The verdict in three sentences
Migrating an application from a dedicated server to a sovereign cloud (Scaleway, OVHcloud) costs between 8,000 and 30,000 EUR (excl. VAT) in 2026, depending on required containerisation and criticality. The cloud doesn't necessarily cut the monthly bill, but it buys resilience, elasticity and EU compliance. The real decision is between a sovereign cloud (native GDPR, predictable prices) and hyperscalers (rich managed services, but lock-in and variable costs).
What the migration costs
The budget depends on the starting state: an already containerised application migrates far faster than a monolith installed "by hand" on a server.
| Migration type | Effort | Duration | Cost 2026 (EUR excl. VAT) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lift-and-shift (rehost) | Low | 2-4 weeks | 8,000 - 15,000 |
| Containerisation (Docker) | Medium | 4-8 weeks | 15,000 - 25,000 |
| Cloud-native rebuild (K8s) | High | 2-4 months | 25,000 - 30,000+ |
| Database migration | Variable | 1-3 weeks | +3,000 - 8,000 |
| CI/CD + monitoring setup | Medium | 1-2 weeks | +3,000 - 6,000 |
Lift-and-shift (move as-is) is fastest but leaves the architecture debt. Docker containerisation is the best cost/benefit compromise for most SMEs in 2026.
Sovereign cloud vs hyperscalers: monthly costs
Once migrated, the recurring cost depends on the provider and the level of managed services. Here are orders of magnitude for an average B2B application (database + API + storage).
| Monthly item | Scaleway (EU sovereign) | US hyperscaler |
|---|---|---|
| Compute instances (2 vCPU) | 40 - 90 EUR | 60 - 130 EUR |
| Managed Postgres database | 50 - 150 EUR | 80 - 250 EUR |
| Object storage 500 GB | 8 - 15 EUR | 12 - 25 EUR |
| Outbound traffic | Often included | Billed per GB |
| GDPR compliance | Native | Add-ons / clauses |
| Indicative total / month | 150 - 400 EUR | 250 - 700 EUR |
The sovereign cloud avoids surprise outbound-traffic billing (the infamous "egress") and guarantees data stays in the EU — a decisive argument for public-sector and healthcare clients in France.
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Mini case study
Nadia, CIO of an edtech scale-up in Toulouse, hosts her application on two ageing dedicated servers (480 EUR/month bill, no redundancy). A disk failure in 2025 caused 9 hours of downtime. She quotes a containerised migration to Scaleway at 19,000 EUR (excl. VAT).
The calculation: after migration, her monthly bill drops to 320 EUR (compute + managed Postgres + storage), i.e. -160 EUR/month, and above all she gains redundancy and auto-scaling. The 19,000 EUR migration is amortised by infra savings over 10 years — but the real return is elsewhere: a single 9-hour outage cost far more in reputation and support than the project. Nadia approves, with Docker containerisation and monitoring included.
FAQ
Should you containerise before migrating? Not mandatory, but recommended. Lift-and-shift is faster and cheaper short-term; containerisation costs 5,000-10,000 EUR more but unlocks auto-scaling and eases future deployments.
Is the cloud really cheaper than a dedicated server? Not always in raw cost. The cloud wins on resilience, elasticity (pay per use) and no hardware maintenance. For a stable, predictable load, a dedicated server can remain competitive.
What does sovereignty change concretely? Your data and processing stay in the EU, under European law, with no exposure to the US Cloud Act. It's often a contractual requirement for public tenders, healthcare and finance in France.
How much downtime during cutover? With a well-prepared migration (DNS switch, upstream database replication), the outage is limited to a few minutes, usually at night. A dry run is essential.
Can you migrate in stages? Yes. We often start with storage and asynchronous jobs, then the database, finally the application. This progressive approach reduces risk and spreads the budget over 2 to 3 months.
Let's scope your project. Tell us your current hosting, application criticality and compliance constraints: we'll quote a sovereign-cloud migration with predictable monthly costs. 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.