If you’re evaluating how to get started with Backblaze B2 for beginners, here’s the stat that matters: 10 GB of storage is always free, no time limit, no credit card required — per Backblaze’s official pricing page. That’s not a 30-day trial. That’s the permanent free tier. StacksFree Verdict: 8/10 — Backblaze B2 offers one of the most generous always-free object storage tiers available.
How This Guide Was Built
This review is based on official documentation, pricing pages, and community reports — we did not run the tool hands-on. We verified the free tier limits, signup flow, and first-project steps against Backblaze’s official pricing page and Backblaze’s official documentation. We did not test the paid tier. Last verified: August 2026.
How do I get started with Backblaze B2?
You get started with Backblaze B2 by signing up for a free account, enabling the B2 service, and creating an application key — no credit card required, as confirmed by Backblaze’s official pricing page. The signup takes about five minutes; after email confirmation, you’ll land in the B2 dashboard where you can enable B2 and generate your first key.
What Does the Backblaze B2 Free Tier Include?
The Backblaze B2 free tier includes 10 GB of storage, free egress up to 3x your average monthly storage, and free Class A, B, and C transactions, per Backblaze’s official pricing page. Class D transactions (list, delete, and other operations) are free for the first 2,500 per day, then $0.004 per 10,000. There are no upload fees.
How Much Does Backblaze B2 Cost Beyond the Free Tier?
Beyond the free tier, Backblaze B2 costs $6.95 per TB per month on pay-as-you-go, or $15 per TB per month with B2 Overdrive, which includes unlimited egress, per Backblaze’s official pricing page. Egress beyond the 3x monthly average costs $0.01 per GB, but routing traffic through CDN partners like Cloudflare or Fastly avoids it entirely, since they offer free egress.
Uploading Your First File: AWS CLI and Rclone Walkthrough
Uploading your first file requires a dedicated application key — the Master Application Key does not work with the S3-Compatible API, so create a restricted key first, as documented in Backblaze’s S3-compatible API guide. Then: sign up, enable B2, generate a Master Key, create a bucket and note the Endpoint, create a restricted app key (keyID + applicationKey), and upload.
AWS CLI method:
aws s3 cp ./myfile.jpg s3://my-bucket-name/myfile.jpg \
--endpoint-url=https://s3.us-west-004.backblazeb2.comYou’ll need to configure AWS CLI with your keyID and applicationKey as access key and secret key. Full details are in Backblaze’s AWS CLI guide.
Rclone method:
rclone config
# Choose "b2" backend, enter your keyID and applicationKey
rclone copy ./myfile.jpg remote:my-bucket-nameThe rclone setup walks you through interactive prompts. See Backblaze’s rclone integration guide for the full walkthrough.
What Are the Gotchas Indie Hackers Should Know?
The biggest gotcha: public buckets require a verified email and payment history, so free-tier beginners can’t create one immediately, per Backblaze’s bucket management docs. The Master Application Key won’t authenticate with the S3 API — create a dedicated app key, per Backblaze’s app key documentation. File versions count toward storage unless you set lifecycle rules, per Backblaze’s file versioning docs.
Backblaze B2 vs Cloudflare R2 for Free-Tier Builders
Backblaze B2 offers 10 GB always-free storage with no egress fees if you use CDN partners, while Cloudflare R2 offers 10 GB free storage with zero egress fees on the core service — the key difference is how you handle public access, per Backblaze’s official pricing page and our Cloudflare R2 free tier guide.
R2’s egress-free model is simpler for public content, but B2’s free tier includes more transaction allowances. If you’re on Cloudflare’s ecosystem, check out the Cloudflare R2 tool listing; otherwise, Backblaze B2 is a solid standalone choice.
What Can You Realistically Build on the 10 GB Free Tier?
