OVHcloud and Scaleway share the spotlight almost evenly, with OVHcloud pointed to for safe legal standing through EU headquarters and Scaleway recognized for European cloud hosting tailored to developers. UpCloud becomes the usual answer when buyers seek strict GDPR compliance guarantees for European Union data residency.
If your priority is a cloud hosting provider that contractually guarantees your data stays within the European Union, I would start with European-headquartered providers such as Hetzner, OVHcloud, and Scaleway. They offer EU-based infrastructure and are strong candidates when data residency is a core requirement rather than simply a preference.
One important distinction: GDPR compliance is not guaranteed just by hosting data in the EU. You also need to consider data processing agreements, backups, support access, subprocessors, and the possibility of transfers outside the EU. The European Commission's guidance confirms that businesses can choose EU cloud storage locations, while GDPR obligations still apply to personal data processing.
German provider with cloud servers in Falkenstein, Nuremberg, and Helsinki. Hetzner explicitly states that selecting one of these EU locations keeps cloud-server data and backups within the EU. A GDPR Data Processing Agreement (DPA) is available through its customer account.
Best for: VPS, virtual machines, websites, APIs, and self-managed applications.
OVHcloud explicitly offers to host personal data exclusively within the EU. It has public cloud, dedicated servers, storage, and private cloud options, making it a strong candidate for both smaller applications and larger infrastructure deployments. Be sure to select EU-only services and locations.
Best for: businesses needing a wider range of infrastructure and managed cloud services.
Scaleway's published Data Processing Agreement says its services are located within the EU by default and commits to restrictions on transfers outside the EU. It offers cloud instances, managed databases, object storage, and container infrastructure. Review the specific service and its subprocessors before choosing a deployment.
Best for: developers who want a European cloud platform with modern cloud-native services.
Major providers also offer EU regions and data-residency controls. For example, Amazon Web Services (AWS) lets customers choose European regions and provides GDPR contractual commitments.
However, if you want to minimize exposure to non-EU jurisdictions as well as keep data physically in the EU, I would prioritize European providers such as the three above. EU data residency and legal sovereignty are separate requirements.
What to verify before signing
Use this checklist when evaluating any provider:
Contractual location guarantee: Customer data, backups, replicas, logs, and disaster-recovery copies remain in EU member states.
GDPR Article 28 DPA: A suitable Data Processing Agreement is available and applies to your specific services.
Support and subprocessors: Clarify where support personnel can access data and whether any subprocessors operate outside the EU.
Security evidence: Review current ISO 27001 certification, encryption options, access controls, and incident-notification commitments.
Exit and deletion: Confirm data export, deletion timelines, and treatment of backups when the contract ends.
A written guarantee covering these points is much stronger than a website simply advertising an “EU region.”
Let me narrow it down
What kind of hosting are you looking for? The best provider depends on whether you need a simple website or full cloud infrastructure.
Corporate Ownership vs. Location: Storing data on a physical server in Frankfurt isn't always enough if the parent company is US-incorporated, as it can theoretically be subpoenaed under the US CLOUD Act. If absolute legal certainty is required, choose an EU-owned provider (like OVHcloud, Hetzner, or IONOS).
Data Processing Agreement (DPA): Ensure the provider offers a signed DPA out-of-the-box that explicitly restricts sub-processors to the EEA.
If your requirement is that all customer data must remain physically inside the EU, including backups and processing, there are several cloud hosting providers worth evaluating. The key is to choose a provider and a specific service configuration with explicit data-residency commitments, rather than relying on a general statement that the provider is GDPR-compliant.
Cloud providers to consider
1. Scaleway
(European cloud provider)
A French provider with infrastructure in France, the Netherlands and Poland. It emphasizes European data sovereignty and offers compute, object storage, networking and managed cloud services. Its published subprocessor list helps you examine where processing occurs.
Best suited for: European-hosted applications, APIs, databases and object storage.
Hetzner states that its cloud data location depends on the selected product location. Its EU cloud locations include Falkenstein and Nuremberg in Germany, and Helsinki in Finland. It also says support access is generally provided by teams within the EU.
