The verdict in three sentences
For a 400-user business application, hosting on OVHcloud or Scaleway costs on average 35 to 45 % less than AWS for an equivalent scope, with no loss of availability for SME workloads. The real issue is not server pricing but SecNumCloud qualification, which is becoming a pass/fail criterion in part of French public procurement and adds 40 to 80 % to the monthly cost. A well-prepared migration costs 5,000 to 15,000 EUR excl. VAT and pays back in 12 to 30 months depending on data volume and egress fees.
What hosting a 400-user application really costs
A typical SME business application (Node.js or Java back end, PostgreSQL database, document storage, backups, staging environment) uses modest resources but needs serious availability. Price gaps between providers come mainly from three items: the managed database, outbound traffic and support.
| Monthly item (2026 order of magnitude) | AWS (Paris eu-west-3) | OVHcloud Public Cloud | Scaleway |
|---|---|---|---|
| Production compute (2 instances 4 vCPU / 16 GB) | 220 to 380 EUR | 110 to 220 EUR | 100 to 200 EUR |
| High-availability managed PostgreSQL | 120 to 260 EUR | 70 to 160 EUR | 60 to 150 EUR |
| 1 TB object storage + backups | 30 to 60 EUR | 15 to 35 EUR | 15 to 30 EUR |
| 2 TB outbound traffic | 40 to 90 EUR | included or under 20 EUR | included or under 20 EUR |
| Staging | 40 to 110 EUR | 30 to 80 EUR | 25 to 70 EUR |
| Business support | 0 to 100 EUR | 0 to 90 EUR | 0 to 80 EUR |
| Monthly total | 450 to 900 EUR | 250 to 600 EUR | 220 to 550 EUR |
Over three years the gap commonly reaches 7,000 to 12,000 EUR (about 7,600 to 13,000 USD) for an SME. AWS remains relevant if the application relies heavily on proprietary services (Lambda, DynamoDB, Cognito): replacing them raises the migration cost.
SecNumCloud, GDPR and public tenders: what changes the math
Public buyers and some large accounts now ask for hosting that is immune to extraterritorial laws (the US Cloud Act). The French state's cloud doctrine and the 2024 SREN law push sensitive data toward SecNumCloud-qualified offers. A US hyperscaler, even hosted in Paris, does not tick that box.
| Criterion | AWS Paris region | OVHcloud standard | OVHcloud SecNumCloud | Scaleway standard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data stored in France | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Subject to the Cloud Act | Yes | No | No | No |
| SecNumCloud 3.2 qualification | No | No | Yes | In progress depending on offer |
| Surcharge vs standard offer | baseline | baseline | +40 to 80 % | baseline |
| Eligible for sensitive-data public tenders | Rarely | Depends on specs | Yes | Depends on specs |
| Data egress fees | about 0.09 EUR/GB beyond quota | Low or none | Low or none | Low or none |
In practice, an SME bidding for local authorities or healthcare institutions must check the specifications: if SecNumCloud is required, the monthly budget rises from about 400 EUR to 560 to 720 EUR for production alone.
Migration cost and how to keep it under control
The migration itself is a short project, but not one to improvise. It covers an audit of the current setup, containerization if not already done, infrastructure as code (Terraform), data transfer and a cutover with a rollback path.
| Step | Duration | Cost excl. VAT (2026 estimate) |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture audit and AWS service inventory | 3 to 5 days | 1,500 to 3,000 EUR |
| Containerization and code adaptation | 3 to 10 days | 1,500 to 5,000 EUR |
| Infrastructure as code and monitoring | 3 to 6 days | 1,200 to 3,500 EUR |
| Data transfer and load testing | 2 to 5 days | 800 to 2,500 EUR |
| Cutover, parallel run and rollback | 1 to 2 weeks | 0 to 1,000 EUR of double hosting |
| Total | 4 to 8 weeks | 5,000 to 15,000 EUR |
The most common hidden cost is AWS data egress: for 3 TB of documents, expect about 270 EUR one-off, and negotiate it, since AWS has granted exit credits on request since 2024.
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Mini case study
Claire, CFO of an engineering SME in Nantes, pays 780 EUR a month on AWS for a site-tracking application used by 400 staff. Two regional tenders require sovereign hosting. OVHcloud standard scenario: 430 EUR a month, i.e. 4,200 EUR saved per year. Migration: 9,500 EUR excl. VAT. Payback in 27 months on hosting cost alone. But the two targeted contracts represent 600,000 EUR of potential revenue: the migration becomes an entry ticket, not just a saving. Moving the sensitive database to SecNumCloud (+210 EUR a month) still keeps the total below the current bill.
FAQ
How much does hosting a 400-user application cost in 2026?
Expect 450 to 900 EUR a month on AWS, 250 to 600 EUR on OVHcloud and 220 to 550 EUR on Scaleway, including staging and backups. The gap comes mostly from the managed database and outbound traffic.
Is SecNumCloud mandatory for an SME?
No, unless your public clients or health data require it. It adds 40 to 80 % to the monthly cost, so it makes sense to qualify only the sensitive components.
How long does a migration from AWS take?
Usually 4 to 8 weeks for 5,000 to 15,000 EUR excl. VAT, parallel run included. Downtime can be kept under 2 hours with a prepared DNS cutover.
Do you lose reliability by leaving AWS?
For an SME application, contractual availability of 99.9 % to 99.99 % is comparable. The difference lies mainly in the managed service catalog, which is broader at AWS.
Who runs the infrastructure after migration?
A managed services contract costs 300 to 900 EUR a month depending on on-call level. With infrastructure as code, switching provider remains possible within a few days.
Let's scope your project. We price your migration to OVHcloud or Scaleway (audit, indicative budget of 5,000 to 15,000 EUR excl. VAT, 4 to 8 weeks) from your current AWS bill. 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.
