IPFS + Filecoin vs Arweave: Hybrid vs Integrated Storage Economics

Pay-as-you-go storage: Filecoin's competitive marketplace allows dynamic pricing, with current storage costs as low as $0.0000000016/GB/month. This matters for projects with large, variable datasets (e.g., NFT metadata, archival logs) where upfront capital is a constraint.

Separation of concerns: IPFS handles content addressing and retrieval, while Filecoin provides verifiable, incentivized storage. This matters for teams that need to integrate specific components (e.g., using Ceramic for mutable data on IPFS, or Lighthouse for permanent pins) without vendor lock-in.

Pay once, store forever: A single upfront fee (funding an endowment) guarantees 200+ years of storage under conservative assumptions. This matters for foundational assets like smart contract code, legal documents, or historical archives where perpetual availability is non-negotiable.

Built-in high-speed access: The Arweave protocol bundles storage and retrieval incentives, leading to fast, reliable data access via gateways. This matters for decentralized applications (dApps) like Kyve for data lakes or everVision for permaweb apps that require low-latency reads directly from the chain.

• Large-scale, cost-sensitive storage (e.g., video rendering files, scientific datasets).
• Applications needing flexible data lifecycle management (renew, delete, update).
• Teams that prefer to compose best-in-class tools (e.g., Fleek for hosting, NFT.Storage for minting).

• True permanent storage for critical, immutable records (e.g., SmartWeave contract state, academic papers).
• Simplified developer experience with a single protocol for storage and delivery.
• Content-centric dApps where data persistence is the product's core value proposition (e.g., Mirror for publishing, Pianity for music NFTs).

Pay-as-you-go pricing: Filecoin's competitive storage provider marketplace enables dynamic, often lower-cost deals for large datasets. This matters for archival data or cold storage where cost-per-GiB is the primary constraint. Example: Storing 1TB for 1 year can cost <$100 on Filecoin vs. ~$350 on Arweave.

Separates retrieval from persistence: IPFS handles fast content addressing and caching, while Filecoin provides verifiable, long-term storage contracts. This matters for dynamic applications (like video streaming, NFT metadata) where low-latency access is as critical as permanence. Tools like w3up and Lassie bridge the two layers.

One-time, upfront payment: Arweave's endowment model guarantees 200+ years of storage with a single transaction, eliminating recurring fees. This matters for truly permanent assets like legal documents, foundational protocol code, or historical archives where cost predictability is non-negotiable.

Unified protocol for storage and retrieval: Data is stored, replicated, and served from the same network layer, simplifying developer experience. This matters for static web apps (like dApp frontends on ArDrive) and NFT metadata where a single, simple integration for permanent storage is preferred over managing two systems.

Operational overhead: Requires active management of storage deals, renewal negotiations, and potential data migration. This matters for smaller teams or set-and-forget use cases where the overhead of monitoring a marketplace and ensuring deal continuity is a significant burden.

Capital-intensive initial outlay: Paying for centuries of storage upfront is expensive for large, temporary datasets. Retrieval speed depends on miner incentives, which can be slower for less-accessed data. This matters for high-throughput applications or data with a known, finite lifespan where the endowment model is economically inefficient.

Pay-as-you-go persistence: Filecoin's deal-based market allows for competitive, auction-driven storage pricing (e.g., ~$0.0000000019/GB/month). This matters for archiving large, cold datasets where cost optimization is critical and data can be re-seeded if deals expire.

One-time, upfront fee for perpetual storage: Pay once (~$0.02/MB) and data is guaranteed for a minimum of 200 years via the endowment model. This matters for NFT metadata, dApp frontends, and critical archives where data integrity and permanent availability are non-negotiable.

Deal expiration and pinning management: Data not actively pinned on IPFS or with expired Filecoin deals becomes unavailable. This matters for production applications that must implement lifecycle management or rely on third-party pinning services, adding operational overhead.

Economic inefficiency for mutable or tiny data: The one-time fee model is less optimal for frequently updated data or files under 100KB. This matters for highly dynamic applications or micro-transaction logs where paying a perpetual endowment for temporary data is cost-prohibitive.