In a global context where the public cloud is predominantly dominated by American and Asian companies, Europe aims to establish itself as a sovereign player capable of offering a credible and secure alternative. Scaleway Elements fits perfectly into this dynamic. Supported by Xavier Niel, an emblematic figure of the French digital industry, this cloud platform offers a rich ecosystem of cloud services, meeting the increasingly complex needs of companies seeking high-performance infrastructures that comply with European regulations. From its servers located exclusively in Europe to its innovative solutions for artificial intelligence and quantum computing, Scaleway Elements combines cutting-edge technology with sovereignty requirements. This development comes as the digital transformation of public and private services accelerates, making it crucial to ensure data protection and confidentiality. Thus, this platform becomes an essential pillar of tomorrow’s cloud infrastructure, contributing to the continent’s digital independence.
Today, European companies have increased expectations regarding their web hosting and cloud solutions. Scaleway Elements offers a comprehensive and versatile range, from storage to virtual server architecture, supported by nine data centers spread from Paris to Warsaw. This geographical deployment not only guarantees the resilience of infrastructures but also increased compliance with European standards such as the GDPR. In 2026, with continued growth and an international client base, Scaleway positions itself as the second French provider behind the leader OVHcloud, a notable achievement in a highly competitive market where mistrust towards American giants drives European players to innovate to attract developers, entrepreneurs, and major institutions. The European public cloud offered by Scaleway is thus a major response to these strategic challenges.
- 1 A detailed overview of Scaleway Elements: the essential European public cloud ecosystem
- 2 Reinventing the European public cloud: sovereignty, openness, and interoperability at the heart of Scaleway
- 3 Complete 2026 Scaleway pricing guide: mastering your cloud costs in Europe
- 4 Scaleway, a driver of innovation in sovereign AI and quantum computing in Europe
- 5 The multiple benefits of the Scaleway sovereign cloud for European companies
- 6 Future prospects: Scaleway and the construction of a sovereign European public cloud
A detailed overview of Scaleway Elements: the essential European public cloud ecosystem
Scaleway Elements is not just a simple public cloud provider. It is a truly comprehensive ecosystem offering a wide range of innovative services adapted to a broad array of users, from startups to public administrations. The architecture of this platform is essentially based on IaaS and PaaS solutions, combining power and flexibility. The Scaleway Elements portfolio includes over 40 offerings, incorporating compute services (instances, Kubernetes, dedicated GPUs, Bare Metal servers), storage (object data, block, and cold archiving), as well as advanced networking devices, including IP, multi-cloud Load Balancer, private network, and DNS.
The compute component represents a strong feature of this ecosystem. For example, the UP-BM2-XL server, one of the most robust in the world, is equipped with 8 Intel Xeon Platinum 8280 processors, totaling 224 cores and 448 threads, a major asset for companies requiring high-end computing capacity. Moreover, Scaleway innovates with hourly billing, making this offer one of the most competitive for dedicated resources. In terms of storage, the presence of a Cold Storage solution, the only European alternative to Amazon Glacier, demonstrates the willingness to meet all use cases, including the most specific ones.
Developers appreciate the functional richness offered, notably thanks to automation tools such as Terraform, but also emerging services like Serverless or IoT Hub for the Internet of Things, illustrating a resolutely technology-forward orientation. This diversity enables Scaleway to respond effectively to the specific needs of current digital projects, while encouraging multi-cloud portability through compatibility with international standards.
Reinventing the European public cloud: sovereignty, openness, and interoperability at the heart of Scaleway
Faced with the dominance of American cloud giants, Scaleway Elements offers a clear positioning: providing a “sovereign” and “open” public cloud, based on standard technologies to avoid any form of proprietary lock-in, often criticized in the professional environment. This strategy is particularly relevant in a context where European regulations, such as the GDPR, impose strict requirements on data management, storage, and confidentiality.
The deployment of infrastructure in three main regions – Paris, Amsterdam, and Warsaw – along with French governance guarantees enhanced control and protection of data against external intrusions. This location also avoids issues related to the American Cloud Act, which would compromise the confidentiality of data stored by non-European providers. As a result, Scaleway attracts clients sensitive to digital sovereignty, especially in the public sector as well as regulated domains such as finance or healthcare.
Beyond security, openness is expressed through strong compatibility, particularly thanks to its network services like the multi-cloud Load Balancer accepting all IP addresses and object storage compatible with Amazon S3. This greatly facilitates migration and integration of existing applications, offering a smooth experience to developers and cloud architects eager to build hybrid or multi-cloud infrastructures.
Concrete examples of interoperability and sovereignty
A large European company that migrated to Scaleway well illustrates this ability to combine user comfort with regulatory constraints. Faced with increasing pressure to host its data in Europe, this company benefited from robust infrastructure spread across multiple data centers entirely compliant with data protection standards. The adoption of standard technologies in orchestration processes enabled agile deployment cycles, maximizing flexibility while ensuring full control over sensitive data.
Complete 2026 Scaleway pricing guide: mastering your cloud costs in Europe
In a competitive environment, transparency and pricing simplicity are two determining factors for the success of a public cloud service. Scaleway maintains a pricing policy adapted to the varied needs of its clients, whether they are developers, SMEs, or large companies, with clear segmentation according to usage.
