Scaleway is a cloud hosting provider with data centers in France and the Netherlands.
Its mission – “to make cloud computing ultra-easy”. Do they succeed in doing this? Is it the right hosting service specifically for you?
Scaleway Review: First impressions
If you register, you get a virtual server stored on a physical machine.
Scaleway does not provide shared, VPS, or dedicated servers.
When I downloaded my website, the first thing I noticed was that Scaleway cloud servers are for developers, not ordinary users.
Advanced users will be able to take full control of their hosting environment by supporting an API and CLI (Command Line Interface).
Developer-centric digital products
Scaleway also offers several other developer-oriented services:
- Storage objects: Can be integrated with Amazon S3 API.
- GPU Circumstances: Ideal for processing data or learning AI.
- BareMetal Servers: Offers full control over server hardware.
These products are not in the focus of my review of Scaleway hosting, but it is nice to know that they are available.
Useful server management software
Once I subscribed to the cloud hosting package, I was given access to the Scaleway management user interface.
The server manager was easy to navigate and allowed me to add additional resources to my account quickly. As the name implies, Scaleway is focused on scalability.
Poor client support
I felt undermined by Scaleway customer service. Although ticket service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, not all hosting packages include the maximum guaranteed response time.
While watching Scaleway, I faced an overpayment problem, and the customer agents were unable to resolve it. I decided to study other users’ experiences to see if this was unusual:
I quickly realized that overcharging was a constant problem for Scaleway.
Alternatives to Scaleway
If you get negative feedback, think about using another developer-friendly host as an alternative to Scaleway. For example, one of these alternatives is Hostinger.
Based and managed by a team of developers, Hostinger has many VPS, and Cloud plans to choose from.
Scaleway’s Pricing
Scaleway’s hosting packages are divided into ‘Start’ and ‘Pro’ packages.
Both are offered in four different configurations. Start prices range from €1.99 per month to €15.99 per month. At the same time, the Pro Package price ranges from €24.99 per month to €179.99 per month. None of these prices include taxes, and they will vary depending on your location.
More detailed zoom plans
Let’s have a closer look at those ‘Start’ packages:
1-XS | 1-X | 1-M | 1-L | |
Monthly Cost | €1.99 | €3.99 | €7.99 | €15.99 |
Disk Space | 25GB | 50GB | 100GB | 200GB |
Bandwidth | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
No. of Domains | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Email Addresses | Not Included | Not Included | Not Included | Not Included |
SSL Included? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
HDD or SSD | SSD | SSD | SSD | SSD |
Website Builder | No | No | No | No |
Customer Support | 24/7 Tickets | 24/7 Tickets | 24/7 Tickets | 24/7 Tickets |
Money-Back Guarantee | 30-Day Period | 30-Day Period | 30-Day Period | 30-Day Period |
The “Start” plans offer good value for money. At €1.99 per month, the basic idea is a reasonable price for 25 GB of memory and unlimited bandwidth. Too bad it does not include better customer support.
Scaleway performance
I tested the Scaleway download time with Bitcatcha. The results were acceptable; readers should have no problem loading your site.
But of course, from Cloud hosting, it is quite expected.
To sum up Scaleway review
Initially, Scaleway proved to be a promising web host offering many opportunities to attract web developers.
Unfortunately, due to my own negative customer experience and a lot of similar stories from other customers, this is not a service that I can recommend. It can be useful, of course – but in many cases, it may not be worth the risk.
Pros
- Excellent opportunities for developers
- Available monthly prices
- Good user control panel
Cons
- Unsatisfactory customer service
- Phone support is not included in all packages