Hetzner vs Scaleway

Compare Hetzner y Scaleway en capacidades, jurisdicción, garantías y encaje para compradores europeos.

Ambos figuran como alternativas a: Amazon Web Services (AWS), DigitalOcean, Google Cloud Platform, Microsoft Azure

Logo: Hetzner

Hetzner

Germany· Cloud Computing

Needs review

Shortlist for German-owned IaaS/bare metal in DE/FI parks, API cloud VMs, inclusive-traffic EU economics, ISO 27001 + BSI C5 Type 2. Skip for hyperscaler PaaS depth, SOC 2-first audits, or zero US-group footprint (optional US Ashburn/Hillsboro + Singapore via subsidiaries/colocation). Prefer OVHcloud/Scaleway for broader EU portfolios; STACKIT for DE public-sector framing.

EU-operated (DE HQ)Owned DE/FI parksISO 27001:2022BSI C5 Type 2Bare metal + auctionOptional US/SG cloud
Hetzner vs Scaleway: Resumen
CaracterísticaLogo: HetznerHetznerLogo: ScalewayScaleway
País de origenGermanyFrance
CategoríaCloud ComputingCloud Computing
Código abiertoNoNo
AutoalojadoNoNo
SedeGermanyNo indicado
Entidad legalHetzner Online GmbH, Industriestr. 25, 91710 Gunzenhausen (HRB 6089 Ansbach)No indicado
Matriz / control EE.UU.Sin matriz estadounidense conocidaNo indicado
Exposición CLOUD Act (indicativa)MedioNo indicado
Alojamiento / residenciaOwned parks: Nuremberg, Falkenstein (DE), Helsinki (FI). Non-cloud EU-only. Cloud optional US (Ashburn, Hillsboro) and Singapore on 3rd-party colocation. AV subprocessors: Hetzner Finland Oy; US: Hetzner US LLC, NTT Americas, QTS Hillsboro; SG: Hetzner Singapore, NTT SG1. Master data stays EU.No indicado
Resumen

German data center operator (Gunzenhausen): dedicated servers, Hetzner Cloud VPS, storage, and owned parks in Germany and Finland, with optional US and Singapore cloud locations.

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.

Etiquetas
De un vistazo: Hetzner vs Scaleway
De un vistazoLogo: HetznerHetznerLogo: ScalewayScaleway
HQGunzenhausen, GermanyNo indicado
Legal entityHetzner Online GmbH (HRB 6089 Ansbach)No indicado
EU parksNuremberg, Falkenstein (DE); Helsinki (FI)No indicado
Optional cloud regionsAshburn and Hillsboro (US); SingaporeNo indicado
ModelIaaS / dedicated / hosting (unmanaged cloud and root)No indicado
Open sourceNo (commercial infrastructure)No indicado
Key capabilities: Hetzner vs Scaleway
Key capabilitiesLogo: HetznerHetznerLogo: ScalewayScaleway
EU-operated (DE HQ)No indicado
Owned DE/FI parksNo indicado
ISO 27001:2022No indicado
BSI C5 Type 2No indicado
Bare metal + auctionNo indicado
Optional US/SG cloudNo indicado

Hetzner

  • Dedicated root servers and Server Auction

    Bare-metal root servers with full hardware isolation for predictable I/O and custom OS installs. The Server Auction lists surplus or end-of-primary-use machines at declining prices for labs, secondary environments, and cost-sensitive dedicated capacity.

  • Hetzner Cloud with API, networks, and apps

    VMs with shared or dedicated vCPU classes, managed via Console, REST API, and CLI. Private networks, stateful firewalls, load balancers, Linux images, Terraform/Ansible/Kubernetes integrations, and one-click apps (Docker, Nextcloud, GitLab CE, WireGuard, and more) for self-hosted stacks.

  • Owned EU data center parks plus optional US/Singapore cloud

    Company-operated parks in Nuremberg, Falkenstein (Germany), and Helsinki (Finland). Cloud also in Ashburn, Hillsboro (USA), and Singapore on third-party colocation. Non-cloud products and EU-selected cloud locations keep server data in the EU per Hetzner docs; master data stays in the EU.

  • ISO 27001, BSI C5 Type 2, and console DPA

    Public ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certificate for DE/FI park scope; BSI C5 Type 2 for cloud; Art. 28 DPA accept-in-console with published TOMs and annual external TOM review available to DPA customers. Not a SOC 2-first vendor.

  • Inclusive traffic-oriented European cloud pricing model

    Pay-as-you-go cloud (hourly or monthly) and list-based dedicated servers, with marketing emphasis on high inclusive traffic on European plans versus hyperscaler egress bills. Confirm current allowances and rates only on the official calculator—figures change by region and over time.

Scaleway

  • Servidores bare metal Elastic Metal

    Elastic Metal proporciona instancias bare metal bajo demanda como modelos Aluminium, Iridium y Titanium equipados con GPU. El despliegue toma minutos vía API, con modelos adaptados para computación general, tareas intensivas en almacenamiento o IA. Los usuarios evitan sobrecarga de virtualización para mejor rendimiento en bases de datos o servidores de gaming. Los modelos comienzan alrededor de 0,02 € por hora, con acceso root completo e imágenes personalizadas.

  • Instancias GPU y herramientas de IA

    GPUs de gama alta como NVIDIA L40S, H100 y B300-SXM soportan entrenamiento e inferencia de IA. Los clústeres GPU personalizados escalan para modelos grandes. Servicios de IA adicionales incluyen APIs generativas e inferencia gestionada. Se integran con Kubernetes para orquestación, sirviendo necesidades desde startups hasta laboratorios de investigación sin bloqueo de proveedor.

