Software · head to head
Alibaba Cloud vs Scaleway
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Alibaba Cloud technical support is a separate subscription, from $19.99 a month for Developer up to $8,000 a month for Enterprise, with only Basic included; Scaleway scaleway's entry-level cloud instances start at 4.99 EUR per month, and its consumption-based services (serverless jobs, IoT hub, container functions) bill by vCPU-second and GB-second beyond a fixed free-tier allowance per account per month, so costs scale with usage rather than a flat seat price.
- They diverge on capability: Alibaba Cloud covers Elastic Compute Service, Scaleway covers Virtual Instances.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Alibaba Cloud and Scaleway actually diverge.
| Attribute | Alibaba Cloud | Scaleway |
|---|---|---|
| Platforms | Linux, Windows, Api, Cli | Web, Api, Cli |
| Founded | 2009 | 1999 |
Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (usage-based), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown).
What each one covers
Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.
Only in Alibaba Cloud
- Elastic Compute Service
- Object Storage Service
- RDS Database
- MaxCompute
- Function Compute
- CDN
- API Gateway
- Data encryption
Only in Scaleway
- Virtual Instances
- Bare Metal
- Kubernetes Kapsule
- Object Storage
- Serverless Functions
- Managed Databases
- Container Registry
- Packer
Both cover
- Load Balancer
- Terraform
- Ansible
- Docker
- Kubernetes
- SOC2
- ISO27001
- Cloud deployment
- Api support
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Alibaba Cloud
- Cloud compute and storage with a strong footprint in China and Asia Pacificnot Scaleway
- Pay-as-you-go infrastructure without upfront commitmentnot Scaleway
- Committed-use discounts through savings plans for steady workloadsnot Scaleway
- CDN and data transfer packages for content deliverynot Scaleway
Scaleway
- Web hostingnot Alibaba Cloud
- Container orchestrationnot Alibaba Cloud
- Development environmentsnot Alibaba Cloud
- Data storagenot Alibaba Cloud
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Alibaba Cloud
- Technical support is a separate subscription, from $19.99 a month for Developer up to $8,000 a month for Enterprise, with only Basic included
- Service prices are not shown as a rate card and route through a calculator or sales
- Committed discounts require savings plans, reserved instances or capacity packages rather than being automatic
Scaleway
- Scaleway's entry-level cloud instances start at 4.99 EUR per month, and its consumption-based services (serverless jobs, IoT hub, container functions) bill by vCPU-second and GB-second beyond a fixed free-tier allowance per account per month, so costs scale with usage rather than a flat seat price.
Pricing, plan by plan
Alibaba Cloud
Free- Free TrialFree
- Free tier credits
- ECS instances
- Cloud storage
- Pay-as-You-GoFree
- Flexible billing
- No commitments
- Global reach
Scaleway
Free- DEV1-S$7.99/month
- 2 vCPU
- 2GB RAM
- 20GB SSD
Which should you pick?
Choose Alibaba Cloud if
- You need elastic compute service.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Linux, Windows, Api, Cli.
- You also want object storage service.
Choose Scaleway if
- You need virtual instances.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Api, Cli.
- You also want bare metal.
Questions people ask
- Is Alibaba Cloud or Scaleway better?
- Neither clearly leads. Alibaba Cloud starts at Free and Scaleway at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Alibaba Cloud or Scaleway?
- Alibaba Cloud starts at Free and Scaleway at Free.
- Does Alibaba Cloud or Scaleway run on more platforms?
- Alibaba Cloud runs on Linux, Windows, Api, Cli. Scaleway runs on Web, Api, Cli.
- Can I use Alibaba Cloud for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is Alibaba Cloud best used for?
- Alibaba Cloud is most often used for cloud compute and storage with a strong footprint in china and asia pacific, pay-as-you-go infrastructure without upfront commitment, committed-use discounts through savings plans for steady workloads, cdn and data transfer packages for content delivery. Of those, cloud compute and storage with a strong footprint in china and asia pacific and pay-as-you-go infrastructure without upfront commitment are not what Scaleway is typically brought in for.
- What can Alibaba Cloud do that Scaleway cannot?
- Alibaba Cloud covers Elastic Compute Service, Object Storage Service, RDS Database, MaxCompute. Scaleway covers Virtual Instances, Bare Metal, Kubernetes Kapsule, Object Storage. Both handle Load Balancer, Terraform, Ansible, Docker.
Related pages
More on Alibaba Cloud
Keep looking
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