Compare / Laravel Cloud vs Scaleway Instances
Laravel Cloud vs Scaleway Instances
Pre-calculated from hand-checked data — Laravel Cloud checked 2026-08-06, Scaleway checked 2026-08-06.
The short version
Laravel Cloud wins more of our comparison points, but Scaleway Instances still fits if eU projects that want real cloud ergonomics — hourly billing, CLI, Terraform, managed databases — without a US hyperscaler describes you.
Price Tie
Laravel Cloud costs less while you're starting out, but Scaleway Instances works out cheaper once traffic grows.
Ease Laravel Cloud
Laravel Cloud is easier to get running: connect a Git repository or run cloud ship; Laravel Cloud builds the supported runtime and deploys every push with zero downtime.
Control Scaleway Instances
Scaleway Instances gives you more control over the stack — the flip side of the convenience trade.
Free tier Laravel Cloud
Laravel Cloud has a free tier; Scaleway Instances doesn't.
Features Laravel Cloud
Laravel Cloud comes out ahead on 5 of the 15 features we track, versus 2.
What developers say about this matchup
We couldn't find a substantive first-person discussion comparing this exact pair. We leave the section empty instead of filling it with vendor marketing or generic SEO comparisons.
At a glance
| Laravel Cloud | Scaleway Instances | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Laravel teams that want the framework, database, queues, scheduler, cache, and deploy workflow managed as one platform. | EU projects that want real cloud ergonomics — hourly billing, CLI, Terraform, managed databases — without a US hyperscaler. |
| How deploys work | Connect a Git repository or run cloud ship; Laravel Cloud builds the supported runtime and deploys every push with zero downtime. | Spin up an instance from the console or the scw CLI, then manage it like any VPS; Terraform and cloud-init are first-class. |
| The tradeoff | The excellent Laravel experience comes from an opinionated runtime, so arbitrary containers and server-level access are out. | À la carte pricing makes the real cost higher than the sticker, and account verification can be painful. |
| Free tier | New Starter subscriptions get their first month free; after that, Starter costs $5/month and includes $5 in monthly usage credit. | None |
What you'd realistically pay
Laravel Cloud Scaleway Instances
| Project stage | Laravel Cloud | Scaleway Instances | Cheaper |
|---|---|---|---|
| Just starting | ≈$5/mo Starter — The $5 subscription includes $5 of monthly usage credit; a small app and database that scale to zero can stay inside it. | ≈€10.42/mo DEV1-S + IPv4 + 10 GB volume — ~€6.55 instance (2 shared vCPU, 2 GB RAM) + €2.92 IPv4 + ~€0.95 block storage. Ex-VAT, ~730h/month. | Laravel Cloud |
| Steady traffic | ≈$12/mo Starter + always-on Flex 1GB — One always-on Flex 1GB app instance reaches a $12 monthly compute cap; the $5 usage credit offsets the $5 Starter fee. | ≈€24.92/mo PLAY2-NANO + IPv4 + 20 GB volume — ~€20.10 instance (2 shared vCPU, 4 GB RAM) + €2.92 IPv4 + ~€1.90 block storage. | Laravel Cloud |
| Growing | ≈$68.90/mo Growth + medium SaaS resources — The official medium-SaaS example is about $53.90 in usage; add the $20 Growth fee and subtract its $5 usage credit. | ≈€45/mo PLAY2-MICRO + IPv4 + 20 GB volume — ~€40.20 instance (4 shared vCPU, 8 GB RAM) + €2.92 IPv4 + ~€1.90 block storage. | Scaleway Instances |
Laravel Cloud pricing notes
- Every paid plan includes $5 in monthly usage credits, which reset each billing cycle.
- Flex compute bills per second while awake, scales to zero when idle, and is capped at 28 days of runtime per billing cycle.
- Each compute size earns a data-transfer allowance; overage is $0.10/GB.
- Managed databases, caches, queues, object storage, and WebSockets have separate usage charges.
Scaleway Instances pricing notes
- Hourly billing (~730 h/month), ex-VAT, with no egress fees — bandwidth is an unmetered per-instance speed.
- Flexible IPv4 €0.004/h (~€2.92/month); IPv6 is free. Block Storage 5K is €0.000130/GB/h (~€0.095/GB/month).
- Savings Plans (12/36-month commitment) take up to 25% off compute.
