Direct comparison
AWS vs Scaleway
AWS or Scaleway? The direct cloud comparison of services, data centers, costs and sovereignty. Hyperscaler versus European cloud – focused on sovereignty, GDPR and compliance.
Management summary
As of 2026-07AWS and Scaleway represent two fundamental cloud strategies: AWS offers the deepest and broadest service portfolio on the market (Strategic Opportunities 10/10) with global dominance, while Scaleway is positioned as a cost-efficient, sovereign EU cloud with a focus on Bare Metal and cloud-native technologies. For companies with strict European sovereignty requirements, Scaleway, with a SEAL Score of 7.9/10 and maximum technological sovereignty (9/10), is the clearer choice, as AWS, due to US jurisdiction, only achieves a SEAL Score of 4.1/10. Conversely, AWS is indispensable for international scaling and complex enterprise scenarios, as it operates with 114 data centers and top scores in databases (10/10) and Big Data (9/10), areas in which Scaleway is limited with a Big Data score of 4/10 and only 3 countries. Scaleway's pricing (Cost Rating 8.5/10) is significantly more competitive than AWS's (Cost Rating 6.0/10), which can be decisive for pure infrastructure workloads in Europe. Ultimately, the decision depends on whether global reach and maximum service depth (AWS) or European sovereignty and cost efficiency (Scaleway) are in the foreground.
Methodology & data basisAWS
HyperscalerUSP: Market leader with the widest range of features and global reach
Recommendation: Recommended for innovation drivers and international scaling
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
AWS 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
- Broadest service portfolio: Strategic opportunities with 10/10 (avg all: 6.2) through over 200 services, ranging from IaaS to Quantum Computing (Braket) and GenAI (Bedrock).
- Excellent core infrastructure competencies: Databases, storage, networking, virtualization, and high availability each rated 10/10, including a comprehensive DBaaS offering (Aurora, RDS) and VMware Cloud on AWS.
- Global market leadership: Global reach with 9/10 (avg all: 4.5) through 114 data centers, 30+ regions, and 700 Points of Presence across 6 continents.
- Strong data security and encryption: Data security & encryption with 9/10 (avg all: 7.8) and Encryption with 9/10 (avg all: 6.8), supported by CloudHSM, KMS, and Nitro Enclaves.
Points to consider
- Low technological sovereignty: Score of 4/10 (avg all: 7.4) due to proprietary technologies and high lock-in, making a later exit more difficult.
- Weak price competitiveness: Price rating of 4/10 (avg all: 6.4) with particularly high costs for CPU (4.2/10), RAM (3.0/10), and Egress (3.0/10).
- Limited operational sovereignty: Operational sovereignty with 7/10 (avg all: 8.0) is below average, due to US jurisdiction and a low SEAL Score of 4.1/10.
Strengths
- Outstanding pricing: Price rating of 9/10 (avg all: 6.4) with a Cost Rating of 8.5/10 and up to 25% discount via Saving Plans, particularly competitive for GPU (9.0/10) and Egress (10.0/10).
- Maximum sovereignty in Europe: Technological (9/10, avg all: 7.4) and operational sovereignty (9/10, avg all: 8.0) are at top level, supported by a SEAL Score of 7.9/10 and EU residency.
- Strong bare metal infrastructure: Bare Metal achieves the highest score in the comparison field (9/10, avg all: 5.2), complemented by mature containerization (8/10, avg all: 7.3) with Managed Kubernetes.
- Solid foundation for Linux and storage: Linux support is well-established (8/10), the storage portfolio (8/10, avg all: 7.7) covers Block, File, Object, and Archive, with Archive storage being particularly inexpensive (9.5/10).
Points to consider
- No global reach: Global reach with 1/10 (avg all: 4.5) through only 3 countries and 1 continent, making the provider unsuitable for international workloads.
- Weak enterprise virtualization: Virtualization with 4/10 (avg all: 5.7) offers no Managed VMware or direct hypervisor access, complicating the migration of classic enterprise estates.
- Limited Big Data offerings: Big Data with 4/10 (avg all: 4.8) offers a less extensive portfolio of analytics and data platform services compared to AWS.
Which provider when?
Use-case-based decision aid — both options are a valid choice.
