# Strovio vs Amazon S3

Amazon S3 is general-purpose object storage with a very large feature set. Strovio is a small file storage service with a simple API, a dashboard and an MCP server for AI agents. Choose S3 for scale, the S3 API and fine-grained control; choose Strovio when you want to upload files and hand out links with one API key.

Amazon S3 facts were checked on 7 November 2026 on the [Amazon S3 pricing page](https://aws.amazon.com/s3/pricing/), the [S3 features page](https://aws.amazon.com/s3/features/) and the [S3 presigned URL guide](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonS3/latest/userguide/using-presigned-url.html).

| | Strovio | Amazon S3 |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Flat monthly plans: $10 for 25 GB, $28 for 100 GB | Pay as you go for storage, requests and data transfer |
| Free offer | 14-day trial, 2 GB, no card | New AWS customers get up to $200 in AWS Free Tier credits; first 100 GB a month of data transfer out to the internet is free, aggregated across AWS services |
| Download charges | None | Charged per GB beyond the free allowance |
| API | Own REST API | S3 API |
| Auth | One bearer API key | AWS security credentials (IAM) |
| Expiring links | Signed URLs valid 1 hour | Presigned URLs up to 7 days with IAM user credentials (Signature Version 4) |
| Never-expiring share links | Yes, from the dashboard | Not compared here |
| Storage controls | None beyond public or private per file | Storage classes, S3 Versioning, S3 Lifecycle policies, replication and S3 Event Notifications |
| Web dashboard for non-developers | Yes, with folders, search, trash and share links | AWS console |
| MCP server for AI agents | Yes, `strovio-mcp` (local stdio; check `npm view strovio-mcp version` for availability) | Not compared here |

## Choose Amazon S3 if

- You need the S3 API, files over 512 MB, or more than 100 GB.
- You need storage classes, versioning, lifecycle policies, replication or event notifications.
- You already run on AWS.

## Choose Strovio if

- You want one API key and a few endpoints to upload files and get links.
- You want people to manage the same files in a browser.
- You want an AI agent to store files through MCP.
- A flat monthly price suits you better than usage billing.

## Frequently asked questions

### Is Strovio built on Amazon S3?

No. Strovio runs its own S3-compatible object storage server.

### Can I use the AWS SDK with Strovio?

No. Strovio's storage server speaks the S3 protocol internally, but it is not exposed to customers and Strovio API keys are not AWS credentials. Use Strovio's REST API, its TypeScript SDK or its MCP server.

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Source: https://strovio.xyz/compare/strovio-vs-amazon-s3
All docs for agents: https://strovio.xyz/llms.txt