What is MinIO and what should replace it in 2026?

MinIO — is an open-source object storage compatible with the Amazon S3 API. It was installed on private servers to store files, backups and application data the same way as cloud S3, but on-premises. However, in 2026 the situation changed: the repository of the MinIO community edition was archived on April 25, 2026 and is no longer maintained. Below — what MinIO is, what happened to it, and what to replace it with.

What is MinIO

MinIO stores data as objects in buckets and serves them via the S3 API. Applications that can work with Amazon S3 — via boto3, AWS SDK, aws-cli, rclone and other clients — work with MinIO almost without changes: it’s enough to specify a different server address and access keys.

MinIO could be run as a single executable on one server or in distributed mode across multiple disks and servers. In distributed mode data is protected with erasure coding: an object is split into parts with parity blocks and distributed across disks so that losing some disks does not lead to data loss.

How object storage and the S3 protocol work in general is described in detail in the article “File transfer protocols: Part 5 — S3 and object storage”.

What happened with the community edition

The MinIO GitHub repository currently states explicitly: “This repository is no longer maintained.” Key changes:

• The community edition is distributed only as source code. Prebuilt binaries for it are no longer released.
• Old binary releases remain available but do not receive updates, including security fixes.
• Instead of the community edition the company offers its products: AIStor Free — a separate single-server edition with a free license — and AIStor Enterprise — a distributed edition with commercial support.
• Builds from source for production are offered to be used at your own risk.

Practical takeaway: building a new storage on the MinIO community edition is not recommended. Where MinIO already runs, you need to decide — migrate to AIStor, build MinIO yourself and track fixes, or move to another storage.

AGPLv3 license

MinIO is distributed under the GNU AGPLv3 license. Its peculiarity compared to GPL: if you modify the program and provide it to users over a network, you are required to provide them with the source code of the modified version. The requirement applies to MinIO itself. Applications that just access the storage via the S3 API are usually not considered derivative works based on MinIO. If you modify MinIO or embed it into your product, it’s worth consulting a lawyer about the terms.

What to replace MinIO with

Russian cloud S3 storages — Yandex Object Storage, VK Cloud, Selectel — are covered in the article “Backup: Part 3 — Cloud storages for small business”. Foreign clouds (Amazon S3, Google Cloud Storage, Azure) cannot be paid for by Russian companies and are not suitable for storing personal data of Russian citizens due to localization requirements.

How to choose

• Single server for development or a small project — Garage or SeaweedFS in a minimal configuration. Both run in Docker and do not require a large cluster.
• Several nodes distributed across locations — Garage, which was created specifically for this scenario.
• Many small files and an Apache 2.0 license is required — SeaweedFS.
• A large cluster where block devices for virtual machines are needed in addition to S3 — Ceph, if you have specialists to operate it.
• You don’t want to operate the storage yourself — a cloud S3 from a Russian provider.

Migrating from MinIO

Since all the storages listed speak the S3 API, migration usually reduces to copying data and changing the address in applications:

1. Deploy the new storage and create the same buckets there.
2. Copy data with a client that can work with two S3 storages, for example rclone sync.
3. Verify the number of objects and sizes match.
4. Switch applications to the new address and keys.
5. Leave MinIO in read-only mode during verification, then decommission it.

Separately check which S3 features your applications use — object versioning, Object Lock, lifecycle rules, signed URLs. Support for these features varies between storages, and you should compare them with the chosen storage’s documentation before migrating.

Conclusion

MinIO was a popular way to get your own S3, but the community edition is no longer developed. For new projects it’s better to choose Garage, SeaweedFS or Ceph depending on scale, or a cloud storage from a Russian provider. For existing deployments you need a plan: migrate to AIStor, build from source and track fixes yourself, or move to another storage.

Links

• MinIO repository and the end-of-support notice
• Garage
• SeaweedFS
• Ceph
• Text of the GNU AGPLv3 license