IPFS vs Arweave vs Filecoin: Which Decentralized Storage Solution Fits Your Needs?

What’s the real difference between IPFS, Arweave, and Filecoin?

If you’ve ever tried to store data on the blockchain, you’ve probably run into these three names: IPFS, Arweave, and Filecoin. They all promise to replace Google Drive or AWS with something decentralized, censorship-resistant, and permanent. But here’s the truth - they’re not the same. Not even close. One is a protocol, one is a marketplace, and one is a permanent archive. Choosing the wrong one could mean losing your data, overspending, or wasting months on setup.

IPFS: The Foundation, Not the Solution

IPFS - InterPlanetary File System - isn’t storage. It’s a way to find files. Think of it like a library catalog. Instead of asking for a file by its location (like www.example.com/file.pdf), you ask for it by its unique hash - a long string of letters and numbers that acts like a fingerprint. If someone has that file, they can send it to you. Simple, right?

But here’s the catch: IPFS doesn’t keep files. If no one is actively "pinning" (saving) that file on their node, it vanishes. It’s like borrowing a book from a friend who forgets they lent it to you. One day, it’s there. The next, gone.

That’s why most people don’t use IPFS alone. They use it with pinning services like Pinata, which stores your files on their servers for a fee - $0.50 per GB per month. That’s not decentralized storage. That’s paying a company to do what your own node should do. And if Pinata shuts down? Your data might disappear. There are over 127 GitHub issues from NFT projects in early 2025 reporting lost metadata because their pinning service dropped support.

IPFS is fast. Retrieval times for pinned content are 50-150ms. It’s easy to integrate. Developers can get basic functionality working in 2-4 hours. But if you need your data to last, IPFS is just the first step - not the finish line.

Filecoin: Pay to Store, Keep Paying

Filecoin was built by the same team behind IPFS to fix its biggest flaw: no incentive to keep files around. Filecoin turns storage into a marketplace. Miners offer hard drive space. Users pay them to store data. Contracts are signed. Payments are made in FIL tokens.

The system uses Proof of Replication and Proof of Spacetime to make sure miners aren’t cheating. If they stop storing your file, they get slashed - their stake is taken away. As of mid-2025, Filecoin has over 14 exbibytes (EiB) of storage capacity across 3,500+ providers. It’s the largest decentralized storage network by volume.

But here’s the problem: you have to keep paying. Filecoin storage costs $200-$1,000 per terabyte per year, depending on how long you want it stored and how many copies you need. If you forget to renew? Your data gets deleted. In March 2025, one user lost $147 worth of FIL because they missed a storage proof deadline. Another user spent 30+ hours a month just managing deals and proofs - then gave up and switched back to AWS.

Filecoin is great for temporary data: AI training sets, video backups, large datasets that change often. 62% of decentralized AI projects use it. It’s also the go-to for Fortune 500 companies needing scalable, contract-based storage. But if you’re storing something you want to last 10 years? You’re betting on your own memory - and your wallet.

Arweave: Pay Once, Store Forever

Arweave is the odd one out. It doesn’t ask for monthly payments. It asks for one payment - and promises to store your data forever. How? It uses a clever economic model called the "endowment model." You pay upfront for storage. That money goes into a pool. Miners are paid from that pool over time, using interest from the initial payment. The math is designed so that even in 200 years, there’s enough to keep your file alive.

In 2025, that one-time cost is about $3,500 per terabyte. It sounds expensive. But compare it to Filecoin: over 10 years, storing 1TB on Filecoin could cost $5,000-$10,000. Arweave locks it in at $3,500. No renewals. No surprises.

Arweave’s network stores over 130 terabytes of permanent data. Its blockweave structure ensures each new block references random old ones, forcing miners to keep everything. It has a replication factor of 100-1,000 - meaning your file exists in hundreds to thousands of places. That’s why 78% of top Ethereum NFT collections use Arweave for metadata. If the NFT disappears, the art doesn’t.

There are downsides. Arweave has only 8,000 nodes - far fewer than Filecoin’s 3,500+ providers or IPFS’s 1.2 million. That makes some worry about resilience. But in practice, users report 99.999% uptime. One Reddit user stored 400GB of DAO governance records for 18 months with zero maintenance. Cost? $1,200. He calls it "set-and-forget."

Arweave isn’t perfect. It’s slower - retrieval takes 200-400ms. It’s harder to find developers who know how to use it. But if you care about permanence? Nothing else comes close.

Which One Should You Use?

Let’s cut through the noise. Here’s how to choose:

• Use IPFS if you’re building a dApp and need fast, content-addressed links - but only if you’re pairing it with Pinata or another pinning service. Don’t rely on it alone.
• Use Filecoin if you’re storing large, changing datasets - like AI models, video archives, or backup systems - and you’re okay with ongoing costs and active management. It’s the enterprise choice.
• Use Arweave if you’re storing something that must never disappear: NFT art, legal documents, DAO records, historical archives, or anything tied to identity or legacy. Pay once. Walk away.

There’s no "best" option. Only the right one for your use case.

What About the Future?

Things are changing fast. In January 2025, Filecoin launched its Virtual Machine (FVM), letting developers run smart contracts directly on the storage layer. That’s huge - it means you can automate payments, create storage NFTs, or build decentralized backup apps without leaving the network.

Arweave’s Permavision upgrade in March 2025 introduced AI-driven redundancy optimization. It cut storage costs by 18% by figuring out which files can be stored with fewer copies. That’s a game-changer for long-term affordability.

And IPFS? It’s getting quantum-resistant encryption ready by late 2025. That’s not just future-proofing - it’s survival.

Meanwhile, a new player called Walrus is coming in Q3 2025 with $50 per TB/year pricing using erasure coding. If it works, it could shake up both Filecoin and Arweave.

Real-World Use Cases

• NFTs: Arweave dominates. 78% of top collections use it for art and metadata. No one wants their CryptoPunk to vanish because a server went down.
• DAO Governance: Arweave again. Records of votes, proposals, and treasury logs need to be permanent. Filecoin’s risk of deletion makes it a bad fit.
• AI Training Data: Filecoin. These datasets are huge, change often, and cost millions. Companies need flexible contracts and scalability.
• Personal Backups: IPFS + Pinata for now. Until Arweave gets cheaper, it’s the only affordable way to keep your photos, documents, or crypto wallets safe from cloud outages.

What Are People Saying?

On Reddit, users who switched from Filecoin to Arweave say: "I used to check my storage deals every week. Now I don’t think about it. That’s freedom."

Enterprise users on Filecoin say: "We need to delete data after 18 months for compliance. Arweave doesn’t let us do that. Filecoin does."

And on Trustpilot, Pinata has a 4.7/5 rating - but users complain about price spikes during network congestion. That’s the hidden cost of centralized pinning.

Final Thoughts

Decentralized storage isn’t about being "blockchain" for the sake of it. It’s about choosing the right tool for the job. IPFS is the engine. Filecoin is the rental car. Arweave is the family heirloom you pass down.

If you’re building something temporary - use Filecoin. If you’re building something meant to last - use Arweave. And if you’re just experimenting? Start with IPFS and Pinata. But don’t confuse convenience with permanence.

The web is changing. The old cloud model is cracking. These three systems are leading the way - but only one of them truly promises to outlive us all.