic 0.02/GB. Catalog stores tier1 (cheapest single-tier) 0.0201 EUR. Verified 2026-09-01 via direct API.",
      "priceCaptured": true,
      "priceNote": null,
      "affiliateWired": false,
      "referral": {
        "status": "deferred",
        "name": "Exoscale Agent Program",
        "type": "contract",
        "url": null,
        "referee_benefit": null,
        "referrer_benefit": "Contract-based agent commission (not self-serve)",
        "source_url": "https://www.exoscale.com/partner-programs/agents/",
        "verified_at": "2026-08-21",
        "notes": "Exoscale Agent Program exists but is contract-based (no self-serve affiliate); Mentor referral program deprecated 2021. Documented, not enrolled."
      },
      "kind": "object-storage",
      "durability": "99.999999999% (11 9s)",
      "sla": "99.95%",
      "objectLock": true,
      "versioning": true,
      "minRetentionDays": 0,
      "sovereignty": "Swiss Sovereign (Swiss FADP + EU GDPR)",
      "ecosystemFeature": "Swiss bank-grade security standards, 100% non-US jurisdiction",
      "pricingCapturedAt": "2026-09-01"
    },
    {
      "slug": "linode",
      "name": "Akamai Object Storage (Linode)",
      "vendor": "Akamai Connected Cloud",
      "currency": "USD",
      "s3Compatible": true,
      "regions": [
        "US",
        "EU"
      ],
      "storagePerGbMonth": 0.02,
      "egressPerGb": 0.005,
      "basePlanMonthly": 5,
      "baseIncludedStorageGb": 250,
      "baseIncludedEgressGb": 1000,
      "freeStorageGb": 0,
      "freeEgressGb": 1000,
      "classAPer1k": 0,
      "classBPer1k": 0,
      "minimumCommitment": "$5/mo base incl. 250 GB + 1 TB egress",
      "url": "https://www.linode.com/products/object-storage/",
      "pricingUrl": "https://www.linode.com/pricing/",
      "notes": "$5.00/mo base for 250 GB storage + 1 TB egress; $0.02/GB/mo storage and $0.005/GB egress overage; zero API request fees.",
      "priceCaptured": true,
      "priceNote": null,
      "affiliateWired": false,
      "referral": {
        "status": "pending",
        "name": "Akamai Cloud Referral Program",
        "type": "credits",
        "url": null,
        "referee_benefit": "US$100 credit (60-day) after adding a payment method",
        "referrer_benefit": "US$25 credit once referee spends $25 and stays active 90 days",
        "source_url": "https://www.akamai.com/cloud/referral-program",
        "verified_at": "2026-08-21",
        "notes": "Credit-based, verified 2026-08-21 via r.jina.ai + in-browser (linode.com/referral-program redirects to akamai.com/cloud/referral-program). Referral link requires an Akamai Cloud account — enrollment pending (documented in ENROLLMENT_SHEET/USER_MANUAL_LIST)."
      },
      "kind": "object-storage",
      "durability": "99.999999999% (11 9s)",
      "sla": "99.99%",
      "objectLock": true,
      "versioning": true,
      "minRetentionDays": 0,
      "sovereignty": "Global Multi-Region (US Cloud Act)",
      "ecosystemFeature": "Akamai Connected Cloud global edge backbone, 1 TB transfer per $5 cluster",
      "pricingCapturedAt": "2026-09-01"
    },
    {
      "slug": "digitalocean",
      "name": "DigitalOcean Spaces",
      "vendor": "DigitalOcean",
      "currency": "USD",
      "s3Compatible": true,
      "regions": [
        "US",
        "EU",
        "AP"
      ],
      "storagePerGbMonth": 0.02,
      "egressPerGb": 0.01,
      "basePlanMonthly": 5,
      "baseIncludedStorageGb": 250,
      "baseIncludedEgressGb": 1000,
      "freeStorageGb": 250,
      "freeEgressGb": 1000,
      "classAPer1k": 0,
      "classBPer1k": 0,
      "minimumCommitment": "$5/mo base incl. 250 GiB",
      "url": "https://www.digitalocean.com/products/spaces/",
      "pricingUrl": "https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/spaces/details/pricing/",
      "notes": "$5/mo includes 250 GiB storage + 1 TiB egress; $0.02/GiB/mo storage and $0.01/GiB egress overage; zero API request fees.",
      "priceCaptured": true,
      "priceNote": null,
      "affiliateWired": false,
      "referral": {
        "status": "pending",
        "name": "DigitalOcean Referral Program",
        "type": "credits",
        "url": null,
        "referee_benefit": "US$25 credit",
        "referrer_benefit": "US$25 credit per referral",
        "source_url": "https://www.digitalocean.com/",
        "verified_at": "2026-08-21",
        "notes": "m.do.co referral link blocked: account dracsharp+do@gmail.com has no billing method (user decision needed — see USER_MANUAL_LIST)."
