AWS is the global leader in cloud services, offering hundreds of products and a worldwide infrastructure. But with this vast offering comes complexity; AWS is often seen as heavy, expensive, and subject to U.S. jurisdiction.
Clever Cloud stands out as the ideal alternative for organizations seeking simplicity, sovereignty, and predictable costs. With automated deployments, European regulatory compliance, and built-in security, Clever Cloud provides a smooth PaaS experience that frees developers from AWS’s operational burden.
A Smooth and Complete Developer Experience
AWS offers immense flexibility but demands advanced expertise: configuring EC2, VPCs, load balancers, and scaling policies before an application is production-ready. Clever Cloud removes that weight. With simple git push deployment, built-in autoscaling, and integrated observability, teams can go live in minutes, not weeks.
The platform includes tools like Grafana and Elastic APM for monitoring, managed databases with automatic backups, and S3-compatible storage. Identity management is handled through Keycloak as a Service. This all-in-one approach saves valuable time otherwise spent piecing together AWS add-ons.
European Sovereignty and Compliance
While AWS operates globally, as a U.S. provider it remains subject to laws such as the Cloud Act. For European organizations, this raises sovereignty and compliance concerns. Clever Cloud, by contrast, hosts exclusively in Europe and designs its services around GDPR compliance.
Public sector entities, financial institutions, and healthcare organizations particularly benefit from this sovereign approach. In addition, Clever Cloud is in the process of obtaining SecNumCloud certification, making it one of the few European PaaS providers to meet the highest standards of compliance.
Clear and Predictable Pricing
AWS pricing is notoriously complex — with hundreds of SKUs, hidden data transfer fees, and costs that can escalate unexpectedly. Clever Cloud brings clarity with a transparent, pay-as-you-go model, based on instance size and add-ons.
An online cost simulator helps teams accurately plan their budgets. For both developers and finance teams, this simplicity reduces financial risk and builds trust.
Security and Reliability at the Core
On AWS, security is comprehensive but requires manual setup and configuration. Clever Cloud builds it in by default. Its infrastructure is designed for high availability, resilience, and compliance. Applications are isolated, backups are automated, and encryption is applied both in transit and at rest.
The ongoing SecNumCloud certification process further strengthens Clever Cloud’s commitment to mission-critical workloads — particularly where AWS’s U.S. jurisdiction may be a barrier.
Why Clever Cloud Is the Best AWS Alternative Today
Choosing Clever Cloud means opting for:
- A simplified PaaS experience with automated deployments, autoscaling, and integrated observability — without AWS’s operational complexity.
- Full data sovereignty, compliant with European regulations.
- Transparent and predictable pricing, with a public cost simulator.
- Built-in security and reliability, with isolated apps, encryption, automatic backups, and a resilient infrastructure.
Conclusion
While AWS remains the global giant, Clever Cloud is redefining cloud simplicity in Europe. By combining performance, sovereignty, cost transparency, and security, the platform provides organizations with an environment where innovation thrives without operational constraints.
Deploying your first application takes only minutes — and immediately demonstrates the time and peace of mind you gain.
Migrate to Clever Cloud
Contact us to start your migration project. Our team will support you at every step.
FAQ: Everything You Need to Know About Clever Cloud as an AWS Alternative
1. What is an AWS alternative?
It’s a cloud platform that lets you run applications without managing infrastructure. Clever Cloud is one such PaaS, designed for developers and easier to use.
2. Why choose Clever Cloud over AWS?
Clever Cloud delivers the key benefits of the cloud — scalability, resilience, and automation — without AWS’s operational complexity, opaque pricing, or sovereignty risks.
3. Is Clever Cloud cheaper than AWS?
Often yes. While costs depend on usage, Clever Cloud’s transparent model avoids hidden fees like bandwidth or idle capacity costs.
4. Does Clever Cloud offer all AWS services?
No. AWS provides hundreds of services. Clever Cloud focuses on the essentials: runtimes, databases, storage, observability, and identity management (IAM).
5. Is migration from AWS to Clever Cloud easy?
Yes. Most workloads can be migrated with only minor adjustments to environment variables and configurations.
6. How does Clever Cloud ensure security?
Security is built-in by default: application isolation, automatic backups, encryption at rest and in transit, and a clear path toward SecNumCloud certification.