Comparison of file lifecycles between Arweave and IPFS

Source: PermaDAO

If you are running an NFT project, you may face a dilemma: "Should I use Arweave and pay a one-time payment (for storage), or use Filecoin to pay as I go?"

You may also ask: "How long can my files be stored?"

This article explores how Arweave and IPFS store, maintain, and access files, and how this affects the reliability and durability of digital assets.

The life cycle of files on Arweave

What is Arweave?

Arweave is a decentralized blockchain designed to store your data permanently and securely on-chain. With a one-time upfront payment, your data is guaranteed to be stored for at least 200 years, which is about the life of two people.

Without requiring ongoing monthly maintenance fees, retrieval fees, or other hidden fees, Arweave guarantees the permanence and immutability of data.

The predictability of Arweave's costs is one of its major advantages. As the owner of an NFT project, this plays a vital role in ensuring that buyers have permanent access to the artwork, thereby increasing the value of the project.

Your one-time payment guarantees that there are at least 20 copies of your data in the network. Backup redundancy enhances the security of your data and ensures stable operation in the event of node failure or network problems.

File Lifecycle Using IPFS and Pinning Services

IPFS is not a storage platform, but a decentralized file sharing protocol.

IPFS uses content addressing to identify files, allowing any host in the world to access data without relying on a centralized entity. This means that as long as there is at least one node storing the data, the data will remain accessible in the network.

This is where pinning services come in handy. File pinning is an economic incentive layer for maintaining data on IPFS nodes. Services like Filecoin and Pinata offer monthly subscriptions to keep data pinned and reward IPFS nodes, which is a bit like Google Drive or Dropbox.

Pinning services typically store your data on only 3 to 6 nodes. This limited redundancy threatens the long-term security of your data, and if any of these nodes fail or go offline, your data will be at risk.

According to data from block explorers, the average lifespan of data stored using Filecoin’s pinning service is short, typically less than a year. Beyond that time frame, your data is at risk of being deleted if you don’t renew your subscription.

To manage the accumulation of unpaid files, IPFS has a “garbage collection” mechanism that automatically cleans up unpinned data in the node cache to free up node resources and make room for new files. Similar to how, if you stop paying for Dropbox, you lose access to your data, which will be gradually deleted over time. This is another worry you can avoid with Arweave, which will permanently store your data once it’s uploaded to Arweave.

Your NFTs Are at Risk on IPFS

If you’re running an NFT project, you have to balance multiple priorities. Worrying about whether your NFT assets are safe while paying yet another subscription fee is a real headache!

Fees for pinning services can increase unexpectedly, leading to higher operating costs. If your NFT project cannot maintain these costs, you will lose access to your NFTs. This can be challenging for small projects or individual artists.

IPFS warns users that pinning services are not responsible for maintaining their data and there is no guarantee that they will continue to operate. If your pinning service is shut down, your data will no longer be stored.

IPFS warns that there is no guarantee that these pinning services will continue to operate.

Several pinning services, such as Estuary and alwaysNFT.cloud, have ceased operations, forcing users to find alternatives.

If you are concerned about the durability of your NFT assets, you will need to use multiple pinning services to achieve the same level of security provided by Arweave. This approach adds cost and complexity, while Arweave makes permanent storage simple with a one-time payment.

Which solution should you choose?

While IPFS offers flexibility and decentralized sharing, it requires active maintenance, ongoing payments, and a third party to ensure the security of your data.

For busy NFT projects and creators with large communities, this is an unnecessary burden.

We recommend Arweave (we admit to being a little biased).

We built Akord to help creators like you store valuable assets permanently on-chain.

No hidden fees, a one-time payment, and your data will be safe forever.