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Cloud · head to head

Scaleway vs Terra

Scaleway logo

Scaleway

Cloud

European cloud for developers

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Terra logo

Terra

Research

Open biomedical research platform for genomic analysis, priced only by the cloud you consume

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Scaleway no free tier or trial period mentioned on homepage; Terra the absence of a licence fee hides the real cost driver: an idle notebook virtual machine left running overnight, or a workspace bucket full of intermediate workflow outputs, quietly consumes grant money with no vendor invoice to prompt a review.
  • They diverge on capability: Scaleway covers Virtual Instances, Terra covers No platform licence fee.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Scaleway and Terra actually diverge.

Attributes where Scaleway and Terra differ
AttributeScalewayTerra
Pricing modelusage-basedOpen source, no licence fee
PlatformsWeb, Api, CliWeb, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure
CategoryCloudResearch
Founded1999Unknown

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated).

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 Scaleway

  • Virtual Instances
  • Bare Metal
  • Kubernetes Kapsule
  • Object Storage
  • Serverless Functions
  • Managed Databases
  • Container Registry
  • Load Balancer

Only in Terra

  • No platform licence fee
  • Cloud pass-through billing
  • WDL workflow execution
  • Notebook environments
  • Controlled-access data
  • Workspace sharing
  • Compliance posture
  • Multi-cloud

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Scaleway

  • Web hostingnot Terra
  • Container orchestrationnot Terra
  • Development environmentsnot Terra
  • Data storagenot Terra

Terra

  • A genomics lab running whole-genome alignment and variant calling pipelines without provisioning or maintaining a local clusternot Scaleway
  • A consortium sharing controlled-access human data across institutions where the data cannot be copied to each sitenot Scaleway
  • A health system analysing patient genomic data under a HIPAA business associate agreementnot Scaleway
  • A federal or federally funded project needing FedRAMP Moderate authorisation for its analysis environmentnot Scaleway

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Scaleway

  • No free tier or trial period mentioned on homepage
  • Specific pricing requires navigating to individual product category pages
  • Base pricing starts at 4.99 EUR per month but varies significantly by service type

Terra

  • The absence of a licence fee hides the real cost driver: an idle notebook virtual machine left running overnight, or a workspace bucket full of intermediate workflow outputs, quietly consumes grant money with no vendor invoice to prompt a review.
  • Cost governance is entirely the customer responsibility, and grant-funded groups without a cloud engineer routinely overspend before anyone reads the Google or Azure bill in enough detail to find the cause.
  • It assumes genuine bioinformatics competence: writing or adapting WDL workflows, managing data tables and debugging failed tasks are all on you, so a wet lab without computational staff cannot use it productively.
  • Feature parity between the Google Cloud and Azure deployments is not identical, so a decision on cloud provider constrains which capabilities and datasets you can reach and is expensive to reverse later.
  • It is a research platform rather than a regulated clinical system: it is not a validated GxP environment and does not carry the qualification package a diagnostic or submission workflow would require, so clinical use needs additional infrastructure and validation you provide yourself.

Pricing, plan by plan

Scaleway

Free
  • DEV1-S$7.99/month
    • 2 vCPU
    • 2GB RAM
    • 20GB SSD

Terra

Free
  • Terra platformFree
    • No charge for the platform, administration, security controls or frontline support
    • Workspaces, workflow execution and notebook environments included
    • Available on Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure
  • Cloud consumption$undefined/month
    • Google Cloud or Azure charges passed through at cost with no markup
    • Running notebook virtual machines around 0.22 USD per hour, roughly 0.027 USD per hour when paused
    • Storage billed continuously on workspace buckets and intermediate workflow outputs

Which should you pick?

Choose Scaleway if

  • You need virtual instances.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Api, Cli.
  • You also want bare metal.
Scaleway review

Choose Terra if

  • You need no platform licence fee.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure.
  • You also want cloud pass-through billing.
Terra review

Questions people ask

Is Scaleway or Terra better?
Neither clearly leads. Scaleway starts at Free and Terra at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Scaleway or Terra?
Scaleway starts at Free and Terra at Free.
Does Scaleway or Terra run on more platforms?
Scaleway runs on Web, Api, Cli. Terra runs on Web, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure.
Can I use Scaleway for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Scaleway best used for?
Scaleway is most often used for web hosting, container orchestration, development environments, data storage. Of those, web hosting and container orchestration are not what Terra is typically brought in for.
What can Scaleway do that Terra cannot?
Scaleway covers Virtual Instances, Bare Metal, Kubernetes Kapsule, Object Storage. Terra covers No platform licence fee, Cloud pass-through billing, WDL workflow execution, Notebook environments.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Scaleway: Does Scaleway have a free tier?

Scaleway does not mention a free tier or trial period on its pricing or homepage. Users must select specific services to see rates.

Source
Terra: Is Terra really free?

The platform is. There is no licence fee. Everything you pay is Google Cloud or Azure compute, storage and egress, passed through at cost.

Scaleway: What is Scaleway's pricing model?

Scaleway uses transparent, usage-based pricing that varies by service. Different categories (bare metal, compute, AI, storage, network) have separate pricing. Dedibox servers start at 4.99 EUR per month.

Source
Terra: What actually drives the bill?

Running virtual machines and stored data. Pausing notebooks drops a virtual machine from about 0.22 to about 0.027 dollars an hour, and deleting intermediate workflow outputs is the other main saving.

Scaleway: How does Scaleway billing work?

Scaleway emphasizes transparent, predictable billing where customers know exactly what they'll pay. Users must select products and view pricing within each category.

Source
Terra: Can I use it with protected health information?

Yes. Terra signs HIPAA business associate agreements and GDPR data processing agreements, and the Azure deployment holds FedRAMP Moderate authorisation.

Terra: Is it validated for clinical or GxP use?

No. It is a research platform. Regulated clinical or submission workflows need validation and controls you build yourself.

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