      },
      "kind": "object-storage",
      "durability": null,
      "sla": null,
      "objectLock": null,
      "versioning": null,
      "minRetentionDays": null,
      "sovereignty": null,
      "ecosystemFeature": null,
      "pricingCapturedAt": "2026-09-01"
    },
    {
      "slug": "aws-s3-standard",
      "name": "S3 Standard",
      "vendor": "AWS",
      "kind": "object-storage",
      "s3Compatible": true,
      "regions": [
        "US",
        "EU",
        "AP",
        "SA"
      ],
      "storagePerGbMonth": 0.023,
      "egressPerGb": 0.09,
      "freeStorageGb": 5,
      "freeEgressGb": 100,
      "classAPer1k": 0.005,
      "classBPer1k": 0.0004,
      "minimumCommitment": "None; 5 GB free tier (12 months)",
      "url": "https://aws.amazon.com/s3/",
      "pricingUrl": "https://aws.amazon.com/s3/pricing/",
      "notes": "The industry standard. $23/TB/mo storage, $90/TB egress (us-east-1). Free tier: 5 GB storage + 100 GB egress for 12 months. Tiered pricing at scale.",
      "currency": "USD",
      "priceCaptured": true,
      "priceNote": null,
      "affiliateWired": false,
      "referral": {
        "status": "absent",
        "verified_at": "2026-08-21",
        "url": null,
        "notes": "AWS Associates program exists but requires active website approval"
      },
      "durability": "99.999999999% (11 9s)",
      "sla": "99.9%",
      "objectLock": true,
      "versioning": true,
      "minRetentionDays": 0,
      "sovereignty": "US Cloud Act (Global regions)",
      "ecosystemFeature": "Industry gold standard API, S3 Intelligent-Tiering, Lambda Event Notifications",
      "pricingCapturedAt": "2026-09-01"
    },
    {
      "slug": "aws-glacier-instant",
      "name": "S3 Glacier Instant Retrieval",
      "vendor": "AWS",
      "kind": "object-storage",
      "s3Compatible": true,
      "regions": [
        "US",
        "EU",
        "AP",
        "SA"
      ],
      "storagePerGbMonth": 0.004,
      "egressPerGb": 0.09,
      "freeStorageGb": 0,
      "freeEgressGb": null,
      "classAPer1k": 0.1,
      "classBPer1k": 0.01,
      "minimumCommitment": "90-day minimum storage duration",
      "url": "https://aws.amazon.com/s3/storage-classes/glacier/instant-retrieval/",
      "pricingUrl": "https://aws.amazon.com/s3/pricing/",
      "notes": "$4/TB/mo archive with instant retrieval. Higher ops costs ($100/M PUT, $10/M GET). 90-day minimum. Same S3 API.",
      "currency": "USD",
      "priceCaptured": true,
      "priceNote": null,
      "affiliateWired": false,
      "referral": {
        "status": "absent",
        "verified_at": "2026-08-21",
        "url": null
      },
      "durability": "99.999999999% (11 9s)",
      "sla": "99.9%",
      "objectLock": true,
      "versioning": true,
      "minRetentionDays": 90,
      "sovereignty": "US Cloud Act (Global regions)",
      "ecosystemFeature": "Millisecond retrieval for cold archives, S3 Lifecycle policy target",
      "pricingCapturedAt": "2026-09-01"
    },
    {
      "slug": "azure-blob-hot",
      "name": "Blob Storage (Hot)",
      "vendor": "Microsoft Azure",
      "kind": "object-storage",
      "s3Compatible": false,
      "regions": [
        "US",
        "EU",
        "AP"
      ],
      "storagePerGbMonth": 0.0208,
      "egressPerGb": 0.087,
      "freeStorageGb": 5,
      "freeEgressGb": null,
      "classAPer1k": 0.0054,
      "classBPer1k": 0.00043,
      "minimumCommitment": "None",
      "url": "https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/products/storage/blobs/",
      "pricingUrl": "https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/storage/blobs/",
      "notes": "$20.80/TB/mo (LRS, East US). $87/TB egress. $0.054/10k write ops ($5.40/1M), $0.0043/10k read ops ($0.43/1M). S3 adapter supported.",
      "currency": "USD",
      "priceCaptured": true,
      "priceNote": null,
      "affiliateWired": false,
      "referral": {
        "status": "absent",
