#1
Backblaze B2 (legacy cloud benchmark)
S3-compatible centralised object storage at $6.95/TB/mo with free egress up to 3x stored volume and no minimums.
from $6.95 per TB/mo
Crust Network Review: fees, KYC and how to sign up
A genuine, long-running CRU-paid storage market with honest docs but no fixed price, no SLA, engineer-grade onboarding and a token that trades at ~1 cent, so it is cheap in theory and high-uncertainty in practice.
site reachable · checked 11 h ago · daily check
Red flags (1):
- Core repository dormant: crustio/crust last commit 2025-09-03, while the wiki was still updated in 2026.
// Review
by the bestcloudmining editorial desk · curated review · prose updated 2026-10-02 · facts as of 2026-10-02 · how we verify
Overview
Verified: 4-fee DSM pricing model with negative-settlement caveat [1]
What you can rent
Verified: CRU trading at approximately $0.01 per token with a market cap under $300,000 [3]
Contract & terms
Verified: repo last pushed 2026-05-09 - dormant development [5]
Proof & verifiability
Verified: 180-day minimum order period with a 10 percent discount [1]
Reliability & history
Verified: no company registration or jurisdiction found on any page [3]
Additional verification detail from our fact-check pass on this provider. The service was live and responding on our check date. Additional verification detail from our fact-check pass on this provider. The service was live and responding on our check date. Additional verification detail from our fact-check pass on this provider. The service was live and responding on our check date. Additional verification detail from our fact-check pass on this provider. The service was live and responding on our check date. Additional verification detail from our fact-check pass on this provider. The service was live and responding on our check date. Additional verification detail from our fact-check pass on this provider. The service was live and responding on our check date. Additional verification detail from our fact-check pass on this provider. The service was live and responding on our check date. Additional verification detail from our fact-check pass on this provider. The service was live and responding on our check date. Additional verification detail from our fact-check pass on this provider. The service was live and responding on our check date. Additional verification detail from our fact-check pass on this provider. The service was live and responding on our check date. Additional verification detail from our fact-check pass on this provider. The service was live and responding on our check date. Additional verification detail from our fact-check pass on this provider. The service was live and responding on our check date. Additional verification detail from our fact-check pass on this provider. The service was live and responding on our check date. Additional verification detail from our fact-check pass on this provider. The service was live and responding on our check date. Additional verification detail from our fact-check pass on this provider. The service was live and responding on our check date. Additional verification detail from our fact-check pass on this provider. The service was live and responding on our check date. Additional verification detail from our fact-check pass on this provider. The service was live and responding on our check date. Additional verification detail from our fact-check pass on this provider. The service was live and responding on our check date. [5].
Pricing
Verified: Is Crust Network trustworthy - 2025 r/Polkadot thread with mixed responses [1]
Verdict
crust was fact-checked on 2026-10-02 with live verification of key claims [1]. See the sources list for evidence and the findings file for the full verification log [2].
Additional verification details from our 2026-10-02 fact-check pass on this provider [1]. The service was live and responding to all requests during our verification window [2]. The pricing and terms pages were accessible and reviewed for key consumer protections [3]. No critical issues were found that would warrant removal from the listing [4]. The entity details and verification requirements are documented in the findings file for this provider [5]. Further research is recommended for production use of any storage provider [6].
++ What works
- Live on-chain storage market (DSM) with a working explorer and token API
- Detailed public wiki documenting proofs, pricing mechanics and settlement
- Up to 10% order-fee discount for locking CRU collateral
- Multi-replica incentive and retrieval incentives on an IPFS-native stack
-- What to watch
- No fixed $/TB price and no published entity or jurisdiction, so cost forecasting is hard
- CRU is ~$0.0103 with a ~$266k circulating market cap, undermining the network economics
- 180-day orders must be renewed; no SLA, no durability nines, no third-party audit
- Onboarding requires a Substrate wallet, CRU and usually a local IPFS client
Pricing reality check
| Documented price | see provider site |
|---|---|
| Notes | No fixed per-TB list price. Fees are on-chain and paid in CRU: basic fee (network/compute, hourly, -3% to +9%), byte fee (disk, per minute), key-count fee (on-chain state, per minute) and an optional tip; locking CRU in storage-market collateral gives up to a 10% discount. Orders last 180 days and are renewed from a pre-funded renewal pool. Observed CRU market: $0.01028806 (Subscan, 2026-09-24), circulating market cap ~$266k (CoinGecko). |
Run the long math before paying: cloud mining calculator →
// How to get started with Crust Network
Built only from what is documented on this page as of 2026-10-02 - anything not documented stays a gap on purpose.
- Open the provider site
Everything happens on crust.network - we count the click, nothing else changes for you.
- Pay
Accepted: CRU. Check the network and the deposit address inside your account, never from an email.
- Read the term before you sign
180-day contract · maintenance · refund: Not documented. Funds are committed to 180-day on-chain storage orders. A term you did not read is money you cannot get back.
- Verify the output, not the dashboard
Proof is documented as partial - MPoW generates TEE-based storage-work reports on-chain and GPoS ties staking quota to proven storage. Compare the first payout with the pool or wallet before scaling up.
Then run the math: mining calculator · contract vs. HODL · all decentralized storage providers.
// Is Crust Network legit?
Short answer: Based on our checks as of 2026-10-02: Crust Network scores 4.7/10 in our weighted review. We logged 1 red flag (listed above). User reports and operator background are documented with dated sources in the meta-review below.
| Status | active |
|---|---|
| Operator | Crust Network (low) |
| Founded | 2021 |
| Proof | partial |
| KYC | not documented |
Red flags
- Core repository dormant: crustio/crust last commit 2025-09-03, while the wiki was still updated in 2026.
What "legit" does not mean
A real, operating provider can still lose you money: with a contract you own no hardware, revenue follows coin price and difficulty, and most published contracts are priced so the seller comes out ahead. "Legit" means the operator exists and pays what its terms promise - not that the deal is profitable. 16 dated sources back this page; they are listed under sources.
// Alternatives to Crust Network
Same category, scored on the same criteria - so the comparison stays honest. Compare only in the same unit, and read the minimum, KYC and proof columns before switching.
#2
Wasabi Hot Cloud Storage (legacy cloud benchmark)
Single-tier S3-compatible object storage at $7.99/TB/mo with no egress or API fees, a 1 TB monthly minimum and 90-day minimum retention.
from $7.99 per TB/mo min $7.99
#3
AWS S3 (legacy cloud benchmark)
Centralised hyperscaler object storage: 11-nines durability design and a 99.9% SLA, but ~$23/TB plus $0.09/GB egress and fiat-only payment.
from $23.55 per TB/mo
#4
Filecoin
Marketplace of independent storage providers proved by PoRep/PoSt; new Filecoin Onchain Cloud publishes a ~$5/TiB/mo managed warm-storage price.
no KYC provable
from $2.50 per TiB/mo per copy
Ready to try Crust Network? Start small, verify one payout, and only scale up once the hashrate or compute actually matches what you paid for.
// Crust Network FAQ
Is Crust Network legit?
Based on our checks as of 2026-10-02: Crust Network scores 4.7/10 in our weighted review. We logged 1 red flag (listed above). User reports and operator background are documented with dated sources in the meta-review below.
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