When the GDPR came into effect, it changed how businesses handle European user data. For many applications, hosting data outside the EU is either prohibited, risky, or simply inconvenient. European cloud providers offer a straightforward solution: keep your data in Europe, simplify compliance, and often save money compared to US hyperscalers.
This guide compares the leading European cloud providers and helps you choose the right one for your compliance needs.
Why Choose European Cloud Providers?
GDPR Compliance Simplified
Under GDPR, transferring personal data outside the EU/EEA requires:
- Adequacy decisions (limited countries)
- Standard Contractual Clauses (complex legal agreements)
- Binding Corporate Rules (enterprise only)
- Explicit user consent (often impractical)
Hosting in Europe eliminates these requirements entirely.
Data Sovereignty
EU-based hosting means:
- No US CLOUD Act concerns
- No FISA 702 surveillance
- Clear legal jurisdiction
- Predictable regulatory environment
Latency for European Users
If your users are primarily in Europe, hosting in Frankfurt or Amsterdam provides better performance than hosting in Virginia or Oregon.
| User Location | Frankfurt (EU) | US-East (Virginia) |
|---|---|---|
| Paris, France | ~10ms | ~90ms |
| London, UK | ~15ms | ~75ms |
| Amsterdam, NL | ~8ms | ~85ms |
| Berlin, Germany | ~5ms | ~95ms |
| Warsaw, Poland | ~20ms | ~110ms |
Cost Efficiency
European providers are often significantly cheaper than AWS, Azure, or GCP:
| Comparable Instance (4 vCPU, 8GB RAM) | Monthly Cost |
|---|---|
| AWS EC2 (t3.large, eu-central-1) | ~$70/month |
| Azure (B4ms, West Europe) | ~$65/month |
| Google Cloud (e2-standard-4, europe-west1) | ~$60/month |
| Hetzner Cloud (CPX41) | ~€19/month |
| OVHcloud (B2-30) | ~€25/month |
| DanubeData VPS Medium | €17.99/month |
European Cloud Provider Comparison
1. Hetzner (Germany)
Best for: Price-conscious developers, high-performance computing
Headquarters: Gunzenhausen, Germany
Data Centers: Nuremberg, Falkenstein (Germany), Helsinki (Finland)
Strengths
- Exceptional price-to-performance ratio
- Dedicated servers at cloud prices
- Excellent network connectivity
- AMD EPYC and Intel Xeon options
- NVMe storage standard
Limitations
- Basic managed services (no managed databases)
- Smaller ecosystem than hyperscalers
- Support primarily in German/English
Pricing (Cloud)
- CPX11: 2 vCPU, 2GB RAM - €4.85/month
- CPX31: 4 vCPU, 8GB RAM - €14.40/month
- CPX51: 8 vCPU, 32GB RAM - €38.35/month
2. OVHcloud (France)
Best for: Enterprise customers, global reach with EU roots
Headquarters: Roubaix, France
Data Centers: France, Germany, Poland, UK, and 30+ global locations
Strengths
- One of Europe's largest cloud providers
- Managed Kubernetes (OVHcloud Managed Kubernetes)
- Managed databases (MySQL, PostgreSQL)
- Strong DDoS protection
- Anti-US Act policy
Limitations
- Complex pricing structure
- Interface can be confusing
- Support response times vary
- 2021 data center fire impacted reputation
Pricing (Public Cloud)
- B2-7: 2 vCPU, 7GB RAM - ~€25/month
- B2-15: 4 vCPU, 15GB RAM - ~€45/month
- B2-30: 8 vCPU, 30GB RAM - ~€90/month
3. Scaleway (France)
Best for: Developers, startups, Kubernetes workloads
Headquarters: Paris, France (part of Iliad Group)
Data Centers: Paris, Amsterdam, Warsaw
Strengths
- Modern, developer-friendly interface
- Managed Kubernetes (Kapsule)
- Serverless containers and functions
- Object storage compatible with S3
- Good documentation
Limitations
- Smaller than OVH or Hetzner
- Limited geographic presence
- Some services in beta
Pricing
- DEV1-S: 2 vCPU, 2GB RAM - €7.99/month
- DEV1-M: 3 vCPU, 4GB RAM - €15.99/month
- DEV1-L: 4 vCPU, 8GB RAM - €31.99/month
4. IONOS (Germany)
Best for: SMBs, traditional hosting customers moving to cloud
Headquarters: Montabaur, Germany (formerly 1&1)
Data Centers: Germany, UK, Spain, USA
Strengths
- Managed WordPress/application hosting
- 24/7 phone support
- Data Processing Agreement included
- Good for non-technical users
Limitations
- Less competitive for developers
- Interface feels dated
- Upselling in dashboard
5. Exoscale (Switzerland)
Best for: Swiss data sovereignty, financial services
Headquarters: Lausanne, Switzerland
Data Centers: Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Bulgaria
Strengths
- Swiss jurisdiction (even stricter than EU)
- Simple, transparent pricing
- Managed Kubernetes (SKS)
- S3-compatible object storage
- Strong for regulated industries
Limitations
- Higher prices than Hetzner/OVH
- Smaller ecosystem
- Limited geographic reach
6. DanubeData (Germany)
Best for: Managed infrastructure, developers who want simplicity
Headquarters: Germany
Data Centers: Falkenstein, Germany (Hetzner infrastructure)
Strengths
- All-in-one platform: VPS, databases, caches, object storage, serverless
- Managed databases: PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB with automatic backups
- Managed caches: Redis, Valkey, Dragonfly
- S3-compatible storage: Built-in object storage