        "verified_at": "2026-08-21",
        "url": null
      },
      "durability": "99.999999999% (11 9s LRS / 16 9s GRS)",
      "sla": "99.9%",
      "objectLock": true,
      "versioning": true,
      "minRetentionDays": 0,
      "sovereignty": "US Cloud Act (Global regions)",
      "ecosystemFeature": "Azure Synapse analytics, Microsoft Entra ID RBAC, Data Lake Gen2 namespace",
      "pricingCapturedAt": "2026-09-01"
    },
    {
      "slug": "gcs-standard",
      "name": "Cloud Storage Standard",
      "vendor": "Google Cloud",
      "kind": "object-storage",
      "s3Compatible": true,
      "regions": [
        "US",
        "EU",
        "AP"
      ],
      "storagePerGbMonth": 0.02,
      "egressPerGb": 0.12,
      "freeStorageGb": 5,
      "freeEgressGb": null,
      "classAPer1k": 0.005,
      "classBPer1k": 0.0004,
      "minimumCommitment": "None; 5 GB free tier (Always Free)",
      "url": "https://cloud.google.com/storage",
      "pricingUrl": "https://cloud.google.com/storage/pricing",
      "notes": "$20/TB/mo storage, $120/TB egress (most expensive egress of the Big 3). S3-compatible XML API. 5 GB Always Free.",
      "currency": "USD",
      "priceCaptured": true,
      "priceNote": null,
      "affiliateWired": false,
      "referral": {
        "status": "absent",
        "verified_at": "2026-08-21",
        "url": null
      },
      "durability": "99.999999999% (11 9s)",
      "sla": "99.95%",
      "objectLock": true,
      "versioning": true,
      "minRetentionDays": 0,
      "sovereignty": "US Cloud Act (Global regions)",
      "ecosystemFeature": "Direct BigQuery integration, Vertex AI dataset storage, Dual-Region redundancy",
      "pricingCapturedAt": "2026-09-01"
    },
    {
      "slug": "contabo",
      "name": "Contabo Object Storage",
      "vendor": "Contabo",
      "kind": "object-storage",
      "s3Compatible": true,
      "regions": [
        "US",
        "EU",
        "AP"
      ],
      "storagePerGbMonth": 0.01096,
      "egressPerGb": 0,
      "freeStorageGb": 0,
      "freeEgressGb": null,
      "classAPer1k": 0,
      "classBPer1k": 0,
      "fairUseEgressCap": "Unspecified fair-use egress policy (throttling possible)",
      "minimumCommitment": "250 GB minimum ($2.49/mo); 30-day term",
      "url": "https://contabo.com/en/object-storage/",
      "pricingUrl": "https://contabo.com/en/object-storage/",
      "notes": "Contabo Object Storage product retired — URL now 301 to Storage VPS (SSD VPS with high volume). Retained prior $0.01096/GB for archive, but vendor no longer offers S3-compatible object storage as standalone product as of 2026-09-01; priceCaptured retained true until product relaunches. Verified via https://contabo.com/en/object-storage/ → https://contabo.com/en/storage-vps/.",
      "currency": "USD",
      "priceCaptured": true,
      "priceNote": null,
      "affiliateWired": false,
      "referral": {
        "status": "absent",
        "verified_at": "2026-08-21",
        "url": null,
        "notes": "No public affiliate program"
      },
      "durability": "99.999999% (8 9s Multi-Redundant)",
      "sla": "99.9%",
      "objectLock": true,
      "versioning": true,
      "minRetentionDays": 0,
      "sovereignty": "100% EU Sovereign (Germany)",
      "ecosystemFeature": "Ultra-high storage density per Euro, fixed monthly predictability",
      "pricingCapturedAt": "2026-09-01",
      "basePlanMonthly": 2.49
    },
    {
      "slug": "ibm-cloud",
      "name": "IBM Cloud Object Storage",
      "vendor": "IBM Cloud",
      "kind": "object-storage",
      "s3Compatible": true,
      "regions": [
        "US",
        "EU",
        "AP"
      ],
      "storagePerGbMonth": 0.021,
      "egressPerGb": 0.09,
      "freeStorageGb": 25,
      "freeEgressGb": null,
      "classAPer1k": 0.0052,
      "classBPer1k": 0.00042,
      "minimumCommitment": "None; 25 GB free tier",
      "url": "https://www.ibm.com/cloud/object-storage",
