Using Claude in the EU: Comparing Anthropic API, Bedrock Frankfurt, Vertex AI, and Microsoft Foundry

Claude can be used in the EU in two ways with guaranteed EU processing: via Amazon Bedrock with EU inference profiles and via Google Vertex AI with the EU multi-region endpoint. The Anthropic API only supports "global" and "us", while Microsoft Foundry does not yet have an EU data zone for Claude. Which path is suitable depends on the model, retention rules, and contract chain.

The question "Are we allowed to use Claude?" is usually answered in data protection coordination with a look at the provider. This is too short-sighted. The same model behaves differently across the four access paths: it runs in different data centers, under different contracts, with different retention periods, and at different prices. A team using Claude Sonnet 5 via Bedrock in Frankfurt is in a different legal situation than one sending the same request to api.anthropic.com.

This article compares the four paths side by side: the Anthropic API (first party), Amazon Bedrock, Google Vertex AI, and Microsoft Foundry. For each path, we answer the same five questions: Who is the contractual partner, where does the inference run, which Claude models are available in the EU, what is stored, and what does the EU variant cost compared to the list price. The information comes from the linked provider documents and from two of our own checks on September 7, 2026: querying the Bedrock inference profiles in Frankfurt and performing test calls against the EU endpoints of Vertex AI.

In Brief

• Anthropic API: The contractual partner for EEA customers is Anthropic Ireland Limited, but the inference only runs "global" or "us". There is no EU option, and data is located in the US.

• Amazon Bedrock: Nine current Claude models run via EU inference profiles in six EU regions, with zero retention as standard. Fable 5 and Fable 5.1 are only available with worldwide routing and 30-day retention by AWS.

• Google Vertex AI: Opus 5, Sonnet 5, and Fable 5.1 are listed for Europe as multi-region; Fable 5.1 requires agreement to a 30-day retention. Regional endpoints incur a 10 percent surcharge.

• Microsoft Foundry: Anthropic remains the seller and data processor, while Microsoft only provides the portal and billing. Deployments are available as "Global Standard" or "US Data Zone", with an EU data zone announced as "Coming 2026".

• Anthropic's Covered Models rule (30-day retention for Mythos 5, Mythos 5.1, Fable 5, and Fable 5.1) applies across all four paths. Anyone wanting to bypass it must switch to Opus 5 or Sonnet 5, or wait for the Enterprise Frontier Safeguards.

Table of Contents

1. Why the Access Path Determines the Legal Situation

2. Path 1: The Anthropic API

3. Path 2: Amazon Bedrock in Frankfurt and Five Other EU Regions

4. Path 3: Google Vertex AI with the EU Multi-Region Endpoint

5. Path 4: Microsoft Foundry

6. Comparison Table: Four Paths, Five Criteria

7. The Covered Models Rule Applies Everywhere

8. How Much Does the EU Path Cost?

9. Decision Guide: Which Path for Which Case

10. How kontinent.ai Connects Claude

11. Frequently Asked Questions

Why the Access Path Determines the Legal Situation

The access path determines who your data processor is, in which data center the inference runs, and which retention rules apply. The model is the same on all paths, but the legal situation is not. Three things differ per path:

• The contractual partner. With Bedrock, you enter into the data processing agreement (DPA) with Amazon Web Services EMEA SARL; with Vertex, with Google Ireland Limited; with the Anthropic API, with Anthropic Ireland Limited. With Microsoft Foundry, unlike with Azure OpenAI, it is also Anthropic and not Microsoft.

• The location of processing. The hyperscalers offer EU regions, while the Anthropic API does not. This is the core question for Art. 44 et seq. GDPR: Is there a third-country transfer, and if so, on what basis?

• The retention rule. Whether and for how long prompts are stored after the response depends on the path and the model. We have described in detail what Zero Data Retention means for the major providers and where the exceptions lie in the article Zero Data Retention with OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google.

Path 1: The Anthropic API

The Anthropic API does not offer EU processing. According to the documentation, the inference_geo parameter knows exactly two values: "global" (default, inference "in any available geography") and "us" (US infrastructure only). The storage location for data at rest, the "Workspace geo", can currently only be set to "us". Under "Current limitations", it is explicitly stated: only "us" and "global" are available.

