Cheapest Hard Drives Per TB — Live $/TB Rankings

The cheapest qualifying HDD terabyte in stock right now is the HGST HUS726040ALS210 4TB at $12.50/TB (Used). 339 drives are ranked below by live cost per terabyte, new and refurbished together, with out-of-stock listings excluded from the ranking.

Buying now or waiting? Our hard drive price forecast sets out the live floor, the supply-side facts, and what would change the outlook.

339drives ranked·prices updated every 2 hours·last checked
Cheapest HDD storage right now
HGST HUS726040ALS210 4TB
$12.50/TB
$49.99 total · Used · SAS-12G · Enterprise
Buy/View PriceView specs →
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Price per TB is the clearest first comparison for capacity storage: divide the current purchase price by rated decimal terabytes. It is not a complete buying decision. Interface, condition, warranty, recording method, workload fit, redundancy, power, and available drive bays can make a higher-priced listing the more defensible purchase.

The HDD table below is live and excludes unavailable listings, invalid capacity, and zero-dollar prices. It ranks 339 current HDD listings by defensible price per TB. NVMe and LTO are summarized separately because their performance, media, and hardware requirements make a raw cross-category ranking misleading.

One change worth flagging in how to read this table: external USB drives now appear in it on merit, and they carry an EXTERNAL badge in the interface column so they are never mistaken for a bare drive. An external is a sealed USB unit whose internal drive the maker may not disclose, while a bare drive publishes its model number, recording technology, workload rating and warranty. If the storage is going into a bay or an array, compare against the best qualifying bare drive rather than assuming the overall first row is suitable. The live external-drive comparison calculates the external-versus-internal relationship from current listings each time it renders.

The same caution applies at the other end of the table. The very cheapest rates here are frequently second-hand enterprise SAS drives at small capacities, and a SAS drive does not plug into an ordinary computer — it needs a host bus adapter and a machine with a slot for one. That is a small obstacle if you have a server and a decisive one if you do not, so read the interface column before reading the rate.

Cheapest by category

Cheapest SATA HDD
$19.00/TB
Toshiba MG03ACA200 2TB SATA Enterprise
2TB · $38
View specsAll →
Cheapest SAS HDD
$12.50/TB
HGST HUS726040ALS210 4TB SAS 12G
4TB · $50
View specsAll →
Cheapest NVMe SSD
$125.00/TB
BUFFALO External SSD 2TB
2TB · $250
View specsAll →
Cheapest LTO Tape
$4.89/TB
Fuji LTO-9 Ultrium 10-Pack 18TB
18TB · $880
View specsAll →

Hard drives ranked by $/TB

Market Value compares current relevant peers. Historical Value evaluates the exact drive condition from stored pricing records in the background. A drive can lead this raw $/TB list while still showing a high historical price.

Showing 339 of 339 current HDD listings. Out-of-stock listings and invalid prices are excluded.
GoodIn progress
$85.00
$21.25/TB

