STACKIT

What Is STACKIT?

No European cloud provider has a backer quite like this one. STACKIT is owned by the Schwarz Group — the parent company of Lidl and Kaufland, Europe's largest retailer, with EUR 167 billion in annual revenue and 595,000 employees across 32 countries. When Schwarz decided it needed a sovereign cloud for its own operations, it built one from scratch rather than depending on AWS or Azure. Then it opened that cloud to external customers.

STACKIT launched publicly in 2020 as part of Schwarz Digits, the group's IT and digital division. The platform runs entirely on infrastructure the company owns and operates in Germany and Austria, with a fifth data centre under construction in Luebbenau. There is no underlying dependency on American hyperscalers. The compute, storage, networking, and managed services all run on European-controlled hardware in European-controlled facilities.

The target audience is clear: organisations that need cloud infrastructure with provable EU data sovereignty. Banks, insurers, healthcare providers, public sector agencies, and any company subject to regulations that restrict data processing to EU jurisdiction. STACKIT does not try to match AWS's 200+ service catalogue. It offers a focused set of infrastructure and platform services — compute, Kubernetes, object storage, managed databases — with the compliance certifications that regulated industries require.

Key Features

STACKIT Kubernetes Engine (SKE)

The managed Kubernetes service is built on Gardener, the open-source Kubernetes fleet management tool originally developed by SAP. SKE provides CNCF-compliant clusters with automated scaling, self-healing, and high availability across geo-redundant data centres. Cluster management, node provisioning, and upgrades are handled by the platform. Customers interact with standard Kubernetes APIs and kubectl — no proprietary extensions required.

For teams already running Kubernetes on AWS EKS or Google GKE, migration to SKE requires minimal application-level changes. The CNCF conformance guarantee means Helm charts, operators, and CI/CD pipelines work without modification. The practical difference is where the underlying infrastructure sits: in Schwarz-owned German and Austrian data centres, rather than in regions ultimately controlled by US corporations.

Compute and Storage

STACKIT Compute Engine offers virtual machines with flexible CPU and RAM configurations, billed per hour. Block storage and multi-attach storage provide persistent volumes. Object storage is S3-compatible, meaning existing tools (aws-cli, rclone, MinIO client) work without changes.

The standout detail: data egress is free. On AWS, data transfer out is one of the most unpredictable cost drivers — organisations regularly discover five-figure egress bills they did not anticipate. STACKIT eliminates that variable entirely. For workloads with significant outbound data transfer (media serving, API responses, backup replication), the savings can be substantial.

Managed Database Services

STACKIT offers managed PostgreSQL, Redis, MongoDB, RabbitMQ, and an ELK stack (Elasticsearch, Logstash, Kibana). Each service handles provisioning, automated backups, scaling, and patching. These are standard, well-understood databases — nothing exotic, but exactly what most production workloads require.

The database services run on the same certified infrastructure as compute and Kubernetes. For organisations that cannot use AWS RDS or Azure SQL due to data sovereignty requirements, STACKIT's managed databases provide a compliant alternative without the operational burden of self-managing database clusters.

SAP on STACKIT

Schwarz Digits and SAP have partnered to offer RISE with SAP on STACKIT infrastructure. This is significant for German and European enterprises running SAP workloads. Rather than hosting SAP in an AWS or Azure region that may or may not satisfy their compliance requirements, they can run it on C5-certified, fully sovereign German infrastructure. For the German Mittelstand — mid-sized companies that form the backbone of German industry — this combination is compelling.

Pricing

STACKIT uses a pure pay-as-you-go model with per-hour billing. There are no upfront commitments, no reserved instances, and no minimum spend. The pricing calculator at calculator.stackit.cloud provides detailed cost estimates across all services.

The 15-20% premium compared to AWS and GCP for equivalent compute resources is real, and STACKIT does not pretend otherwise. Sovereign infrastructure with German data centres, German employees, and German regulatory compliance costs more than a shared hyperscaler region. The question for each organisation is whether the sovereignty guarantees justify the premium.

Free data egress partially offsets the compute premium. For egress-heavy workloads, STACKIT can actually be cheaper than AWS once data transfer costs are factored in. The transparent pricing model — no hidden fees, no complex tiering — also simplifies budget forecasting.

The absence of reserved instance discounts is a gap. Organisations with predictable, long-running workloads cannot lock in lower rates by committing upfront. This makes STACKIT less cost-effective for stable baseline capacity compared to hyperscalers that reward commitment.

EU Compliance & Privacy

This is where STACKIT earns its highest marks. The platform holds BSI C5 Type 2 certification — the German Federal Office for Information Security's cloud compliance standard, which is among the most rigorous in Europe. It also carries ISO 27001 (information security), ISAE 3000/SOC 2 (security controls), ISAE 3402 (service organisation controls), and ISO 20000 (IT service management).

All data is processed exclusively in Schwarz-owned data centres in Germany and Austria. No subprocessors operate outside the EU. The Schwarz Group's corporate structure is entirely European — no US parent company, no Cloud Act exposure, no risk of foreign government data access orders.

For public sector contracts in Germany, the C5 Type 2 certification is increasingly a prerequisite. STACKIT and Bundesdruckerei (the German federal printing office) have partnered on sovereign cloud offerings specifically for government agencies. This positions STACKIT as a serious contender for German public sector infrastructure.

Who It's Best For

German enterprises with regulatory data sovereignty requirements — particularly in finance, insurance, healthcare, and public administration. The C5 Type 2 certification and fully German infrastructure satisfy compliance teams that cannot approve US hyperscalers.

SAP customers seeking sovereign hosting. The RISE with SAP partnership provides a certified path to running SAP workloads on EU-sovereign infrastructure without self-managing the underlying cloud.

Organisations with high egress workloads that want predictable costs. Free data egress eliminates one of the most frustrating cost variables in cloud computing.

Teams already using Kubernetes that need a migration path from AWS EKS or Google GKE to EU-sovereign infrastructure. CNCF conformance means minimal application-level changes.

The Verdict

STACKIT makes a credible bet: that a segment of the European market values data sovereignty enough to accept a smaller service catalogue and a price premium. Backed by the financial resources of the Schwarz Group and armed with C5, ISO 27001, and SOC 2 certifications, it offers infrastructure that regulated organisations can actually use without compliance anxiety. The service catalogue is growing but remains focused. Teams needing 200 managed services will stay on AWS. Teams needing five solid services with provable sovereignty have a genuine European option.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is STACKIT GDPR compliant?

Yes. STACKIT processes all data exclusively in its own data centres in Germany and Austria. The platform is C5 Type 2, ISO 27001, and SOC 2 certified. As a German company within the Schwarz Group, it has zero US Cloud Act exposure.

Who owns STACKIT?

Schwarz Digits, the IT and digital division of the Schwarz Group — parent company of Lidl and Kaufland. The Schwarz Group is Europe's largest retailer with EUR 167 billion in annual revenue and 595,000 employees.

How does STACKIT compare to AWS?

STACKIT offers full data sovereignty with C5 Type 2 certification and free data egress, but has a much smaller service catalogue. AWS has hundreds of services and global availability zones. STACKIT targets organisations where EU data sovereignty is a non-negotiable requirement.

Does STACKIT charge for data egress?

No. Data egress is free across all STACKIT services. This is a significant differentiator from AWS and GCP, where data transfer charges can constitute 10-30% of total cloud spend for egress-heavy workloads.

Is there a free tier for STACKIT?

No. STACKIT uses pay-as-you-go pricing with per-hour billing for all services. The transparent pricing and free data egress help avoid unexpected costs, but there is no free experimentation tier.