Contractually, however, the path is set up on a European basis. The Commercial Terms define the contracting party as "Anthropic Ireland, Limited if Customer resides in the European Economic Area, Switzerland or UK", with Irish law and dispute resolution in Dublin. The Data Processing Addendum is part of the Terms by reference and contains the EU Standard Contractual Clauses (Module 2 and 3). Training on customer content is excluded. For the assessment, this means: you have an EU contracting partner with SCCs, but the processing takes place in the US or globally. A Transfer Impact Assessment is therefore a requirement, not an option.

Two details that are often missing in discussions: First, the US restriction costs money. For Claude 4.6 and newer models, Anthropic charges 1.1 times the list price for all token categories when using inference_geo: "us". Second, the same applies to the "Claude Platform on AWS", which Anthropic itself operates via the AWS Marketplace. The documentation says: data "might not reside in AWS", and inference "might route to Anthropic's primary cloud". This is not a Bedrock replacement, but the Anthropic API with an AWS bill.

On its regional availability page, Anthropic only lists AWS Bedrock and Google Vertex AI as available paths for Europe; Microsoft Foundry is listed there as "Coming 2026". Its own API does not appear in this table.

Path 2: Amazon Bedrock in Frankfurt and Five Other EU Regions

Amazon Bedrock is currently the path with the largest Claude selection in the EU. On September 7, 2026, we queried the inference profiles in the eu-central-1 region using the AWS CLI. Result: Nine current Claude models have an EU profile with the prefix eu.: Haiku 4.5, Sonnet 4.5, Sonnet 4.6, Sonnet 5, Opus 4.5, Opus 4.6, Opus 4.7, Opus 4.8, and Opus 5. Each of these profiles is allowed to process requests in exactly six target regions: Frankfurt (eu-central-1), Ireland (eu-west-1), Paris (eu-west-3), Stockholm (eu-north-1), Milan (eu-south-1), and Spain (eu-south-2). AWS documents that the target region list of a geographically bound profile never changes. A request to eu.anthropic.claude-sonnet-5 from Frankfurt therefore remains in the EU, but may be answered in Stockholm.

The exception is the latest models. Fable 5 and Fable 5.1 are listed as Foundation Models in Frankfurt and Dublin, but only have a global. profile. According to AWS, a global profile can route to all commercial regions, including North America and Asia. Anyone using Fable on Bedrock therefore does not have an EU commitment, regardless of which region the call comes from.

Retention. According to its own documentation, Bedrock operates with "zero operator access" and does not store inputs and outputs by default. An exception applies to Fable 5 and Fable 5.1: "all traffic will be retained for up to 30 days for automated offline abuse detection", and flagged content can be reviewed by AWS personnel. According to AWS, the data remains within the AWS boundary and is not shared with Anthropic. To be able to call Fable at all, you must set the data retention mode of your account or project to aws_review; under none or default, Bedrock reports the model as "unavailable". Customers eligible for the Enterprise Frontier Safeguards receive ZDR until December 31, 2026. Anyone using cross-region inference should know: stored data is located in the target region where the request was processed.

Contract. The contractual partner is Amazon Web Services EMEA SARL in Luxembourg, and the DPA is the AWS GDPR Data Processing Addendum. The AWS Service Terms conclusively list the services whose content AWS may use for training; Bedrock is not on it. The training exclusion is therefore contractual, not just a product claim.

Path 3: Google Vertex AI with the EU Multi-Region Endpoint

On Google Cloud, which now calls the platform "Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform", the current Claude models for Europe are located on a multi-region endpoint. Google's model pages list "Europe: Multi-region" for Opus 5, Sonnet 5, and Fable 5.1 under "Model availability" and "ML processing"; individual EU regions such as europe-west1 are only available there for older models, such as Haiku 4.5. The Anthropic documentation confirms this: regional endpoints support Sonnet 4.6 and earlier, while newer models run via the global or multi-region endpoints. The EU endpoint is called aiplatform.eu.rep.googleapis.com and dynamically distributes requests to regions within the EU.

We verified this on September 7, 2026, from our own Google Cloud project, using test calls of one token. Opus 5 responded via the EU multi-region endpoint with HTTP 200. The same request to the individual regions europe-west1 and europe-west4 ran into a quota of zero (HTTP 429): the model is offered there, but Google allocates fixed quotas for individual regions that must be applied for. Fable 5.1 returned HTTP 403 at the EU endpoint with the note that "data sharing" must first be enabled for the publisher Anthropic. Sonnet 5 was not yet enabled in our project under this model ID; according to Google's model page, it is listed for Europe as multi-region.