Dell 012GYY

Capacity
4TB
Brand
Dell
Condition
Used
Interface
SAS-6G
Use
Enterprise

47% below comparable new Dell 4TB

GoodIn progress
$89.98
$22.50/TB

Dell DRMYH

Capacity
4TB
Brand
Dell
Condition
Used
Interface
SAS-6G
Use
Enterprise

44% below comparable new Dell 4TB

ExcellentGREAT PRICE
$105.00
$26.25/TB

WD WD40PURX

Capacity
4TB
Brand
WD
Condition
Used
Interface
SATA-6G
Use
Surveillance

46% below comparable new WD 4TB

ExcellentHIGH PRICE
$105.38
$26.35/TB

WD WD40PURX

Capacity
4TB
Brand
WD
Condition
Used
Interface
SATA-6G
Use
Surveillance

46% below comparable new WD 4TB

ExcellentIn progress
$510.00
$28.33/TB

WD WD180PURZ

Capacity
18TB
Brand
WD
Condition
Used
Interface
SATA-6G
Use
Surveillance

34% below comparable new WD 18TB

GoodFAIR PRICE
$174.99
$29.17/TB

WD WD60PURX

Capacity
6TB
Brand
WD
Condition
Used
Interface
SATA-6G
Use
Surveillance

43% below comparable new WD 6TB

GoodGREAT PRICE
$299.99
$30.00/TB

WD WD100EFAX

Capacity
10TB
Brand
WD
Condition
Used
Interface
SATA-6G
Use
NAS

21% below comparable new WD 10TB

AverageHIGH PRICE
$245.00
$30.63/TB

Dell M40TH

Capacity
8TB
Brand
Dell
Condition
Used
Interface
SAS-12G
Use
Enterprise

32% below comparable new Dell 8TB

ExcellentGOOD PRICE
$559.00
$31.06/TB

WD WD181KFGX

Capacity
18TB
Brand
WD
Condition
Used
Interface
SATA-6G
Use
NAS

27% below comparable new WD 18TB

ExcellentFAIR PRICE
$559.00
$31.06/TB

WD WD181KFGX

Capacity
18TB
Brand
WD
Condition
Used
Interface
SATA-6G
Use
NAS

27% below comparable new WD 18TB

GoodGREAT PRICE
$249.99
$31.25/TB

WD WD80EFAX

Capacity
8TB
Brand
WD
Condition
Used
Interface
SATA-6G
Use
NAS

34% below comparable new WD 8TB

GoodGREAT PRICE
$249.99
$31.25/TB

WD WD80EFAX

Capacity
8TB
Brand
WD
Condition
Used
Interface
SATA-6G
Use
NAS

34% below comparable new WD 8TB

GoodGOOD PRICE
$189.99
$31.67/TB

WD WD60PURZ

Capacity
6TB
Brand
WD
Condition
Used
Interface
SATA-6G
Use
Surveillance

38% below comparable new WD 6TB

GoodGREAT PRICE
$98.00
$32.67/TB

WD WD30PURX

Capacity
3TB
Brand
WD
Condition
Used
Interface
SATA-6G
Use
Surveillance

38% below comparable new WD 3TB

ExcellentGOOD PRICE
$329.99
$33.00/TB

WD WD101PURP

Capacity
10TB
Brand
WD
Condition
Used
Interface
SATA-6G
Use
Surveillance

14% below comparable new WD 10TB

AverageGREAT PRICE
$599.99
$33.33/TB

WD WD Gold 18TB

Capacity
18TB
Brand
WD
Condition
Used
Interface
SATA-6G
Use
Enterprise

22% below comparable new WD 18TB

ExpensiveIn progress
$68.99
$34.49/TB

HP AP072B321

Capacity
2TB
Brand
HP
Condition
Used
Interface
SAS-6G
Use
Enterprise

37% below comparable new HP 2TB

AverageGREAT PRICE
$349.99
$35.00/TB

WD WD101KFBX

Capacity
10TB
Brand
WD
Condition
Used
Interface
SATA-6G
Use
NAS

8% below comparable new WD 10TB

AverageGREAT PRICE
$659.00
$36.61/TB

WD WD Gold 18TB

Capacity
18TB
Brand
WD
Condition
Used
Interface
SATA-6G
Use
Enterprise

14% below comparable new WD 18TB

AverageIn progress
$295.49
$36.94/TB

WD WD80EFBX

Capacity
8TB
Brand
WD
Condition
Used
Interface
SATA-6G
Use
NAS

22% below comparable new WD 8TB

ExpensiveGOOD PRICE
$751.20
$37.56/TB

WD WD202KFGX

Capacity
20TB
Brand
WD
Condition
Used
Interface
SATA-6G
Use
NAS

13% below comparable new WD 20TB

AverageIn progress
$302.48
$37.81/TB

WD WD81PURZ

Capacity
8TB
Brand
WD
Condition
Used
Interface
SATA-6G
Use
Surveillance

20% below comparable new WD 8TB

AverageFAIR PRICE
$379.99
$38.00/TB

WD WD101EFBX

Capacity
10TB
Brand
WD
Condition
Used
Interface
SATA-6G
Use
NAS

0% below comparable new WD 10TB

AverageGOOD PRICE
$380.89
$38.09/TB

WD WD100EFGX

Capacity
10TB
Brand
WD
Condition
Used
Interface
SATA-6G
Use
NAS

0% below comparable new WD 10TB

ExpensiveFAIR PRICE
$609.99
$38.12/TB

WD WD161KFGX

