Pilae
Swiss managed operations for open-source apps and private AI on your own servers or Swiss cloud
Quick Overview
| Company | Pilae SA (CHE-419.492.386) |
|---|---|
| Category | Cloud Computing |
| Headquarters | Lausanne, Switzerland |
| Founded | 2026 |
| EU Presence | Switzerland (adequacy decision, outside the EEA) |
| Data Location | Customer premises, or Pilae Cloud: dedicated machines in Switzerland and the EU under a Swiss contract; air-gapped sites supported (Enterprise) |
| Open Source | No |
| Pricing | On request. Three plans (Essential, Business, Enterprise) quoted per app: a fixed onboarding price plus a monthly per-app fee; infrastructure passed through at cost plus margin on Pilae Cloud or customer-owned on-premises. Invoiced in CHF or EUR, default 12-month contract, 99.9% uptime SLA on all plans |
| Replaces | Microsoft 365, Google Workspace |
Detailed Review
Pilae is not a cloud provider in the way the others here are, and the honest way to read it is as a managed-operations layer.
Pilae runs open-source applications and private AI, from Nextcloud and Keycloak to n8n, Ollama and Open WebUI, on infrastructure the customer chooses: its own premises, Pilae Cloud with dedicated machines in Switzerland and the EU, a hybrid of the two, or an air-gapped site that receives updates through a controlled transfer. One control plane covers deployments, backups, monitoring and an audit log, and the Pilae Agent plans each change, waits for approval and records it.
Pilae SA is a Swiss company in Lausanne, entered under UID CHE-419.492.386, and its terms are governed by Swiss law with the courts of Lausanne exclusively competent.
It was founded in 2026, so it has no operating history to compare with Hetzner or Exoscale, and the scope is narrower in a different way: you do not buy raw virtual machines or an S3 bucket here, you buy an operated service. Switzerland sits outside the EU with an adequacy decision, which keeps it outside US jurisdiction but is not intra-EEA establishment.
Pricing is quoted per app on three plans. Essential covers one team in business hours, Business adds SSO, hybrid deployment and priority support, and Enterprise adds air-gapped and multi-site deployment, 24/7 incident response and audit support. A fixed onboarding price comes first, then a monthly fee per app, invoiced in CHF or EUR on a default 12-month contract. No per-app rates are published, so budgeting starts with a written quote.
What Pilae does well
- Runs open-source apps and private AI on your own servers, including air-gapped sites
- Optional dedicated machines in Switzerland and the EU under a Swiss contract
- One control plane with audit log, backups and monitoring across every app
- 99.9% uptime SLA and a standard DPA on all plans
- Swiss entity with CHF or EUR invoicing, outside US jurisdiction
Where Pilae falls short
- Founded in 2026, so no long operating track record yet
- No published prices; every plan is quoted per app on request
- Not a self-service cloud: no instant VMs, object storage or pay-as-you-go
- Swiss adequacy decision rather than intra-EEA processing
Standout feature. It operates open-source apps and private AI inside your own perimeter, even air-gapped, which none of the infrastructure providers here do for you.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Runs open-source apps and private AI on your own servers, including air-gapped sites
- Optional dedicated machines in Switzerland and the EU under a Swiss contract
- One control plane with audit log, backups and monitoring across every app
- 99.9% uptime SLA and a standard DPA on all plans
- Swiss entity with CHF or EUR invoicing, outside US jurisdiction
Cons
- Founded in 2026, so no long operating track record yet
- No published prices; every plan is quoted per app on request
- Not a self-service cloud: no instant VMs, object storage or pay-as-you-go
- Swiss adequacy decision rather than intra-EEA processing
Alternatives to Pilae
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Pilae?
Pilae is not a cloud provider in the way the others here are, and the honest way to read it is as a managed-operations layer.
Pilae runs open-source applications and private AI, from Nextcloud and Keycloak to n8n, Ollama and Open WebUI, on infrastructure the customer chooses: its own premises, Pilae Cloud with dedicated machines in Switzerland and the EU, a hybrid of the two, or an air-gapped site that receives updates through a controlled transfer. One control plane covers deployments, backups, monitoring and an audit log, and the Pilae Agent plans each change, waits for approval and records it.
Where is Pilae based?
Pilae operates from Lausanne, Switzerland, which places it under Switzerland (adequacy decision, outside the EEA).
What does Pilae cost?
On request. Three plans (Essential, Business, Enterprise) quoted per app: a fixed onboarding price plus a monthly per-app fee; infrastructure passed through at cost plus margin on Pilae Cloud or customer-owned on-premises. Invoiced in CHF or EUR, default 12-month contract, 99.9% uptime SLA on all plans.
Who is Pilae best for?
Swiss and EU organisations wanting open-source apps and private AI operated for them. It operates open-source apps and private AI inside your own perimeter, even air-gapped, which none of the infrastructure providers here do for you.
What are the drawbacks of Pilae?
Founded in 2026, so no long operating track record yet. No published prices; every plan is quoted per app on request. Not a self-service cloud: no instant VMs, object storage or pay-as-you-go. Swiss adequacy decision rather than intra-EEA processing.
Is Pilae a good alternative to Microsoft 365?
Pilae is built as a European alternative to Microsoft 365: Swiss managed operations for open-source apps and private AI on your own servers or Swiss cloud. It will not be a like-for-like feature match in every respect, so check the review above for where the two genuinely differ before switching.
How does Pilae compare to other Cloud Computing tools?
Pilae is one of several European Cloud Computing tools we cover. It is most often compared with Microsoft 365, Google Workspace.