Is Scaleway's PLAY2-PICO the best deal?

Virtual Instances · $10.42/mo (2 GB RAM, 1 vCPU)

Better deals exist

Scaleway PLAY2-PICO at $10.42/mo is significantly overpriced compared to dozens of cheaper alternatives with equal or better specs. Even accounting for hidden costs, providers like IONOS Cloud VPS XS ($2/mo), Bluehost NVMe 2 ($2.09/mo), and UpCloud Starter ($3.50/mo) offer far superior value for comparable or superior hardware.

Cloud VPS XS

$2/mosave 81%

Half the Scaleway RAM (1GB vs 2GB) but unlimited traffic vs 100 Mbps, same vCPU, and intro pricing is genuinely low with transparent renewal structure.

Caveat: Renewal pricing jumps 2-6x after contract term; outbound data transfer beyond 2TB pooled allowance costs $0.036/GB.

NVMe 2

$2.09/mosave 80%

Matches Scaleway's 2GB RAM and 1 vCPU, adds 50GB NVMe SSD storage, unmetered bandwidth, and root SSH access at 1/5 the price.

Caveat: Renewal price jumps to $9.99-$15.99/mo after intro term; 36-month contract required for lowest advertised rate.

STARTER-1xCPU-1GB

$3.5/mosave 66%

1GB RAM and 1 vCPU at 1/3 Scaleway's price, includes 10GB SSD, and offers 99.999% SLA (higher than Scaleway's standard tier).

Caveat: Backup add-ons are percentage surcharges (10-60% of server price); data transfer overages possible despite 'free egress' marketing.

Type A base

$4/mosave 62%

1GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 20GB NVMe, and 5TB monthly transfer allowance for less than half Scaleway's price.

Caveat: Non-dedicated CPU thread with no guaranteed resources; bandwidth overage at $0.01/GB; powered-off servers still accrue charges.

VPS-1

$4.54/mosave 56%

Doubles Scaleway's specs (4GB RAM, 2 vCPU, 40GB NVMe) for less than half the price, includes daily backups and unlimited traffic.

Caveat: IPv4 addresses billed separately; Windows license adds $0.039/vCore/hour; APAC egress loses free status after mid-2026.

Before you switch

Scaleway's $10.42/mo is 2-5x higher than comparable cloud VPS offerings; verify your actual use case requires Scaleway's specific features (e.g., Object Storage integration, Kubernetes) before committing.
Most cheaper alternatives have steep renewal price increases (2-6x) after the intro term; calculate 12-24 month total cost, not just first-month rate.
Bandwidth allowances vary widely: Scaleway offers 100 Mbps public bandwidth (not a monthly cap), while IONOS/Bluehost/UpCloud offer pooled monthly transfer; confirm your egress needs match the plan.
Scaleway's hidden costs (Object Storage egress, snapshot storage, Kubernetes control plane add-ons) may apply if you use those services; review your actual workload before switching.
Disk type matters: prioritize NVMe (Bluehost, Kamatera, OVHcloud) over older SSD if performance is critical; Scaleway specs do not explicitly confirm NVMe.

This comparison is generated from publicly listed pricing and may contain errors or omissions. It is not financial or professional advice, and CloudHosting.io is not responsible for decisions made based on it. Pricing, promotions, and specs change frequently and may not reflect current terms, regional availability, taxes, or contract length. Always verify current pricing and terms directly on the provider's site before purchasing or switching.

Comparable plans across providers

Provider	Plan	Price	Specs
IONOS	Cloud VPS (Linux) · Cloud VPS XS	$2/mo	1 GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 10 GB NVMe	Visit
Bluehost	VPS Hosting · NVMe 2	$2.09/mo	2 GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 50 GB NVMe SSD	Visit
UpCloud	Cloud Servers - Starter · STARTER-1xCPU-1GB	$3.5/mo	1 GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 10 GB Standard SSD	Visit
Namecheap	VPS Hosting · Spark	$3.88/mo	1 GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 20 GB SSD	Visit
Kamatera	Cloud VMs · Type A base (Availability, 1 vCPU/1GB)	$4/mo	1 GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 20 GB NVMe SSD	Visit
OVHcloud	VPS · VPS-1	$4.54/mo	4 GB RAM, 2 vCPU, 40 GB NVMe	Visit
Vultr	Cloud Compute · Regular 1vCPU/1GB	$5/mo	1 GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 25 GB NVMe SSD	Visit
AWS Lightsail	Virtual Servers · GP 1GB (Linux, IPv6)	$5/mo	1 GB RAM, 2 vCPU, 40 GB SSD	Visit
IONOS	VPS Hosting (VPS+) · VPS S+	$5/mo	2 GB RAM, 2 vCPU, 90 GB NVMe	Visit
Liquid Web	VPS Hosting · Compute 1	$5/mo	1 GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 30 GB SSD	Visit
Linode (Akamai)	Shared CPU Compute · Nanode 1 GB	$5/mo	1 GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 25 GB SSD	Visit
Civo	Compute Instances · xSmall	$5.43/mo	1 GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 25 GB NVMe	Visit
IONOS	IONOS CLOUD Cubes (Basic) · Basic Cube XS	$5.76/mo	2 GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 60 GB NVMe	Visit
Fly.io	Machines (Shared CPU) · shared-cpu-1x - 1GB	$5.92/mo	1 GB RAM, 1 vCPU	Visit
DigitalOcean	Droplets · Basic 1GB	$6/mo	1 GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 25 GB SSD	Visit

Visit Scaleway

Comparing prices across every provider we track...