Retention. Anthropic explicitly refers to Google for Vertex: "Data handling for this offering is governed by Google Cloud." Google's Service Specific Terms obligate Google not to store prompts longer than necessary for the response, and not to retain the outputs without permission; training on customer data is excluded. The exception also applies here for Fable 5.1: Google's model page specifies a retention of all prompts and responses for up to 30 days for abuse monitoring, and enablement requires agreement to the "Advanced AI Safety Addendum" in the Model Garden. Exactly this agreement was missing in our 403.

Contract. The contractual partner is Google Ireland Limited, and the DPA is the Cloud Data Processing Addendum. One point that AWS does not have: Google's Service Specific Terms bind the ML processing to the chosen region in addition to the storage. For Fable 5.1, the Safety Addendum is added as a further contract component.

Path 4: Microsoft Foundry

Microsoft Foundry is currently not an EU path for Claude. In early July 2026, Opus 4.8 and Haiku 4.5 reached general availability there, with Sonnet 5 following, each with Azure authentication, Azure billing, and Entra ID. The data situation is detailed in Microsoft's own comparison table from July 24, 2026: the seller is Anthropic, the data processor is Anthropic, and storage is governed by Anthropic's Data Processing Addendum and Commercial Terms. Microsoft provides the portal, the infrastructure, and the billing in "Claude Consumption Units". Anyone accustomed to Microsoft being the data processor from Azure OpenAI must adjust their thinking here.

There are two hosting options. "Hosted on Azure" processes prompts and responses on Azure infrastructure; data at rest is located in the chosen Azure geography, and processing is limited to the deployment types "Global Standard" and "Data Zone Standard (US)". Only usage metadata and content flagged by Anthropic's safety systems go to Anthropic. "Hosted on Anthropic" offers all models, including Fable, but only as "Global Standard", and data "might be processed outside of Azure including outside of your selected Azure region". An EU data zone does not exist in either option. Anthropic lists Foundry for Europe as "Coming 2026", without a date. A Foundry endpoint in Sweden Central does not change this: it runs as Global Standard.

Anyone who still sources Claude via Foundry because billing and governance should remain in the Azure account has the same legal starting point as with the Anthropic API: Anthropic Ireland as contracting partner, SCCs, and processing outside the EU. The US Data Zone costs 1.1 times as much, just like with the API.

Comparison Table: Four Paths, Five Criteria

The table summarizes the status as of September 7, 2026. "EU processing" means: inference and storage verifiably within the EU, proven by documentation or our own queries.

The Covered Models Rule Applies Everywhere

Anthropic has classified Mythos 5, Mythos 5.1, Fable 5, and Fable 5.1 as "Covered Models" since June 9, 2026: prompts and outputs are stored for 30 days, even under existing Zero Data Retention contracts. The rule is not a property of an access path, but of the model, and according to Anthropic's Privacy Center, it applies across all channels, including Bedrock, Vertex, and Foundry. What changes per path is only who stores the data:

• Anthropic API: Anthropic stores the data in the US.

• Bedrock: AWS stores the data within the AWS boundary, reviews flagged content itself, and does not pass anything on to Anthropic. The prerequisite is the aws_review mode. Since Fable is only routed globally, storage may be in a region outside the EU.

• Vertex: Google stores the data for 30 days; the prerequisite is agreement to the Advanced AI Safety Addendum. Via the EU multi-region endpoint, storage remains in Europe.

• Foundry: Anthropic's terms apply; Fable is only available in the "Hosted on Anthropic" variant.

In practice, this means: anyone who needs Claude without storage in the EU today should use Opus 5 or Sonnet 5 via Bedrock or Vertex. Anyone who needs Fable 5.1 must accept 30 days of storage with the respective cloud provider, or wait for the Enterprise Frontier Safeguards, with which the monitoring data is expected to remain in the customer's own cloud account starting in fall 2026. On Bedrock, eligible customers already receive ZDR until the end of the year.

How Much Does the EU Path Cost?

