2 Best Free Alternatives to Scaleway in 2026
By Noahlast updated
Compared: free alternatives to Scaleway
| Alternative | Best for | Standout | Biggest weakness | Learning curve | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scalewayreference | European developers and startups who need transparent, product-level cloud pricing and EU-hosted GPU instances for AI workloads, without a US hyperscaler's custom-quote enterprise sales process | Published per-product pricing (including for high-end H100 and B300-SXM GPU instances) rather than the quote-gated enterprise sales process common at larger AI infrastructure providers. | No permanent free tier — evaluation depends on startup credit programs rather than an ongoing free plan — and some G2 and Trustpilot reviewers report billing disputes and slow support response times, a recurring concern for a provider this size. | Moderate | Custom pricing |
| DigitalOcean | developers and small engineering teams who want predictable, usage-based cloud pricing for VMs, Kubernetes, and managed databases without navigating AWS's pricing complexity | Simple, transparent per-second billing on Droplets starting at $4/month, combined with a newer AI infrastructure stack (GPU access, a 70+ model inference engine, and managed agent orchestration) on the same account. | Fewer regions and a smaller managed-service catalog than AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud, so teams with complex compliance, networking, or enterprise-integration needs often outgrow DigitalOcean and have to migrate to a hyperscaler. | Low | Free tier · paid from $4/mo |
| AWS Amplify | teams already building on AWS who want Git-based hosting plus managed auth, data, and storage without assembling separate services | Provisions a full backend (Cognito authentication, data APIs, storage, functions) from a single TypeScript codebase alongside CI/CD hosting on CloudFront | Pricing spans multiple separately-billed AWS services (hosting, Cognito, AppSync, DynamoDB, Lambda), so total cost isn't visible on the Amplify pricing page alone, and the platform assumes comfort with AWS's console and IAM model rather than offering a simplified single-dashboard experience like Vercel or Netlify. | Moderate | Free tier · paid from $0.01/mo |
Scaleway
DigitalOcean
AWS Amplify1.DigitalOcean — best Scaleway alternative for developers and small engineering teams who want predictable, usage-based cloud pricing for VMs, Kubernetes, and managed databases without navigating AWS's pricing complexity
DigitalOcean is the best Scaleway alternative for developers and small engineering teams who want predictable, per-second-billed cloud pricing plus a genuine free entry point, something Scaleway's data shows no equivalent of since Scaleway has no permanent free tier. DigitalOcean's Droplets start at $4/month with per-second billing, its App Platform PaaS has a real $0/month free tier, and managed Kubernetes starts at $12/month with a free control plane; new accounts also get a $5 credit valid for 90 days. DigitalOcean holds a 4.6/5 rating from 159 Capterra reviews, giving it a verifiable review signal Scaleway's own listing lacks entirely. DigitalOcean has also expanded into AI infrastructure with GPU access across 20 data centers and an inference engine serving 70+ open models, a comparable AI push to Scaleway's own H100/B300-SXM GPU stack. Scaleway is still the better choice for teams specifically prioritizing EU data sovereignty for AI workloads, since Scaleway's data centers are explicitly EU-based across 4 availability zones, while DigitalOcean's 20 data centers span a broader, less EU-concentrated global footprint, and DigitalOcean's own data notes it has fewer regions and a smaller managed-service catalog than the major hyperscalers.
Compared to Scaleway: genuine $0/month App Platform free tier vs no permanent free tier at Scaleway, 4.6/5 rating from 159 Capterra reviews vs no listed ratings for Scaleway, $5 new-account credit valid for 90 days
Wins:App Platform ships a genuine $0/month free tier; Scaleway has no permanent free tier · 4.6/5 rating from 159 Capterra reviews, a verifiable signal Scaleway's own listing doesn't have · Droplets bill per second starting at $4/month, simpler to predict than Scaleway's per-vCPU/RAM configuration pricing
Loses:Data centers span a broader, less EU-concentrated global footprint than Scaleway's 4 EU availability zones · Fewer regions and a smaller managed-service catalog than the major hyperscalers, per DigitalOcean's own data · AI infrastructure line (GPU access, inference engine) is newer and less proven than dedicated AI cloud providers
Pros
- Droplets start at $4/month with simple per-second billing, easier to predict than hyperscaler pricing.