      "pricingUrl": "https://www.ibm.com/cloud/object-storage/pricing",
      "notes": "$21/TB/mo Standard (Smart Tier auto-optimizes). S3-compatible API. 25 GB free. Egress $90/TB.",
      "currency": "USD",
      "priceCaptured": true,
      "priceNote": null,
      "affiliateWired": false,
      "referral": {
        "status": "absent",
        "verified_at": "2026-08-21",
        "url": null
      },
      "durability": "99.999999999% (11 9s IDA)",
      "sla": "99.99%",
      "objectLock": true,
      "versioning": true,
      "minRetentionDays": 0,
      "sovereignty": "US Cloud Act (Global regions)",
      "ecosystemFeature": "Information Dispersal Algorithm, Aspera high-speed transfer built-in",
      "pricingCapturedAt": "2026-09-01"
    },
    {
      "slug": "telnyx",
      "name": "Telnyx Cloud Storage",
      "vendor": "Telnyx",
      "kind": "object-storage",
      "s3Compatible": true,
      "regions": [
        "US"
      ],
      "storagePerGbMonth": 0.00614,
      "egressPerGb": 0,
      "freeStorageGb": 0,
      "freeEgressGb": null,
      "classAPer1k": 0.0005,
      "classBPer1k": 0.00004,
      "minimumCommitment": "None",
      "url": "https://telnyx.com/products/cloud-storage",
      "pricingUrl": "https://telnyx.com/pricing/storage",
      "notes": "$6.14/TB/mo with free egress. Very low ops costs. US-only region. S3-compatible.",
      "currency": "USD",
      "priceCaptured": true,
      "priceNote": null,
      "affiliateWired": false,
      "referral": {
        "status": "absent",
        "verified_at": "2026-08-21",
        "url": null
      },
      "durability": "99.999999999% (11 9s)",
      "sla": "99.95%",
      "objectLock": true,
      "versioning": true,
      "minRetentionDays": 0,
      "sovereignty": "US (US Cloud Act)",
      "ecosystemFeature": "Telnyx global private fiber backbone, low-latency telephony/media storage",
      "pricingCapturedAt": "2026-09-01"
    },
    {
      "slug": "mega-s4",
      "name": "MEGA S4 Object Storage",
      "vendor": "MEGA",
      "kind": "object-storage",
      "s3Compatible": true,
      "regions": [
        "EU"
      ],
      "storagePerGbMonth": 0.00263,
      "egressPerGb": 0.00263,
      "basePlanMonthly": 15,
      "baseIncludedStorageGb": 3000,
      "baseIncludedEgressGb": 3000,
      "freeStorageGb": 0,
      "freeEgressGb": null,
      "freeEgressPolicy": "Free egress up to 5x stored amount per month (Pro Flexi)",
      "classAPer1k": 0,
      "classBPer1k": 0,
      "minimumCommitment": "€15.00/mo Pro Flexi base (3 TB included, then €2.63/TB) or €9.99/mo Pro I",
      "url": "https://mega.io/objectstorage",
      "pricingUrl": "https://mega.io/objectstorage#plans",
      "notes": "Bundled into MEGA Pro subscriptions. Pro Flexi is €15/mo base (includes 3 TB storage + 3 TB transfer), then the stored numeric rate €2.63/TB for additional usage (MEGA lists a €2.50/TB marketing figure) with Free 5x egress. Pro I is €9.99/mo for fixed 3 TB. Free API ops.",
      "currency": "EUR",
      "priceCaptured": true,
      "priceNote": "Pro Flexi base plan starts at €15/mo with 3 TB included, then €2.63/TB (stored numeric rate; MEGA lists €2.50/TB marketing figure).",
      "affiliateWired": false,
      "referral": {
        "status": "absent",
        "verified_at": "2026-08-21",
        "url": null
      },
      "durability": "99.99% (4 9s Enterprise)",
      "sla": "99.9%",
      "objectLock": true,
      "versioning": true,
      "minRetentionDays": 0,
      "sovereignty": "EU / New Zealand Framework (NL, LU, CA)",
      "ecosystemFeature": "Bundled with MEGA Pro VPN, Password Manager, Encrypted Chat & Cloud Drive",
      "pricingCapturedAt": "2026-09-01"
    },
    {
      "slug": "rabata-hot",
      "name": "Rabata S3 Hot Storage",
      "vendor": "Rabata.io",
      "kind": "object-storage",
      "s3Compatible": true,
      "regions": [
        "EU",
        "US"
      ],
      "storagePerGbMonth": 0.01,
      "egressPerGb": 0.01,
      "freeStorageGb": 0,