The list price is the same on all four paths, but the surcharge for data residency is not. For Sonnet 5, Anthropic quotes two US dollars per million input tokens and ten US dollars per million output tokens; the increase to three and fifteen dollars announced for September 1, 2026, was withdrawn according to the pricing page. Opus 5 costs five and 25 dollars, while Fable 5.1 costs ten and fifty dollars. Bedrock and Foundry adopt these rates, as does Vertex; Foundry bills in "Claude Consumption Units" at one cent per unit.

On top of this comes the surcharge for binding to a geography. On Bedrock and Vertex, regional and multi-region endpoints for all models from Sonnet 4.5 onwards cost ten percent more than the global endpoint. On the Anthropic API and on Foundry, the US binding costs ten percent more but does not provide EU processing. In other words, the EU path via a hyperscaler costs the same surcharge as the US path via Anthropic, except that you actually get EU processing for it. Also, expect the tokenizer effect: according to Anthropic, Claude 4.7 and newer generate around 30 percent more tokens for the same text than Sonnet 4.6 and older.

Decision Guide: Which Path for Which Case

1. You need EU processing and the largest model selection: Bedrock with eu. profiles. Nine current models, six EU regions, zero retention as standard, one AWS DPA.

2. You need Fable 5.1 with storage in the EU: Vertex via the EU multi-region endpoint, with agreement to the Safety Addendum. On Bedrock, Fable only runs globally.

3. You already have a Google Cloud project and want the ML processing contractually bound to the region: Vertex. Apply for quotas for individual regions beforehand; the multi-region endpoint does not require this.

4. You want all Anthropic features (Code Execution, Files, Skills) and can justify US processing: Anthropic API with Anthropic Ireland as contracting partner, SCCs, and a documented Transfer Impact Assessment. Bedrock and Vertex do not support the server-side tools.

5. You want to bill Claude in your Azure account: Foundry works, but is legally the Anthropic path. For EU processing, wait for the announced EU data zone.

The questions you should always ask the DPA can be found in the DPA Checklist for AI Tools. How OpenAI and Gemini behave in the same situation is described in the article Using OpenAI, Claude, and Gemini in Europe Without GDPR Risk.

How kontinent.ai Connects Claude

We route Claude exclusively via Amazon Bedrock with EU inference profiles, from Frankfurt with Ireland as a backup region. The catalog includes eight Claude models: Haiku 4.5, Sonnet 4.6, Sonnet 5, Opus 4.5, Opus 4.6, Opus 4.7, Opus 4.8, and Opus 5. We deliberately did not include Fable 5 and Fable 5.1 because only global profiles are available for them, meaning a request could leave the EU. We check whether AWS has created an eu. profile for Fable with every catalog check.

In our public provider ranking, Bedrock is rated "partial" on the Zero Data Retention criterion, precisely because of the 30-day rule for certain models. Anyone who sets the "only providers with Zero Data Retention" switch per API key will therefore only receive Claude via this key once we upgrade the classification following ZDR proof for the models we route. The training exclusion is contractually proven for Bedrock and is enforced per key. Which provider and region actually delivered a response is recorded in each log entry; we do not log prompts and responses. What else an LLM Gateway should deliver and how Kontinent differs from other EU alternatives to OpenRouter is described in the linked articles.

If you want to use Claude alongside GPT, Gemini, and European models via a single contract and an OpenAI-compatible API from within the EU, sign up for the waiting list.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Anthropic offer EU data residency for the Claude API?

No. The inference_geo parameter of the Anthropic API only knows "global" and "us", and the Workspace geo for data at rest can only be set to "us". EU processing is available for Claude exclusively via Amazon Bedrock with EU inference profiles and via Google Vertex AI with the EU multi-region endpoint. Although Anthropic Ireland Limited is the contracting partner for EEA customers, it does not process data in the EU.

Which Claude models run on Amazon Bedrock in the EU?

As of September 7, 2026, nine current models have an EU inference profile: Haiku 4.5, Sonnet 4.5, Sonnet 4.6, Sonnet 5, Opus 4.5, Opus 4.6, Opus 4.7, Opus 4.8, and Opus 5. The profiles route to six EU regions: Frankfurt, Ireland, Paris, Stockholm, Milan, and Spain. Fable 5 and Fable 5.1 only have a global profile and can be processed outside the EU.