- App Platform includes a genuine free tier, not just a time-limited trial.
- Managed Kubernetes includes a free control plane, a cost hyperscalers usually charge for.
- 4.6/5 rating from 159 Capterra reviews, with reviewers reporting largely positive sentiment.
Cons
- Far fewer regions and managed services than AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud, limiting fit for complex enterprise needs.
- The new-account credit is a modest $5 valid for 90 days, smaller than promotional credits some competitors offer.
- The AI infrastructure line (GPU access, inference engine) is newer and less proven than dedicated AI cloud providers.
- Support and SLA options are thinner than what enterprise customers get from the major hyperscalers.
Pricing: Free tier · paid from $4/mo — $0/month App Platform free tier and $4/month Droplets vs Scaleway's roughly €16.79/month general-purpose instance (no free tier) (verified undefined NaN, NaN)
2.AWS Amplify — best Scaleway alternative for teams already building on AWS who want Git-based hosting plus managed auth, data, and storage without assembling separate services
AWS Amplify is the best Scaleway alternative for teams that want a managed backend (authentication, data APIs, storage, serverless functions) provisioned from code alongside Git-based CI/CD hosting, rather than assembling raw compute and storage themselves the way Scaleway's catalog is structured. Amplify Hosting gives 1,000 free build minutes, 5GB of CDN storage, and 15GB of data transfer per month for 12 months on the AWS Free Tier, a free entry point Scaleway's data shows no equivalent of. Amplify holds a 4.8/5 rating from 8 Capterra reviews and a 5.0/5 rating from 11 Product Hunt reviews, giving it review coverage on two platforms where Scaleway has no listed ratings. Because Amplify sits inside the AWS ecosystem, apps can extend into any other AWS service as requirements grow. Scaleway is still the better choice for teams that want simple, published per-product infrastructure pricing without navigating multiple separately-billed AWS services: Amplify's backend services (Cognito, AppSync, DynamoDB, Lambda) are billed separately from hosting, making total cost harder to estimate than Scaleway's transparent per-product pricing model, and Amplify's free-tier build minutes and transfer allowances expire after 12 months while Scaleway's startup credit programs are evaluated on their own terms.
Compared to Scaleway: 12-month AWS Free Tier (1,000 build minutes, 5GB storage, 15GB transfer) vs no permanent free tier at Scaleway, 4.8/5 Capterra and 5.0/5 Product Hunt ratings vs no listed ratings for Scaleway, provisions a full backend (auth, data, storage, functions) from a single TypeScript codebase
Wins:12-month AWS Free Tier covers 1,000 build minutes, 5GB storage, and 15GB data transfer per month at no cost · 4.8/5 rating from 8 Capterra reviews and 5.0/5 from 11 Product Hunt reviews, ratings Scaleway's listing lacks · Provisions a full backend (Cognito auth, data APIs, storage, functions) from a single TypeScript codebase
Loses:Backend services (Cognito, AppSync, DynamoDB, Lambda) are billed separately, making total cost harder to estimate than Scaleway's per-product pricing · Free tier build minutes and transfer allowances expire after 12 months · Assumes comfort with AWS's console and IAM model rather than Scaleway's simpler per-product dashboards
Pros
- Combines Git-based CI/CD hosting with a full backend toolkit (auth, data, storage, functions) provisioned from code.
- 12-month AWS Free Tier covers 1,000 build minutes, 5 GB storage, and 15 GB data transfer per month at no cost.
- No pay-per-seat pricing for team collaboration.
- Extends into any other AWS service as an application's needs grow.
Cons
- Backend services (Cognito, AppSync, DynamoDB, Lambda) are billed separately under their own AWS pricing, making total cost harder to estimate than flat-rate competitors.
- Learning curve is steeper for teams unfamiliar with AWS's console, IAM permissions, and service naming.
- Free tier build minutes and transfer allowances expire after 12 months.
- Fewer opinionated defaults than Vercel or Netlify, requiring more configuration for common frontend framework deployments.
Pricing: Free tier · paid from $0.01/mo — $0/month for the first 12 months (AWS Free Tier) vs Scaleway's roughly €16.79/month general-purpose instance (no free tier) (verified undefined NaN, NaN)