filecoin-compared-to.md

description
While Filecoin shares some similarities to other file storage solutions, the protocol has significant differences that one should consider.

Filecoin compared to

Filecoin combines many elements of other file storage and distribution systems. What makes Filecoin unique is that it runs on an open, peer-to-peer network while still providing economic incentives and proofs to ensure files are being stored correctly. This page compares Filecoin against other technologies that share some of the same properties.

• Filecoin vs. Amazon S3, Google Cloud Storage
• Filecoin vs. Bitcoin

Filecoin vs. Amazon S3, Google Cloud Storage

	Filecoin	Amazon S3, Google Cloud Storage
Main use case	Storing files at hypercompetitive prices	Storing files using a familiar, widely-supported service
Pricing	Determined by a hypercompetitive open market	Set by corporate pricing departments
Centralization	Many small, independent storage providers	A handful of large companies
Reliability stats	Independently checked by the network and publicly verifiable	Companies self-report their own stats
API	Applications can access all storage providers using the Filecoin protocol	Applications must implement a different API for each storage provider
Retrieval	Competitive market for retrieving files	Typically more expensive than storing files to lock users in
Fault handling	If a file is lost, the user is refunded automatically by the network	Companies can offer users credit if files are lost or unavailable
Support	If something goes wrong, the Filecoin protocol determines what happens without human intervention	If something goes wrong, users contact the support help desk to seek resolution
Physical location	Miners located anywhere in the world	Limited to where provider’s data centres are located
Becoming a storage provider	Low barrier to entry for storage providers (computer, hard drive, internet connection)	High barrier to entry for storage providers (legal agreements, marketing, support staff)

Filecoin tokens (FIL) vs. Bitcoin tokens (BTC)

	FIL	BTC
Main use case	File storage	Payment network
Data storage	Good at storing large amounts of data inexpensively	Small amounts of data can be stored on blockchain at significant cost
Proof	Blockchain secured using proof of replication and proof of spacetime	Blockchain secured using proof of work
Consensus power	Miners with the most storage have the most power	Miners with the most computational speed have the most power
Mining hardware	Hard drives, GPUs, and CPUs	ASICs
Mining usefulness	Mining results in peoples’ files being stored	Mining results in heat
Types of provider	Storage provider, retrieval provider, repair provider	All providers perform proof of work
Uptime requirements	Storage providers rewarded for uptime, penalized for downtime	Miners can go offline without being penalized
Network status	Mainnet running since 2020	Mainnet running since 2009

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