Capacity
16TB
Brand
WD
Condition
Used
Interface
SATA-6G
Use
NAS

9% below comparable new WD 16TB

ExpensiveHIGH PRICE
$699.99
$38.89/TB

WD WD181PURP

Capacity
18TB
Brand
WD
Condition
Used
Interface
SATA-6G
Use
Surveillance

9% below comparable new WD 18TB

AverageFAIR PRICE
$118.42
$39.47/TB

WD WD30PURZ

Capacity
3TB
Brand
WD
Condition
Used
Interface
SATA-6G
Use
Surveillance

26% below comparable new WD 3TB

AverageFAIR PRICE
$239.99
$40.00/TB

WD WD63PURZ

Capacity
6TB
Brand
WD
Condition
Used
Interface
SATA-6G
Use
Surveillance

21% below comparable new WD 6TB

AverageIn progress
$319.99
$40.00/TB

WD WD84PURZ

Capacity
8TB
Brand
WD
Condition
Used
Interface
SATA-6G
Use
Surveillance

16% below comparable new WD 8TB

ExpensiveIn progress
$799.99
$40.00/TB

WD WD201KFGX

Capacity
20TB
Brand
WD
Condition
Used
Interface
SATA-6G
Use
NAS

7% below comparable new WD 20TB

ExpensiveFAIR PRICE
$349.99
$43.75/TB

WD WD8003FFBX

Capacity
8TB
Brand
WD
Condition
Used
Interface
SATA-6G
Use
NAS

8% below comparable new WD 8TB

GoodGREAT PRICE
$178.39
$44.60/TB

WD WD40EFZX

Capacity
4TB
Brand
WD
Condition
Used
Interface
SATA-6G
Use
NAS

9% below comparable new WD 4TB

AverageIn progress
$181.56
$45.39/TB

WD WD44PURZ

Capacity
4TB
Brand
WD
Condition
Used
Interface
SATA-6G
Use
Surveillance

7% below comparable new WD 4TB

ExpensiveFAIR PRICE
$189.99
$47.50/TB

WD WD43PURZ

Capacity
4TB
Brand
WD
Condition
Used
Interface
SATA-6G
Use
Surveillance

3% below comparable new WD 4TB

ExpensiveGOOD PRICE
$105.69
$52.85/TB

WD WD20PURX

Capacity
2TB
Brand
WD
Condition
Used
Interface
SATA-6G
Use
Surveillance

32% below comparable new WD 2TB

ExpensiveGOOD PRICE
$121.00
$60.50/TB

WD WD20EFRX

Capacity
2TB
Brand
WD
Condition
Used
Interface
SATA-6G
Use
NAS

22% below comparable new WD 2TB

ExpensiveFAIR PRICE
$88.39
$88.39/TB

WD WD10PURX

Capacity
1TB
Brand
WD
Condition
Used
Interface
SATA-6G
Use
Surveillance

31% below comparable new WD 1TB

ExpensiveFAIR PRICE
$93.00
$93.00/TB

WD WD10EFRX

Capacity
1TB
Brand
WD
Condition
Used
Interface
SATA-6G
Use
NAS

28% below comparable new WD 1TB

Best $/TB at each capacity

If you need a specific drive size, this table shows the cheapest live $/TB at each HDD capacity tier. For the step-change between capacities, the named sweet spot and frontier premium, and the bay-count arithmetic for when a pricier capacity is still the right buy, see the value-frontier page.

CapacityBest $/TBDriveTotal
1TB →$14.99HP ST31000640SS 1TB SAS$15
1.2TB →$40.00Seagate 1.2TB 10K SAS 12G 2.5$48
1.8TB →$66.67Toshiba 1.8TB 10K SAS 12G 2.5$120
2TB →$19.00Toshiba MG03ACA200 2TB SATA Enterprise$38
3TB →$15.13HGST HUS724030ALS640 3TB SAS 6G$45
4TB →$12.50HGST HUS726040ALS210 4TB SAS 12G$50
5TB$40.00WD Easystore 5TB USB External$200
6TB →$25.00MDD 6TB SAS 12G 7200RPM$150
8TB →$29.39Seagate BarraCuda 8TB ST8000DMZ04$235
10TB →$20.00WD Ultrastar 10TB SATA HUH721010ALE600$200
12TB →$25.00Seagate IronWolf Pro 12TB NAS ST12000NE0008$300
14TB →$23.50Toshiba MG07ACA14TE 14TB SATA Enterprise$329
16TB →$28.75Seagate Exos X16 16TB$460
18TB →$27.22MDD 18TB SAS 12G 7200RPM Enterprise$490
20TB →$28.00WD Ultrastar 20TB SATA$560
22TB →$28.14Seagate Exos X22 22TB$619
24TB →$28.71WD Ultrastar 24TB SATA WUH722424ALE604$689
26TB$44.04WD Red Pro 26TB NAS WD260KFGX$1145
32TB$36.25Seagate SkyHawk AI 32TB ST32000VE000$1160

Cheapest archive storage — LTO tape

LTO tape offers the lowest raw $/TB of any storage medium but requires a dedicated tape drive ($2,000-4,000 for LTO-8/LTO-9) making it economical only at 50TB+ scale. Excluded from the main ranking above because it is not a drop-in alternative to an HDD or SSD. See the LTO tape tracker for full cartridge and library pricing.

