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Hetzner — Top Quartile on Our Pricing Chart
In our side-by-side comparison of 142 providers, Hetzner ranks in the top quartile for €/CPU and delivers 9.2/10 on our scoring model. Spec by spec, here's where the data places it.
Hetzner Score Breakdown
Pros & Cons
Advantages
Unbeatable price-to-performance
Hetzner consistently offers more CPU, RAM, and storage per dollar than almost any competitor, making it ideal for budget-conscious self-hosters who still need real power.
European data centers with GDPR compliance
Data centers in Germany and Finland provide excellent options for EU-based projects requiring strict data residency and privacy compliance.
NVMe storage on all plans
Every VPS plan includes fast NVMe SSD storage, delivering high I/O throughput without paying a premium.
Transparent hourly billing
Pay-as-you-go pricing with no hidden fees. Spin up a server for testing and pay only for the hours used.
Robust API and Terraform support
Full-featured API with official Terraform provider makes infrastructure-as-code workflows straightforward.
Clean control panel interface
The Hetzner Cloud Console is modern, fast, and uncluttered, making server management efficient even for newcomers.
20 TB included bandwidth
Generous bandwidth allocation included on all plans, far exceeding what most competitors offer at similar price points.
Dedicated vCPU options available
For workloads needing guaranteed CPU performance, dedicated vCPU plans offer consistent compute without noisy-neighbor issues.
Disadvantages
Limited US data center presence
Only one US location (Ashburn, VA) means higher latency for West Coast or central US users compared to providers with more American PoPs.
No managed database service
Unlike DigitalOcean or Linode, Hetzner does not offer managed PostgreSQL, MySQL, or Redis, so you must manage databases yourself.
Smaller marketplace ecosystem
The app marketplace is minimal compared to DigitalOcean or Vultr. Fewer one-click deploys for popular self-hosted tools.
Support can be slow on weekends
Ticket response times occasionally stretch beyond 24 hours on weekends or holidays. No 24/7 live chat available.
Account verification delays
New accounts sometimes require manual ID verification, which can take 1-3 business days before you can provision servers.
No built-in DDoS protection on basic plans
Basic DDoS mitigation is included, but advanced protection requires additional configuration or third-party tools.
Hetzner Pricing Plans
| Plan | CPU | RAM | Storage | Bandwidth | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CX22 | 2 vCPU | 4 GB | 40 GB NVMe | 20 TB | $4.15/mo | Get Started → |
| CX32 Best Value | 4 vCPU | 8 GB | 80 GB NVMe | 20 TB | $7.49/mo | Get Started → |
| CX42 | 8 vCPU | 16 GB | 160 GB NVMe | 20 TB | $14.49/mo | Get Started → |
| CX52 | 16 vCPU | 32 GB | 320 GB NVMe | 20 TB | $28.49/mo | Get Started → |
| Competitor comparison (similar specs): DigitalOcean: $24.00/mo Vultr: $12.00/mo Linode: $12.00/mo | ||||||
Hetzner vs Competitors: Feature Comparison
| Feature | Hetzner | DigitalOcean | Vultr |
|---|---|---|---|
| NVMe SSD Storage | Regular SSD on basic | On High Frequency plans | |
| Hourly Billing | |||
| Load Balancers | |||
| Managed Kubernetes | VKE | ||
| Managed Databases | Not available | Postgres, MySQL, Redis, MongoDB, Kafka, Valkey, OpenSearch | Deprecated |
| Object Storage | Spaces | ||
| Floating IPs | Reserved IPs | Reserved IPs | |
| Firewalls | |||
| Snapshots | |||
| Backups | 20% of server price | 20% of Droplet price | $1-$3/mo extra |
| Private Networking | VPC | VPC 2.0 | |
| IPv6 Support | |||
| API Access | |||
| Terraform Provider | |||
| One-Click Apps | Limited selection | 100+ images | |
| DDoS Protection | Basic included |
What Can You Self-Host on Hetzner?
Hetzner Support & Community
- Ticket System
- Community Forum
Where Hetzner Fits in Your Comparison
Compare Favorably For
- Teams optimizing for lowest CPU-core cost across our 142-provider chart
- Workloads anchored in Europe where Hetzner's Frankfurt and Helsinki nodes dominate latency benchmarks
- Infrastructure teams running Terraform; Hetzner's API and provider rank high in our automation scoring
- Regulated data; German hosting and GDPR-grade SLAs place it prominently in our EU-compliance quadrant
Chart Gaps to Note
- Managed databases rank lower here than DigitalOcean or Vultr—self-hosted DB workloads only
- US West coverage is thin (one node); our latency tests show 180+ ms from Pacific—factor that in
- Support channels are asynch-first; synchronous response scores are below market median
- DDoS mitigation defaults are basic; compare against Vultr or Netcup if that's critical
Frequently Asked Questions
How does Hetzner rank in your pricing chart?
Hetzner ranks in our top quartile on €/CPU across 142 providers. At $7.49/mo for a 4-vCPU node, it consistently outscores mid-market competitors on our scoring model (9.2/10 overall).
What is Hetzner's entry-level cost?
Entry starts at $4.15/mo (CX22: 2 vCPU, 4 GB RAM, 40 GB NVMe). Our chart shows this plan aligns with sub-$5 tier across most European alternatives.
Which regions does Hetzner cover in your comparison?
Hetzner operates nodes in Frankfurt, Nuremberg (Germany), Helsinki (Finland), and Ashburn (US). In our latency and uptime data, Frankfurt and Helsinki rank well for EU users; Ashburn is the sole US option.
How does Hetzner compare on our chart to DigitalOcean?
Our side-by-side data shows DigitalOcean at roughly 2.5x cost for equivalent specs. However, DigitalOcean's managed services score higher; Hetzner wins on raw price-per-CPU.
Does Hetzner support IaC in our scoring model?
Yes. Hetzner's Terraform provider and API rank high in our infrastructure-as-code metrics. Docker and managed Kubernetes (k3s) both earn marks in our deployment scoring.
Where does Hetzner sit on our EU-compliance data?
German jurisdiction, GDPR-native operations, and DPA availability place Hetzner in our top bracket for regulated data. Our chart flags this explicitly in the compliance column.
Can I pivot servers on Hetzner without penalty?
Hourly billing means no contract lock. Stop a server and billing halts immediately—our chart notes this in the "commitment" column, favorable vs. month-minimum competitors.