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Cloud · head to head

Scaleway vs Vagrant

Scaleway logo

Scaleway

Cloud

European cloud for developers

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Vagrant logo

Vagrant

Cloud

Development environments made easy

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Scaleway no free tier or trial period mentioned on homepage; Vagrant vagrant 2.4.3 and later is licensed under the Business Source License 1.1 with IBM Corporation as licensor, not an OSI open source licence
  • They diverge on capability: Scaleway covers Virtual Instances, Vagrant covers Box management.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Scaleway and Vagrant actually diverge.

Attributes where Scaleway and Vagrant differ
AttributeScalewayVagrant
Pricing modelusage-basedopen-source
PlatformsWeb, Api, CliLinux, Windows, Mac
Founded19992010

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

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 Vagrant

  • Box management
  • Provider support
  • Multi-machine setups
  • Provisioners
  • Networking
  • Synced folders
  • Snapshots
  • Plugins

Both cover

  • Docker
  • Ansible
  • Cloud deployment

What people use each for

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

Scaleway

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

Vagrant

  • Reproducible local development environments defined in a Vagrantfilenot Scaleway
  • Provisioning identical VMs across VirtualBox, VMware and Hyper-V for a teamnot Scaleway
  • Sandboxing multi-machine setups on a developer laptopnot 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

Vagrant

  • Vagrant 2.4.3 and later is licensed under the Business Source License 1.1 with IBM Corporation as licensor, not an OSI open source licence
  • The Additional Use Grant forbids offering Vagrant to third parties on a hosted or embedded basis in a paid product that competes with IBM's paid versions of Vagrant
  • Each version converts to the MPL 2.0 Change License only four years after that version is first published
  • Uses that fall outside the Additional Use Grant require a separately negotiated licence from the licensor

Pricing, plan by plan

Scaleway

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

Vagrant

Free
  • Open SourceFree
    • Development environment provisioning
    • Multiple providers
    • Provisioner support

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 Vagrant if

  • You need box management.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Windows, Mac.
  • You also want provider support.
Vagrant review

Questions people ask

Is Scaleway or Vagrant better?
Neither clearly leads. Scaleway starts at Free and Vagrant at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Scaleway or Vagrant?
Scaleway starts at Free and Vagrant at Free.
Does Scaleway or Vagrant run on more platforms?
Scaleway runs on Web, Api, Cli. Vagrant runs on Linux, Windows, Mac.
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 Vagrant is typically brought in for.
What can Scaleway do that Vagrant cannot?
Scaleway covers Virtual Instances, Bare Metal, Kubernetes Kapsule, Object Storage. Vagrant covers Box management, Provider support, Multi-machine setups, Provisioners. Both handle Docker, Ansible, Cloud deployment.

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
Vagrant: Is Vagrant free to use?

Vagrant is a free, open-source command-line utility for managing virtual machine lifecycles.

Source
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
Vagrant: Does Vagrant offer a paid tier?

Vagrant itself is free. HashiCorp offers a HCP Vagrant Registry with a free tier for use with Vagrant.

Source
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
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