- Serverless containers: Knative-based scale-to-zero
- Simple pricing: No hidden fees, included bandwidth
- GDPR-compliant: German data center, EU company
Limitations
- Single region (Germany)
- Newer provider (less track record)
- Smaller community
Pricing
| Service | Starting Price | Includes |
|---|---|---|
| VPS | €4.49/month | 20TB traffic, daily backups |
| Managed PostgreSQL | €19.99/month | Backups, SSL, monitoring |
| Managed Redis | €4.99/month | Persistence, backups |
| Object Storage | €3.99/month | 1TB storage, 1TB traffic |
| Serverless | Pay per use | Scale to zero |
Comparison Matrix
| Feature | Hetzner | OVH | Scaleway | DanubeData |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Managed Databases | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Managed Redis | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Kubernetes | No | Yes | Yes | No* |
| Serverless | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Object Storage | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Price (4vCPU VPS) | ~€14 | ~€45 | ~€32 | €17.99 |
| Included Bandwidth | 20TB | Varies | Unlimited | 20TB |
| Dashboard UX | Good | Complex | Excellent | Excellent |
*DanubeData runs on Kubernetes internally but doesn't offer managed K8s to customers
GDPR Compliance Checklist
When selecting a European provider, verify:
Data Residency
- ☐ Data centers physically located in EU/EEA
- ☐ Clear documentation of data locations
- ☐ No automatic replication to non-EU regions
- ☐ Backup storage also in EU
Legal Framework
- ☐ Company registered in EU/EEA
- ☐ Subject to EU jurisdiction
- ☐ Data Processing Agreement (DPA) available
- ☐ Standard Contractual Clauses if needed
Technical Measures
- ☐ Encryption at rest
- ☐ Encryption in transit (TLS)
- ☐ Access controls and audit logs
- ☐ Backup and disaster recovery
Organizational Measures
- ☐ ISO 27001 certification (or equivalent)
- ☐ Regular security audits
- ☐ Incident response procedures
- ☐ Employee training documentation
Migration to European Hosting
Step 1: Audit Your Current Data
# Questions to answer:
# 1. What personal data do you store?
# 2. Where is it currently hosted?
# 3. What third-party services have access?
# 4. What are your data retention policies?
Step 2: Choose Your Provider
Consider:
- Services you need (VPS, databases, caches, storage)
- Budget constraints
- Technical requirements (Kubernetes, serverless, etc.)
- Support requirements
Step 3: Plan the Migration
# Example migration checklist for a typical web app:
Day 1-2: Setup
- [ ] Create account on EU provider
- [ ] Set up VPS/containers
- [ ] Configure managed database
- [ ] Set up Redis cache
- [ ] Configure object storage
Day 3-4: Testing
- [ ] Deploy application to new environment
- [ ] Run integration tests
- [ ] Load test
- [ ] Verify backup/restore
Day 5: DNS Migration
- [ ] Lower DNS TTL (if not already)
- [ ] Update DNS to point to new infrastructure
- [ ] Monitor for errors
- [ ] Verify SSL certificates
Day 6-7: Cleanup
- [ ] Confirm old infrastructure unused
- [ ] Delete data from old provider
- [ ] Update documentation
- [ ] Update privacy policy if needed
Step 4: Update Documentation
Update your privacy policy to reflect:
- New data processing locations
- Updated list of sub-processors
- Any changes to data retention
Use Case Recommendations
For Startups/Small Teams
Recommended: DanubeData
- All-in-one platform (VPS + DB + Cache + Storage)
- Simple pricing, no hidden fees
- Managed services reduce operational burden
- Cost: ~€35/month for complete stack
For Cost-Sensitive Projects
Recommended: Hetzner
- Lowest prices in Europe
- Excellent hardware
- Requires more self-management
- Cost: ~€15/month for VPS + self-managed DB
For Enterprise/Regulated Industries
Recommended: OVHcloud or Exoscale
- Enterprise support options
- Compliance certifications
- Swiss jurisdiction available (Exoscale)
- Cost: €50-200/month depending on requirements
For Kubernetes Workloads
Recommended: Scaleway
- Managed Kubernetes (Kapsule)
- Good developer experience
- Serverless containers available
- Cost: Starting at ~€10/month for small cluster
Conclusion
European cloud providers offer compelling alternatives to US hyperscalers:
- Simplified GDPR compliance through EU data residency
- Lower costs for comparable compute resources
- Better latency for European users
- Data sovereignty under EU jurisdiction
For most applications, the choice comes down to your specific needs:
- Need managed services? DanubeData, OVH, or Scaleway
- Budget-constrained? Hetzner
- Enterprise requirements? OVH or Exoscale
- Kubernetes-native? Scaleway
Get Started with DanubeData
Deploy GDPR-compliant infrastructure in minutes:
Complete EU-hosted stack:
- VPS starting at €4.49/month
- Managed PostgreSQL from €19.99/month
- Managed Redis from €4.99/month
- S3 storage from €3.99/month
All hosted in Germany with automatic backups, SSL, and 99.9% uptime SLA.
Questions about GDPR compliance for your setup? Contact our team for guidance.
