Sovereignty
What the EU Data Act means for your Laravel hosting
The EU Data Act gives cloud customers a right to switch: limited notice, a 30-day transition and, from 2027, no switching charges. What it means for Laravel.
In this post
The EU Data Act is mostly known for its rules on data from connected products. It also has a chapter that matters to anyone who hosts a Laravel application: the right to switch to another cloud provider, or to your own servers, without being held back by the provider you are leaving.
This post explains what those rules say, when they apply, and what they change, and do not change, about how hard it is to move a Laravel app. It is a summary for orientation, not legal advice.
What does the EU Data Act say about switching cloud providers?
The EU Data Act (Regulation (EU) 2023/2854) gives customers of data processing services, which covers cloud hosting, a right to switch provider. The provider has to remove obstacles to switching, support the switch within fixed periods, make the customer's data exportable and, from 2027, stop charging for the switch. These rules are in Chapter VI and apply since 12 September 2025.
The periods
The Data Act puts fixed limits on how long a switch may take:
| Step | At most or at least |
|---|---|
| Notice before the switch starts | At most two months |
| Transition, in which the provider supports the switch | Up to 30 days |
| Retrieving your data after that | At least 30 days |
When 30 days is technically not feasible, the provider has to say so within 14 working days, give its reasons and propose a longer period of at most seven months. The customer can also extend the transition once, when it needs more time itself.
Switching charges
Money is the other half. The rules on charges come in two steps:
| Period | What a provider may charge for a switch |
|---|---|
| Until 12 January 2027 | At most its own direct costs of the switch |
| From 12 January 2027 | Nothing, data egress for the switch included |
Normal service fees for the time you still use the service, and early termination fees that your contract already had, are not switching charges. Egress for running on two providers side by side may still be charged at cost.
Note
The European Commission and national regulators have published guidance on these rules. Read your provider's terms with the dates above in mind: a contract may give you more than the Data Act, but not less.
Exportable data
The provider has to let you take your data and digital assets with you, in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format, and has to describe beforehand what can be exported. For hosting, that is your database, your files and the configuration that describes your setup.
What the Data Act does not change
The Data Act makes switching possible. It does not make it small. How much work a switch is still depends on where your app lives:
| If your hosting platform... | A switch means... |
|---|---|
| Runs your app in its own cloud account | Moving containers, database, files, DNS and secrets to a new account |
| Bills you for the cloud | Opening a new cloud contract and moving the bill |
| Keeps the configuration in its own database | Rebuilding the setup from what you can export |
| Deploys into your own cloud account | Replacing the deploy tool, while the app stays where it is |
The fixed periods and the end of switching charges help in the first three rows. They do not remove the work. Only the last row avoids most of it, because nothing has to move.
How this works with Brewless
Brewless deploys your Laravel app into your own Scaleway project and bunny.net account. The containers, the database, the files, the queues, the registry, the DNS and the secrets are created there, and Scaleway and bunny.net bill you directly. Your data never lives at Brewless, so there is nothing to retrieve from us.
Leaving Brewless is two commands:
brewless export production
brewless detach production
The export holds a main.tf that imports every resource as it is, so terraform plan takes your setup over and wants to change nothing. Detaching stops what Brewless does, deploys, rollbacks, scaling and drift checks, and touches nothing at your providers. Your app keeps serving.
What our terms already say about leaving:
- No exit or switching fee. Exporting and detaching are free on every plan.
- Stop at the end of any period. The agreement ends at the end of the period you paid for, with no other notice.
- Ending never touches your accounts. What runs there stays running.
The details are on Leaving Brewless and in the documentation under Leaving Brewless.
Summary
- The Data Act's switching rules apply since 12 September 2025, for cloud hosting too.
- A switch can start with at most two months' notice, then a transition of up to 30 days, then at least 30 days to retrieve data.
- Switching charges are limited to cost until 12 January 2027 and not allowed after that, egress for the switch included.
- The Data Act lowers the barriers; whose accounts your app runs in decides how much work remains.
- With Brewless your app already runs in your own accounts: leaving is an export and a detach.
Sources: Regulation (EU) 2023/2854 on EUR-Lex, Articles 23 to 31 and 34. For what lock-in means beyond the law, read Laravel hosting without lock-in.
Frequently asked questions
When do the switching rules of the EU Data Act apply?
The Data Act applies since 12 September 2025, its switching rules included. The ban on switching charges follows on 12 January 2027; until then a provider may charge at most its own direct costs of a switch.
How long may a cloud provider make me wait before I can switch?
The notice period can be at most two months. After it comes a transition of up to 30 days in which the provider supports the switch, and then at least 30 days in which you can still retrieve your data.
Does the Data Act forbid egress fees?
For switching, yes, from 12 January 2027. Data egress charged for the switch counts as a switching charge. Egress for using two providers side by side may still be charged at cost.
Is this legal advice?
No. This post is a summary for orientation. The text of Regulation (EU) 2023/2854 in the Official Journal is what counts, and your own contracts may say more.
What does leaving Brewless involve?
Export the environment, which gives you Terraform that imports every resource as it is, and detach it. Your containers, database, domains and secrets keep running in your own accounts. Brewless charges nothing for leaving.