OpenAI API Alternatives in Europe: Five Routes Compared

There are five realistic OpenAI API alternatives if your data has to be processed in Europe: OpenAI itself with EU data residency, Azure OpenAI in the EU Data Zone, Mistral through its EU endpoint, open models on European clouds, or an LLM gateway. GPT-6 is available in the EU from OpenAI at a 10% uplift and from Azure at 20%. If you are not tied to OpenAI's models, an open model like GPT-OSS 120B starts at €0.08 per million input tokens.

This comparison puts the five routes side by side: who runs them, where your data is processed, which models you get, what it costs and how much code you have to change. Prices come from the providers' own price lists, with the source linked in the text. Disclosure: Kontinent is one of the providers compared (route 5).

Key takeaways

• OpenAI with EU data residency: GPT-6 Astra, Sol and Luna processed in Europe, a 10% uplift, only after approval by OpenAI's sales team and with additional agreements.

• Azure OpenAI, EU Data Zone: self-service GPT-6 since September 22, 2026, but 20% above the Global price. For GPT-6 in the EU, Azure is about 9% more expensive than OpenAI direct.

• Mistral: EU processing only through api.eu.mistral.ai, at 1.1 times list price and with fewer features.

• Open models on EU clouds: list price with no EU uplift. Scaleway, OVHcloud and IONOS offer an OpenAI-compatible API.

• LLM gateways: OpenRouter and Kontinent both bill providers' list prices and charge a fee on credit top-ups: 5.5% or 8% at OpenRouter, 5% at Kontinent plus a 2% FX spread on US-dollar providers. OpenRouter only offers EU routing on its Business plan.

Table of contents

1. The five routes at a glance

2. OpenAI API pricing vs. the alternatives

3. Route 1: OpenAI with EU data residency

4. Route 2: Azure OpenAI in the EU Data Zone

5. Route 3: Mistral through its EU endpoint

6. Route 4: open models on EU clouds

7. Route 5: LLM gateway (OpenRouter or Kontinent)

8. What about Claude or Gemini?

9. Choosing a route

10. Switching in practice

11. Try Kontinent or work out your costs

12. Frequently asked questions

13. Sources

The five routes at a glance

¹ According to Microsoft, the EU Data Boundary can include EFTA countries such as Norway and Switzerland in addition to EU member states, and Microsoft may add regions without prior notice. OpenAI's "Europe" region also covers the EEA and Switzerland.

OpenAI, Microsoft, AWS, Google and OpenRouter are US companies and fall under the US CLOUD Act, even when they process in the EU. That also applies to the hyperscaler routes through which a gateway like Kontinent sources OpenAI, Claude and Gemini models. We discuss how much that matters in OpenAI, Claude and Gemini in Europe without GDPR risk.

OpenAI API pricing vs. the alternatives

GPT-6 in the EU: OpenAI or Azure

Both publish GPT-6 prices in US dollars: Standard processing, short context, input / output per million tokens (OpenAI, Microsoft).

Azure bills in euros at its own rates: GPT-6 Astra in the EU Data Zone costs €10.30 / €51.52 according to the Retail Prices API.

Other models processed in the EU

List prices in euros, input / output per million tokens. Mistral publishes in US dollars; converted with the EU uplift at the ECB reference rate.

These models are not equivalent, and the table says nothing about which one is good enough for your task. Only a test on your own data can tell you that. The range is wide, though: on output, GPT-5.6 Sol on Azure costs about 47 times as much as GPT-OSS 120B on OVHcloud.

What a month costs

Example with 100 million input and 20 million output tokens a month, at list prices with processing in the EU:

Switching from GPT-6 Sol to Mistral Large 3 cuts this example from €384 to €77 a month. Whether the quality holds is for your test to decide. Through a gateway, the top-up fee comes on top, 5% at Kontinent.

Route 1: OpenAI with EU data residency

OpenAI offers data residency as a per-project setting. Requests then go to eu.api.openai.com, and processing and storage stay in the "Europe" region, meaning the EEA and Switzerland. GPT-6 Astra, Sol and Luna are eligible; for Sol and Luna, EU data residency is only available with Standard processing.

You cannot just switch it on. According to OpenAI, its sales team checks eligibility, and you also need approval for abuse monitoring controls and a signed Modified Retention amendment. For models released on or after March 5, 2026, residency endpoints cost 10% more. For GPT-6 it is still the cheapest route in the EU.

Route 2: Azure OpenAI in the EU Data Zone

Azure offers the same OpenAI models with several deployment types, including Global and Data Zone. In the EU Data Zone, processing stays inside the EU Data Boundary. GPT-6 Astra, Sol and Luna have been available there on Standard deployment since September 22, 2026, in every EU Data Zone region according to Microsoft.

You pay for it: the EU Data Zone is 10% above Global for GPT-5.6 and 20% for GPT-6. GPT-5.6 Terra costs €1.89 per million input tokens in the EU Data Zone instead of €1.72. The advantage over OpenAI direct: Azure is self-service with an existing Azure account and contract.

Route 3: Mistral through its EU endpoint

Paris-based Mistral AI mainly offers its own models. For EU processing you need the regional endpoint api.eu.mistral.ai; the global endpoint api.mistral.ai makes no commitment on where requests are processed. The EU endpoint costs 1.1 times list price. Function calling is the only supported tool there, and Agents, Batch and the Files API are not available regionally.

