The verdict in three sentences
GDPR-compliant web hosting in France costs, in 2026, between 50 and 500 EUR/month with a sovereign provider (OVH, Scaleway), depending on load and redundancy. EU data residency and the absence of transfers to a Cloud Act-subject provider are the two CNIL criteria that separate compliant hosting from merely cheap hosting. For health data, HDS certification is mandatory and billed on top.
How much sovereign hosting costs
Price depends on power, redundancy and the level of managed services. A brochure site fits on a shared plan; a business app with real traffic needs a dedicated server or cloud instance with backups.
| Hosting type | Use | 2026 order of magnitude |
|---|---|---|
| Sovereign shared | Brochure site, low traffic | 5-25 EUR/month |
| VPS / cloud instance | Business app, medium traffic | 30-150 EUR/month |
| Dedicated server | Critical app, high traffic | 150-500 EUR/month |
| Multi-AZ redundant cloud | High availability | 300-1,000 EUR/month |
| HDS certification (health) | Health data | +200-800 EUR/month |
On top of this comes managed services (monitoring, updates, backups): plan 150 to 800 EUR/month depending on the SLA.
US cloud vs EU cloud under GDPR
Choosing the provider is not just a price question: it drives compliance. A US cloud is exposed to the Cloud Act even if the servers are in Europe, which the CNIL watches closely.
| Criterion | Sovereign EU cloud (OVH, Scaleway) | US cloud (non-EU) |
|---|---|---|
| Data residency | France / EU guaranteed | Variable, transfers possible |
| Subject to Cloud Act | No | Yes |
| CNIL compliance | Native | Clauses + legal risk |
| HDS certification | Available | Rare in France |
| Non-compliance incident cost | Avoided | Up to 4 % of global revenue |
| Indicative price | 50-500 EUR/month | Often comparable |
The cost of a non-compliance incident is the real risk: a CNIL fine can reach 20M EUR or 4 % of global revenue, without counting reputational damage.
Mini case study
Nadia, DPO of a medical group in Lyon, must host a patient site and a booking app handling health data. She picks an HDS sovereign host at 350 EUR/month + managed services at 450 EUR/month, i.e. 9,600 EUR/year. Against the risk of a CNIL fine (up to 4 % of 12M EUR revenue, a theoretical 480,000 EUR) and a health-data breach, the compliance investment is 2 % of the maximum risk. The decision is immediate: compliance is an insurance cost, not an optional expense.
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FAQ
Is hosting with OVH or Scaleway automatically GDPR-compliant?
EU residency is secured, but full compliance also depends on your configuration: encryption, access management, logging, processing register. A sovereign host is necessary but not sufficient.
Is HDS certification mandatory for all health sites?
Yes, as soon as you host personal health data. It adds 200 to 800 EUR/month and requires an HDS-certified host.
Can I use a US cloud and stay compliant?
It is risky: the Cloud Act lets US authorities access data. The CNIL strongly recommends sovereign hosting for sensitive data.
What budget for a compliant brochure site?
A sovereign shared plan at 5-25 EUR/month is enough, with an SSL certificate and a compliant cookie policy. Most compliance cost comes from governance, not hosting.
What does managed hosting add beyond hosting?
24/7 monitoring, tested backups, security updates and restoration after an incident. Plan 150 to 800 EUR/month depending on SLA and criticality.
Let's scope your project. Tell us the nature of your data (health, sensitive, standard) and your traffic; we will propose an encrypted, managed sovereign architecture. 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.
