The verdict in three sentences
Sovereign EU hosting (OVHcloud, Scaleway, Hetzner) costs 30 to 450 EUR/month depending on traffic, versus 20 to 400 EUR for AWS or Vercel, an price gap that has become marginal in 2026. The real gain is not financial but legal and strategic: immunity from the US Cloud Act, simplified GDPR compliance and, for public tenders, security-certification eligibility. Migration costs 1,500 to 6,000 EUR and pays off on projects with sovereignty requirements.
Sovereign vs US hosting comparison in 2026
European hosts have closed the performance gap thanks to their CDNs and edge networks. Here are 2026 prices for a medium-traffic B2B site (50,000 to 200,000 visits/month).
| Host | Sovereignty | 2026 price (EUR/month) | EU edge/CDN | Security cert. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OVHcloud | France | 30 - 350 | Yes | Yes (dedicated offer) |
| Scaleway | France | 35 - 400 | Yes | Yes (partial) |
| Hetzner | Germany | 25 - 300 | Yes | No |
| IONOS | Germany | 30 - 320 | Yes | Partial |
| AWS (eu-central) | US (Cloud Act) | 40 - 400 | Yes | No |
| Vercel | US (Cloud Act) | 20 - 350 | Yes | No |
At equal traffic, the invoice gap between an OVHcloud and an AWS is now around 10 to 20%, often in favour of EU players on high bandwidth volumes.
Total cost of ownership (TCO) over 3 years
The monthly price is not the whole story: migration, monitoring and maintenance weigh heavily. Here is a 2026 TCO estimate for a medium-traffic institutional B2B site.
| Item | US cloud (EUR) | Sovereign EU (EUR) |
|---|---|---|
| Initial migration | 0 (already in place) | 1,500 - 6,000 |
| Hosting 3 years | 3,600 - 14,400 | 3,240 - 16,200 |
| CDN / bandwidth | Included to variable | Included |
| Monitoring + backups | 900 - 2,700 | 900 - 2,700 |
| Legal risk (Cloud Act, GDPR) | High | Low |
| 3-year TCO (indicative) | 4,500 - 17,100 | 5,640 - 24,900 |
The sovereign premium over 3 years stays moderate (1,000 to 3,000 EUR) and is justified whenever data sovereignty is a contractual or regulatory criterion.
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Mini case study
Thomas, CIO of a 320-employee industrial mid-cap in Berlin, must answer a public tender requiring certified sovereign hosting. His corporate site runs on Vercel (US). He migrates to a German sovereign host: migration 4,200 EUR, hosting 180 EUR/month. Over 3 years the TCO rises from 6,480 to about 10,680 EUR. But this migration unlocks eligibility for three public tenders worth a potential 2.4M EUR in contracts. The 4,200 EUR premium becomes trivial against the commercial stakes.
FAQ
Is the US Cloud Act a real risk? Yes: it lets US authorities demand access to data held by an American company, even on servers located in the EU. For sensitive or strategic data, it is a decisive argument for a European host.
Is OVHcloud as fast as AWS? For 90% of B2B sites, yes. Latency differences are imperceptible thanks to EU CDNs. AWS keeps an edge on complex multi-service architectures, rarely needed for a brochure or institutional site.
What is the security certification about? National cybersecurity qualifications are often required in public tenders and sensitive sectors. Only some EU hosts hold them, making it a strong differentiating criterion.
How much does a migration cost? Allow 1,500 to 6,000 EUR depending on complexity: a static brochure site migrates in 2 days, a site with a database and integrations needs finer planning.
Can I keep my domain name? Yes, the domain is independent of hosting. Migration means pointing DNS to the new server, with a switchover that is usually transparent for visitors.
Let's scope your project. Migration to sovereign EU hosting, indicative budget 1,500 to 6,000 EUR depending on traffic and integrations. 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.
