AWS bills usually spike from egress fees and managed-service markup (RDS, managed Kubernetes) rather than raw compute cost — and reserved instances or savings plans create a false sense of predictability that unravels the moment usage patterns change. How smooth a migration off AWS actually is depends almost entirely on one thing: how much of your stack already runs on portable layers like containers and standard SQL versus AWS-proprietary services like Lambda and DynamoDB.
Why AWS Bills Spike Without Warning
Reserved instances and savings plans lock in a discount against a usage commitment — useful when usage is stable, but they create a false floor: the moment your actual workload shifts (a service you scaled down, a region you no longer use), you’re paying for capacity you committed to but aren’t using, on top of whatever new usage you’ve added. Egress fees compound this in a way that’s easy to underestimate when architecting on AWS — data transfer out of AWS is priced per gigabyte, and it’s rarely visible until a bill arrives with a number that doesn’t match the mental model of “we just pay for the servers.” Managed-service markup is the third factor: RDS, managed Kubernetes, and similar services bundle real operational value (backups, failover, patching) into the price, but that convenience premium is exactly what disappears if you’re willing to self-manage the equivalent open-source stack elsewhere.
What Moving Off AWS Actually Requires
Migration difficulty isn’t uniform across an AWS stack — it depends entirely on which services you’re replacing:
| AWS Service | What Replaces It in Europe | Migration Difficulty |
|---|---|---|
| EC2 | Any VPS or cloud compute instance | Low — most portable layer |
| S3 | S3-compatible object storage (widely available) | Low — API-compatible in most cases |
| RDS (managed Postgres/MySQL) | Managed database (Scaleway, OVHcloud) or self-managed Postgres | Medium — self-managing means owning backups and failover yourself |
| EKS (managed Kubernetes) | Managed Kubernetes (Scaleway Kapsule, OVHcloud) or self-managed K3s/Docker | Medium to High — depends on whether you need managed or are willing to self-manage |
| Lambda / DynamoDB / EventBridge | No direct drop-in equivalent | High — requires architectural re-engineering, not a lift-and-shift |
Services built on standard, portable layers (VMs, containers, S3-compatible storage) migrate cleanly; proprietary serverless/event services do not.
The practical takeaway: a stack already built on standard VMs, containers, and S3-compatible storage can typically migrate in a parallel-run window of a few weeks. A stack leaning heavily on Lambda, DynamoDB, or other proprietary AWS services is a re-architecture project, not a migration — plan and budget for that difference honestly before committing to a timeline.
European Providers Compared for AWS Migration
The right European provider depends on whether you want AWS-equivalent managed services or are optimizing purely for cost and are willing to self-manage more:
| Provider | Managed Services | Best Known For | Honest Trade-off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scaleway | Managed Kubernetes (Kapsule), managed Postgres/MySQL, S3-compatible storage, Terraform support | Closest functional match to AWS for containerized, cloud-native stacks | Smaller overall service catalog than AWS |
| OVHcloud | Managed databases, VMware/Nutanix support, multi-AZ public cloud, compliance certifications | Broadest European catalog, best fit for enterprise or VMware workloads | More complex product lineup to navigate than a single-purpose provider |
| Hetzner | Limited — mostly unmanaged compute and storage | Lowest raw compute price, often 50-80% cheaper than equivalent EC2 | Your team handles database administration and orchestration directly |
| IONOS | Managed databases, enterprise/private-cloud services | Enterprise and private-cloud-oriented deployments | Developer experience and tooling lag the cloud-native-focused providers |
| DigitalOcean | Managed Kubernetes, managed databases | Developer-friendly tooling and documentation | Not EU-domiciled by default — check region selection for data residency needs |
| Contabo | None — self-managed compute and object storage only | Lowest cost for self-managed workloads; unlimited traffic bundled on every plan, no separate egress billing | No managed Kubernetes or managed database — your team owns that layer entirely, the same trade-off as Hetzner |
“Smoothest” migration depends entirely on how much of your stack already runs on portable layers (containers, standard SQL, S3) versus AWS-proprietary services (Lambda, DynamoDB, EventBridge).
Where Contabo Self-Managed VPS Fits (and Where It Doesn’t)
Contabo doesn’t offer managed Kubernetes or managed Postgres, so it isn’t the right fit if your team wants AWS-equivalent managed services with someone else handling backups and failover — Scaleway, OVHcloud, or DigitalOcean are the more honest picks there. Where a self-managed VPS like Contabo does fit: teams already comfortable running their own Postgres, K3s, or Docker Compose stack, for whom the managed-service markup was exactly the cost they’re trying to cut. One specific, verifiable advantage worth calling out directly: Contabo bundles unlimited traffic into every plan rather than billing egress separately — for a workload with meaningful data transfer, that alone can materially change the total cost picture compared to AWS’s per-gigabyte egress pricing, independent of the compute price difference. As an illustrative example (not a specific customer case): a straightforward Node.js API with a Postgres database and object storage for user uploads, self-managed on a Contabo VPS instead of EC2 + RDS + S3, commonly cuts monthly infrastructure cost by roughly half to two-thirds — the exact number depends entirely on your specific usage, egress volume, and how much of the AWS bill was managed-service markup versus raw compute.
A Practical Migration Checklist
- Audit which AWS services you actually depend on — separate the portable layer (EC2, S3, standard containers) from proprietary services (Lambda, DynamoDB, EventBridge) before estimating timeline or difficulty.
- Choose your target based on managed vs. self-managed, not just price — decide honestly whether your team wants to own database administration and orchestration before picking a provider.
- Replicate data before touching production — set up the new database and object storage, and get real replication or a tested restore process working before any cutover.
- Run in parallel, not as a single cutover — deploy the new infrastructure alongside the existing AWS setup, route a small percentage of traffic to validate, then scale up confidence before fully switching.
- Cut over DNS last, with a low TTL set in advance — this is what makes the switch invisible to users, and it’s reversible if something goes wrong in the first hours.
- Decommission AWS resources only after a full billing cycle on the new infrastructure — confirms nothing was missed before the old environment stops being available as a fallback.
FAQ: Moving Off AWS
Usually egress fees and managed-service markup (RDS, managed Kubernetes), not raw compute — reserved instances and savings plans only cover the portion of usage you committed to in advance, so any growth or shift in usage bills at full rate on top. Predictable pricing comes from providers with flat-rate compute and bundled (not per-gigabyte) traffic, which removes the two most common sources of surprise.
It depends on whether you want AWS-equivalent managed services or are optimizing for cost. Scaleway and DigitalOcean offer managed Kubernetes and databases closest to the AWS experience; Hetzner and self-managed VPS providers like Contabo cost significantly less but require your team to handle database administration and orchestration directly.
Start with OVHcloud if your workload needs broad managed services and enterprise compliance certifications, or Scaleway if your stack is already containerized and cloud-native. Hetzner is worth evaluating specifically if your team is willing to self-manage databases in exchange for the lowest raw compute cost — often 50-80% less than equivalent EC2 pricing.
Smoothness depends on your architecture, not the provider alone — a stack built on standard VMs, containers, and S3-compatible storage migrates in weeks regardless of destination. Scaleway and OVHcloud offer the closest managed-service parity to AWS, which shortens the path for teams that don’t want to take on new operational responsibility during the move.
Disclaimer: Product specifications, features, and prices mentioned in this article are subject to change and may vary by region, billing term, and active promotions. Please check each provider’s or brand’s official website for current figures, pricing, and local currency rates.
