Compare Scaleway and TransIP on capabilities, jurisdiction, assurance, and fit for European buyers.
Both listed as alternatives to: Amazon Web Services (AWS), DigitalOcean, Google Cloud Platform, Microsoft Azure
France· Cloud Computing
Needs review
Shortlist Scaleway for French-owned multi-AZ IaaS (Paris/Amsterdam/Warsaw) with bare metal, EU-resident GPUs and Kapsule Kubernetes—especially HDS/sovereignty-sensitive stacks. Skip if you need completed SecNumCloud today or hyperscaler global depth; consider OVHcloud, Exoscale/UpCloud, or AWS/Azure/GCP instead.
Netherlands· Cloud Computing
Needs review
Shortlist TransIP when you want a Dutch BV contract for domains plus NL-hosted VPS, managed Kubernetes, OpenStack, or S3/SWIFT object storage. Skip when you need hyperscaler global regions or first-party managed databases; consider Hetzner, OVHcloud, or Scaleway instead.
Highlighted rows differ between the two products.
| Feature | Scaleway | TransIP |
|---|---|---|
| Country of origin | France | Netherlands |
| Category | Cloud Computing | Cloud Computing |
| Open source | No | No |
| Self-hosted | No | No |
| Headquarters | France | Netherlands |
| Legal entity | SCALEWAY SAS (R.C.S. Paris 433 115 904), 8 rue de la Ville l'Évêque, 75008 Paris | TransIP B.V., Vondellaan 47, 2332 AA Leiden (KvK 24345899, VAT NL812334966B01). ISO certificates published as team.blue NL B.V. Part of European team.blue group (Belgian group HQ). |
| Governing law | French law (General Terms of Services) | Not listed |
| US parent / control | No known US parent | No known US parent |
| CLOUD Act exposure (indicative) | Low | Medium |
| EU-hosted status | Not listed | Partial |
| Hosting / residency | Customer cloud workloads on Scaleway-operated European multi-AZ infrastructure (Paris, Amsterdam, Warsaw; Milan listed in availability docs)—not primary hosting on AWS/GCP/Azure. Account/controller activities use processors; privacy policy allows some non-EU transfers under SCCs. Full named subprocessor table is via Trust Center/contracts rather than a fully public marketing page. | Primary VPS/Kubernetes/object workloads marketed on TransIP-operated Netherlands infrastructure (AMS0/RTM0; object store 3x NL replication). OpenStack across multiple NL datacentres; KB also names Equinix AMS3 and EUNetworks as OpenStack facility providers. Ancillary: Google Analytics and reCAPTCHA (website, consent), PayPal/iDEAL/card payments. No AWS/GCP/Azure listed as primary IaaS fabric. |
| Summary | French iliad-group cloud platform: bare metal, virtual instances, EU-resident GPU for AI, managed Kubernetes, serverless, storage and databases on Scaleway-operated multi-AZ regions in Europe. | Dutch domain registrar and cloud host: KVM VPS, managed Kubernetes, OpenStack public cloud, and S3/SWIFT object storage on Netherlands infrastructure. |
| Tags |
| At a glance | Scaleway | TransIP |
|---|---|---|
| HQ | Paris, France (SCALEWAY SAS) | Leiden, Netherlands |
| Group | iliad Group subsidiary | team.blue (European hosting group, Belgian group HQ) |
| Regions | Paris, Amsterdam, Warsaw multi-AZ (+ Milan listed) | Not listed |
| Model | Public cloud IaaS/PaaS (not self-hosted) | Not listed |
| Commercial model | Pay-as-you-go; compute Savings Plans (GPU rules differ) | VPS packages + add-ons; pay-as-you-go Kubernetes/OpenStack/object storage |
| Open source | Platform proprietary; open standards (K8s, S3 API, Terraform) | Not listed |
| Legal entity | Not listed | TransIP B.V. (KvK 24345899); certs under team.blue NL B.V. |
| Primary regions | Not listed | Netherlands (AMS0, RTM0; OpenStack multi-DC) |
| Regions | Not listed | Netherlands: AMS0 (Amsterdam), RTM0 (Alblasserdam); OpenStack across multiple NL DCs (incl. Equinix AMS3 / EUNetworks named for some paths) |
| Compliance certs in region | Not listed | ISO 27001:2022, ISO 9001:2015, NEN 7510:2017 (vendor PDF certificates) |
| Key capabilities | Scaleway | TransIP |
|---|---|---|
| EU-operated regions | Yes | Yes |
| Bare metal + Elastic Metal | Yes | Not listed |
| EU GPU for AI | Yes | Not listed |
| Kapsule Kubernetes | Yes | Yes |
| ISO 27001 (certified) | Yes | Yes |
| HDS (claimed) | Yes | Not listed |
| Netherlands residency (claimed) | Not listed | Yes |
| KVM VPS + API | Not listed | Yes |
| OpenStack public cloud | Not listed | Yes |
Elastic Metal, Dedibox and Apple Silicon bare metal
Single-tenant physical servers without a shared hypervisor layer: Dedibox for a wide dedicated catalogue, Elastic Metal for bare metal integrated with Scaleway VPC, load balancing, storage and Kubernetes, plus Apple Silicon Mac mini hosts for native macOS/iOS CI. Best when you need hardware isolation, custom kernels, or GPU bare metal without VM overhead—product lines are still converging, so compare availability zone coverage per SKU.