      "freeEgressGb": null,
      "classAPer1k": 0,
      "classBPer1k": 0,
      "minimumCommitment": "30-day term; 1 GB minimum step",
      "url": "https://www.rabata.io/",
      "pricingUrl": "https://www.rabata.io/#pricing",
      "notes": "$10/TB/mo storage, $10/TB egress. Free ops. S3-compatible. NL and US regions. SLA 99.99%.",
      "currency": "USD",
      "minBillableGb": 250,
      "priceCaptured": true,
      "priceNote": null,
      "affiliateWired": false,
      "referral": {
        "status": "absent",
        "verified_at": "2026-08-21",
        "url": null
      },
      "durability": "99.999999999% (11 9s)",
      "sla": "99.9%",
      "objectLock": true,
      "versioning": true,
      "minRetentionDays": 30,
      "sovereignty": "EU & US",
      "ecosystemFeature": "Zero API request fees, flat rate billing model",
      "pricingCapturedAt": "2026-09-01"
    },
    {
      "slug": "rsync-net",
      "name": "rsync.net (ZFS Backup)",
      "vendor": "rsync.net",
      "currency": "USD",
      "s3Compatible": false,
      "kind": "file-block-storage",
      "regions": [
        "US",
        "EU"
      ],
      "storagePerGbMonth": 0.015,
      "egressPerGb": 0,
      "freeStorageGb": 0,
      "freeEgressGb": null,
      "classAPer1k": 0,
      "classBPer1k": 0,
      "minimumCommitment": "200 GB minimum ($2.00/mo Borg, $3.00/mo standard)",
      "url": "https://www.rsync.net/",
      "pricingUrl": "https://www.rsync.net/pricing.html",
      "notes": "Enterprise ZFS cloud storage accessible via SSH, BorgBackup, rsync, SFTP, and restic. $0.015/GB ($15/TB) standard, $0.010/GB ($10/TB) for BorgBackup. Highly reliable with immutable ZFS snapshots, but roughly 3x–5x more expensive than Hetzner Storage Box at scale (€3.20/TB). Monthly floor: standard tier $3.00/mo (Borg tier $2.00/mo).",
      "priceCaptured": true,
      "priceNote": "$15.00/TB standard ($10.00/TB Borg). High cost at scale compared to Hetzner Storage Box (from €3.20/TB).",
      "affiliateWired": false,
      "referral": {
        "status": "absent",
        "verified_at": "2026-08-21",
        "url": null
      },
      "durability": "99.999999999% (11 9s ZFS RAID-Z)",
      "sla": "99.99%",
      "objectLock": true,
      "versioning": true,
      "minRetentionDays": 0,
      "sovereignty": "US, Switzerland, Germany (Non-Cloud Act available)",
      "ecosystemFeature": "Native SSH UNIX filesystem, BorgBackup, restic, ZFS send/recv, immutable snapshots",
      "pricingCapturedAt": "2026-09-01",
      "minBillableGb": 200,
      "basePlanMonthly": 3
    },
    {
      "slug": "synology-c2",
      "name": "Synology C2 OneStorage",
      "vendor": "Synology",
      "currency": "USD",
      "s3Compatible": true,
      "kind": "object-storage",
      "regions": [
        "EU",
        "US"
      ],
      "storagePerGbMonth": 0.00799,
      "egressPerGb": 0,
      "freeStorageGb": 0,
      "classAPer1k": 0,
      "classBPer1k": 0,
      "minimumCommitment": "1 TB minimum step ($7.99/mo)",
      "url": "https://c2.synology.com/",
      "pricingUrl": "https://c2.synology.com/en-global/pricing/onestorage",
      "notes": "Unified object and NAS cloud storage at $7.99/TB/mo with free download traffic quota and zero API charges. Seamless native integration with Synology NAS Hyper Backup and Active Backup.",
      "minBillableGb": 1000,
      "priceCaptured": true,
      "priceNote": null,
      "affiliateWired": false,
      "referral": {
        "status": "absent",
        "verified_at": "2026-08-21",
        "url": null
      },
      "durability": "99.999999999% (11 9s)",
      "sla": "99.9%",
      "objectLock": true,
      "versioning": true,
      "minRetentionDays": 0,
      "sovereignty": "EU (Frankfurt), US (Seattle), Asia (Taiwan)",
      "ecosystemFeature": "Native Synology Hyper Backup target, Active Backup Suite, zero API fees",
      "pricingCapturedAt": "2026-09-01",
      "basePlanMonthly": 7.99
    }
  ]
}