Why risky:effective 2026-02-12 — MinIO marked its open-source repository "NO LONGER MAINTAINED" on 2026-02-12 and archived it on 2026-02-13, ending the AGPL community edition with no further bug fixes or security patches. Development continues in the commercially licensed MinIO AIStor. Community releases had been source-only since 2025-10-15, and the repository had been in maintenance mode since 2025-12-03. Source ↗Full history ↓
A verdict here is not a fixed property of the vendor. A one-off pricing event demotes a vendor while its recorded date falls in the last 180 days and then lapses on its own, with nothing about the vendor having changed; a standing condition — a free tier withdrawn and not restored, a product retired — does not lapse with time. This one rests on a standing condition, so it does not lapse.
Product role: Self-hosted. MinIO is listed everywhere a Storage offer is listed. We read that from https://min.io/pricing on 2026-08-25, where it says: “Purpose-built subscription tiers support no-cost development to mission-critical production.”How we use this.
Limits, pricing history. Catalogue date August 2026. Last updated 2026-09-26.
MinIO's free tier offers S3-compatible object storage — AIStor Free is free to download and deploy and includes the full AIStor feature set for… We rate it risky — one recorded move away from open source, on 2026-02-12.
The day we last read the vendor's page. Our last read of it, on 2026-09-26, found the page different from the terms we hold. We hold no confirmation of the terms we publish — the 2026-08-24 beside this date is not one we can source to a read that confirmed them.
Free Tier Details
S3-compatible object storage — AIStor Free is free to download and deploy and includes the full AIStor feature set for a single-node deployment. Redistribution is prohibited. AIStor is commercially licensed; the original AGPLv3 MinIO edition is no longer maintained, with no bug fixes or security patches.
We read that on 2026-10-04 from https://min.io/pricing, and our check recorded: the page names MinIO, renders "Enterprise tiers" and no amount, and its markup states 1 typed price (AIStor Free USD 0). A source check reads the cited page for the service's name and a price; the limits above are from our own record.
When You'll Outgrow MinIO's Free Tier
When your usage exceeds the free tier limits, you'll need to upgrade.
Data correction - MinIO's archived community edition gets no security patches; the "case-by-case critical security fixes" our record quoted was its December 2025 policy, dropped by January 2026. Its Docker images and pull requests had already stopped in late 2025. Source ↗
Before: Recorded as: MinIO archived its open-source GitHub repository. All development moved to proprietary MinIO AIStor. No new Docker images, PRs, or contributions accepted. Only case-by-case critical security fixes
After: "The original open-source MinIO edition, licensed under AGPLv3, is no longer maintained. Its codebase is frozen, with no new features, bug fixes, or security patches."
Retracted — this record was our error (2026-09-26). Retracted 2026-09-26: this records again an event we already hold. MinIO marked its open-source repository "NO LONGER MAINTAINED" on 2026-02-12 and archived it on 2026-02-13 (our MinIO record of 2026-02-12); nothing changed on 2026-09-26. The reading compared the page with our catalogue text, which still described the community edition as maintained. Source ↗
MinIO marked its open-source repository "NO LONGER MAINTAINED" on 2026-02-12 and archived it on 2026-02-13, ending the AGPL community edition with no further bug fixes or security patches. Development continues in the commercially licensed MinIO AIStor. Community releases had been source-only since 2025-10-15, and the repository had been in maintenance mode since 2025-12-03. Source ↗
Before: AGPL-3.0 community edition in maintenance mode: source-only releases since 2025-10-15, no new features or pull requests since 2025-12-03
After: Repository archived and read-only; no bug fixes or security patches; community binaries no longer served from dl.min.io
We do not push notifications. Every change we record is readable the moment it lands, and the JSON answer carries an ETag — send it back as If-None-Match and an unchanged answer costs one 304.
Yes, MinIO offers a free tier: AIStor Free. S3-compatible object storage — AIStor Free is free to download and deploy and includes the full AIStor feature set for a single-node deployment. Redistribution is prohibited. AIStor is commercially li...
What is MinIO's free tier?
MinIO's free tier is called "AIStor Free". S3-compatible object storage — AIStor Free is free to download and deploy and includes the full AIStor feature set for a single-node deployment. Redistribution is prohibited. AIStor is commercially licensed; the original AGPLv3 MinIO edition is no longer maintained, with no bug fixes or security patches.
Is MinIO's free tier reliable?
MinIO's free tier is considered risky because of one specific recorded change, on 2026-02-12: MinIO marked its open-source repository "NO LONGER MAINTAINED" on 2026-02-12 and archived it on 2026-02-13, ending the AGPL community edition with no further bug fixes or security patches. Development continues in the commercially licensed MinIO AIStor. Community releases had been source-only since 2025-10-15, and the repository had been in maintenance mode since 2025-12-03. Source: https://github.com/minio/minio/commit/7aac2a2c5b7c882e68c1ce017d8256be2feea27f Consider alternatives.
Is MinIO's free tier good for production?
MinIO's free tier is usable for prototyping and development, but we rate it risky because of one recorded move away from open source, on 2026-02-12. Consider alternatives with more stable pricing for critical services.
What changed in MinIO's pricing?
MinIO has had 1 recorded pricing change. Most recently: MinIO marked its open-source repository "NO LONGER MAINTAINED" on 2026-02-12 and archived it on 2026-02-13, ending the AGPL community edition with no further bug fixes or security patches. Development continues in the commercially licensed MinIO AIStor. Community releases had been source-only since 2025-10-15, and the repository had been in maintenance mode since 2025-12-03. Source: https://github.com/minio/minio/commit/7aac2a2c5b7c882e68c1ce017d8256be2feea27f (2026-02-12).
When will I outgrow MinIO's free tier?
When your usage exceeds the free tier limits, you'll need to upgrade. When you outgrow the free tier, evaluate paid plans against alternatives — sometimes a competitor's free tier covers what you need.