Direct comparison
OVHcloud vs Scaleway
OVHcloud or Scaleway? The direct cloud comparison of services, data centers, costs and sovereignty. Services, pricing, data centers and sovereignty in a direct comparison.
Management summary
As of 2026-07OVHcloud and Scaleway position themselves as sovereign EU cloud providers with a strong focus on technological (9/10 each) and operational sovereignty (9/10 each). OVHcloud impresses with a broader global footprint (17 countries vs. 3 for Scaleway) and a more mature enterprise portfolio, particularly in Bare Metal (10/10) and Storage (10/10). Scaleway, on the other hand, scores higher in price competitiveness (Cost Rating 8.5/10 vs. 8.0/10) and has a stronger focus on cloud-native and AI infrastructure (AI Score 6/10 vs. 5/10). While OVHcloud addresses complex enterprise migrations through its global presence and VMware support (Virtualization 8/10), Scaleway is ideal for purely European, cloud-native projects with high price sensitivity. Both providers show weaknesses in Microsoft integrations (4/10 each), making them primarily suitable for Linux-heavy environments.
Methodology & data basisOVHcloud
EU providerUSP: Leading European Cloud, Possibility to combine Private Cloud with Bare Metal and Public Cloud
Recommendation: Recommended for cost-conscious companies that require global scalability and strong EU data protection
Scaleway
EU providerUSP: European portfolio with a focus on AI infrastructure and cloud-native development
Recommendation: Recommended for companies looking for European Cloud Native alternatives
Performance chart
OVHcloud and Scaleway across 8 core categories, compared with the average of all providers (1–10).
Market positioning
All 13 providers by sovereignty and portfolio performance — purely computed from the category ratings.
Positions are purely computational: X = mean of technological & operational sovereignty, Y = mean of all remaining rating categories (each 1–10). Not a ranking recommendation. Methodology & data basis
Strengths & weaknesses
Automatically derived from the editorially reviewed rating data and backed by the category ratings (1–10) — fair to both sides.
Strengths
- Comprehensive Bare Metal offering: With a score of 10/10 (average of all providers: 5.2), OVHcloud offers the most mature portfolio of dedicated servers.
- Strong storage and networking capabilities: Storage reaches 10/10 (avg: 7.7) and Networking 9/10 (avg: 7.8), supporting complex infrastructures.
- High sovereignty: Technological (9/10) and operational sovereignty (9/10) are significantly above average (7.4 and 8.0 respectively), underpinned by a SEAL Score of 8.6/10.
- Mature virtualization solutions: With 8/10 (avg: 5.7), OVHcloud supports migrations from VMware environments better than many competitors.
Points to consider
- Limited AI capabilities: The AI Score is 5/10 (avg: 4.8); important Managed AI services are not yet fully available in production.
- Weak Microsoft integration: With 4/10 (avg: 4.5), the platform is less suitable for Windows Server or Active Directory-heavy environments.
- Limited strategic depth: Strategic opportunities score 6/10 (avg: 6.2); services like Serverless are not yet in production.
Strengths
- Superior price competitiveness: With a price score of 9/10 (avg: 6.4) and a Cost Rating of 8.5/10, Scaleway offers attractive rates, particularly for GPU (9.0/10) and Egress (10.0/10).
- Strong focus on AI infrastructure: The AI Score of 6/10 (avg: 4.8) and the offering of Managed Inference Services make Scaleway interesting for AI projects.
- Solid cloud-native foundation: Containerization reaches 8/10 (avg: 7.3) and Bare Metal 9/10 (avg: 5.2), enabling a modern, low-lock-in architecture.
- High European sovereignty: With a SEAL Score of 7.9/10 and scores of 9/10 in technological and operational sovereignty, Scaleway is a trustworthy EU option.
Points to consider
- No global reach: With a score of 1/10 (avg: 4.5) and only 3 countries, Scaleway is unsuitable for international workloads.
- Weak enterprise virtualization: With 4/10 (avg: 5.7), Managed VMware solutions are missing, making classic enterprise migrations difficult.
- Thinner Big Data offerings: The Big Data Score of 4/10 (avg: 4.8) indicates a less extensive portfolio of analytics services.
Which provider when?
Use-case-based decision aid — both options are a valid choice.
Choose OVHcloud if:
- You need a global cloud footprint with presence in North America, Asia, and Europe.
- Your infrastructure is heavily based on VMware or requires dedicated Bare Metal servers with high availability.
- You are looking for a provider with a broad storage portfolio (Block, File, Object, Archive) and strong networking capabilities.
- You need collaboration tools (Score 6/10) as part of the cloud infrastructure.
