Storage decision

Bucket storage vs cloud-drive storage

VOD Manager supports two flavors of storage. Bucket storage is the developer-feeling kind: Cloudflare R2, Backblaze B2, AWS S3, Wasabi. Cloud-drive storage is the click-and-go kind: Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive. Both work — they make different tradeoffs.

Short answer

Three quick rules of thumb

Already pay for it?

Use that drive

Already paying for Google One, Microsoft 365, or Dropbox Plus? Two clicks and the storage is paid for.

100+ hours / month

Pick a bucket

Archiving a lot, or want the lowest cost? Use a bucket — Cloudflare R2 is the friendliest entry point.

No opinion?

Cloudflare R2

Free tier covers small archives, and there are no surprise download fees ever.

Bucket storage, in plain English

A bucket is a folder-shaped storage space inside a cloud account that exists specifically to hold files for apps. R2, B2, AWS S3, and Wasabi all use the same connection style (S3-compatible), so they work the same way once wired up.

Make an account, create a bucket, generate an API key (a long username-password pair), paste the bucket name + keys into VOD Manager. That's the part that feels like setup. After it's done, the bucket is invisible — you don't open it daily, browse it from your phone, or file documents in it. It's a quiet warehouse for video files.

Bucket storage wins on cost, predictability, scale, and reliability. R2 starts free for the first 10 GB and runs ~$1.50 per 100 GB after that. B2 is cheaper. AWS S3 is the original. Wasabi is flat-rate. No rate limits that matter for streaming use, no surprise quotas mid-archive, scales effortlessly to terabytes.

Cloud-drive storage, in plain English

A cloud drive is the storage you already use for documents, photos, and shared files: Google Drive, Dropbox, Microsoft OneDrive. You almost certainly have an account with at least one. Click "Connect," sign in, approve a single scope. No bucket to create, no API key to paste, no IAM policy to write.

Once connected, VOD Manager creates a folder called "VOD Manager" and saves archived VODs into it, organized by channel and date. Files end up somewhere you already know how to use — the Drive web app, the Dropbox desktop sync, the OneDrive mobile app.

Cloud-drive wins on setup speed, native-app integration, and "where are my files?" intuition. Loses on cost-per-GB at scale and rate limits during heavy bulk archives. The free tiers are tiny — Drive 15 GB shared, Dropbox 2 GB, OneDrive 5 GB — so serious archiving needs a paid tier.

Tradeoffs

Side-by-side

Bucket storage

R2, B2, AWS S3, Wasabi

  • +Cheapest per GB at scale.
  • +Predictable bills, no surprise rate limits.
  • +Scales to terabytes effortlessly.
  • +R2 has zero download fees ever.
  • −5-10 minutes of setup the first time.
  • −Files live in an "invisible" warehouse — no native browsing app.
Start with R2 →

Cloud-drive storage

Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive

  • +~30 seconds to set up.
  • +Native apps you already use (web, desktop, mobile).
  • +Files end up in a folder you can browse normally.
  • +No download fees on any of the three.
  • −More expensive per GB at scale.
  • −Per-account API rate limits during heavy bulk archives.
  • −Free tiers are tiny — paid tier is realistically required.
Start with Google Drive →

Our take

When in doubt, here's what we'd pick

  • You stream a few hours a week and want to share files with editors → Google Drive or Dropbox.
  • You stream daily, multi-hour sessions and care about cost → Backblaze B2.
  • You stream re-download archives constantly for editing → Cloudflare R2 (zero download fees).
  • You already pay for Microsoft 365 → use OneDrive (1 TB included).
  • You're evaluating and want to skip storage setup for a week → start with the free tier and decide after a stream or two.
Open the interactive picker

Keep reading

Related guides

Pick

Choosing your storage

Two-step interactive picker.

More details

Setup

Cloudflare R2

Most beginner-friendly bucket. No download fees.

More details

Setup

Google Drive

30-second OAuth setup. drive.file scope only.

More details

Sizing

How much storage do I need?

Estimate by streams per week and bitrate.

More details

Pick once, archive forever

Connect storage and stop thinking about it

Whichever side you pick, VOD Manager handles the archiving. You can change provider any time without losing your VODs.

Get started Open the picker