Arista vs Backblaze.com vs Benchmark Capital: Which Is Right for You in 2026?
These three don't belong on the same shortlist. Arista is a networking hardware vendor that sells data-center switches and its EOS operating system to…
Best for: Startup founders raising early-stage venture funding, not businesses shopping for software or infrastructure.
At a Glance
Arista
backblaze.com
Benchmark Capital
Primary category
Hosting
Hosting
Hosting
Rating
Not documented
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Pricing model
custom
usage-based
custom
Starting price
Not documented
B2 Cloud Storage from $6.95/TB per month; Personal Backup from $7/month per computer
Not documented
Free plan
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Free trial
Not documented
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Platforms
Not documented
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Team collaboration
Not documented
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AI features
Not documented
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Public API
Not documented
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Standout Differences
One of these three isn't a product you can buy
Benchmark Capital is a Silicon Valley VC firm known for early bets on eBay, Twitter, Uber, Instagram, and Snapchat. There's no signup flow or subscription — a company either raises money from Benchmark as an investor or it doesn't.
Benchmark Capital
Backblaze is the only one with transparent, published pricing
Backblaze publishes clear usage-based rates: B2 Cloud Storage from $6.95/TB per month and Personal Backup from $7/month per computer. Arista sells through custom enterprise quotes with no public price list, and Benchmark's economics are investment terms, not a price at all.
backblaze.com, Arista
Arista is hardware and network software, not a hosting or storage service
Arista designs physical data-center switches and its EOS network operating system for enterprise networking teams — a fundamentally different purchase category from Backblaze's cloud storage subscription.
Arista
Both Arista and Backblaze are publicly traded, Benchmark is not
Arista Networks and Backblaze (NASDAQ: BLZE) are both public companies with disclosed financials, while Benchmark Capital is a private partnership — a useful signal of how differently these three organizations operate.
Arista, backblaze.com, Benchmark Capital
Feature-by-Feature
What kind of organization this is
Feature
Arista
backblaze.com
Benchmark Capital
Self-serve product with published pricing
Unavailable
Available
Unavailable
Cloud object storage / backup service
Unavailable
Available
Unavailable
Data center networking hardware and software
Available
Unavailable
Unavailable
Venture capital / startup funding
Unavailable
Unavailable
Available
Company status
Feature
Arista
backblaze.com
Benchmark Capital
Publicly traded
Available
Available
Unavailable
Pricing Compared
Starting price reflects the lowest paid tier, not the full cost for every team size or usage level.
Arista
No individual plan breakdown documented yet.
backblaze.com
Personal Backup — $7/month, $70/year, or $130/2 years per computer monthly, annual, or biennial
B2 Cloud Storage (Pay-As-You-Go) — $6.95/TB per month monthly (usage-based)
B2 Reserve — From ~$19,500/year for 250TB (~$78/TB/year) annual (1-5 year terms)
B2 Overdrive — From ~$15/TB per month custom (multi-petabyte commitment)
Benchmark Capital
No individual plan breakdown documented yet.