Choose Scaleway if:
- You are looking for the most cost-effective EU cloud solution with a focus on cloud-native technologies.
- Your workloads are purely European and do not require global presence.
- You plan to deploy AI/ML workloads and need affordable GPU instances as well as Managed Inference Services.
- You prefer a lean, modern stack without legacy enterprise features like VMware.
Service comparison by category
All 19 rating categories in a head-to-head duel (1–10). A notable lead is marked from a 2-point difference.
| Category | OVHcloudvsScalewayScale 1–10 | Avg. all | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Data Security & Encryption | 77 | 7.8 | balanced |
| Technological Sovereignty | 99 | 7.4 | balanced |
| Operational Sovereignty | 99 | 8 | balanced |
| Strategic Capabilities | 66 | 6.2 | balanced |
| Price | 89 | 6.4 | balanced |
| Collaboration Tools | 63 | 5.1 | Lead OVHcloud |
| Global Reach | 61 | 4.5 | Lead OVHcloud |
| Big Data | 64 | 4.8 | Lead OVHcloud |
| AI | 56 | 4.8 | balanced |
| Bare Metal | 109 | 5.2 | balanced |
| Virtualization | 84 | 5.7 | Lead OVHcloud |
| Containerization | 98 | 7.3 | balanced |
| Databases | 77 | 6.9 | balanced |
| High Availability | 86 | 6.7 | Lead OVHcloud |
| Microsoft | 44 | 4.5 | balanced |
| Linux | 88 | 8.8 | balanced |
| Encryption | 77 | 6.8 | balanced |
| Storage | 108 | 7.7 | Lead OVHcloud |
| Network | 98 | 7.8 | balanced |
Management Summary
Sovereign Cloud
SEAL Framework
Strategic (15 %)
Legal & Jurisdictional (10 %)
Data & AI (10 %)
Operational (15 %)
Supply Chain (20 %)
Technology (15 %)
Security & Compliance (10 %)
Availability & Locations
Compute
shared & low-budget
Hot Storage
Cold Storage
Managed Databases
Network & Security
Orchestration
Virtualization
Management
Big Data
AI & Machine Learning
Quantum Computing
Compliance & Certificates
German cloud security catalogue
Information security management system
Cloud security controls for providers
Personal data protection for cloud
Privacy information management extension
Energy management for data centers
Cloud Security Alliance assurance registry
Service organization control audit reports
Payment card data security standard
Cost Indication
vCPU/h
H100/h
GB/h
CPU/h
Ratio1/4
GB/h | 3000 IOPS
GB/h
GB/h
GB/h
Cluster/h
LLama3.3-70B per 1Mil tokens
LLama3.3-70B per 1Mil tokens
per GB
Our comparison methodology
The scores show a relative price comparison per service category. The lowest price earns 10 points; higher prices are marked down proportionally. Missing services are treated neutrally.
As of: List prices as of 11 September 2025, location Germany (DE).
More cloud comparisons
Frequently asked questions: OVHcloud vs Scaleway
What is the difference between OVHcloud and Scaleway?
OVHcloud offers a broader global footprint (17 countries) and a more mature enterprise portfolio with a strong focus on Bare Metal (10/10) and Virtualization (8/10). Scaleway focuses more on cloud-native and AI infrastructure (AI Score 6/10) and offers higher price competitiveness (Cost Rating 8.5/10), but is limited to Europe (3 countries).
Which provider is more sovereign?
Both providers exhibit high sovereignty. OVHcloud has a slightly higher SEAL Score of 8.6/10 (86%) compared to 7.9/10 (79%) for Scaleway. However, both achieve the maximum score of 9/10 in technological and operational sovereignty, marking them as trustworthy EU providers.
Which provider is cheaper?
Scaleway offers higher price competitiveness with a Cost Rating of 8.5/10 and a price score of 9/10. OVHcloud is also above average with a Cost Rating of 8.0/10 and a price score of 8/10, but is relatively more expensive. Actual costs, however, depend heavily on the specific workload.
Which provider is better for AI workloads?
Scaleway is better suited for AI workloads, as it has a higher AI Score of 6/10 (avg: 4.8) and offers Managed Inference Services in production. OVHcloud has an AI Score of 5/10 and offers AI endpoints, but many advanced services are not yet available in production.
Can I migrate VMware workloads?
OVHcloud is better suited for VMware migrations, as it achieves a Virtualization Score of 8/10 (avg: 5.7) and offers Managed VMware platforms. Scaleway has a Virtualization Score of only 4/10 and does not offer Managed VMware solutions, making the migration of classic enterprise estates difficult.
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