# Amazon S3, what it is and how websites use it.

AWS object storage. Static sites and files are served from it directly or through CloudFront; a Server: AmazonS3 header reveals a page hosted as static content in an S3 bucket.

- **Status:** Stable. A core AWS service since 2006; for static sites it is now more often paired with CloudFront or Amplify.
- **Category:** [Servers & Hosting](https://be1st.ai/technologies/server)
- **First release:** 2006
- **License:** Proprietary
- **Official website:** https://aws.amazon.com/s3/
- **Documentation:** https://docs.aws.amazon.com/s3/
- **Page:** https://be1st.ai/technologies/server/amazon-s3

## Amazon S3 on audited websites

116 of the 16,845 websites audited by be1st run Amazon S3 (<1%). That ranks it #17 of the 34 technologies in Servers & Hosting we have seen in audits.

### Websites running Amazon S3 vs all websites

- **Web score:** 77 (all websites 72)
- **SEO:** 83 (all websites 79)
- **Security:** 62 (all websites 59)
- **Performance:** 78 (all websites 72)
- **AI Readiness:** 33 (all websites 31)

### Most used in Servers & Hosting

1. [Cloudflare](https://be1st.ai/technologies/server/cloudflare): 22% (3,772)
2. [Vercel](https://be1st.ai/technologies/server/vercel): 22% (3,635)
3. [Google CDN](https://be1st.ai/technologies/server/google-cdn): 16% (2,700)
4. [nginx](https://be1st.ai/technologies/server/nginx): 14% (2,284)
5. [OpenResty](https://be1st.ai/technologies/server/openresty): 10% (1,707)
6. [Apache HTTP Server](https://be1st.ai/technologies/server/apache-http-server): 9.3% (1,574)
7. [jsDelivr](https://be1st.ai/technologies/server/jsdelivr): 7.2% (1,221)
8. [cdnjs](https://be1st.ai/technologies/server/cdnjs): 6.0% (1,019)
9. [Netlify](https://be1st.ai/technologies/server/netlify): 5.8% (971)
10. [AWS CloudFront](https://be1st.ai/technologies/server/aws-cloudfront): 5.1% (859)

## Other technologies in Servers & Hosting

- [unpkg](https://be1st.ai/technologies/server/unpkg): 2.8% of websites
- [Fastly](https://be1st.ai/technologies/server/fastly): 1.6% of websites
- [BunnyCDN](https://be1st.ai/technologies/server/bunnycdn): 1.2% of websites
- [Microsoft IIS](https://be1st.ai/technologies/server/microsoft-iis): 1.0% of websites
- [LiteSpeed](https://be1st.ai/technologies/server/litespeed): <1% of websites
- [Caddy](https://be1st.ai/technologies/server/caddy): <1% of websites
- [Google Cloud](https://be1st.ai/technologies/server/google-cloud): <1% of websites
- [Varnish](https://be1st.ai/technologies/server/varnish): <1% of websites
- [Azure](https://be1st.ai/technologies/server/azure): <1% of websites
- [Hostinger CDN](https://be1st.ai/technologies/server/hostinger-cdn): <1% of websites
- [GitHub Pages](https://be1st.ai/technologies/server/github-pages): <1% of websites
- [Akamai](https://be1st.ai/technologies/server/akamai): <1% of websites

[All 35 in Servers & Hosting](https://be1st.ai/technologies/server)

## Questions about Amazon S3

### What is Amazon S3?

AWS object storage. Static sites and files are served from it directly or through CloudFront; a Server: AmazonS3 header reveals a page hosted as static content in an S3 bucket. The be1st catalog lists Amazon S3 under Servers & Hosting. License of Amazon S3: Proprietary.

### How many websites use Amazon S3?

116 of the 16,845 websites audited by be1st run Amazon S3 (<1%), as of 8 Nov 2026.

### When was Amazon S3 first released?

Amazon S3 was first released in 2006.

### Is Amazon S3 still a modern choice?

Amazon S3 is a stable, mature choice rather than a new one. A core AWS service since 2006; for static sites it is now more often paired with CloudFront or Amplify.

Numbers: latest audit of each of 16,845 websites audited by be1st, as of 8 Nov 2026.