  • Kubernetes, bases de datos y almacenamiento gestionados

    Kapsule ofrece clústeres Kubernetes gestionados, mientras Kosmos permite configuraciones multi-nube. Las bases de datos cubren PostgreSQL, MySQL, Redis, MongoDB y ClickHouse como servicios gestionados. Las opciones de almacenamiento incluyen objeto (compatible S3), bloque y Glacier para archivado. Serverless Functions, Containers y Jobs gestionan cargas orientadas a eventos. Todo escala automáticamente.

  • Centros de datos renovables y red

    Nueve centros de datos consumen energía renovable, alcanzando un PUE de 1,15. Las ubicaciones garantizan baja latencia en París (multi-AZ), Ámsterdam y Varsovia. La red incluye VPCs privadas, balanceadores de carga, WAF e IPs anycast globales. Herramientas como CLI y Terraform simplifican la gestión.

Assurance & compliance: Hetzner vs Scaleway
Assurance & complianceLogo: HetznerHetznerLogo: ScalewayScaleway
Independent security / no-logs audit
Not applicable

Hosting/IaaS, not a no-logs VPN. Public ISO 27001, BSI C5 Type 2, and annual TOM review (TUV Rheinland) instead.

No indicado
ISO 27001
Verified

ISO/IEC 27001:2022; public SOCOTEC certificate. Scope: infrastructure, operation, support of Nuremberg, Falkenstein, Helsinki parks.

No indicado
SOC 2 / SOC 3
Not found

Hetzner states focus on ISO 27001 rather than SOC 2 for international market.

No indicado
GDPR / EU data protection
Vendor claimed

German entity; public privacy policy, Art. 28 DPA, TOMs, subprocessor list. Customer remains controller for data on rented systems.

No indicado
US CLOUD Act exposure (indicative)
Partial

EU entity / no known US parent, but optional US cloud uses Hetzner US LLC and US colocation (NTT, QTS); Singapore similarly. EU placements keep server data in EU per docs. Not legal advice.

No indicado
Data processing agreement (B2B)
Vendor claimed

Standard DPA accept-in-console; sample PDF published; no custom wet-ink DPAs per vendor docs.

No indicado
EU AI Act
Not applicable

Infrastructure hosting, not an AI system product.

No indicado
BSI C5 (cloud)
Verified

Vendor publishes BSI C5 Type 2 attestation PDF for cloud services (German BSI catalogue).

No indicado
KRITIS / section 8a BSIG
Vendor claimed

Hetzner states BSI classification as operator of critical services and certification under section 8a BSIG.

No indicado
Considerations & known limitations: Hetzner vs Scaleway
Considerations & known limitationsLogo: HetznerHetznerLogo: ScalewayScaleway
Optional US and Singapore cloud regions
Medium

Ashburn, Hillsboro, and Singapore use third-party colocation and local subsidiaries; server content placed there leaves the EU. Zero-US-footprint policies may still reject the vendor even for EU-only workloads.

No indicado
Unmanaged cloud and dedicated servers
Medium

You own OS patching, app security, and backups. Platform firewalls help but do not replace customer ops. Poor fit if you need managed DBaaS and full-stack ops.

No indicado
Narrower managed-service catalog vs hyperscalers
Low

Strong IaaS and bare metal; weak match if procurement assumes AWS-parity managed services. Plan hybrid architecture early.

No indicado
ISO scope is DE/FI parks
Low

Published ISO 27001 scope centers on German and Finnish parks. Do not assume identical coverage for every US/Singapore deployment without reading current certificates.

No indicado

Encaje

Hetzner

Best fit when

  • Teams that want German-jurisdiction hosting with owned parks in Germany and Finland
  • Workloads that need bare-metal root servers or cost-effective dedicated via Server Auction
  • Ops-heavy orgs comfortable with unmanaged IaaS (Console/API/CLI, Terraform, apps)
  • Buyers optimizing for EU residency plus inclusive traffic economics versus hyperscaler egress
  • German/EU checklists asking for ISO 27001, BSI C5, and an Art. 28 DPA in-console

Poor fit when

  • Orgs that need a full AWS/Azure-style managed services catalog (PaaS, serverless, AI)
  • Policies that forbid any US subsidiary, US colocation, or optional US region at group level
  • Buyers requiring SOC 2 as the primary assurance artifact (Hetzner focuses on ISO/C5)
  • Teams expecting fully managed OS patching, databases, and DR without operating the stack

Consider instead when

  • When: You need a broader European cloud portfolio or more managed service surface

    Consider: OVHcloud or Scaleway

    Still European operators; compare regions, bare-metal depth, and support models.

  • When: German public-sector sovereign cloud framing is the primary procurement driver

    Consider: STACKIT

    Different product and governance story; verify current certifications and residency.

  • When: You need hyperscaler managed depth more than EU-owned IaaS

    Consider: AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud (accept US-group CLOUD Act posture)

    Trade EU operator control for catalog breadth.

  • When: You want a smaller EU regional cloud with a different feature/region mix

    Consider: Exoscale or UpCloud

    Compare locations, SLAs, and managed options against Hetzner's park scale.

Scaleway

Best fit when

No indicado

Poor fit when

No indicado

Open questions for due diligence

Hetzner

  • Does your policy allow a German provider that also offers US/Singapore regions if you only deploy in DE/FI?
  • Is BSI C5 Type 2 + ISO 27001 sufficient, or is SOC 2 mandatory for your auditors?
  • Which SKUs (cloud vs dedicated vs managed web hosting) match your backup and support needs?
  • Will you need regions or managed services Hetzner does not offer natively (CDN, managed DB, AI APIs)?

Scaleway

No indicado