Drive vs Object Storage
Both store files. Drive is for people. Object Storage is for applications.
What each product is
WAYSCloud Drive is a file sync and storage service with desktop and mobile clients, team libraries, version history, and real-time collaboration. It works like Dropbox or Google Drive.
Object Storage is an S3-compatible API for programmatic file access. You create buckets, upload objects via API, and access them from any S3 client, SDK, or CLI tool.
When to use Drive
- Team file sharing and collaboration
- Desktop sync (Windows, macOS, Linux clients)
- Mobile access to files
- Document version history
- User-facing file management in a web interface
- You want drag-and-drop file access
When to use Object Storage
- Application backups and data exports
- Static asset hosting (images, CSS, JS)
- Programmatic upload/download from your code
- Data pipeline storage (ETL, logs, archives)
- Integration with tools that speak S3 (Terraform, backup software, media pipelines)
- You want API-level control over access and lifecycle
Key differences
| Drive | Object Storage | |
|---|---|---|
| Access model | Desktop/mobile/web client | API (S3-compatible) |
| User interface | Full file manager | Dashboard or CLI |
| Sync | Real-time across devices | No sync (pull/push) |
| Sharing | Team libraries, share links | Bucket policies, presigned URLs |
| Version history | Built-in per file | Manual (versioned buckets) |
| Auth | OAuth SSO | Access key + secret key |
| API | WebDAV + proprietary | S3 (AWS SDK compatible) |
| Public access | Share links with expiration | Public bucket or presigned URL |
| Billing | Per-user/storage plan | Per-GB stored + transfer |
| Max file size | Limited by client | Multi-GB (multipart upload) |
Decision guide
Use Drive if humans need to access, browse, and collaborate on files. Think documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and shared team resources.
Use Object Storage if your application needs to read and write files programmatically. Think backups, uploads, static assets, and data processing pipelines.
Common combination: Use Drive for team collaboration and Object Storage for application data. They serve different audiences and work well together.
Build flows
- Store Files — set up Object Storage