10 GB is not enough for a media library, but it is plenty for the workloads most indie hackers actually need: nightly database backups, build artifacts, log archives, and static assets for a side project. Because egress through CDN partners is free, the classic pattern is B2 for origin storage plus Cloudflare or Fastly for delivery — your users never hit a bandwidth bill.
Realistic free-tier projects include: a small Postgres backup vault (a few GB of dumps, rotated weekly), a CI artifact store for a hobby app, an image/PDF asset bucket behind a CDN, and a personal document archive. Each of these stays under 10 GB for months or years if you prune versions with lifecycle rules, per Backblaze’s file versioning docs. The free tier stops being enough only when you (a) store more than 10 GB, (b) serve heavy public traffic without a CDN, or (c) need public buckets before you have payment history.
Automating Backups with rclone and cron
The rclone setup above becomes a real backup system once you schedule it. Add a cron entry to sync a directory nightly:
# run every night at 2am
0 2 * * * rclone sync /home/you/backups remote:my-bucket-name --backup-dir remote:archiveThe --backup-dir flag moves overwritten and deleted files into a versioned archive folder instead of destroying them, per rclone’s backup-dir documentation. Combined with B2’s native file versioning, this gives you two layers of recovery. The 3x egress rule matters here: uploads are free, and downloads of the same data you store are covered up to 3x your monthly average, so a nightly sync that mostly writes costs nothing, per Backblaze’s official pricing page. For databases, dump first, then sync the dump file:
pg_dump mydb > /home/you/backups/mydb_$(date +%F).sql
rclone sync /home/you/backups remote:my-bucket-nameKeep a retention policy: delete dumps older than 30 days in the same cron line, and set a lifecycle rule on the bucket to prune versions you do not need — otherwise every overwrite quietly consumes your 10 GB, as covered in Backblaze’s bucket lifecycle docs.
FAQ
Do I need a credit card to sign up for Backblaze B2?
No, you do not need a credit card to sign up for Backblaze B2 — the free tier requires only an email address and password, as stated on Backblaze’s official pricing page. You can start uploading files immediately after email verification, and the 10 GB free tier remains active indefinitely without billing information on file.
What is the maximum file size I can upload with Backblaze B2?
The maximum file size for a standard upload is 5 GB, but large files up to 10 TB can be uploaded using multipart uploads with parts ranging from 5 MB to 5 GB, per Backblaze’s official documentation. For files over 5 GB, you must use the multipart upload API or a tool like rclone that handles it automatically.
How does Backblaze B2’s free egress actually work?
Backblaze B2 gives you free egress up to 3x your average monthly storage — if you store 4 GB on average, you get 12 GB free per month, per Backblaze’s official pricing page. Beyond that, egress costs $0.01 per GB, but serving content through CDN partners like Cloudflare, Fastly, bunny.net, or Vultr eliminates egress costs entirely.
Common Mistakes
Using the Master Application Key with the S3 API. The Master Key fails authentication on S3-compatible endpoints. Always create a dedicated app key with scoped permissions, as explained in Backblaze’s app key docs.
Forgetting that versions consume storage. Every overwrite or delete creates a hidden version that counts toward your 10 GB free tier. A file that changes 100 times consumes 100x its size in storage. Set lifecycle rules to prune old versions, per Backblaze’s file versioning docs.
Assuming you can create a public bucket on day one. Public buckets require verified email and payment history. If your use case needs public URLs immediately, either use a private bucket with presigned URLs or start with Cloudflare R2, which supports public buckets from the start.
Uploading files over 5 GB with a single PUT. Standard uploads cap at 5 GB. Use multipart uploads for anything larger — the AWS CLI guide shows how to configure this.
Where to Go Next
Now that you’re set up, your next step is to explore the Backblaze B2 tool listing for community notes and alternative configurations. If you’re comparing options, read our Cloudflare R2 free tier guide to see which provider fits your egress patterns. Finally, check Backblaze’s bucket management documentation to configure lifecycle rules before your storage grows.