The fundamental comparison

    EU cloud vs. hyperscalers: the data-driven comparison

    Hyperscalers offer the broadest service range, European cloud providers the stronger sovereignty: EU jurisdiction without the US CLOUD Act, GDPR-native operations and usually much cheaper data transfer. Which side fits is decided by the workload – comparison.cloud compares both worlds across 100+ services, costs and sovereignty criteria.

    Decision matrix: hyperscalers vs. EU cloud

    CriterionHyperscalers (AWS, Azure, GCP, IBM, Oracle)EU cloud (STACKIT, OVHcloud, IONOS et al.)
    Service range200+ services per provider, including specialised AI, analytics and SaaS-like offeringsFocused portfolio: compute, storage, Kubernetes, managed databases – core workloads are production-ready
    Jurisdiction & CLOUD ActUS law applies even to EU data centres (CLOUD Act, FISA 702)EU or Swiss jurisdiction, no third-country access from the US
    GDPR & complianceGDPR compliance via additional constructs (standard contractual clauses, EU Data Boundary)GDPR-native operations; certifications like BSI C5, ISO 27001, partly SecNumCloud
    Costs & egressComplex pricing models; outbound data transfer typically ~€0.08/GBMore transparent pricing; egress often much cheaper or free
    Scale & regionsGlobal, dozens of regions, practically unlimited capacityEuropean locations – sufficient for most workloads, globally limited
    Ecosystem & skillsLargest partner and tooling ecosystem, many certified professionalsSmaller ecosystem, but often more direct support and less lock-in

    When hyperscalers, when EU cloud – and when both?

    When hyperscalers?

    When specialised managed services (AI platforms, global databases), worldwide presence or an existing ecosystem tip the scales – and no hard sovereignty requirements exist. Typical: international SaaS products, AI training, highly elastic workloads.

    When EU cloud?

    When personal or regulated data is processed (healthcare, finance, public sector, critical infrastructure), data transfer costs matter, or digital sovereignty is a strategic requirement. Typical: specialised government or industry systems, core SME IT, data-sensitive platforms.

    When both (hybrid / multi-cloud)?

    When workloads separate cleanly: non-critical, elastic loads on the hyperscaler, data-sensitive systems in the EU cloud. Prerequisites: a portable architecture (containers, open standards) and an exit plan per workload.

    Digital sovereignty: the three dimensions

    Digital sovereignty describes control over a cloud's data, technology and operations. comparison.cloud distinguishes data sovereignty (where data resides and under which jurisdiction), technological sovereignty (independence from proprietary stacks) and operational sovereignty (operations by European organisations without third-country access).

    Per provider, these dimensions feed into a sovereignty assessment (SEAL) – documented transparently and backed by primary sources. See the methodology

    All head-to-head comparisons: hyperscalers vs. EU cloud

    Every hyperscaler against every European provider – services, costs and sovereignty compared 1:1.

    Frequently asked questions: EU cloud vs. hyperscalers

    Are European cloud providers a real alternative to AWS, Azure and Google Cloud?

    For most standard workloads, yes: compute, storage, Kubernetes and managed databases are production-ready at providers like STACKIT, OVHcloud or IONOS. The limits lie in highly specialised managed services – there, a hybrid model is often the pragmatic path.

    What does the US CLOUD Act mean for cloud selection?

    The CLOUD Act obliges US providers to give US authorities access to data on court order – even if the data resides in European data centres. For strictly regulated data this is a knockout criterion; here EU providers under European jurisdiction offer the clearer legal framework.

    Are the hyperscalers' sovereign cloud offerings equivalent?

    Offerings like the AWS European Sovereign Cloud improve data residency and operational control, but remain offerings of US companies under US law. Whether that satisfies your regulatory requirements is broken down in the per-provider sovereignty assessments on comparison.cloud.

    What does switching to an EU cloud cost?

    Migration effort depends on the architecture: container and standard workloads move cheaply, proprietary managed services require redesign. In operations, EU clouds are often cheaper on list prices and egress – a TCO comparison per workload pays off; the free cloud assessment provides the first indication.

    Does less sovereignty mean a hyperscaler is insecure?

    No. Hyperscalers operate EU regions in a GDPR-compliant way, with strong encryption and extensive certifications — technically very secure. The difference lies in sovereignty: as US corporations they are subject to foreign jurisdiction (US CLOUD Act). Security and sovereignty are two separate criteria; which one weighs more is decided by the workload.

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