EU Cloud Hosting — 3-Way Comparison
The three credible European cloud providers. All compete with AWS / GCP / Azure on capability. All save you 50-80% on equivalent workloads. Each has a different sweet spot.
Hetzner
Germany · Hetzner Online GmbH
- Locations
- Germany (Falkenstein, Nuremberg), Finland (Helsinki), USA (Ashburn)
- Cheapest server
- €4.51/month (CPX11: 2 vCPU, 4 GB RAM, 80 GB SSD)
- Pricing model
- Transparent flat pricing, no hidden egress charges within reasonable limits
- Product range
- Cloud servers, dedicated servers, managed Kubernetes, object storage, load balancers, private networks, server auctions
Standout: Best price-performance in cloud computing, period. 50-80% cheaper than AWS for comparable workloads.
Trade-off: Smaller product surface than OVHcloud or Scaleway; no managed databases (use self-managed PostgreSQL/MySQL)
Best for: Cost-sensitive startups, indie devs, mid-market SaaS optimizing burn rate
Read full review →Scaleway
France · Scaleway SAS
- Locations
- France (Paris), Netherlands (Amsterdam), Poland (Warsaw)
- Cheapest server
- €0.0078/hour (~€5.70/month for entry instance)
- Pricing model
- Hourly billing on most products, monthly caps available
- Product range
- Instances, Kubernetes (Kapsule), serverless containers, managed databases, GPU clusters (H100), object storage, IoT Hub, AI/ML services
Standout: Largest non-hyperscaler NVIDIA H100 cluster in Europe. Strong AI/ML positioning.
Trade-off: More expensive than Hetzner on like-for-like compute; dashboard occasionally slower than competitors
Best for: AI/ML workloads, French data residency requirements, modern cloud-native architectures
Read full review →OVHcloud
France · OVH Groupe SA
- Locations
- 40+ data centres globally — France, Germany, UK, Poland, Canada, USA, Australia, Singapore, India
- Cheapest server
- €3.50/month (Discovery tier d2-2)
- Pricing model
- Mostly flat monthly pricing, transparent egress
- Product range
- Public Cloud (OpenStack-based), bare metal, hosted private cloud (VMware), AI Endpoints (managed LLM inference), web hosting, domains
Standout: Largest European cloud by revenue. Most complete product range. Geographic redundancy options.
Trade-off: OpenStack base means slightly more learning curve than AWS-likes; pricing is competitive but not leadership
Best for: EU enterprises requiring geographic redundancy or hybrid setups, public sector procurement
Read full review →Quick Comparison
| 🇩🇪 Hetzner | 🇫🇷 Scaleway | 🇫🇷 OVHcloud | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Country | Germany | France | France |
| Cheapest server | €4.51/month (CPX11: 2 vCPU, 4 GB RAM, 80 GB SSD) | €0.0078/hour (~€5.70/month for entry instance) | €3.50/month (Discovery tier d2-2) |
| Managed Kubernetes | ✅ Hetzner Cloud | ✅ Kapsule | ✅ OVH Managed Kubernetes |
| Managed databases | ❌ Self-managed only | ✅ PostgreSQL, MySQL, Redis | ✅ PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, Redis |
| GPU instances | ⚠️ Limited | ✅ H100, A100, L4 | ✅ A100, L40S, AI Endpoints |
| Object storage (S3-compatible) | ✅ Yes (€5/TB) | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Bare metal / dedicated | ✅ Strong (server auctions) | ✅ Yes | ✅ Strong (largest range) |
| Egress pricing | Generous flat allowance | Reasonable, hourly | Generous, transparent |
| Terraform provider | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Geographic redundancy | ⚠️ EU + 1 US region | ⚠️ EU only | ✅ Global (40+ DCs) |
| Hyperscaler-grade certifications (ISO 27001, SOC 2, HDS, FINMA, etc.) | ⚠️ ISO 27001 | ✅ Multiple | ✅ Most extensive |
| Sovereign cloud option | EU jurisdiction by default | EU jurisdiction by default | ✅ Sovereign Cloud (separate offering) |
| Best rating | ★ 4.7/5 | ★ 4.5/5 | ★ 4.3/5 |
How to Pick
Choose Hetzner if…
- You're cost-sensitive and want the best price-performance in cloud, period
- You're comfortable self-managing databases (or you use Hetzner + Neon/Supabase combo)
- You're a startup or indie dev wanting AWS-like capability without AWS-like bills
- Server auctions appeal to you (massive discounts on quality dedicated hardware)
Choose Scaleway if…
- You're building AI/ML workloads and need EU-resident GPU access
- French data residency is specifically required
- You want managed databases without leaving the EU cloud space
- Modern serverless / container-first architectures are your default
Choose OVHcloud if…
- You need geographic redundancy across multiple continents
- Your enterprise customers require ISO 27017, SOC 2, HDS, or sovereign cloud
- You're running hybrid setups (private cloud + public cloud + dedicated)
- European public sector procurement is in your near future
Calculate your specific savings
Plug in your monthly cloud workload and see what you'd pay on AWS vs all three of these EU providers.
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