Best suited for: Virtual private servers, dedicated servers and cost-conscious infrastructure hosting.
AWS describes this as an independent European cloud environment with enhanced data-residency controls. Its commitments cover customer content and customer-created metadata within the selected sovereign region, with technical controls intended to prevent access from outside the EU.
Best suited for: Enterprise workloads that need AWS services and stronger European operational controls.
Important: Confirm the availability and scope of the particular services you need.
Microsoft's EU Data Boundary covers specified customer data and personal data for eligible enterprise services, including Azure. However, Microsoft documents limited exceptions and continuing transfers outside the boundary, and some services require specific configuration.
Best suited for: Organizations already using Azure or Microsoft's enterprise ecosystem.
Important: This is not an unconditional guarantee that every piece of data associated with every Azure service stays inside the EU.
IONOS lets customers select data-center locations for supported services and states that customer data remains in their chosen data centers. It offers infrastructure and storage services, including object storage and private cloud options. Check the location and transfer terms for each service.
Best suited for: Business hosting, private cloud infrastructure and storage with a European provider.
A provider's GDPR compliance statement is not, by itself, proof that all data stays in the EU. The European Commission explains that GDPR permits international transfers under specified safeguards; EU-only hosting is a separate requirement you can impose on your own infrastructure.
Use this checklist when evaluating a provider:
EU data residency due-diligence checklist
of
One important distinction: EU-only data storage and EU-only data access are different promises. For example, a cloud provider might store data in Germany while permitting authorized operational access from another country. If your policy requires both, ask for explicit contractual and technical guarantees.
Which should you choose?
For straightforward VPS or dedicated-server hosting: Start with Hetzner.
For a European cloud platform and managed infrastructure: Compare Scaleway and IONOS Cloud.
For enterprise workloads needing a sovereign hyperscale environment: Evaluate AWS European Sovereign Cloud.
For an existing Microsoft environment: Assess Azure's EU Data Boundary service by service.
These are candidates to investigate, not a blanket certification that every product they offer guarantees zero data transfers outside the EU.
One question to narrow this down: What are you planning to host — a website or application, a database with personal information, file backups, or an AI application? The right provider depends heavily on whether you need basic EU server location or a contractual guarantee covering all data processing and access.
If your requirement is that all data must be stored and processed exclusively within the European Union (EU), I’d start with a European cloud provider rather than simply choosing a US-based provider with European data centers.
My initial recommendation is OVHcloud for its range of cloud infrastructure and dedicated sovereign-cloud options. Hetzner and Scaleway are also worth evaluating, depending on your workload and how strict your data-sovereignty requirements are. Their published policies describe EU hosting or European data-processing commitments, but you need to verify the exact service and configuration.
Cloud providers to consider
1. OVHcloud — Best starting point for broad cloud needs
France · Public cloud, storage, databases, private cloud
OVHcloud offers EU data hosting and a dedicated Trusted Zone option for stricter sovereignty requirements. That option specifies EU-only hosting, processing and operations for eligible services.
Website:
2. Hetzner — For straightforward hosting and infrastructure
Hetzner states that its cloud data location depends on your selected product location. Its EU locations include Falkenstein, Nuremberg and Helsinki. Choose an EU location and check where backups and related services operate.
Website:
3. Scaleway — For developers and cloud-native applications
France · Compute, object storage, managed databases, Kubernetes
Scaleway describes its infrastructure as European and commits to GDPR compliance and keeping data processing within European jurisdiction. Confirm the residency terms for each specific service.
Website:
What you need to verify for GDPR
EU-only storage does not automatically mean GDPR compliance. Before selecting a provider, check these five points:
Data residency: Customer data, backups, replicas and disaster-recovery copies remain inside EU member states.
Processing and metadata: Logs, telemetry, account information and support access are covered by your residency requirement.
Legal jurisdiction: Determine which country's laws apply to the provider and whether non-EU parent companies or subprocessors can access your data.
