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Scaleway vs OVH: GPU Cloud Pricing and Performance Compared

Deploybase · November 12, 2025 · GPU Cloud

Contents

Provider Overview

Scaleway and OVH are European cloud providers offering GPU infrastructure. Both compete on price and European data residency. Scaleway targets startups and developers. OVH serves large teams and hyperscale workloads. The choice depends on workload size and compliance requirements. As of March 2026, both providers offer mature GPU infrastructure with expanding capacity.

Strategic Positioning

Scaleway and OVH have distinct market strategies.

Provider positioning:

  • Scaleway: developer-friendly, startup pricing, EU-centric
  • OVH: production-focused, high-capacity, global presence

Pricing Structure

GPU Instance Pricing

GPU pricing differs between providers and regions.

H100 hourly pricing:

Scaleway:

  • H100 instance: $3.19/hour (Paris region)
  • Regional variation: $2.99-3.29/hour
  • No volume discounts

OVH:

  • H100 instance: $3.50/hour (France region)
  • Regional variation: $3.30-3.70/hour
  • Volume discounts available (10%+)

RunPod reference: $2.69/hour (more competitive)

Cost comparison:

Scaleway saves $0.31/hour vs OVH on H100.

Monthly difference (730 hours):

  • Scaleway: $2,328
  • OVH: $2,555
  • Savings: $227/month per H100

Over one year: $2,724 savings per GPU.

A100 pricing (older generation):

Scaleway:

  • A100 40GB: $2.99/hour
  • More budget-friendly option
  • Limited availability

OVH:

  • A100 40GB: $2.50/hour
  • Better pricing for older hardware
  • Abundant supply

For budget workloads using older GPUs, OVH wins. Newer GPUs favor Scaleway.

Billing Models

Billing structures affect total costs.

Scaleway billing:

  • Hourly billing standard
  • No minimum commitment
  • No reserved instance discounts
  • Simple pay-as-developers-go model

OVH billing:

  • Hourly billing available
  • Monthly commitments reduce cost 10-15%
  • Reserved capacity discounts 15-25%
  • Flexible commitment options

For sustained workloads, OVH's commitment discounts provide 15-25% savings. Short-term workloads prefer Scaleway's flexibility.

Additional Costs

Beyond GPU pricing, storage and networking matter.

Scaleway additional expenses:

  • Storage: $0.10/GB/month (standard)
  • Bandwidth: $0.10/GB outbound
  • Internal transfers: included
  • Minimal networking overhead

OVH additional expenses:

  • Storage: $0.08/GB/month (cheaper)
  • Bandwidth: $0.015-0.08/GB (highly competitive)
  • Internal transfers: included
  • Similar networking costs

OVH edges ahead on data transfer costs. Scaleway competitive on storage. Difference: $100-300/month depending on volume.

Hardware Options

GPU Selection

Hardware availability differs between providers.

Scaleway available hardware:

H100 (primary option):

  • 80GB HBM3 memory
  • Consistent availability
  • Standard pricing

A100 (budget option):

  • 40GB memory
  • Good for less demanding workloads
  • Lower cost but limited

L4 (inference option):

  • Consumer-grade GPU
  • Minimal latency inference
  • Very budget-friendly

OVH available hardware:

H100:

  • Multiple configurations
  • Good availability
  • Premium pricing

A100:

  • Abundant supply
  • Competitive pricing
  • Mature hardware

RTX 6000 Ada:

  • Professional GPU alternative
  • Fewer use cases but available
  • Good pricing for specific workloads

Scaleway focuses on H100. OVH offers more variety including older, cheaper hardware.

Multi-GPU Configurations

Cluster deployment characteristics differ.

Scaleway multi-GPU:

  • Purchase individual instances
  • Manual clustering required
  • No built-in cluster pricing
  • Networking between instances standard

OVH multi-GPU:

  • Bare metal servers with multiple GPUs
  • Integrated multi-GPU systems available
  • Better interconnect (InfiniBand options)
  • Cluster pricing available

OVH better for distributed training. Scaleway simpler for distributed inference.

Performance Metrics

Inference Latency

Time to first token varies between platforms.

Time to first token (batched):

Scaleway:

  • H100: 70-100ms typical
  • Consistent performance
  • Cloud platform virtualization

OVH:

  • H100: 60-90ms typical
  • Bare metal advantage
  • Lower latency for demanding workloads

OVH ~10-15ms faster average. Most applications indifferent to this difference.

Throughput Performance

Throughput depends on model optimization and batch sizing.

Tokens per second (llama-7b quantized):

Scaleway:

  • H100: 800-950 tokens/second
  • Consistent performance
  • Standard cloud setup

OVH:

  • H100: 850-1000 tokens/second
  • Bare metal optimization
  • Slightly higher throughput

Difference: ~5-10% favoring OVH. Practical impact minimal for most applications.

