Direct comparison
Scaleway vs SysEleven
Scaleway or SysEleven? 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 2026-07Scaleway and SysEleven represent two different approaches to European cloud sovereignty: Scaleway focuses on a broad, cloud-native portfolio with strong bare metal infrastructure and competitive pricing, while SysEleven, as a German platform, focuses on maximum operational control, strict compliance (BSI C5), and tailored operations. Scaleway scores high on strategic variety (6/10) and a strong AI portfolio (6/10), making it attractive for innovative, pan-European projects. SysEleven convinces with the highest operational sovereignty (10/10) and data security (9/10), but is limited in service breadth (Strategic Opportunities 4/10) and offers few AI or Big Data services. Companies focused on Linux, containers, and cost control will find a robust basis with Scaleway, while regulated industries with a high need for German jurisdiction and individual support will turn to SysEleven.
Methodology & data basisScaleway
EU providerUSP: European portfolio with a focus on AI infrastructure and cloud-native development
Recommendation: Recommended for companies looking for European Cloud Native alternatives
SysEleven
EU providerUSP: German cloud platform built for tailored operations, not standardized infrastructure.
Recommendation: Custom-operated workloads with strong support requirements in a German cloud environment
Performance chart
Scaleway and SysEleven 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
- Scaleway offers outstanding pricing (Price 9/10, Ø: 6.4) with a Cost Rating of 8.5/10 and favorable rates for GPU (9.0/10) and Egress (10.0/10).
- The bare metal infrastructure is strongly developed (Bare Metal 9/10, Ø: 5.2), complemented by mature containerization (8/10, Ø: 7.3) with Managed Kubernetes.
- Scaleway achieves high values in technological (9/10) and operational sovereignty (9/10), supported by a SEAL Score of 7.9/10 and EU residency.
- The storage portfolio is comprehensive (Storage 8/10, Ø: 7.7) and covers Block, File, Object, and Archive, with Archive storage being particularly cost-effective (9.5/10).
Points to consider
- Scaleway has no global reach (Global Reach 1/10, Ø: 4.5), making the provider unsuitable for international workloads outside Europe.
- Enterprise virtualization is weakly developed (Virtualization 4/10, Ø: 5.7), as no Managed VMware or direct hypervisor access is offered for classic migration paths.
- The Big Data portfolio is limited (Big Data 4/10, Ø: 4.8), with less extensive analytics and data platform services compared to the market standard.
Strengths
- SysEleven achieves maximum operational sovereignty (10/10, Ø: 8.2) and high data security (9/10, Ø: 7.8), operated exclusively in German data centers under German jurisdiction.
- The platform offers a broad, certified compliance basis with BSI C5, ISO 27001, ISO 27017, and ISO 27018, as well as GDPR and KRITIS suitability.
- SysEleven is based on an open stack (OpenStack) with Managed Kubernetes (MetaKube) and offers high technological sovereignty (9/10, Ø: 7.4) without lock-in.
- Cost points are attractive in key areas: SysEleven offers free Egress (10/10), inexpensive Block Storage (9.0/10), and a Saving Plan discount of 54%.
Points to consider
- SysEleven offers practically no AI and analytics services (AI 1/10, Big Data 1/10), making the platform unsuitable for data-driven or GenAI workloads.
- Strategic opportunities are limited (Strategic Opportunities 4/10, Ø: 6.2), as the portfolio is deliberately designed for tailored operations rather than service breadth.
- The encryption product depth is low (Encryption 3/10, Ø: 6.8), as there is no full-fledged KMS/HSM offering, but only Barbican Secrets.
Which provider when?
Use-case-based decision aid — both options are a valid choice.
Choose Scaleway if:
- You need a cost-effective cloud with a strong focus on bare metal servers and cloud-native technologies such as Kubernetes.
- Your workloads are primarily Linux-based and you benefit from a broad portfolio of managed services such as databases and AI tools.
