Cloud & hosting: European providers compared

Servers, managed services and cloud infrastructure from European providers – from simple web hosting to scalable cloud platforms.

Recommendations

Nextcloud

Germany

Confidence: high

Open-source, self-hostable collaboration platform from Germany – files, calendar, office and more.

EUOpen SourceSelf-Hosting

STACKIT

Germany

Confidence: high

Sovereign German business cloud from the Schwarz Group with data centers exclusively in Germany and Austria.

Alarik

Germany

Confidence: medium

Open-source, S3-compatible object store from Germany (Apache 2.0) – a self-hostable alternative to MinIO and AWS S3, still in early development.

EUOpen SourceSelf-Hosting

Comparison table

Providers	Score	Headquarters	Pricing
Nextcloud	90	Germany	Open source (AGPLv3) / enterprise support
STACKIT	89	Germany	Pay-as-you-go (data transfer free)
Alarik	88	Germany	Open source (Apache 2.0, self-hosted, free)
OVHcloud	86	France	from 4,54 $ / Monat
Infomaniak	86	Switzerland	Web hosting / cloud (pay-as-you-go)
Hetzner	85	Germany	from 3,79 € / Monat
Scaleway	84	France	Pay-as-you-go
Bunny.net	84	Slovenia	Pay-as-you-go (from approx. €0.01/GB)
Aruba	84	Italy	Cloud subscription / hosting / domains
IONOS	80	Germany	from 1 € / Monat
Aiven	66	Finland	Cloud subscription (managed, usage-based)

Selection criteria

Classic web hosting is enough for simple websites. Anyone running their own applications needs root servers, managed Kubernetes or a real cloud platform with object storage, databases and API. Data center location, certifications and pricing structure (especially data transfer) are important.

Data protection & compliance

For cloud infrastructure, data center location, certifications (ISO 27001, BSI C5, sometimes SecNumCloud) and a DPA matter. For particularly sensitive workloads, sovereign offerings whose operation takes place exclusively in the EU are relevant.

The Sovereignty Score is an editorial orientation aid, not legal advice.

Typical use cases

Web hosting and domains for websites
Cloud servers for own applications and APIs
Managed Kubernetes and container workloads
Object storage and backups with EU data storage

Pricing guidance

Web hosting is available from about €1 per month, cloud servers from around €4 per month. Billing is usually usage-based; pay particular attention to data transfer costs, which are often high with US hyperscalers.

Providers in this category

11 results

Nextcloud

Germany

Confidence: high

Open-source, self-hostable collaboration platform from Germany – files, calendar, office and more.

EUOpen SourceSelf-Hosting

STACKIT

Germany

Confidence: high

Sovereign German business cloud from the Schwarz Group with data centers exclusively in Germany and Austria.

Alarik

Germany

Confidence: medium

Open-source, S3-compatible object store from Germany (Apache 2.0) – a self-hostable alternative to MinIO and AWS S3, still in early development.

EUOpen SourceSelf-Hosting

OVHcloud

France

Confidence: high

Europe's largest cloud provider from France – from bare metal to public cloud, with SecNumCloud and HDS qualification.

Infomaniak

Switzerland

Confidence: high

Independent Swiss cloud and hosting provider with own data centers – from web hosting and email to public cloud, 100% green electricity.

EFTA

Hetzner

Germany

Confidence: high

German cloud and server provider with very good value for money and data centers in DE/FI.

Scaleway

France

Confidence: high

Developer-friendly French cloud (iliad Group) with modern API, Kubernetes and serverless offerings.

Bunny.net

Slovenia

Confidence: high

Slovenian edge platform: CDN, edge storage, video and DNS – GDPR-native and pay-as-you-go, a European Cloudflare alternative.

Aruba

Italy

Confidence: high

Italy's leading cloud and hosting provider with its own data centers – a European alternative for cloud, hosting and domains.

IONOS

Germany

Confidence: high

Large German hosting and cloud provider with a broad offering from web hosting to enterprise cloud.

Aiven

Finland

Confidence: high

Finnish managed platform for open-source databases (PostgreSQL, Kafka, ClickHouse) – EU regions selectable, but runs on hyperscalers.

Related alternative pages

Amazon Web Services (AWS) Alternative

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Frequently asked questions

Are European clouds cheaper than AWS/Azure?

For standard compute and storage, often yes, especially with providers such as Hetzner. For very specific managed services, the comparison can look different – a concrete cost calculation is worthwhile.

What does “sovereign cloud” mean?

It refers to a cloud whose operation, data and personnel are fully subject to European law and not exposed to access by non-EU authorities – for example SecNumCloud-qualified environments or offerings such as STACKIT.

The Sovereignty Score is an editorial orientation aid, not legal advice. How we rate.