Blog · 2026-06-08
An OVHcloud alternative: two OpenStack clouds compared
OVHcloud is Europe's cloud heavyweight: a French company listed on Euronext Paris, 40+ data centers, a SecNumCloud-qualified sovereign line, and - rare among providers - a Public Cloud actually built on OpenStack. Philosophically, it is the provider closest to what Unio Cloud is building, so this comparison is less about jurisdiction and more about product shape and pricing mechanics.
The differences that matter in practice: OVHcloud's best VPS price assumes a year paid upfront, its only 4 vCPU / 8 GB Public Cloud instance is a shared "Discovery" tier positioned for test/dev, and the group operates a US subsidiary with American data centers. Unio Cloud is one product line, one price with no commitment, and no non-EU footprint.
OVHcloud at a glance
- Jurisdiction
- OVH Groupe SA, Roubaix, France - listed on Euronext Paris. Operates a wholly owned US subsidiary (OVHcloud US) with data centers in Virginia and Oregon.
- Comparable plan
- VPS-2: 4 vCores / 8 GB / 75 GB NVMe / unlimited traffic - €8.49/mo excl. VAT with no commitment, or €7.21/mo with 12 months paid upfront. Daily backup included.
- Public Cloud 4/8
- d2-8 (Discovery, shared, test/dev positioning): €20.60/mo excl. VAT on a one-month savings plan, 500 Mbps, 99.95% SLA.
- API
- Public Cloud is OpenStack-based (Nova, Neutron, Cinder, Glance) with S3-compatible object storage and a partner-tier Terraform provider. The VPS line is managed via OVH's own API, not OpenStack.
- Billing
- Public Cloud: hourly or monthly savings plans. VPS: monthly only, with 6/12-month prepay discounts.
The same 4 vCPU / 8 GB server
| OVHcloud VPS-2 | Unio u33 | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly price (excl. VAT) | €8.49 (€7.21 with 12-mo upfront) | €7.79, no commitment |
| vCPU / RAM | 4 / 8 GB | 4 / 8 GB |
| NVMe storage | 75 GB | 80 GB |
| Traffic | Unlimited (EU) | 20 TB |
| Billing | Monthly only (VPS line) | Hourly, capped monthly |
| OpenStack API on this plan | No (VPS is panel/OVH API) | Yes, full project |
| Backup | Daily backup included | Snapshots via API |
| Non-EU footprint | US, Canada, APAC | None |
OVHcloud prices from ovhcloud.com as of July 2026, excl. VAT. OVHcloud's OpenStack API applies to its Public Cloud instances (4/8 = d2-8 at €20.60/mo), not the VPS line compared above.
Why teams look for a OVHcloud alternative
The headline price wants a year upfront
OVHcloud's €7.21 VPS price requires paying 12 months in advance; commitment-free it is €8.49. Unio's €7.79 is the no-commitment price, billed hourly with a monthly cap - you can run a machine for a weekend and pay for a weekend.
OpenStack and low prices live in different product lines
At OVHcloud you choose: the cheap VPS without the OpenStack API, or the Public Cloud with OpenStack where 4 vCPU / 8 GB is a shared Discovery instance at €20.60/mo carrying a reduced 99.95% SLA and test/dev positioning. At Unio, the €7.79 instance IS a full OpenStack project - one line, both properties.
The sovereignty story has an American footnote
OVHcloud's French ownership and SecNumCloud qualification are genuinely strong - for the specific offerings that carry them. The group still operates a US subsidiary and US data centers. Unio's answer is structural: no US entity, no US operations, nothing to footnote.
When OVHcloud is the right call
- You need SecNumCloud-qualified hosting for French public-sector or regulated workloads - OVHcloud is one of the few providers that has it.
- Unlimited traffic matters more to you than 20 TB included - OVHcloud VPS traffic is unmetered in EU locations.
- You want bare metal, hosted private cloud and a 25-year operating history under one roof today.
Try the EU-sovereign way
Cloud servers from €4.99/mo with a full OpenStack API, billed hourly and capped monthly. EU-owned, EU-hosted.
Join the waitlistSources
Prices and facts last verified against the linked sources in July 2026. Spotted something outdated? Tell us and we'll fix it.