- New Professional accounts with a payment method get €100 in credit.
Our ratings
Ease of use Laravel Cloud
Pricing clarity Laravel Cloud
Free tier Laravel Cloud
Scaling Laravel Cloud
Control Scaleway Instances
Feature by feature
Laravel Cloud wins 5, Scaleway Instances wins 2, with 8 even.
Deploy workflow
| Laravel Cloud | Scaleway Instances | |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy from Git push | Yes Connect a Git repository and every push to the configured branch deploys automatically. | No Not on Instances — bring your own CI, or use Scaleway’s separate serverless products. |
| Preview deploys | Partial Starter includes one preview environment; broader preview workflows are available on higher plans. | No Nothing built in. |
| Official CLI | Yes The cloud CLI deploys apps and manages environments, resources, logs, and commands. | Yes The scw CLI covers instances, volumes, IPs, and snapshots. |
| Instant rollbacks | Partial You can redeploy an older Git commit, but there is no documented one-click rollback workflow. | Partial Snapshots and images restore machines; no deploy-level rollback. |
Platform
| Laravel Cloud | Scaleway Instances | |
|---|---|---|
| Custom domains + HTTPS | Yes Custom domains and automatically renewed TLS certificates are included on every plan. | Yes Point DNS at the server; TLS is yours via certbot or a proxy. |
| Built-in CDN / edge network | Yes A Cloudflare-powered global edge network caches static assets and cacheable responses automatically. | Partial Edge Services adds a CDN in front of load balancers and object storage; nothing automatic on a bare instance. |
| Serverless functions | No Laravel Cloud runs server-based application compute rather than serverless functions. | No Not on Instances — Scaleway sells separate Serverless Containers and Functions products. |
| Docker containers | No The platform builds its own optimized images and does not accept arbitrary Docker images. | Yes Docker-ready images or install it yourself. |
| SSH / shell access | No There is no SSH shell; use one-off commands, Tinker, logs, or the CLI instead. | Yes Full root SSH. |
| EU hosting region | Yes Frankfurt, Ireland, and London regions are available alongside North America and Asia Pacific. | Yes Paris, Amsterdam, Warsaw, and Milan — EU-only by design. |
Runtime & operations
| Laravel Cloud | Scaleway Instances | |
|---|---|---|
| Automatic scaling | Partial Growth can autoscale up to 10 replicas; unlimited scaling requires Business or higher. | No Manual resizing on Instances; autoscaling lives in the serverless products. |
| Scale to zero | Yes Flex app compute scales to zero when idle and wakes in under 500 milliseconds. | Partial A fully powered-off (archived) instance stops compute billing, but IPs and volumes keep billing. |
| Scheduled jobs | Yes Laravel scheduled tasks are supported and automatically wake sleeping environments. | Yes Classic cron on the box. |
| Managed database | Yes Managed Laravel MySQL and serverless Postgres are provisioned directly from the platform. | Yes Managed PostgreSQL/MySQL from ~€11.40/month plus storage; Redis and MongoDB too. |
| Logs & metrics built in | Partial Application logs and CPU and memory metrics are built in, with retention tied to the plan. | Partial Cockpit collects instance metrics and logs into managed Grafana; app-level instrumentation is yours. |
Watch out for
Laravel Cloud
- Starter costs $5/month plus usage, although its $5 monthly usage credit can cover a tiny app that frequently scales to zero.
- Autoscaling and dedicated worker clusters require the $20/month Growth plan or higher.
- The platform supports a defined set of frameworks and runtimes; it is not a general-purpose Docker host.
- Databases, caches, object storage, and WebSockets bill separately from app compute.
Scaleway
- List prices exclude storage and public IPv4: add ~€2.92/month for a flexible IPv4 and ~€0.095/GB/month for block storage.
- Scaleway raised prices across Stardust, PLAY2, PRO2, BASIC3, and storage on 1 June 2026.
- "Standby" bills as a running instance; only a full power-off (archive) stops compute billing — and IPs and volumes keep billing regardless.
- Automated KYC can freeze accounts (sometimes with servers running) until you re-verify with ID and selfie.
- The famous €0.43/month Stardust instances are chronically out of stock.
Read the full reviews: Laravel Cloud and Scaleway. Or answer four questions to see what fits your project.