Network Bandwidth

Interconnect speeds matter for distributed workloads.

Multi-GPU cluster performance:

Scaleway:

  • Standard Ethernet (10-25Gbps typical)
  • Adequate for distributed inference
  • Limited for distributed training

OVH:

  • InfiniBand option available
  • 200Gbps possible
  • Optimized for training clusters

For training on multiple GPUs, OVH's InfiniBand advantage significant. Inference workloads see minimal difference.

Regional Availability

Geographic Coverage

Both providers emphasize European presence.

Scaleway regions:

Primary regions:

  • Paris (fr-par) - primary data center
  • Amsterdam (nl-ams) - Dutch presence
  • Warsaw (pl-waw) - Eastern Europe

Limited footprint. Focus on core European markets.

OVH regions:

Extensive coverage:

  • France (Strasbourg, Roubaix, Gravelines)
  • Germany (Frankfurt)
  • Poland (Warsaw)
  • North America (Canada)
  • Asia-Pacific (Singapore, Sydney)

OVH global presence exceeds Scaleway. Better for international applications.

Data Residency

Regulatory compliance considerations vary.

Scaleway residency:

  • EU data handling standard
  • GDPR-native architecture
  • French/EU data centers
  • Strong privacy positioning

OVH residency:

  • Extensive EU presence
  • GDPR-compliant
  • Respects data residency requirements
  • Global operations

Both suitable for GDPR compliance. Scaleway more transparent about EU-only operations. OVH offers flexibility but with global reach.

Latency to Users

Geographic distribution affects user experience.

European applications:

  • Scaleway: low latency from Paris/Amsterdam
  • OVH: low latency from multiple regions
  • Comparable performance

North American applications:

  • Scaleway: high latency (no US presence)
  • OVH: acceptable latency from Canada
  • OVH advantage: $200+ monthly in bandwidth savings

For global applications, OVH's geographic distribution matters. European-only workloads: comparable.

Service Features

API and Management

Both provide standard cloud APIs.

Scaleway interface:

  • Web console user-friendly
  • API documentation solid
  • SDK for Python, Go, Node.js
  • Terraform support

OVH interface:

  • Web console comprehensive
  • API more extensive
  • SDK support across languages
  • Mature Terraform support

OVH API more sophisticated. Scaleway simpler for basic use cases. Both production-ready.

Container Support

Both support containerized workloads.

Scaleway:

  • Docker support standard
  • Kubernetes integration available
  • Simpler default experience
  • Community examples available

OVH:

  • Docker fully supported
  • Kubernetes (Managed Kubernetes Service available)
  • More production features
  • Better documentation

OVH Kubernetes service is managed offering. Scaleway requires manual setup. OVH better for complex orchestration.

Monitoring and Observability

Operational visibility tools differ.

Scaleway monitoring:

  • Basic dashboard metrics
  • GPU utilization visible
  • Logs through standard outputs
  • Minimal built-in observability

OVH monitoring:

  • Advanced monitoring options
  • Log aggregation available
  • Better alerting capabilities
  • Production monitoring available

OVH superior for production workload observability. Scaleway requires third-party tools.

Customer Support

Support quality affects operational reliability.

Scaleway support:

  • Community forums active
  • Email support responsive
  • SLA available for premium plans
  • Growing support team

OVH support:

  • Production support strong
  • Phone support available
  • SLAs standard across plans
  • 24/7 support teams

OVH superior for mission-critical workloads. Scaleway adequate for startups.

FAQ

Q: Which European provider should I choose?

A: Choose Scaleway for budget-conscious startups with European operations. Choose OVH for production needs, global scale, and higher reliability requirements.

Q: How much cheaper is Scaleway?

A: 10-15% cheaper than OVH for H100 instances on pay-as-you-go. OVH commitments reduce gap to 5-10%. Storage and bandwidth costs variable.

Q: Does Scaleway support distributed training?

A: Yes, but sub-optimally. Manual multi-instance setup required. OVH bare metal and InfiniBand better for training clusters.

Q: Which is better for compliance-heavy workloads?

A: Scaleway more transparent about EU-only operations. OVH compliant but global. For strict EU data handling, Scaleway preferred.

Q: Can I use both providers simultaneously?

A: Yes. Run inference on Scaleway (cheaper), training on OVH (better performance). Requires application layer abstraction.

Q: How do they compare to US providers like CoreWeave?

A: Scaleway/OVH 15-30% more expensive than CoreWeave. Trade-off: EU data residency and stronger privacy protection.

Q: Which has better uptime?

A: OVH claims 99.95% SLA. Scaleway less clear on commitments. OVH better for critical workloads requiring guaranteed uptime.

Sources

  • Scaleway official pricing and documentation
  • OVH Cloud service specifications
  • Regional pricing comparisons
  • Performance benchmark testing
  • Community deployment reports
  • Compliance documentation from both providers