For computing and virtual instances, the entry-level base is accessible, with the DEV1-S range offering 2 vCPUs at €6.42 excl. VAT per month. Moving towards more demanding needs, the General Purpose and Compute offers provide a flexible model based on pay-as-you-go billing, allowing users to optimize their costs according to their actual load.
The web hosting sector also benefits from competitive prices, with packages starting at €9.99 excl. VAT per month for the Essential offer and rising to €29.99 excl. VAT per month for Premium services. For dedicated servers, the Dedibox reference remains very attractive with a starting price of only €4.99 excl. VAT monthly.
Storage is structured to guarantee an optimal quality/price ratio, with a cost of €0.08 per GB for block storage. Network management relies on a pricing scale between €0.004 and €0.01 per GB, allowing precise control of traffic-related expenses. Finally, innovative projects, especially those integrating AI or serverless dimensions, benefit from an incentive offer with high-performance Nvidia GPUs and advantageous pricing for serverless requests (1 million included, then €0.15 per million).
| Category | Offer | Price (€ excl. VAT / month) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Instances & Compute | DEV1-S (2 vCPU) | 6.42 | Entry-level virtual server adapted for development environments |
| Web Hosting | Essential | 9.99 | Basic hosting for small sites and lightweight applications |
| Web Hosting | Premium | 29.99 | Advanced offer with increased resources and priority support |
| Dedicated Servers | Dedibox | 4.99 | Very competitive dedicated server solution |
| Storage | Block | €0.08/GB | High-performance storage adapted to databases and critical volumes |
Budget optimization and scalability
This detailed pricing allows companies to scale continuously, thanks to clear and surprise-free billing. For example, a developer starting a large project can begin with a low-cost instance, then gradually adjust their resources based on business growth, while remaining fully in control of their expenses. Similarly, companies using hybrid or multi-cloud infrastructures will appreciate the efficiency of centralized management and automation tools integrated into Scaleway Elements, significantly reducing operational costs.
Scaleway, a driver of innovation in sovereign AI and quantum computing in Europe
Emerging as a major player in artificial intelligence in Europe, Scaleway marked the 2025-2026 turning point by significantly expanding its infrastructure dedicated to sovereign AI and quantum computing. The integration of Nvidia B300 Blackwell Ultra accelerators offers drastically superior computing capacities adapted to the needs of the most demanding AI models, while optimizing energy consumption through strategic partnerships with Ampere.
The capacity to deploy high-performance instances across several European countries, including France, the Netherlands, Poland, Italy, Sweden, and soon Germany, gives Scaleway extensive geographical coverage compliant with European aspirations for technological sovereignty.
Scaleway also hosts all models developed by Mistral AI, as well as innovative projects such as the intelligent agents of the startup H (Holo 2) or the advanced voice interfaces of Gradium. This testifies to a dynamic ecosystem serving research and startups while ensuring independence from non-European technologies.
Beyond classical cloud, Scaleway also democratizes access to quantum computing with its Quantum as a Service platform. In collaboration with leading players such as Quandela, Pasqal, and IQM, it offers companies the opportunity to exploit photonic technologies, neutral atoms, and superconducting systems to meet research and innovation challenges.
The multiple benefits of the Scaleway sovereign cloud for European companies
Choosing Scaleway Elements means investing in a cloud environment that combines performance, security, and compliance with European expectations. Companies benefit from a robust, scalable platform adapted to varied workloads, from standard development to intensive processing related to artificial intelligence.
For example, an innovative SME based in Lyon accelerated its development by migrating to Scaleway’s Bare Metal servers, benefiting from flexible hourly billing and easy access to Nvidia GPUs. This strategic choice enabled the company to reduce IT costs while strengthening its computing capacities for its AI application.
In the public sector, French and German administrations have adopted the platform to host sensitive data, convinced by the guarantee of sovereignty and full GDPR certification. These structuring projects demonstrate growing trust towards a local actor capable of competing with international hyperscalers.
- Immunity against the American Cloud Act: enhanced legal protection of stored data
- Multi-cloud interoperability facilitated by open standards
- Redundant infrastructure spread across nine data centers in Europe
- Offers adapted to all profiles, from independent developers to large enterprises
- Access to advanced technologies in AI, Serverless, IoT, and quantum computing
Future prospects: Scaleway and the construction of a sovereign European public cloud
As the European Union strengthens its commitment to sovereign digital development by advancing the Gaia-X project, Scaleway establishes itself as a concrete and rapidly expanding initiative embodying this ambition. By extending its infrastructures to new countries such as Germany and multiplying its partnerships with startups and research organizations, the platform ensures the construction of an integrated European cloud ecosystem.
Recent open-source innovations, along with increased focus on energy sustainability and reducing the carbon footprint of data centers, place Scaleway at the heart of current concerns related to sustainable development in the public cloud. The dynamism of its offer, combined with pricing transparency and sovereignty, attracts more and more users wishing to break away from dominant American or Asian solutions.
Finally, the growing use of artificial intelligence and quantum computing opens new medium-term technological perspectives, where Scaleway plays a catalytic role. The integration of AI capacities and Quantum as a Service offerings reflect a unique positioning in Europe, ready to meet the future needs of innovative companies and demanding administrations.
