Pick Hetzner Cloud if
Your users are in Europe and you want the lowest bill
Hetzner's smaller servers cost a fraction of DigitalOcean's per GB of RAM, and European plans include 20 TB of traffic.
Provider comparison
Hetzner vs DigitalOcean
For 4 GB of RAM, Hetzner Cloud's cheapest listed server is CX23 at €5.99 a month with 20 TB of traffic. DigitalOcean's Basic Regular Droplet · 2 vCPU / 4 GiB costs $24.00 with 4 TB. Hetzner is far cheaper per GB of RAM and includes much more traffic in Europe. DigitalOcean offers more regions and managed services.
- Cheapest 4 GB
- €5.99 vs $24.00
- Traffic at 4 GB
- 20 TB vs 4 TB
- Regions
- 6 vs 9
- Order today
- Yes vs Yes
Matched plans
Price for the same server size
Each group pairs Hetzner Cloud and DigitalOcean plans with the same memory. Prices stay in the currency each provider bills in, so they match your invoice.
| Plan | vCPU | RAM | Disk | Traffic incl. | Price / mo | Per GB RAM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 GB | ||||||
| Hetzner Cloud CPX12 (Germany and Finland)Shared AMD vCPU | 1 | 2 GB | 40 GB NVMe | 20 TB | €9.99 | €5.00 |
| Hetzner Cloud CPX11 (US locations)Shared AMD vCPU | 2 | 2 GB | 40 GB NVMe | 1 TB | $21.09 | $10.55 |
| Basic Droplet · 1 vCPU / 2 GB (Intel)Shared vCPU (Intel Xeon) | 1 | 2 GB | 50 GB | 2 TB | $12.00 | $6.00 |
| 4 GB | ||||||
| Hetzner Cloud CX23 (Nuremberg and Helsinki)Shared Intel/AMD vCPU · unavailable | 2 | 4 GB | 40 GB NVMe | 20 TB | €5.99 | €1.50 |
| Hetzner Cloud CAX11 (Germany and Finland)Shared Ampere ARM vCPU · unavailable | 2 | 4 GB | 40 GB NVMe | 20 TB | €6.49 | €1.62 |
| Hetzner Cloud CPX22 (Germany and Finland)Shared AMD vCPU | 2 | 4 GB | 80 GB NVMe | 20 TB | €16.99 | €4.25 |
| Basic Regular Droplet · 2 vCPU / 4 GiBShared CPU | 2 | 4 GB | 80 GB | 4 TB | $24.00 | $6.00 |
| 8 GB | ||||||
| Hetzner Cloud CX33 (Nuremberg and Helsinki)Shared Intel/AMD vCPU · unavailable | 4 | 8 GB | 80 GB NVMe | 20 TB | €8.99 | €1.12 |
| Hetzner Cloud CAX21 (Germany and Finland)Shared Ampere ARM vCPU · unavailable | 4 | 8 GB | 80 GB NVMe | 20 TB | €10.99 | €1.37 |
| Hetzner Cloud CPX32 (Germany and Finland)Shared AMD vCPU | 4 | 8 GB | 160 GB NVMe | 20 TB | €30.49 | €3.81 |
| Basic Regular Droplet · 4 vCPU / 8 GiBShared CPU | 4 | 8 GB | 160 GB | 5 TB | $48.00 | $6.00 |
| 16 GB | ||||||
| Hetzner Cloud CX43 (Nuremberg and Helsinki)Shared Intel/AMD vCPU · unavailable | 8 | 16 GB | 160 GB NVMe | 20 TB | €16.49 | €1.03 |
| Hetzner Cloud CAX31 (Germany and Finland)Shared Ampere ARM vCPU · unavailable | 8 | 16 GB | 160 GB NVMe | 20 TB | €21.49 | €1.34 |
| Hetzner Cloud CPX42 (Germany and Finland)Shared AMD vCPU | 8 | 16 GB | 320 GB NVMe | 20 TB | €59.49 | €3.72 |
| Dedicated vCPU | ||||||
| Hetzner Cloud CCX13 (Germany and Finland)Dedicated AMD vCPU | 2 | 8 GB | 80 GB | 20 TB | €36.99 | €4.62 |
| Hetzner Cloud CCX23 (Germany and Finland)Dedicated AMD vCPU | 4 | 16 GB | 160 GB | 20 TB | €73.49 | €4.59 |
| CPU-Optimized Regular Droplet · 2 vCPU / 4 GiBDedicated CPU | 2 | 4 GB | 25 GB | 4 TB | $42.00 | $10.50 |
| General Purpose Droplet · 2 Dedicated vCPU / 8 GBDedicated vCPU (100% allocation) | 2 | 8 GB | 25 GB | 4 TB | $63.00 | $7.88 |
Standard list prices before tax. Hourly-billed plans are shown at the provider's monthly cap where it has one.
