The verdict in three sentences
For an 18-person law firm in Brussels, hosting the website, forms and appointment booking in the EU costs 8 to 45 EUR excl. VAT per month on shared OVHcloud or a Scaleway VPS, and from 150 EUR per month for a sovereign offer qualified to SecNumCloud or an equivalent certification. The real issue is not the brochure site's server but the third-party tools (forms, calendar, chat, analytics) that often send data to the United States. An up-to-date record of processing activities, daily backups and a 3-year retention period for forms cover most of the GDPR obligations on the website side.
EU hosting offers compared
A law firm's website receives sensitive data by nature: identity, family situation, litigation or corporate matters. The right offer depends on what the site actually collects.
| Offer (indicative public prices 2026) | Monthly price excl. VAT | Suitable use | Limits |
|---|---|---|---|
| OVHcloud shared hosting Pro or Performance | 8 to 15 EUR | Brochure site, simple form | Shared resources, little control |
| Scaleway VPS (Stardust to Pro), Paris or Amsterdam | 20 to 45 EUR | Site + forms + self-hosted calendar | System administration required |
| Belgian managed hosting (Combell, Nucleus) | 25 to 90 EUR | Site + light client area, local support | Varies by plan |
| SecNumCloud-qualified provider (OVHcloud, Outscale) | from 150 EUR | Document exchange, client portal | Higher cost and commitment |
| Health-data certified hosting | 200 EUR and up | Unnecessary for a law firm | Oversized |
For a brochure site with a contact form and appointment booking, a Scaleway VPS or a Belgian managed plan is enough. A sovereign offer becomes relevant if the firm wants clients to upload documents (contracts, IDs, court filings) through the site.
The real risk: third-party tools
| Common tool | Frequent data location | EU-hosted alternative |
|---|---|---|
| Google Forms, Typeform | United States | Native form on the EU server |
| Calendly | United States | Self-hosted calendar or EU booking tool |
| Google Analytics 4 | United States | Self-hosted Matomo or Plausible (EU) |
| Google Fonts loaded remotely | United States | Locally hosted fonts |
| Intercom, Crisp chat | Varies | Crisp (France) configured in the EU |
| reCAPTCHA | United States | Sovereign captcha or honeypot |
A site hosted in Brussels that loads Google Fonts, Calendly and GA4 transfers data outside the EU on every visit. EU data protection authorities, including the Belgian APD/GBA, have already challenged this kind of setup. The most cost-effective move is to bring these components home before paying for a premium server.
The website GDPR checklist
| Requirement | What it takes in practice | Indicative cost |
|---|---|---|
| Record of processing | One entry per form (contact, booking, newsletter) | Included in compliance work |
| Retention period | 3 years after last contact for prospects, automatic purge | 1 to 2 days of development |
| Backups | Daily, 30-day retention, stored in the EU | 3 to 10 EUR/month |
| Encryption | HTTPS, TLS 1.3, encrypted storage if attachments | Included |
| Cookie banner | Refusing as easy as accepting | 0 to 15 EUR/month |
| Data processing agreement (DPA) | Signed with the host and the agency | Included at OVHcloud and Scaleway |
Mini case study
Sophie, managing partner of an 18-person law firm in Brussels, pays 12 EUR per month for hosting but uses Calendly (16 EUR per month per user for 4 lawyers, i.e. 64 EUR) and Typeform (29 EUR per month). She moves to a Scaleway VPS at 35 EUR per month with a self-hosted calendar and forms, plus 5 EUR for backups. Her monthly spend drops from 105 EUR to 40 EUR, saving 780 EUR per year, and all data stays in the EU. The migration, estimated at 3,000 EUR excl. VAT, pays for itself in just under 4 years, with a lower regulatory risk as a bonus. This case is illustrative.
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FAQ
Must a Brussels law firm host its website in the EU?
No law requires it for a brochure site, but the GDPR strictly regulates transfers outside the EU. Hosting in the EU for 8 to 45 EUR per month removes most of the questions.
OVHcloud or Scaleway for a law firm website?
OVHcloud shared hosting is enough for a brochure site without sensitive data, at 8 to 15 EUR per month. A Scaleway VPS fits better if you self-host booking and forms, at 20 to 45 EUR per month.
Is a sovereign cloud offer necessary?
Only if the site receives sensitive documents or opens a client portal. Expect from 150 EUR per month, which remains reasonable for a firm of more than 10 people.
How long should contact forms be kept?
EU regulators generally accept 3 years after the last contact for a prospect. An automatic purge costs 1 to 2 days of development and avoids storing unnecessary data.
How long does a migration to EU hosting take?
Allow 2 to 4 weeks, including one week to replace third-party tools and one for testing. Downtime on the DNS switch day stays under one hour.
Let's scope your project. List your forms, booking tool and third-party services: we cost the migration to EU hosting, the monthly budget and the schedule. 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.