$/TBCartridgeCapTotal
$4.89FujiLTO-9 Ultrium 10-Pack 18TB18TB$880Buy/View Price
$5.31QuantumLTO-9 Ultrium 20-Pack 18TB18TB$1910Buy/View Price
$5.50HPELTO-9 Ultrium Single 18TB18TB$99Buy/View Price
$6.42QuantumLTO-8 Ultrium 20-Pack 12TB12TB$1540Buy/View Price
$6.50FujiLTO-8 Ultrium Single 12TB12TB$78Buy/View Price
$10.83QuantumLTO-7 Ultrium Single 6TB6TB$65Buy/View Price

What is a good price per TB?

The current tracked HDD floor is $12.50/TB, while the live median across this table is $41.25/TB. The new-drive floor is $15.00/TB. The non-new floor is $12.50/TB.

Those live figures describe Market Value, not Historical Value. The Good Price signal separately checks whether the exact listing is favorable against its own stored observations. That distinction matters: the market floor can rise while one exact model is still a good historical buy, or fall while the lowest listing remains expensive for that model.

SSDs are not directly comparable to HDDs on pure $/TB because they serve different latency, IOPS, endurance, and power-per-operation requirements. Use HDDs for capacity tiers and compare the NVMe U.2 tracker when the workload is performance-bound.

New vs refurbished — when to buy each

Non-new inventory can include used, renewed, seller-refurbished, and manufacturer-recertified listings. Those labels do not establish the same provenance, testing, warranty, or support. Compare the exact condition and seller terms, verify SMART data on arrival, run a full test, and use redundancy before trusting the drive.

New stock generally offers a clearer manufacturer support path, but the exact term still depends on the model and seller. For production storage, compare support, replacement inventory, workload requirements, and downtime cost. For secondary capacity tiers, non-new inventory may reduce acquisition cost when health checks, return rights, warranty, and redundancy are adequate.

Methodologysource, cadence and what is includedshow

Prices sourced from Amazon US via the Amazon Creators API on a 2-hour refresh cycle. $/TB is calculated as the current lowest in-stock price divided by the drive's rated capacity. Only in-stock drives are included in this ranking. Refurbished listings are tagged with the REFURB badge.

Frequently asked questions

What is a good price per TB right now?

The current tracked HDD floor is $12.50/TB and the live median is $41.25/TB. Market Value compares relevant current peers, while Historical Value checks the exact drive condition against stored pricing records.

Why are larger drives cheaper per TB?

Hard drive manufacturing costs are largely fixed per unit — the controller, motor, head assembly, and chassis cost roughly the same whether the drive holds 4TB or 20TB. Spreading that fixed cost over more capacity drops the $/TB. Higher-capacity drives also use the latest areal density technology, which improves over time.

Are refurbished drives worth it?

They can be for redundant backup and capacity tiers when the listing condition, seller, return terms, and warranty are explicit. Test the drive on arrival and avoid relying on one non-new drive as the only copy of important data.

Is it cheaper to buy one big drive or several small?

Often, but not always. Compare total acquisition cost and live $/TB, then account for drive bays, power, redundancy, rebuild behavior, and the maximum capacity supported by the enclosure or controller.

How often do these prices update?

Prices on DatacenterDisk refresh every 2 hours from Amazon US via the Amazon Creators API. The freshness indicator near the top of every page shows the most recent successful refresh.

What's the cheapest way to get 1TB of storage?

The current lowest qualifying HDD listing is HGST HUS726040ALS210 at $12.50/TB. Whether it is suitable still depends on interface, condition, warranty, and the system receiving the drive.

Do SSDs cost more per TB than HDDs?

The cheapest tracked NVMe listing currently costs about 10.0 times the price per TB of the HDD market floor. The products serve different latency, IOPS, endurance, and capacity-tier requirements.

Should I buy hard drives now or wait?

Use the live ranking for today's market and the HDD forecast page for observed direction and stated uncertainty. Buy against an actual capacity need, support requirement, and redundancy plan rather than treating a forecast as certain.

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Want the single answer rather than the ranking? Best price per terabyte today names one drive, states the criterion and shows the runner-up.