EU-resident GPU instances for AI training and inference
On-demand GPU VMs with recent NVIDIA options (including L4, L40S, H100 PCIe/SXM and B300-SXM) aimed at LLM fine-tuning, inference and graphics/media acceleration, with data residency in European regions. Integrates with Kapsule via the NVIDIA GPU Operator; pay-as-you-go by the minute. GPU capacity and Savings Plan eligibility differ from general instances—validate stock and zone before committing multi-node jobs.
Kubernetes Kapsule and multi-cloud Kosmos
Managed Kubernetes control planes on Scaleway nodes (Kapsule) with autoscaling-oriented operations, plus Kosmos for hybrid/multi-cloud worker pools including non-Scaleway infrastructure. Suits teams standardising on portable Kubernetes rather than proprietary orchestrators; external Kosmos pools remain your responsibility to patch and size.
Multi-AZ European regions with VPC networking
Place compute and storage in Paris, Amsterdam and Warsaw multi-AZ regions (docs also reference Milan), using regional private networking, load balancers and related network services. Useful for EU latency and residency designs without a US region on the primary map—confirm each product’s AZ matrix in the product-availability guide before multi-region DR planning.
Managed storage and databases on open-ish APIs
S3-compatible Object Storage (including multi-AZ class options), block volumes, and managed database engines (PostgreSQL, MySQL, Redis, MongoDB, ClickHouse-oriented analytics) plus serverless containers/functions/jobs. Reduces day-2 ops for common stack pieces while keeping export paths closer to open standards than pure proprietary PaaS—always check engine versions, HA options and backup retention for production.
API, CLI and Terraform-first operations
Full console plus documented APIs, CLI and Infrastructure-as-Code workflows for provisioning instances, networks and managed services. Fits platform teams automating environments; IAM permissions and account Owner roles still need deliberate design for production orgs.
KVM VPS on AMS0/RTM0 with NVMe triple copies
Root VPS on TransIP's KVM platform with package tiers, optional dedicated vCPU and IOPS add-ons, private networking, HA-IP, and load balancers. Storage is described as distributed NVMe with three copies; free in-zone backups every four hours, with optional weekly and offsite backups.
Managed Kubernetes with free control plane
Control-panel Kubernetes where TransIP runs the control plane; customers add shared or dedicated worker node pools, attach NVMe or Big Storage volumes, and use HA-IP load balancing. Data is marketed as stored in the Netherlands with minute-based pay-as-you-go nodes.
OpenStack Public Cloud (API + Horizon)
Programmable OpenStack with Octavia load balancing, Barbican secret management, Cinder volume backups, and Terraform-friendly automation. First project is offered with a free trial window; infrastructure is described as multi-datacentre with triple rack-level copies.
S3 and SWIFT Object Store in the Netherlands
Object storage with S3 and OpenStack SWIFT APIs, Keystone/S3 token management, and triple replication across Dutch availability zones. Usable standalone or beside VPS/OpenStack; billed on used storage and egress rather than reserved blocks.
Domains, DNS, and REST API in one panel
Domain registration and DNS alongside infrastructure, with a documented REST API (api.transip.nl) for domains, VPS, Kubernetes, and OpenStack projects. Fits teams that want registrar plus compute under one Dutch operator.
| Assurance & compliance | Scaleway | TransIP |
|---|---|---|
| Independent security / no-logs audit | Not applicable IaaS provider (not a no-logs VPN). Trust Center references penetration testing and security reports available on request; not a public no-logs audit product claim. | Not applicable IaaS/hosting provider, not a no-logs VPN. Assurance is via ISMS certifications and responsible disclosure (Intigriti), not a public no-logs audit. |
| ISO 27001 | Verified ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certificate documentation published (e.g. certificate IS 787020 for SCALEWAY, Paris). Confirm scope covers the services you buy. | Vendor claimed Vendor publishes ISO 27001:2022 PDF (team-blue-nl-bv naming). Independent registry re-check not completed in this draft. |
| SOC 2 / SOC 3 | Not found Not listed among public Trust Center compliance badges reviewed (GDPR, HDS, ISO 27001, CSA STAR L1). | Not found No clear TransIP product-level SOC 2/3 claim found on primary legal/security pages reviewed. |
| HDS (French health data hosting) | Vendor claimed Vendor security and healthcare pages claim HDS certification; Trust Center lists HDS. Confirm certified service scope for your architecture. | Not listed |
| CSA STAR Level 1 | Vendor claimed Trust Center announces CSA STAR Level 1 (CCM self-assessment / CAIQ). | Not listed |
| ANSSI SecNumCloud | Partial Qualification process started (public news); security pages mark SecNumCloud as ongoing—not obtained as a finished qualification in sources reviewed. | Not listed |
| GDPR / EU data protection | Vendor claimed EU controller/processor with published privacy policy and DPA; French entity. Not legal advice. | Vendor claimed Dutch controller/processor entity; privacy policy and control-panel DPA. Residency depends on selected product/zone. |