Is Claude via Microsoft Foundry usable in a GDPR-compliant manner in the EU?

Currently only with a third-country transfer. Claude in Foundry is available as "Global Standard" or "US Data Zone Standard", with an EU data zone announced for 2026. The data processor is Anthropic, not Microsoft; storage is governed by Anthropic's DPA. Legally, the path corresponds to the Anthropic API, just with Azure billing and Entra ID login.

Does Bedrock store my prompts when I use Claude?

Not by default. According to AWS documentation, Bedrock does not store inputs and outputs and has no operator access. The exception is Fable 5 and Fable 5.1: for these, AWS stores all traffic for up to 30 days for abuse detection, reviews flagged content itself, and does not pass anything to Anthropic. For this, the data retention mode of the account must be set to aws_review.

What does Claude cost in the EU compared to the list price?

On Bedrock and Vertex, EU-bound endpoints for models from Sonnet 4.5 onwards cost ten percent more than the global endpoint. The list prices themselves are the same on all paths: Sonnet 5 is two and ten US dollars, Opus 5 is five and 25 US dollars, and Fable 5.1 is ten and fifty US dollars per million input or output tokens. The US binding on the Anthropic API also costs ten percent, without EU processing.

Does the 30-day retention for Fable 5.1 also apply on Bedrock and Vertex?

Yes. The Covered Models rule is bound to the model, not to the access path. On Bedrock, AWS stores data for 30 days within the AWS boundary; on Vertex, Google stores data for 30 days after agreement to the Advanced AI Safety Addendum; on the Anthropic API and Foundry, Anthropic stores the data. Only the Enterprise Frontier Safeguards are expected to change this starting in fall 2026; on Bedrock, eligible customers already receive ZDR until the end of 2026.

Can I run Claude via Vertex AI in a single EU region like Frankfurt?

Not for current models. Opus 5, Sonnet 5, and Fable 5.1 are only available as multi-region for Europe; the EU endpoint distributes requests to multiple EU regions. Individual regions such as europe-west1 are available for older models like Haiku 4.5, where they have fixed quotas that you must apply for. Google's Service Specific Terms bind the ML processing to the chosen geography.

Sources

• Anthropic Platform Documentation, "Data residency": inference_geo with "global" and "us", Workspace geo "us" only, 1.1x price

• Anthropic, Commercial Terms of Service: Anthropic Ireland Limited as contracting partner for EEA, Switzerland, and UK; DPA by reference

• Anthropic, "Regional Compliance": Europe via AWS Bedrock and GCP Vertex, Microsoft Foundry "Coming 2026"

• Anthropic Platform Documentation, "Pricing": list prices, 10% surcharge for regional endpoints on Bedrock and Google Cloud, CCU billing

• Anthropic Platform Documentation, "Claude Platform on AWS": operated by Anthropic, data "might not reside in AWS"

• AWS, "Amazon Bedrock abuse detection": no storage as standard, 30 days for Fable 5 and 5.1, ZDR for EFS customers until 12/31/2026

• AWS, "Data retention" (Amazon Bedrock): modes none, default, aws_review; storage in the target region

• AWS, "Supported Regions and models for inference profiles": geographical profiles with fixed target region list, global profiles to all commercial regions

• Anthropic Platform Documentation, "Claude on Google Cloud": global, multi-region, and regional endpoints, EU endpoint, 10% surcharge, data handling by Google

• Google Cloud, "Claude Opus 5", "Claude Sonnet 5", and "Claude Fable 5.1": Europe as multi-region, 30-day retention and Advanced AI Safety Addendum for Fable 5.1

• Microsoft Learn, "Compare hosting options for Claude models in Microsoft Foundry", July 24, 2026: Anthropic as seller and processor, Global Standard and US Data Zone

• Anthropic Platform Documentation, "Claude in Microsoft Foundry": hosting variants, model table, deployment types

• InfoQ, "Claude Reaches GA on Microsoft Foundry: European Enterprises Cannot Deploy It", July 2026

• Anthropic Privacy Center, "Data retention practices for Covered Models": 30-day rule since June 9, 2026, applies across all access paths

• Anthropic, "Developing Enterprise Frontier Safeguards with our customers", September 1, 2026

Status: September 7, 2026 · kontinent.ai. Information according to the linked provider documents and our own queries on the same day; no legal advice.