tech from europe
vsHugging Face

STACKIT vs Hugging Face

Last updated October 2026

Looking for a European alternative to Hugging Face? Here's how STACKIT compares, on EU hosting, GDPR and what it does.

Our pick for a European buyer: STACKIT. We weight data residency, GDPR and EU jurisdiction above everything else — that is the constraint this directory exists to solve.

STACKIT
Hugging Face
What it is
German AI hosting with EU data sovereignty and open-source OpenStack
Hosts, trains, and deploys machine learning models and datasets on a collaborative platform.
Headquarters
🇩🇪 DE
🇺🇸 US · 2016
EU data residency
Yes, for all customers
Available on some plansEU data residency is available for Enterprise customers on request.
DSGVO / GDPR
Yes
Yes
Certifications
ISO 27001, ISO 27017, ISO 27018, ISO 20000, ISO 50001, BSI C5 Type 2, ISAE 3000/SOC 2, ISAE 3402
SOC 2 Type II
Price from
No
No
Free plan
No
No
Open Source
Yes
Yes
Ratings
No
G2 4.4/5 (108)
Integrations
No
Okta, OneLogin, Azure AD, AWS, GCP +6

Where each one wins

STACKIT

Strengths

  • +Intuitive interface for easy cloud service navigation and management
  • +Responsive and knowledgeable customer support
  • +Straightforward onboarding with helpful resources and training
  • +Stable and reliable cloud infrastructure
  • +GDPR-compliant hosting with a focus on security and data sovereignty
  • +Flexible integration capabilities and modular architecture
  • +Scalable deployments tailored to business needs

Limitations

  • −Occasional performance lags and platform slowness
  • −Limited customization options in lower-tier plans
  • −Pricing perceived as high relative to features for smaller businesses

Hugging Face

Strengths

  • +Open-source ecosystem with a vast library of pre-trained models
  • +Collaborative platform for sharing and discovering models/datasets
  • +Flexible deployment options (API, Endpoints, Spaces)
  • +Strong security and compliance features for Enterprise

Limitations

  • −Steep learning curve for beginners
  • −Costs can escalate with high usage
  • −Limited default data residency (US for non-Enterprise)
  • −Subprocessor list includes multiple third parties

Data residency & compliance

STACKIT
Hugging Face
EU data residency
Yes, for all customers
Available on some plansEU data residency is available for Enterprise customers on request.
Transfer mechanism
Not required — data stays in the EU
Standard Contractual Clauses
DPA
not established
Published →
Sub-processors
not established
Listed →
Certifications
ISO 27001, ISO 27017, ISO 27018, ISO 20000, ISO 50001, BSI C5 Type 2, ISAE 3000/SOC 2, ISAE 3402
SOC 2 Type II

Features

STACKIT

Cloud Infrastructure
IaaS, PaaS, and Kubernetes services, Sovereign cloud infrastructure, Hourly consumption-based billing, Project-specific invoicing
Cost Transparency
STACKIT Calculator for individual cost estimation, Monthly cost tracking via STACKIT portal, No hidden costs
Marketplace & Integrations
Curated third-party solutions on sovereign cloud, Integration of STACKIT cloud resources

Hugging Face

Model & Dataset Hosting
Host models, datasets, and Spaces, Dataset viewing and auto-conversion to Parquet, Version control for models and datasets
Inference & Deployment
Inference API for model predictions, Dedicated Inference Endpoints, Hardware upgrades for Spaces
Security & Governance
SOC 2 Type II certified, SAML/OIDC SSO (Okta, OneLogin, Azure AD), Data residency controls for Enterprise
Data Export & API
Export datasets in CSV, JSON, Parquet, Excel, SQLite and DuckDB support, Public API for data access
See STACKIT →More Hugging Face alternatives