| US CLOUD Act exposure (indicative) | Partial French SAS / iliad Group; customer IaaS on self-operated EU regions; no US parent found. Controller-side processors and possible third-country transfers per privacy policy; SecNumCloud not complete. Assessment only—not a vendor “safe” claim. | Partial EuropeanStack assessment: Dutch entity / no known US parent / NL-first hosting, but privacy names Google Analytics, reCAPTCHA, and PayPal, and OpenStack KB names Equinix colo. Not a vendor safety claim. Not legal advice. |
| Data processing agreement (B2B) | Vendor claimed DPA PDF downloadable on https://www.scaleway.com/en/contracts/ alongside TOMs. | Vendor claimed Processor agreement available to view/accept in the control panel per knowledge base. |
| EU AI Act | Not applicable Infrastructure/GPU host; customer models and apps drive AI Act roles. Not an AI Act conformity product claim. | Not applicable Infrastructure hosting/registrar; not marketed as an AI system provider. Optional third-party AI assistant images on VPS are customer-chosen workloads. |
| NEN 7510 (Dutch healthcare information security) | Not listed | Vendor claimed Vendor publishes NEN 7510:2017 certificate PDF; accounts processing medical data can be marked for extra handling per cert page. |
| Considerations & known limitations | Scaleway | TransIP |
|---|---|---|
| SecNumCloud not yet obtained | Medium ANSSI SecNumCloud is in progress on public materials. Regulated French public-sector tenders that hard-require a qualified cloud today may need another SKU/provider or a delayed migration plan. | Not listed |
| Smaller service catalogue than US hyperscalers | Medium Expect fewer proprietary managed services and less global region density than AWS/Azure/GCP. Multi-cloud or complementary SaaS may still be required for parts of the estate. | Not listed |
| Account-plane processors and possible non-EU transfers | Low Even with EU workload regions, privacy policy allows processor use and SCC-backed transfers for some controller purposes (support, payments, marketing, etc.). Pull the live subprocessor list for DPIAs. | Not listed |
| Shared responsibility for guest security | Medium Scaleway secures the platform; you own OS hardening, IAM, application security, encryption keys and backups. Recent Trust Center advisories on kernel issues illustrate customer patching duties on instances and Kapsule nodes. | Not listed |
| Dedibox vs Elastic Metal product split | Low Two bare-metal experiences still coexist while Scaleway documents convergence. Mis-choosing the line can affect API integration, networking features and migration effort. | Not listed |
| team.blue group entity complexity | Not listed | Low Brand is TransIP B.V.; certificates use team.blue NL B.V. Procurement should map the exact contracting entity, DPA signatory, and cert scope to the services purchased. |
| US SaaS on website/payments path | Not listed | Medium Privacy policy discloses Google Analytics, reCAPTCHA, and PayPal. These are not described as the VPS storage backend, but they affect overall vendor diligence and CLOUD Act style questionnaires. |
| Equinix-named OpenStack facilities | Not listed | Low OpenStack facility list includes Equinix AMS3 (US-parent colo operator). Workloads remain in Amsterdam physically; treat as partial EU-hosted diligence, not AWS-region hosting. |
| Narrower managed-platform depth than hyperscalers | Not listed | Medium No broad multi-continent region map or hyperscaler-class managed database suite on the pages reviewed. Teams needing those should plan self-managed stacks or another cloud. |
| No standalone public subprocessor register found | Not listed | Medium Diligence relies on privacy policy, product pages, and DPA rather than a dedicated exhaustive subprocessor HTML table. Request an up-to-date schedule under NDA if required. |
When: You need completed SecNumCloud-qualified private cloud or a larger non-EU region footprint under one European operator
Consider: OVHcloud
Compare exact qualified product SKUs and region maps; OVH and Scaleway are both French industrial clouds with different strengths.
When: You want simpler EU VPS/dedicated economics with a smaller product surface
Consider: UpCloud, Exoscale, or Cyso Cloud
Leaner catalogues; validate GPU, HDS and multi-AZ needs separately.
When: You need maximum global managed-service depth and partner ecosystem
Consider: Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud Platform
Accept US-parent CLOUD Act exposure and design residency/controls explicitly.
When: German SMB hosting plus EU cloud under a DE-centric brand is the priority
Consider: IONOS
Different product mix and market focus than Scaleway’s developer/AI-oriented public cloud.
When: You need large bare-metal choice and owned DE/FI parks with optional extra-EU cloud
Consider: Hetzner
Deeper server auction and multi-park footprint; different registrar story.
When: You need multi-country EU cloud plus SecNumCloud-style private cloud paths
Consider: OVHcloud
Broader region map and product depth; French group contracting.
When: You want more EU region pins or managed data services with selectable residency
Consider: Scaleway or UpCloud
Compare region lists and managed DB/Kubernetes packaging directly.
When: You specifically want another Dutch IaaS peer for side-by-side diligence
Consider: Leaseweb or Cyso Cloud
Similar NL diligence questions; different panel and product mix.