- You are looking for a European provider with good value for money (Cost Rating 8.5/10) and do not need a global presence outside Europe.
- Your application requires modern AI infrastructure (Generative APIs, Managed Inference) within a sovereign EU environment.
Choose SysEleven if:
- Maximum operational sovereignty (10/10) and German jurisdiction are crucial for your compliance requirements (BSI C5, KRITIS).
- You prefer an open, OpenStack-based stack with high exit-friendliness and need individual support for tailored operations.
- Your workloads are Linux-based and you need inexpensive Block Storage (9.0/10) and free Egress (10/10) within Germany.
- You do not need AI or Big Data services, but focus on secure, regulated infrastructure with high data security (9/10).
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 | ScalewayvsSysElevenScale 1–10 | Avg. all | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Data Security & Encryption | 79 | 7.8 | Lead SysEleven |
| Technological Sovereignty | 99 | 7.4 | balanced |
| Operational Sovereignty | 910 | 8 | balanced |
| Strategic Capabilities | 64 | 6.2 | Lead Scaleway |
| Price | 96 | 6.4 | Lead Scaleway |
| Collaboration Tools | 31 | 5.1 | Lead Scaleway |
| Global Reach | 11 | 4.5 | balanced |
| Big Data | 41 | 4.8 | Lead Scaleway |
| AI | 61 | 4.8 | Lead Scaleway |
| Bare Metal | 91 | 5.2 | Lead Scaleway |
| Virtualization | 41 | 5.7 | Lead Scaleway |
| Containerization | 86 | 7.3 | Lead Scaleway |
| Databases | 74 | 6.9 | Lead Scaleway |
| High Availability | 65 | 6.7 | balanced |
| Microsoft | 41 | 4.5 | Lead Scaleway |
| Linux | 88 | 8.8 | balanced |
| Encryption | 73 | 6.8 | Lead Scaleway |
| Storage | 83 | 7.7 | Lead Scaleway |
| Network | 85 | 7.8 | Lead Scaleway |
Management Summary
Sovereign Cloud
SEAL Framework
Strategic (15 %)
Legal & Jurisdictional (10 %)
Data & AI (10 %)
Operational (15 %)
Supply Chain (20 %)
Technology (15 %)
Security & Compliance (10 %)
Environmental (5 %)
Availability & Locations
SoonCompute
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
Ratio1/4
GB/h | 3000 IOPS
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: Scaleway vs SysEleven
What is the difference between Scaleway and SysEleven?
Scaleway is a European cloud provider with a broad, cloud-native portfolio that strongly focuses on bare metal, containers, and AI infrastructure (Strategic Opportunities 6/10). SysEleven is a German platform that specializes in maximum operational sovereignty (10/10), strict compliance (BSI C5), and tailored operations based on OpenStack, but offers a narrow strategic portfolio (4/10) without AI services.
Which provider is more sovereign?
Both providers are highly sovereign, but with different focuses. SysEleven achieves the highest operational sovereignty (10/10) and a SEAL Score of 8.0/10, operated exclusively in Germany. Scaleway also offers high technological (9/10) and operational sovereignty (9/10) with a SEAL Score of 7.9/10, but is located at the EU level (France, Netherlands, Poland).
Which provider is cheaper?
Scaleway has a higher Cost Rating (8.5/10) and is considered more price-competitive (Price 9/10), especially for GPU and Egress. SysEleven has a lower Cost Rating (6.7/10), but offers free Egress (10/10) and inexpensive Block Storage (9.0/10). Actual costs are highly workload-dependent.
Does Scaleway offer global data centers?
No, Scaleway has a global reach of 1/10 and operates only in 3 countries in Europe (France, Netherlands, Poland). Scaleway is not suitable for workloads outside Europe.
Is SysEleven suitable for AI workloads?
No, SysEleven has an AI score of 1/10 and offers no AI or machine learning services. The platform is deliberately focused on infrastructure and compliance, not on data-driven innovations.
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