DigitalOcean vs Hetzner
Hetzner starts $1.40 per month cheaper at the entry tier. DigitalOcean lists more regions, which matters if latency to a specific city is your constraint. DigitalOcean is the better answer when developers who want a real server with predictable billing and no surprise egress invoice.
DigitalOcean
$6.00/mo entry
Developers who want a real server with predictable billing and no surprise egress invoice.
Hetzner
$4.60/mo entry
Cost-driven workloads with European users, or anyone who can live on IPv6 plus a single IPv4.
Specification differences
Entry-tier plans compared line by line. Rows marked with a dash are preferences rather than measurable wins, so we do not pick a side on them.
| Attribute | DigitalOcean | Hetzner | Better |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry plan price / month | $6.00 | $4.60 | Hetzner |
| Entry plan vCPU | 1 | 2 | Hetzner |
| Entry plan RAM | 1 GB | 4 GB | Hetzner |
| Entry plan storage | 25 GB | 40 GB | Hetzner |
| Included transfer | 1 TB | 20 TB | Hetzner |
| Listed regions | 15 | 6 | DigitalOcean |
| Management model | Unmanaged (you run the OS) | Unmanaged (you run the OS) | |
| Support | Ticket support on all plans; paid support tiers for faster response. | Ticket support; no phone support on cloud plans. | |
| Billing | Hourly metering, capped at the listed monthly price. | Hourly metering in EUR, capped at the listed monthly price. | |
| Free tier | No permanent free tier. Trial credit is offered to new accounts from time to time. | No free tier. |
Every plan from both providers
Sorted by monthly price so you can see where the two ladders overlap.
Hetzner
CX22
$4.60
per month
- Specification
- 2 vCPU / 4 GB RAM
- Storage
- 40 GB NVMe
- Included transfer
- 20 TB
- Cost per vCPU
- $2.30
- Cost per GB RAM
- $1.15
- Annual
- $55
Not paidPricing pageHetzner
CPX11
$5.20
per month
- Specification
- 2 vCPU / 2 GB RAM
- Storage
- 40 GB NVMe
- Included transfer
- 20 TB
- Cost per vCPU
- $2.60
- Cost per GB RAM
- $2.60
- Annual
- $62
Not paidPricing pageDigitalOcean
Basic 1GB
$6.00
per month
- Specification
- 1 vCPU / 1 GB RAM
- Storage
- 25 GB SSD
- Included transfer
- 1 TB
- Cost per vCPU
- $6
- Cost per GB RAM
- $6
- Annual
- $72
AffiliatePricing pageHetzner
CX32
$7.60
per month
- Specification
- 4 vCPU / 8 GB RAM
- Storage
- 80 GB NVMe
- Included transfer
- 20 TB
- Cost per vCPU
- $1.90
- Cost per GB RAM
- $0.95
- Annual
- $91
Not paidPricing pageDigitalOcean
Basic 2GB
$12.00
per month
- Specification
- 1 vCPU / 2 GB RAM
- Storage
- 50 GB SSD
- Included transfer
- 2 TB
- Cost per vCPU
- $12
- Cost per GB RAM
- $6
- Annual
- $144
AffiliatePricing pageHetzner
CPX31
$15.60
per month
- Specification
- 4 vCPU / 8 GB RAM
- Storage
- 160 GB NVMe
- Included transfer
- 20 TB
- Cost per vCPU
- $3.90
- Cost per GB RAM
- $1.95
- Annual
- $187
Not paidPricing pageDigitalOcean
Basic 2GB / 2 vCPU
$18.00
per month
- Specification
- 2 vCPU / 2 GB RAM
- Storage
- 60 GB SSD
- Included transfer
- 3 TB
- Cost per vCPU
- $9
- Cost per GB RAM
- $9
- Annual
- $216
AffiliatePricing pageDigitalOcean
Basic 4GB
$24.00
per month
- Specification
- 2 vCPU / 4 GB RAM
- Storage
- 80 GB SSD
- Included transfer
- 4 TB
- Cost per vCPU
- $12
- Cost per GB RAM
- $6
- Annual
- $288
AffiliatePricing pageDigitalOcean
Basic 8GB
$48.00
per month
- Specification
- 4 vCPU / 8 GB RAM
- Storage
- 160 GB SSD
- Included transfer
- 5 TB
- Cost per vCPU
- $12
- Cost per GB RAM
- $6
- Annual
- $576
AffiliatePricing page
| Provider & plan | Monthly | vCPU | RAM | Storage | Transfer | / vCPU | / GB RAM | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hetzner CX22Not paid | $4.60 | 2 | 4 GB | 40 GB | 20 TB | $2.30 | $1.15 | Open |
Hetzner CPX11Not paid | $5.20 | 2 | 2 GB | 40 GB | 20 TB | $2.60 | $2.60 | Open |
DigitalOcean Basic 1GBAffiliate | $6.00 | 1 | 1 GB | 25 GB | 1 TB | $6 | $6 | Open |
Hetzner CX32Not paid | $7.60 | 4 | 8 GB | 80 GB | 20 TB | $1.90 | $0.95 | Open |
DigitalOcean Basic 2GBAffiliate | $12.00 | 1 | 2 GB | 50 GB | 2 TB | $12 | $6 | Open |
Hetzner CPX31Not paid | $15.60 | 4 | 8 GB | 160 GB | 20 TB | $3.90 | $1.95 | Open |
DigitalOcean Basic 2GB / 2 vCPUAffiliate | $18.00 | 2 | 2 GB | 60 GB | 3 TB | $9 | $9 | Open |
DigitalOcean Basic 4GBAffiliate | $24.00 | 2 | 4 GB | 80 GB | 4 TB | $12 | $6 | Open |
DigitalOcean Basic 8GBAffiliate | $48.00 | 4 | 8 GB | 160 GB | 5 TB | $12 | $6 | Open |
All figures are the providers' own published list prices in USD, on-demand monthly, recorded on 2026-08-30. Nothing here is live or negotiated pricing. Hetzner publishes in euros, so its dollar figure moves with the exchange rate. Check the provider's pricing page before you commit.
Related comparisons
Some links on this page are affiliate links, marked Affiliate, and we may earn a commission if you sign up through them. Hetzner and Akamai Cloud pay us nothing and are included anyway, because a comparison that hides the cheapest option is worthless. Commission never affects the ordering: every table on this site is sorted by the figures you choose.