Garage vs Google Cloud Storage
Garage is a European alternative to Google Cloud Storage: same cloud & hosting use case, headquartered in France and operating under GDPR by default, while Google Cloud Storage is based in the United States.
By the EU Alternatives team Last updated
Open-source distributed object storage with S3 API compatibility. Lightweight, resilient design for self-hosting across multiple zones with minimal hardware requirements.
- Jurisdiction
- EU / EEA
- GDPR by default
- Yes
- US CLOUD Act exposure
- No
- Open source
- No
- Free tier
- No
A curated collection of the best European alternatives to Google Cloud Storage.
- Jurisdiction
- US
- GDPR by default
- Requires DPA + TIA
- US CLOUD Act exposure
- Yes
Garage vs Google Cloud Storage at a glance
| Garage | Google Cloud Storage | |
|---|---|---|
| Headquarters | France | US |
| Data jurisdiction | EU / EEA | US law applies |
| GDPR by default | Yes | Requires DPA + transfer assessment |
| US CLOUD Act exposure | No | Yes |
| Open source | No | — |
| Free tier | No | — |
| Best for | Teams that need cloud & hosting with EU data residency | Teams already invested in the Google Cloud Storage ecosystem |
Choose Garage if…
- You want your data to stay under EU law without extra legal paperwork
- GDPR compliance or public-sector requirements apply to you
- You'd rather back the European tech ecosystem
Stick with Google Cloud Storage if…
- You depend on integrations only available in the Google Cloud Storage ecosystem
- Your organisation has no EU data-residency constraints
- Migration costs outweigh the jurisdiction benefits for now
Why choose Garage over Google Cloud Storage?
The decisive argument is data jurisdiction. Google Cloud Storage is headquartered in US, which means personal data processed through it can be subject to non-EU legal regimes: the US CLOUD Act, FISA 702, or similar laws depending on the provider. After the 2020 Schrems II ruling, EU organisations must carry out a transfer impact assessment for every such data flow.
Garage removes that overhead. As a France-based provider, it operates natively under GDPR, and data stays inside the EU/EEA by default. For regulated sectors such as health, public administration, and finance, that's not a nice-to-have but a requirement. For everyone else, it's concentration-risk insurance: you avoid depending on a single non-EU jurisdiction that can change the rules without warning.