Sovereign Cloud Hosting in Europe
Elestio Limited is registered in Dublin, Ireland. We fully manage your deployments on 3 EU-based cloud providers (Hetzner DE/FI, Netcup DE, Scaleway FR/NL) with full SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, and GDPR compliance. Your data stays in Europe, subject to EU law only, not to the US CLOUD Act: sovereign deployments use EU-owned, EU-operated providers only (Hetzner, Netcup, Scaleway).
Definition
What is sovereign cloud hosting?
A cloud infrastructure that operates under a single legal jurisdiction (typically European), is owned and operated by entities subject only to that jurisdiction's laws, and provides full data residency guarantees.
This matters when
You handle EU citizen data
GDPR requires control over where personal data resides.
You work with EU public sector
Many public tenders mandate EU-only infrastructure.
You are in a regulated industry
Banking, healthcare, or defense, where US CLOUD Act exposure is a deal-breaker.
Customers require sovereignty
Sovereignty guarantees show up as a hard sales requirement.
In 2026, sovereign cloud is no longer a niche: France's SecNumCloud, Germany's GAIA-X, and EU Cloud Act counter-positioning have made it a mainstream procurement requirement.
Use cases by industry
Who needs sovereign cloud
Regulated industries and EU public sector primarily.
Banking + fintech (PSD2, DORA)
EU-only hosting required for several PSD2 use cases. Elestio + Hetzner Frankfurt or Scaleway Paris fits.
Healthcare (GDPR)
EU data residency and GDPR compliance for health data, on dedicated VMs with encryption in transit and at rest and a signed DPA.
EU public sector
Many EU member-state tenders mandate EU-only infrastructure. Elestio's setup meets this requirement.
Fully managed
A managed platform, not just a VM
You get a dedicated EU virtual machine plus the full managed layer Elestio runs on top, so your team ships instead of operating servers.
Managed updates and patching
Elestio handles OS and application updates, security patches, SSL renewal, and hardening. No manual maintenance windows for your team.
Automated backups and monitoring
Daily encrypted backups stored in the same EU jurisdiction, 24/7 monitoring, and automatic recovery, all configured for you.
400+ open-source apps and databases
Deploy any of 400+ open-source tools on dedicated EU VMs, with CI/CD pipelines and a private encrypted network between services.
24/7 expert support
An EU-based support team, SLA-backed plans, and a dedicated success manager on production tiers. You are never alone on infrastructure.
Elestio sovereign setup
How Elestio's sovereign cloud is structured
Three layers: EU legal entity, EU cloud providers, EU-only data flow.
EU legal entity
Elestio Limited registered in Dublin, Ireland (EU member state). Subject to Irish and EU law only. Registered office: 66 Fitzwilliam Square, Dublin 2 D02 AT27, Ireland.
EU-based cloud providers
Hetzner Cloud (Germany: Falkenstein, Nuremberg; Finland: Helsinki), Netcup (Germany: Nuremberg), Scaleway (France: Paris DC2/DC3/DC5, Netherlands: Amsterdam).
Compliance certifications
SOC 2 + ISO 27001 + HIPAA + GDPR-compliant, with a designated Data Protection Officer (DPO) and a Data Processing Agreement (DPA) available on request. End-to-end TLS 1.3 in transit + encryption at rest.
EU-only data flow
Pin your VM to a specific EU region, exclude US fallback. Backups stored in the same jurisdiction. No US edge cache by default.
The CLOUD Act risk
Why EU hosting alone is not enough
US-headquartered cloud providers (AWS, Azure, GCP) are subject to the US CLOUD Act. Even when data is stored in EU regions, the parent company can be compelled to hand over data to US authorities. This conflicts with GDPR data protection requirements.
Recent enforcement actions in 2024 and 2025 confirmed this: the Schrems II ruling invalidated the Privacy Shield, the new Data Privacy Framework remains under legal challenge, and several EU data protection authorities have ruled against US cloud usage for certain workloads.
Key distinction: EU hosting means the data center is physically in Europe. Sovereign cloud means the operating entity AND data center AND legal exposure are all EU-based. AWS Frankfurt is EU hosting but not sovereign (Amazon is US, subject to CLOUD Act).
European sovereignty frameworks Elestio aligns with
France SecNumCloud
Gold standard for French public sector cloud.
Germany BSI C5
Cloud computing compliance criteria.
EU Cloud Code of Conduct
Industry-led GDPR compliance framework.
GAIA-X
Pan-European federated cloud infrastructure.
Pricing
EU sovereign cloud pricing
All include daily backups (stored in same jurisdiction), free SSL, monitoring, updates, and 24/7 support.
European hosting that actually stays in Europe
Free trial. Pin your VM to an EU region, exclude US fallback by default.
Reviews
Trusted by 10,000+ Developers Worldwide
Real reviews from real users on Trustpilot.
"I'm in the IT industry for over 25 years and Elestio stands out in many ways. The managed services are top-notch, support is incredibly fast, and the platform just works. Couldn't be better!"
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
-
What is the difference between EU hosting and sovereign cloud?
EU hosting means the data center is physically in Europe. Sovereign cloud means the operating entity, data center, AND legal exposure are all EU-based. AWS Frankfurt is EU hosting but not sovereign because Amazon is a US company subject to the CLOUD Act.
-
Is Elestio compliant with French SecNumCloud?
Elestio aligns with SecNumCloud principles. Formal certification is in progress. For workloads requiring active SecNumCloud certification today, we can configure deployments on certified French clouds.
-
Can I host health data in the EU?
Yes. We provide EU data residency, GDPR compliance, encryption at rest and in transit, and a signed DPA. Elestio does not currently hold HDS (French Health Data Hosting) certification; contact sales to discuss specific health-data requirements.
-
Is the data really only in the EU?
Yes when you pin your VM to an EU region and disable cross-region fallback. Backups are stored in the same jurisdiction. No US fallback regions are used.
-
What about DNS, CDN, support staff? Are those EU too?
Support staff are based in EU. DNS is delegated to your choice (Cloudflare available with EU edge enforcement, or you can BYO DNS). For purely sovereign setups, we work with you to ensure no US edge cache.
-
Does Elestio sign a DPA (Data Processing Agreement)?
Yes. Standard DPA available on request, with full SCCs. Custom DPA negotiable for enterprise contracts.
-
Can I get a BAA for HIPAA workloads?
Yes for healthcare customers. Business Associate Agreement available for HIPAA-regulated deployments.
Data sovereignty without the headache
Sovereign cloud hosting from $11/mo. Free trial, no credit card.
Start free trial