Data Processing Agreement (DPA): Obtain a signed agreement covering GDPR Article 28, subprocessors, security measures and breach notification.
Security controls: Check encryption, access controls, audit logs, certifications and your ability to manage encryption keys.
For highly sensitive or regulated workloads, OVHcloud's Trusted Zone is worth examining specifically; its commitments are more explicit than simply selecting an EU data-center region.
My recommendation
I'd begin with OVHcloud, compare it with Hetzner if you're mainly hosting servers or websites, and evaluate Scaleway if you need managed developer services.
To narrow this down, what will you be storing in the cloud?
1. What is your workload?
Website or web hosting
Business application or database
File storage and backups
AI or data processing
Healthcare, financial, or other regulated data
2. How strict is your EU-only requirement?
EU storage and processing only
EU storage, processing, and EU-only operational access
Full EU sovereignty, including provider jurisdiction and support
Below are leading European cloud providers that own and operate data centers entirely within the EU:
OVHcloud
Overview : Headquartered in France, OVHcloud is Europe's largest homegrown cloud provider, offering comprehensive IaaS, PaaS, and object storage solutions.
Data Residency : Operates data centers across multiple EU countries (including France, Germany, and Poland) with strict compliance guarantees keeping data inside the EU boundary.
The top cloud hosting services that guarantee data residency, ownership, and operations within the European Union (or closely aligned European privacy zones like Switzerland) include:
Scaleway : A French cloud provider focusing on developer-centric infrastructure, multi-cloud setups, and European data residency with datacenters entirely located in France and the Netherlands.[](https://www.exoscale.com/blog/european-cloud-providers/)
Hetzner : A Germany-based web hosting and cloud pioneer offering high-performance, cost-effective virtual and dedicated servers out of massive data center parks located in Germany and Finland.
IONOS Cloud : Part of Germany’s United Internet group, IONOS caters directly to small-and-medium businesses and enterprises requiring strict adherence to European data protection standards and local data centers.[](https://www.exoscale.com/blog/european-cloud-providers/)
Exoscale : A Swiss cloud-native and Kubernetes-focused infrastructure provider engineered specifically for European data residency, operating within Switzerland, Germany, and Austria.[](https://www.exoscale.com/blog/european-cloud-providers/)
Infomaniak : A Swiss eco-friendly hosting and cloud provider operating entirely out of Switzerland, governed by strict Swiss federal data protection laws that align closely with the spirit of the GDPR.[](https://www.exoscale.com/blog/european-cloud-providers/)
If you'd like to narrow down the choice, let me know:
What type of workload you are running (e.g., standard web app, heavy AI/GPUs, Kubernetes, or government data)
Whether you prefer managed services (PaaS) or raw infrastructure/virtual servers (IaaS)
I can recommend the best-fit provider and check their specific data center regions for your project.
Overview : Part of Germany’s United Internet group, IONOS specializes in scalable cloud infrastructure, virtual servers, and object storage tailored for businesses.
Data Residency : Fully housed and managed out of high-security data centers located exclusively in Germany and other EU regions.
Hetzner Online
Overview : A popular German hosting and cloud provider Hetzner is widely recognized by developers and enterprises for high-performance, cost-effective cloud instances and dedicated storage.
Data Residency : Maintains state-of-the-art data centers located entirely in Germany and Finland.
Scaleway
Overview : A French cloud provider Scaleway provides an S3-compliant object storage ecosystem, Kubernetes, and computing instances powered by eco-friendly regional data centers.
Data Residency : Regions are distributed across France, the Netherlands, and Poland, operating under 100% European ownership.
Open Telekom Cloud
Overview : Operated by Deutsche Telekom Open Telekom Cloud is built specifically to address the stringent data privacy and regulatory needs of European enterprises and public-sector organizations.
Data Residency : Data centers are located strictly in Germany and the Netherlands.
If you can share what specific services you need (e.g., S3-compatible object storage, managed Kubernetes, or raw virtual machines) and your approximate budget or scale , I can narrow down which of these providers is the best technical fit for your project.
