The verdict in three sentences
Hosting is not a line item to shave: a B2B site down for a day can cost more than five years of premium hosting. In 2026, budget EUR 5 to 20/month for shared hosting, EUR 15 to 80/month for a VPS, and EUR 150 to 600/month for managed cloud, with a CDN (EUR 20-100/month) and backup/monitoring adding roughly +15%. The right choice depends on traffic, uptime requirements and data sovereignty (GDPR, EU hosts like OVH and Scaleway).
The three hosting tiers and their uses
The classic trap: overpaying for managed cloud on a brochure site, or choking a business application on shared hosting. Each tier has its target.
| Tier | Price/month | Suited use | Typical uptime |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shared | EUR 5-20 | Brochure site, blog, low traffic | 99.5% |
| VPS | EUR 15-80 | B2B site, light app, medium traffic | 99.9% |
| Managed cloud | EUR 150-600 | Business app, e-commerce, high traffic | 99.95%+ |
| CDN | EUR 20-100 | Speed + international, all tiers | — |
| Backup + monitoring | +15% | Mandatory in B2B | — |
OVH vs Scaleway vs managed cloud: annual cost
For a typical B2B site (VPS + CDN + backup + monitoring), here is the 2026 order-of-magnitude total annual cost by approach.
| Option | Typical config | Monthly cost | Annual cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| OVH VPS | 4 vCPU, 8 GB RAM + backup | EUR 45 | EUR 540 |
| Scaleway VPS | 4 vCPU, 8 GB RAM + backup | EUR 42 | EUR 504 |
| OVH + Cloudflare CDN | VPS + CDN Pro | EUR 65 | EUR 780 |
| Managed cloud | Instance + 24/7 supervision | EUR 320 | EUR 3,840 |
| Pro shared | Brochure + backup | EUR 18 | EUR 216 |
Sovereign managed hosting costs more, but includes supervision, security patches and intervention: that is the cost of IT team time saved and reduced downtime risk.
Mini case study
Sarah, COO of a logistics firm in Amsterdam, hosts a corporate site plus a client portal. She compares managed cloud at EUR 320/month (EUR 3,840/year) with a self-managed OVH VPS at EUR 65/month (EUR 780/year). Managed cloud costs EUR 3,060/year more. But the self-managed VPS ties up around 10 hours/month of her internal team (patches, backups, incidents); at a loaded cost of EUR 55/hour, that is EUR 6,600/year. Managed cloud is therefore cheaper in fully loaded cost while offering better uptime: a decision made in 15 minutes.
FAQ
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What hosting budget for a B2B site in 2026?
Budget EUR 500 to 800/year for a sovereign VPS with CDN and backup, or EUR 3,000 to 6,000/year for managed cloud. A simple brochure site holds at EUR 200-250/year on pro shared hosting.
OVH or Scaleway: which to choose?
Both are sovereign EU and GDPR-friendly, at similar rates (EUR 42-45/month for an equivalent VPS). Scaleway is often favoured for its modern cloud, OVH for its broad catalogue and support; the choice comes down to ancillary services.
Is a CDN essential?
For a national or international audience, yes: a CDN at EUR 20-100/month cuts latency and absorbs traffic spikes. For a low-traffic local site, it is optional.
Do we need sovereign hosting for GDPR?
Hosting in the EU (OVH, Scaleway) simplifies compliance and avoids cross-border transfer questions. It is strongly recommended for any site processing B2B customer data.
Is managed cloud worth it for an SME?
As soon as self-management ties up more than 5 to 6 hours/month of internal team time, managed cloud becomes competitive on fully loaded cost while reducing downtime risk.
Let's scope your project. Tell us your traffic, uptime requirement and GDPR constraints and we will recommend hosting and price the annual cost. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
