alwaysdata vs Scalingo (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, alwaysdata grades higher than Scalingo: 2.6 against 2.2 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
alwaysdata grades higher on value for money, the free plan and features. Scalingo grades higher on platforms. They get the same grade on ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
alwaysdata
French managed hosting with unlimited sites, mailboxes and databases
Scalingo
European PaaS and managed databases billed by the minute
Which one is for you
Pick alwaysdata if
- Fits if you want a personal site with email on your own domain
- Works for hobby projects in several languages
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you stay free: 1 GB of disk, 256 MB of RAM and 3 days of backups, for personal use only
- Watch out: prices are in euros and exclude VAT
- Skip it if you need 24/7 support, as that is part of Max; other plans get office hours
- Pricey if you outgrow Plus Large at €50, because Max servers start at €369 a month
Pick Scalingo if
- Fits if you want Heroku-style Git deploys and European regions
- Works for small apps that need a managed database
Look elsewhere if
- Watch out: prices are in euros, exclude VAT and are on a 30-day basis
- Tight if uptime matters, as the 99.96% SLA is on the Business plan and starter databases are 98%
- Pricey if you add extras: a Docker image download costs €50 and OpenVPN €30 a month, both ex. VAT
- Skip it if you want a free plan, as it has only a 30-day trial
How we grade them
| 2.6GPAalwaysdataGood | 2.2GPAScalingoFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BPlus Small is €5 a month ex. VAT, about the cheaper quarter of web hosting, and there is a free plan for personal use. | CA container starts at €7.20 a month and a starter database at €7.20, ex. VAT, in the ordinary range. Dollar prices are not shown. |
| Free plan and trial | BThe free plan gives 1 GB SSD, 256 MB RAM and email on your own domain, enough for a personal site. It is personal use only. | C30 days free per the pricing page. The page does not say here whether a card is needed. |
| Features | BSeveral languages per site, unlimited sites, mailboxes and databases, backups, SSL and scheduled tasks. Free backups last only 3 days. | CGit deploys, managed databases and vector search. Starter databases run on one node with a 98% SLA, a gap, as the 99.96% SLA is on Business. |
| Ease of use | CA hosting panel with setup for each site and language, and no store rating. | CDeploys follow a Git workflow and databases need setting up, with no store rating on record. |
| Platforms and integrations | CWeb panel only, with no integrations listed. | BWeb dashboard with a few integrations. No phone or desktop app. |
| Best for | a small personal site with email | Git-deployed apps with European hosting |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: alwaysdata and Scalingo. How we grade
Price against what you get
alwaysdata starts at about $5.59 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Scalingo starts at about $8.04 a month and scores 2.3.
They score the same, and alwaysdata starts $2.45 a month lower. Of the other web hosts on the chart, 2 score higher than alwaysdata for less, and 2 score higher than Scalingo for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
At a glance
| alwaysdata | Scalingo | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | €5 per month, excl. VAT (Plus Small) | €7.20 per month ex. VAT (smallest container or database) |
| Free plan | Free plan for personal use: 1 GB SSD, 256 MB RAM, a quarter of a CPU and 3 days of backups, with email on your own domain and an alwaysdata.net address for sites. | None |
| Free trial | 30 days free on the Plus plans | Free for 30 days, per the pricing page description |
| Web | ||
| Made by | ALWAYSDATA | Scalingo SAS |
| Price read from | alwaysdata.com | scalingo.com |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
alwaysdata
- Prices are in euros and exclude VAT.
- The free plan is limited to personal use and carries 1 GB of disk, 256 MB of RAM and 3 days of backups.
- 24/7 support is part of the Max offer; other plans are answered during office hours.
- Max servers start at 369 euros a month, so there is a large step up from the 50 euro Plus Large plan.
Scalingo
- Prices are in euros, exclude VAT and are estimated on a 30-day basis; the page shows no dollar prices.
- Starter databases run on a single node with a 98% SLA; the 99.96% SLA is on the Business plan.
- Extra database storage is charged on top of the storage included in each plan.
- A Docker image download costs €50 and an OpenVPN option €30 per month, both ex. VAT.
Key features
alwaysdata
- Several languages per site
- PHP, Python, Java, Node.js and Ruby can be chosen for each site, along with the language version.
- Unlimited sites, mailboxes and databases
- Plus plans set no quota on the number of sites, email addresses or databases. MariaDB (MySQL) and PostgreSQL are offered.
- Email on your own domain
- Mailboxes and aliases include filtering rules, anti-spam, an autoresponder and webmail.
- Backups and SSL
- Backups of files, emails and databases can be restored from the control panel, and SSL certificates from Let's Encrypt or your own are handled automatically.
- Scheduled tasks and background services
- Programs can be run on demand, on a schedule or as a background daemon.
- Resizable plans
- Plus plans can change capacity instantly, and a Max offer moves a site to a dedicated private server.
Scalingo
- Git-based deploys
- Connect a Git repository for deploys, with autoscaling on metrics and zero-downtime rolling deploys.
- Managed databases
- Offers PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, caching, Elasticsearch, OpenSearch and InfluxDB, with daily backups and PostgreSQL point-in-time recovery.
- Always-included extras
- Custom domains, Let's Encrypt SSL, metrics, unlimited collaborators and log archives come with every container.
- Sovereign and health regions
- A SecNumCloud region built on Outscale costs 20% more, and HDS plans exist for health data hosting.
- Vector search for AI apps
- Pgvector on PostgreSQL, plus ML and KNN features on OpenSearch, for semantic search and LLM applications.
Plans
alwaysdata
Free€0
Personal use only, no credit card to register: 1 GB SSD, 256 MB RAM, 1/4 CPU and 3 days of backups. The vendor says it may suspend a free account whose legitimacy is contested.
Plus Small€5
per month, excl. VAT
50 GB SSD, 1 GB RAM, 1 CPU and 7 days of backups, with unlimited sites, databases and email addresses and SSH access.
Plus Medium€20
per month, excl. VAT
100 GB SSD, 2 GB RAM, 2 CPUs and 20 days of backups, with the same unlimited sites, databases and mailboxes.
Plus Large€50
per month, excl. VAT
200 GB SSD, 4 GB RAM, 4 CPUs and 20 days of backups. An X-Large size with 500 GB SSD, 8 GB RAM and 8 CPUs sits above it.
Max€369
per month and up, excl. VAT
A private server configured to order, from 1 TB of disk, 16 GB RAM and 8 CPUs, with 24/7 support and 30 days of backups.
Scalingo
Container S€7.20
per month, ex. VAT, 30-day basis
256 MB RAM at low CPU priority. Sizes run to 3XL (8 GB RAM) at €230.40.
Container M€14.40
per month, ex. VAT, 30-day basis
512 MB RAM at standard CPU priority; L (1 GB) is €28.80 and XL (2 GB) is €57.60.
PostgreSQL Starter 512M€7.20
per month, ex. VAT, 30-day basis
512 MB RAM, 10 GB storage and 30 connections on a single node with a 98% SLA.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, alwaysdata or Scalingo?
As of Nov 13, 2026, alwaysdata is cheaper to start with: about $5.59 a month, against about $8.04 a month for Scalingo. alwaysdata starts at €5 per month, excl. VAT (Plus Small), and Scalingo starts at €7.20 per month ex. VAT (smallest container or database).
Which has a free plan, alwaysdata or Scalingo?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only alwaysdata has a free plan. Scalingo does not, though it has a free trial.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.