Choose AWS if:
- You require a global infrastructure with presence in over 20 countries and 6 continents for international customers.
- Your workloads require a broad portfolio of managed services, particularly in the areas of Big Data (9/10), databases (10/10), and virtualization (10/10).
- You operate Microsoft-heavy environments and need Managed MSSQL, AD integration, or VMware Cloud on AWS.
- You prioritize maximum service depth and innovation speed (Strategic Opportunities 10/10) over pure cost efficiency.
Choose Scaleway if:
- Sovereignty and EU data residency are your highest criteria (SEAL Score 7.9/10 vs. 4.1/10 for AWS).
- You are looking for a cost-efficient alternative for IaaS/PaaS workloads with a Cost Rating of 8.5/10 and low egress costs (10.0/10).
- Your architecture is heavily based on Bare Metal (9/10) or cloud-native technologies such as Kubernetes (8/10) and Linux (8/10).
- You operate exclusively in Europe and do not require global reach.
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 | AWSvsScalewayScale 1–10 | Avg. all | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Data Security & Encryption | 97 | 7.8 | Lead AWS |
| Technological Sovereignty | 49 | 7.4 | Lead Scaleway |
| Operational Sovereignty | 79 | 8 | Lead Scaleway |
| Strategic Capabilities | 106 | 6.2 | Lead AWS |
| Price | 49 | 6.4 | Lead Scaleway |
| Collaboration Tools | 43 | 5.1 | balanced |
| Global Reach | 91 | 4.5 | Lead AWS |
| Big Data | 94 | 4.8 | Lead AWS |
| AI | 76 | 4.8 | balanced |
| Bare Metal | 39 | 5.2 | Lead Scaleway |
| Virtualization | 104 | 5.7 | Lead AWS |
| Containerization | 98 | 7.3 | balanced |
| Databases | 107 | 6.9 | Lead AWS |
| High Availability | 106 | 6.7 | Lead AWS |
| Microsoft | 64 | 4.5 | Lead AWS |
| Linux | 108 | 8.8 | Lead AWS |
| Encryption | 97 | 6.8 | Lead AWS |
| Storage | 108 | 7.7 | Lead AWS |
| Network | 108 | 7.8 | Lead AWS |
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
IT service management system standard
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
Quality management system 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
per 1 Mil Requests
GB-Sec
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: AWS vs Scaleway
What is the difference between AWS and Scaleway?
AWS is a global hyperscaler with the broadest service portfolio (Strategic Opportunities 10/10) and strong infrastructure in databases and Big Data, but with lower technological sovereignty (4/10) and higher costs (Price 4/10). Scaleway is a European provider focused on sovereignty (SEAL 7.9/10), cost efficiency (Price 9/10), and bare metal infrastructure (9/10), but offers no global reach (1/10) and a smaller service portfolio.
Which provider is more sovereign?
Scaleway is significantly more sovereign with a SEAL Score of 7.9/10 (79%) and maximum scores in technological (9/10) and operational sovereignty (9/10). AWS has a SEAL Score of 4.1/10 (41%) and scores 4/10 in technological sovereignty, which is due to US jurisdiction and proprietary technologies.
Which provider is cheaper?
Scaleway is more price-competitive with a Cost Rating of 8.5/10 and a price score of 9/10, particularly for GPU (9.0/10) and Egress (10.0/10). AWS has a Cost Rating of 6.0/10 and a price score of 4/10, with higher costs for CPU (4.2/10) and RAM (3.0/10). However, actual costs always depend on the workload.
Which provider is better for Big Data and Analytics?
AWS is significantly better for Big Data with a score of 9/10 (avg all: 4.8) and services such as EMR, Glue, and SageMaker Lakehouse. Scaleway has a Big Data score of 4/10 and offers a more limited portfolio of analytics services, making AWS superior for complex data platform scenarios.
Are there differences in bare metal infrastructure?
Yes, Scaleway offers stronger bare metal infrastructure with a score of 9/10 (avg all: 5.2) and dedicated instances such as Dedibox and Elastic Metal. AWS has a bare metal score of 3/10 and offers less variety in this area, making Scaleway more attractive for workloads with specific hardware requirements.
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