Pros & Cons
Arista
Pros
Large, established public company with a strong track record of revenue growth
EOS provides a consistent software experience across the entire hardware portfolio
Strong reputation among cloud providers and large enterprises for reliability at scale
Positioned well for the growing AI data center networking market
Considered a credible, software-centric alternative to legacy vendors like Cisco
Cons
Enterprise, quote-based pricing makes cost comparison difficult without direct sales contact
Primarily serves large enterprises and cloud providers, less accessible for small businesses
Significant upfront capital investment required for hardware deployments
Competes in a market with fast-moving incumbents and new AI-networking entrants
backblaze.com
Pros
Publicly traded (NASDAQ: BLZE) with transparent, audited quarterly financial disclosures
B2 Cloud Storage pricing and free egress allowance are significantly cheaper than typical hyperscaler cloud storage
Personal Backup offers genuinely unlimited storage per computer at a flat price, unlike many competitors with storage caps
S3-API compatibility makes B2 easy to adopt for teams already using AWS S3 tooling
Long operating history (founded 2007) with a strong reputation for reliability and published hard drive reliability data
Cons
Personal Backup covers one computer per subscription, not unlimited devices
B2 Reserve and Overdrive require significant minimum commitments (20TB and multi-petabyte respectively), less suited to small workloads
As a smaller public company, Backblaze has fewer global data center regions than AWS, Google Cloud, or Azure
Egress beyond the free allowance still incurs per-GB charges on pay-as-you-go B2 plans
Benchmark Capital
Pros
Highly selective, high-signal backing for portfolio founders
Hands-on senior partner involvement with no associate layer
Track record including massive exits like eBay, Uber, and Twitter
Flat, equal-partner structure that aligns partner incentives
Concentrated portfolio allows deeper support per company
Cons
Extremely selective, making it difficult for most startups to get funded
Primarily deal-flow driven through warm introductions rather than open applications
Does not run large-scale growth or late-stage follow-on investing like mega-funds
Small firm size limits the number of companies it can actively support at once
Use Cases
Choose Arista: IT and network teams provisioning high-throughput switching for a data center, sold through custom enterprise deals.
Choose backblaze.com: Developers and businesses wanting affordable, S3-compatible object storage, or individuals wanting unlimited personal computer backup.
Choose Benchmark Capital: Startup founders raising early-stage venture funding, not businesses shopping for software or infrastructure.
Arista
Hyperscale and cloud data center networking — Deploy high-throughput switches and EOS software to build large-scale cloud data center networks.
Enterprise campus and data center networking — Standardize networking infrastructure from the data center to the campus edge using a single operating system.
AI and GPU cluster networking — Build low-latency, high-bandwidth network fabric to support large-scale AI training and inference clusters.
backblaze.com
Unlimited computer backup for individuals — Consumers and small businesses use Backblaze Personal Backup to automatically back up an entire computer's data with unlimited storage.
Lower-cost object storage for applications — Developers use B2 Cloud Storage as an S3-compatible, lower-cost alternative to AWS S3 for application data and media storage.
AI and high-performance computing data storage — AI and HPC teams use B2 Overdrive for high-throughput, multi-petabyte-scale storage needs with unlimited free egress.
Benchmark Capital
Seed-stage fundraising — Early-stage founders seek Benchmark as a lead investor for their seed round.
Series A fundraising with board support — Startups scaling past seed raise Series A capital from Benchmark along with hands-on board involvement.
Studying venture capital firm structure — Investors, LPs, and business researchers study Benchmark's equal-partnership model as a case study in VC firm design.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are Arista, Backblaze, and Benchmark Capital competitors?
No. Arista sells data-center networking switches and its EOS operating system, Backblaze sells cloud object storage and computer backup, and Benchmark Capital is a venture capital firm that invests in startups. They were grouped under a shared category tag, not because they compete.
What does Benchmark Capital actually do?
Benchmark is a Silicon Valley venture capital firm founded in 1995, known for early-stage investments in eBay, Twitter, Uber, Instagram, and Snapchat, and for its equal-partnership investment structure. It isn't software or infrastructure you purchase — it's an investor a startup would pitch for funding.
Is Backblaze self-serve, or do I need to talk to sales?
Backblaze is self-serve with published usage-based pricing: B2 Cloud Storage starts from $6.95/TB per month and Personal Backup starts from $7/month per computer. Arista, by contrast, sells through custom enterprise quotes.
I need switches for a data center — is that Arista?
Yes. Arista Networks designs high-performance data center switches and its own EOS network operating system, sold to enterprises as networking hardware — a completely different purchase than cloud storage or venture funding.
Can a startup get funding from Benchmark Capital?
Startups can pitch Benchmark for early-stage venture investment, but this isn't a product signup — Benchmark selectively invests as a VC firm, unlike Backblaze or Arista, which sell products directly to any paying customer.
Which of these three would actually show up on an infrastructure or hosting shortlist?
Backblaze for cloud storage and backup, and Arista for data-center networking hardware. Benchmark Capital has no place on an infrastructure shortlist since it isn't a software or hosting product.