Route 4: open models on EU clouds

European clouds run open models such as GPT-OSS, Qwen or Mistral Large as pay-per-token APIs. Scaleway, OVHcloud and IONOS document OpenAI-compatible APIs for this, and Berlin-based AKI also bills in euros per token. Switching is then essentially a new base URL.

The effort is in administration: one account, one contract, one invoice and one data processing agreement per provider. If you want several models, or failover to another provider during an outage, you build routing and failover yourself.

Route 5: LLM gateway (OpenRouter or Kontinent)

An LLM gateway puts many providers behind one API key and one invoice. OpenRouter and Kontinent both bill at providers' list prices and earn a fee when you top up credit. They differ mainly in where your data goes:

OpenRouter has the larger model selection; Kontinent processes only in the EU on every plan. Kontinent's catalog does not currently include GPT-6. We compare the two in more detail in OpenRouter alternative from the EU.

What about Claude or Gemini?

The other two major model families are OpenAI alternatives too, and both run in hyperscaler EU regions. We compare the routes to Claude in Claude in the EU: four routes compared.

Choosing a route

• You need GPT-6 and can wait for approval: OpenAI with EU data residency, the cheapest route to GPT-6 in the EU.

• You need GPT-6 right away or are already on Azure: Azure OpenAI in the EU Data Zone.

• You want a model from a European vendor: Mistral through its EU endpoint.

• You want the lowest price and can use open models: an EU cloud.

• You want several models, failover and one invoice: an LLM gateway. Check where the operator is based and on which plan processing stays in the EU.

Switching in practice

With OpenAI-compatible providers, your code stays largely the same. You swap the base URL, the API key and the model name. With the official OpenAI SDK, it looks like this for Kontinent:

from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI(
    base_url="https://api.kontinent.ai/v1",
    api_key="sk-kt-...",
)

response = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="MODEL_ID_FROM_THE_CATALOG",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Hello"}],
)

from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI(
    base_url="https://api.kontinent.ai/v1",
    api_key="sk-kt-...",
)

response = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="MODEL_ID_FROM_THE_CATALOG",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Hello"}],
)

from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI(
    base_url="https://api.kontinent.ai/v1",
    api_key="sk-kt-...",
)

response = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="MODEL_ID_FROM_THE_CATALOG",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Hello"}],
)

OpenAI-compatible usually refers to the Chat Completions API. Before switching, check whether tool calling, structured outputs and streaming are supported by the target model, whether quality holds up on your own examples, and which retention rules apply. We collected the retention details in Zero data retention at OpenAI, Anthropic and Google.

Try Kontinent or work out your costs

The Kontinent LLM gateway gives you one OpenAI-compatible key for models from many providers, all processed in the EU. You switch models with a parameter, for example from GPT-5.6 Terra to Mistral Large 3, and see the difference on your bill. Register and test: Create API key. Prefer to talk through your case first: Book a demo.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best OpenAI API alternative in Europe?

It depends on whether you need OpenAI's models. If you do, the options are OpenAI with EU data residency or Azure OpenAI in the EU Data Zone. If you don't, Mistral and open models on EU clouds range from far cheaper to far more expensive than GPT-6 Luna, and a test on your own data decides. A gateway combines several routes behind one API key.

Can I use GPT-6 in the EU?

Yes. OpenAI offers GPT-6 Astra, Sol and Luna with EU data residency, at a 10% uplift and after approval by its sales team. Azure has listed GPT-6 in its EU Data Zone since September 22, 2026, self-service at a 20% uplift over Global.

What is the best Azure OpenAI alternative?

If you want the same models, OpenAI direct: with EU data residency, GPT-6 costs about 9% less there than in Azure's EU Data Zone, though it is not self-service. If you can change models, Mistral, open models on EU clouds and an EU gateway offer cheaper options.

Is Azure OpenAI GDPR compliant?

Azure's EU Data Zone keeps processing inside the EU Data Boundary, and Microsoft offers a data processing agreement. Microsoft is a US company, though, and subject to the US CLOUD Act, as is OpenAI. Whether that is enough depends on your data.

Which providers are OpenAI-compatible?

Scaleway, OVHcloud and IONOS document OpenAI-compatible APIs, as do the gateways OpenRouter and Kontinent. Switching then mostly means a new base URL, a new key and a new model name.

How much does Kontinent cost?

Model prices match the providers' list prices. When you top up credit, 5% is added, and for providers that price in US dollars a 2% FX spread is included in the price.

Do I need to rewrite my code to switch?

Usually not with OpenAI-compatible providers. Check whether features like tool calling or structured outputs are supported by the target model, and test quality on your own examples.

Sources

• OpenAI: API Pricing

• OpenAI: Your data (Data residency)

• Microsoft: GPT-6 Astra, Sol, and Luna in Microsoft Foundry (22. 9. 2026)

• Microsoft: Deployment types

• Microsoft: Region availability

• Microsoft: Azure Retail Prices API

• Mistral: Regional inference

• Mistral: Pricing

• OpenRouter: Pricing

• OpenRouter: Terms

• Scaleway: Generative APIs

• OVHcloud: AI Endpoints catalog

• IONOS: AI Model Hub

• AKI.IO

• Kontinent: How pricing works

• Kontinent: Model catalog

• EZB / ECB: Euro reference rates

As of September 23, 2026 · prices from the providers' own price sources, ECB reference rate of September 22, 2026 (€1 = $1.1463) · kontinent.ai · Not legal advice.