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What's the Difference Between Amazon EFS and Amazon FSx for Windows?

Compare Amazon EFS and Amazon FSx for Windows side by side — features, pricing, and ideal use cases to help you choose the right product.

Compare side-by-side

Comparisons
Amazon EFS
Amazon FSx for Windows
Category

Storage, File Storage

Storage, Windows File Storage
Description

Serverless, fully elastic file storage

Fully managed Windows shared file systems with full SMB support
Best for
  • Content management
  • Web serving
  • Home directories
  • Machine learning
  • Container storage
  • Windows file shares
  • Home directories
  • CRM applications
  • ERP workloads
  • .NET applications
Key features
  • Elastic scaling
  • Multi-AZ
  • Lifecycle management
  • NFS compatible
  • Throughput modes
  • SMB protocol
  • Active Directory integration
  • DFS namespaces
  • Data deduplication
  • Multi-AZ
Pricing model

Pay per GB stored; no provisioning required

Pay per GB provisioned + throughput capacity
Free tier

Yes

No
Expert take

“EFS is the answer when multiple EC2 instances or containers need concurrent read/write access to the same file system. It grows and shrinks automatically, so you never have to provision capacity or worry about running out of space.”
— Didier Durand, re:Post Top Contributor [profile]

“FSx for Windows provides fully managed Windows file shares with Active Directory, DFS, and shadow copies. It replaces on-premises Windows file servers with zero application changes.”
— Gary McLean, re:Post Top Contributor [profile]
Product page

Learn more about Amazon EFS »

Learn more about Amazon FSx for Windows »

When to use Amazon EFS or Amazon FSx for Windows

Use Amazon EFS when:

  • Content management
  • Web serving
  • Home directories
  • Machine learning
  • Container storage

Learn more about Amazon EFS »

Use Amazon FSx for Windows when:

  • Windows file shares
  • Home directories
  • CRM applications
  • ERP workloads
  • .NET applications

Learn more about Amazon FSx for Windows »

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