Impossible Cloud vs Selectel (2026): Pricing, Features & Verdict
Selectel is our pick, scoring 6.6/10 against 6/10 for Impossible Cloud on our AI Software criteria. Its biggest advantage: higher Customization score (8/10 vs 4/10). Only Impossible Cloud has a free plan.
Last updated: November 2026
Impossible Cloud
6/10
Hamburg-based provider of S3-compatible object storage with no egress or API fees, plus bare metal GPU servers and managed AI inference hosted in Europe.
Selectel
6.6/10
Russian infrastructure provider offering dedicated servers, cloud servers, VDS, managed Kubernetes, managed databases, S3 storage, CDN and GPU/ML services for businesses.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | | |
|---|---|---|
| Scores | ||
| Overall Rating | 6/10 | 6.6/10 |
| Integration | 6/10 | 6/10 |
| Analytics | 3/10 | 5/10 |
| Customization | 4/10 | 8/10 |
| Ease of Use | 7/10 | 6/10 |
| Support | 6/10 | 6/10 |
| Cost | 8/10 | 7/10 |
| Scalability | 6/10 | 7/10 |
| Security | 7/10 | 7/10 |
| Pricing | ||
| Free plan | Yes | No |
| Cheapest paid plan | €7.99/mo Pay-as-you-go Storage | RUB 200/mo VDS small |
| Estimated cost for 10 users | Free Free Trial | RUB 200/mo VDS small |
| Features | ||
| API and CLI | ||
| Multiple Regions | ||
| Object Storage | ||
| Dedicated Servers | ||
| Managed Databases | Not listed | |
| DDoS Protection | Not listed | |
| Uptime SLA | Not listed | |
| Managed Kubernetes | Not listed | |
| VPS Hosting | Not listed | |
| Cloud Compute | Not listed | |
| Content Delivery Network | Not listed | |
| Automatic Backups | Not listed | |
Impossible Cloud vs Selectel cost by team size
| Team size | Impossible Cloud | Selectel |
|---|---|---|
| 1 user | FreeFree Trial | RUB 200/moVDS small |
| 5 users | FreeFree Trial | RUB 200/moVDS small |
| 10 users | FreeFree Trial | RUB 200/moVDS small |
| 25 users | FreeFree Trial | RUB 200/moVDS small |
| 50 users | FreeFree Trial | RUB 200/moVDS small |
The plan that fits each team size, billed monthly, before add-ons and usage charges. Each cost opens that tool's pricing calculator for the team size.
Who Impossible Cloud and Selectel suit
Impossible Cloud fits small business better than Selectel.
| Audience | Impossible Cloud | Selectel |
|---|---|---|
| Small Business | 7/10Flat 7.99 EUR per TB pricing with no egress fees and a 5 TB free trial suits small firms that need simple offsite storage. | 5/10VDS from about 200 RUB a month is cheap, but the product is mainly relevant to businesses operating in Russia. |
| Developers | 6/10Offers an S3 API, IAM and STS endpoints and an OpenAI-compatible inference API, but no public buckets and no general-purpose compute. | 7/10The cloud servers, Kubernetes, container registry and Terraform/API docs are aimed at developer workflows. |
| Enterprise | 6/10Offers reserved multi-year capacity, named account managers and EU data residency, but its track record and published SLA terms are limited. | 7/10VMware private cloud, certified 152-FZ environments and managed services are aimed at large Russian organisations. |
| IT Teams | 8/10Built-in integrations with Veeam, Acronis, NAKIVO and similar backup tools, plus immutable Object Lock, make it a natural offsite backup target for IT teams. | 7/10The catalogue covers dedicated servers, colocation, backup and DR, which IT teams can use to run their infrastructure. |
| Agencies | 6/10Reviews from MSPs say the predictable per-TB pricing protects their margins, and the product is sold through a partner and reseller network. | Not rated |
| Government | 6/10European jurisdiction, country-level region choice and GDPR positioning appeal to public-sector buyers who need data sovereignty. | Not rated |
Which One Should You Choose?
Why choose Impossible Cloud
- Has a free plan (Selectel does not)
- Higher Ease of Use score (7/10 vs 6/10)
- Higher Cost score (8/10 vs 7/10)
- Better fit for small business (7/10 vs 5/10)
Why choose Selectel
- Higher Customization score (8/10 vs 4/10)
- Higher Analytics score (5/10 vs 3/10)
Pros & Cons
Impossible Cloud
Pros
- Flat 7.99 EUR per TB price with no egress or API request fees makes storage bills predictable for backup and restore-heavy workloads.
- Storage regions in Germany, the Netherlands, the UK, France and Denmark, plus New York, let buyers choose the country where their data lives.
- Object Lock (WORM), versioning, RBAC and MFA, together with ISO 27001 certification, cover ransomware-resilient backup requirements.
- Hands-on testers and reviewers describe onboarding, access key creation and bucket setup as very quick.
- Integrates natively with common MSP backup tools such as Veeam, Acronis, NAKIVO, MSP360 and Hornetsecurity.
Cons
- Has only one hot storage class, so long-term archives cost the same as active data.
- Free egress is subject to a fair use policy, and the vendor may step in when egress greatly exceeds stored volume.
- Bucket features are basic. An independent 2026 test found no public bucket option.
- A small number of users report slow, bureaucratic onboarding, including one claim that trial data was deleted after the trial was not converted.
- Review volume is small on G2, Gartner and TrustRadius, and the published pages give no numeric uptime SLA.
Selectel
Pros
- Very broad catalogue from one vendor: bare metal, VDS, cloud, Kubernetes, DBaaS, S3, CDN, VMware and GPU/ML.
- Certified for Russian personal data law (152-FZ) and holds FSTEC/FSB licences, plus PCI DSS, ISO 27001 and SOC 2.
- Low entry prices, with VDS from about 200 RUB a month and desktop-CPU dedicated servers from 800 RUB.
- Infrastructure can be automated through the API and Terraform.
Cons
- Capacity is concentrated in Russia, with only a few sites in Central Asia and Kenya.
- Prices are in rubles and services are aimed at the Russian market, so sanctions and payment issues may apply for foreign buyers.
- No serverless functions product appears in the catalogue.
- Little independent English-language review coverage.
Not sold on either?
Frequently Asked Questions
Selectel scores higher on our AI Software criteria: 6.6/10 against 6/10 for Impossible Cloud. The largest gap is in Customization: 4/10 for Impossible Cloud and 8/10 for Selectel.
Impossible Cloud has a free plan; Selectel does not list one.
Impossible Cloud is the better fit for small business: we rate it 7/10 for them, against 5/10 for Selectel.
