Compare / Scaleway Instances vs Contabo Cloud VPS
Scaleway Instances vs Contabo Cloud VPS
Pre-calculated from hand-checked data — Scaleway checked 2026-08-06, Contabo checked 2026-08-06.
The short version
Scaleway Instances wins more of our comparison points, but Contabo Cloud VPS still fits if budget bulk compute — game servers, dev boxes, and side projects where raw specs per euro beat consistency describes you.
Price Tie
Contabo Cloud VPS costs less while you're starting out, but Scaleway Instances works out cheaper once traffic grows.
Ease Scaleway Instances
Scaleway Instances is easier to get running: spin up an instance from the console or the scw CLI, then manage it like any VPS; Terraform and cloud-init are first-class.
Features Scaleway Instances
Scaleway Instances comes out ahead on 3 of the 15 features we track, versus 0.
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
| Scaleway Instances | Contabo Cloud VPS | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | EU projects that want real cloud ergonomics — hourly billing, CLI, Terraform, managed databases — without a US hyperscaler. | Budget bulk compute — game servers, dev boxes, and side projects where raw specs per euro beat consistency. |
| How deploys work | Spin up an instance from the console or the scw CLI, then manage it like any VPS; Terraform and cloud-init are first-class. | You get root on a bare server after order verification clears; bring your own setup or use the one-click app installs. |
| The tradeoff | À la carte pricing makes the real cost higher than the sticker, and account verification can be painful. | The lowest sticker price here, paid for with oversubscription, slow support, and slow provisioning. |
| Free tier | None | None |
What you'd realistically pay
Scaleway Instances Contabo Cloud VPS
| Project stage | Scaleway Instances | Contabo Cloud VPS | Cheaper |
|---|---|---|---|
| Just starting | ≈€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. | ≈€5.50/mo Cloud VPS 4 — 4 shared vCPU, 8 GB RAM, 100 GB SSD, 200 Mbit/s unlimited traffic. €4.40/month on a 24-month term. | Contabo Cloud VPS |
| Steady traffic | ≈€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. | ≈€14/mo Cloud VPS 8 — 8 shared vCPU, 24 GB RAM, 300 GB SSD, 600 Mbit/s. €11.20/month on a 24-month term. | Contabo Cloud VPS |
| Growing | ≈€45/mo PLAY2-MICRO + IPv4 + 20 GB volume — ~€40.20 instance (4 shared vCPU, 8 GB RAM) + €2.92 IPv4 + ~€1.90 block storage. | ≈€49/mo Cloud VPS 18 — 18 shared vCPU, 96 GB RAM, 600 GB SSD, 1 Gbit/s. €39.20/month on a 24-month term. | Scaleway Instances |
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.
Contabo Cloud VPS pricing notes
- Promo prices (about 20% off) require a 24-month term; list prices apply month to month.
- A one-time setup fee applies to entry plans on short terms since April 2026 — the exact amount shows at checkout.
- "Unlimited" traffic is fair-use: Contabo reserves the right to throttle disruptive usage.
Our ratings
Ease of use Scaleway Instances
Pricing clarity
Free tier
Scaling Scaleway Instances
Control
Feature by feature
Scaleway Instances wins 3, Contabo Cloud VPS wins 0, with 12 even.
Deploy workflow
| Scaleway Instances | Contabo Cloud VPS | |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy from Git push | No Not on Instances — bring your own CI, or use Scaleway’s separate serverless products. | No No deploy pipeline — bring your own CI or scripts. |
| Preview deploys | No Nothing built in. | No Nothing built in. |
| Official CLI | Yes The scw CLI covers instances, volumes, IPs, and snapshots. | Yes The cntb CLI and REST API manage instances and snapshots. |
| Instant rollbacks | Partial Snapshots and images restore machines; no deploy-level rollback. | Partial Included snapshots restore machines; automatic backups cost extra. No deploy-level rollback. |
Platform
| Scaleway Instances | Contabo Cloud VPS | |
|---|---|---|
| Custom domains + HTTPS | Yes Point DNS at the server; TLS is yours via certbot or a proxy. | Yes Point DNS at the server; TLS is yours via certbot or a proxy. |
| Built-in CDN / edge network | Partial Edge Services adds a CDN in front of load balancers and object storage; nothing automatic on a bare instance. | No No CDN product — put Cloudflare in front if needed. |
| Serverless functions | No Not on Instances — Scaleway sells separate Serverless Containers and Functions products. | No Not a VPS feature. |
| Docker containers | Yes Docker-ready images or install it yourself. | Yes Docker one-click install or set it up yourself. |
| SSH / shell access | Yes Full root SSH. | Yes Full root SSH. |
| EU hosting region | Yes Paris, Amsterdam, Warsaw, and Milan — EU-only by design. | Yes German data centers at the base price; other EU sites available. |
Runtime & operations
| Scaleway Instances | Contabo Cloud VPS | |
|---|---|---|
| Automatic scaling | No Manual resizing on Instances; autoscaling lives in the serverless products. | No Manual plan upgrades only. |
| Scale to zero | Partial A fully powered-off (archived) instance stops compute billing, but IPs and volumes keep billing. | No The contract bills until cancelled, powered off or not. |
| Scheduled jobs | Yes Classic cron on the box. | Yes Classic cron on the box. |
| Managed database | Yes Managed PostgreSQL/MySQL from ~€11.40/month plus storage; Redis and MongoDB too. | No No managed database product — self-host or go external. |
| Logs & metrics built in | Partial Cockpit collects instance metrics and logs into managed Grafana; app-level instrumentation is yours. | Partial Basic usage graphs in the customer panel; everything else is yours. |
Watch out for
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.
Contabo
- Since 15 April 2026 entry plans on 1- or 6-month terms carry a one-time setup fee — it is waived only on 12-month-plus terms.
- New orders go through manual identity verification: provisioning can take hours to more than a day, not minutes.
- Shared hardware is heavily oversubscribed — CPU steal and variable disk I/O are common on busy nodes.
- Non-EU locations (US, UK, Asia, Australia) cost a monthly surcharge on top of list prices.
- Monthly billing only: the server bills as long as the contract runs, powered off or not.
Read the full reviews: Scaleway and Contabo. Or answer four questions to see what fits your project.