Hetzner Cloud vs DigitalOcean
Cheapest entry plan: DigitalOcean at $4.00/mo, versus Hetzner Cloud at $4.15/mo.
Quick verdict
| Hetzner Cloud | DigitalOcean | |
|---|---|---|
| Cheapest plan | $4.15/mo | $4.00/mo |
| Entry RAM | 4 GB | 0.5 GB |
| Entry bandwidth | 20 TB | 0.5 TB |
| Regions | 6 | 11 |
| Free credit | $22 | $200 |
| HQ | DE | US |
| Founded | 1997 | 2011 |
| Best for | Cost-sensitive workloads, EU GDPR projects, Self-managed Kubernetes | Solo developers, Indie SaaS, Managed database workloads |
Try Hetzner Cloud Try DigitalOcean
Hetzner Cloud plans
| Plan | vCPU | RAM | Storage | Bandwidth | Monthly | $/GB RAM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CAX11 (Arm) | 2 | 4 GB | 40 GB NVMe | 20 TB | $4.15 | $1.04 |
| CAX21 (Arm) | 4 | 8 GB | 80 GB NVMe | 20 TB | $7.59 | $0.95 |
| CX22 (Intel) | 2 | 4 GB | 40 GB NVMe | 20 TB | $4.59 | $1.15 |
| CPX11 (AMD) | 2 | 2 GB | 40 GB NVMe | 20 TB | $4.79 | $2.40 |
| CPX21 (AMD) | 3 | 4 GB | 80 GB NVMe | 20 TB | $8.46 | $2.12 |
| CPX31 (AMD) | 4 | 8 GB | 160 GB NVMe | 20 TB | $15.59 | $1.95 |
DigitalOcean plans
| Plan | vCPU | RAM | Storage | Bandwidth | Monthly | $/GB RAM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic 1vCPU 0.5GB | 1 | 0.5 GB | 10 GB SSD | 0.5 TB | $4.00 | $8.00 |
| Basic 1vCPU 1GB | 1 | 1 GB | 25 GB SSD | 1 TB | $6.00 | $6.00 |
| Basic 1vCPU 2GB | 1 | 2 GB | 50 GB SSD | 2 TB | $12.00 | $6.00 |
| Basic 2vCPU 2GB | 2 | 2 GB | 60 GB SSD | 3 TB | $18.00 | $9.00 |
| Basic 2vCPU 4GB | 2 | 4 GB | 80 GB SSD | 4 TB | $24.00 | $6.00 |
| Basic 4vCPU 8GB | 4 | 8 GB | 160 GB SSD | 5 TB | $48.00 | $6.00 |
Hetzner Cloud pros
- 20 TB monthly bandwidth on the smallest plan
- Cheapest €/GB RAM in the industry
- Arm64 (Ampere) plans up to 50% cheaper than x86
- EU data residency by default
DigitalOcean pros
- Best-in-class developer documentation and tutorials
- Predictable flat pricing across all global regions
- Mature managed services (DBaaS, K8s, App Platform)
- $200 free credit for new sign-ups
Hetzner Cloud cons
- Strict signup verification, sometimes rejects new users
- Asia-Pacific only via Singapore
- No managed databases or app platform
- Support response slower than US peers
DigitalOcean cons
- Slightly higher base prices than Vultr/Hetzner
- Premium NVMe plans cost more than regular Droplets
- No data center in mainland Japan (Singapore is closest in APAC)
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