Buying advice
Which one to pick
Pick Hetzner Cloud if
You move a lot of data
Hetzner's European traffic allowance covers media, backups and downloads that would exceed DigitalOcean's included transfer.
Pick DigitalOcean if
You need to deploy now
When Hetzner marks its plans unavailable, DigitalOcean Droplets can still be created right away.
Pick DigitalOcean if
Your users are in Asia, Australia or across North America
DigitalOcean has nine regions, including Toronto, Bangalore and Sydney. Hetzner's US servers cost more and include less traffic than its European ones.
Pick DigitalOcean if
You want managed services
DigitalOcean offers managed databases, Kubernetes and App Platform next to its servers. Hetzner Cloud servers are unmanaged.
Either works
For a small app or n8n
Both sell 2 vCPU / 4 GB servers that meet n8n's starting size. Choose on region, price and whether you can order today.
Real monthly cost
A 4 GB server with backups
The list price is not the whole bill. This is the cheapest 4 GB server from each provider, with automatic backups where the provider prices them as a share of the server cost, before VAT.
- Hetzner Cloud CX23 (Nuremberg and Helsinki)
- Server
- €5.99
- Backups (+20%)
- €1.20
- Traffic (20 TB included)
- €0.00
- Total
- €7.19
- Basic Regular Droplet · 2 vCPU / 4 GiB
- Server
- $24.00
- Backups (+20%)
- $4.80
- Traffic (4 TB included)
- $0.00
- Total
- $28.80
Run your own numbers, including storage and extra traffic, in the hosting cost calculator.
Side by side
How the two providers differ
| Feature | Hetzner Cloud | DigitalOcean |
|---|---|---|
| Data centers | Nuremberg, Falkenstein, Helsinki, Ashburn, Hillsboro, Singapore | New York, San Francisco, Toronto, Amsterdam, London, Frankfurt, Bangalore, Singapore, Sydney |
| CPU options | Shared x86, shared ARM (Ampere), dedicated AMD | Shared, dedicated (General Purpose, CPU-, Memory-, Storage-Optimized), GPU |
| Billing | Hourly with a monthly cap, in EUR. EU customers pay VAT. | Hourly with a monthly cap, in USD |
| Managed services | No managed databases or app platform. Load balancers, volumes and private networks. | Managed databases, Kubernetes, App Platform, load balancers, volumes |
| Support | Email tickets during European business hours | Free tickets; paid plans add response-time targets |
| Sign-up | Strict fraud checks; ID verification is often required | Card or PayPal; standard checks |
Questions
Hetzner vs DigitalOcean FAQ
Is Hetzner cheaper than DigitalOcean?
Yes, in Europe. The cheapest 4 GB server is Hetzner Cloud CX23 (Nuremberg and Helsinki) at €5.99 a month, against Basic Regular Droplet · 2 vCPU / 4 GiB at $24.00. Hetzner's US servers cost more than its European ones, so compare the region you need.
Can I buy a Hetzner Cloud server right now?
Hetzner Cloud plans can be ordered now.
Which is better for hosting n8n?
Both work. n8n's Docker Compose setup uses 2 vCPU and 4 GB of RAM, which Hetzner Cloud CX23 (Nuremberg and Helsinki) (€5.99) and Basic Regular Droplet · 2 vCPU / 4 GiB ($24.00) both meet. Hetzner costs less if you can order; DigitalOcean is available in more regions.
Does DigitalOcean charge for bandwidth?
Each Droplet includes outbound transfer (4 TB on the 4 GB plan), pooled across your account. Extra outbound traffic costs $0.01 per GB. Inbound traffic is free.
Is Hetzner reliable enough for production?
Hetzner runs its own data centers and is widely used for production. Its cloud servers are unmanaged and support is by email during European business hours, so plan your own monitoring, backups and on-call cover.
Method
How we compared
We matched plans by memory and CPU type and used each provider's standard list price, with no promotions or prepaid terms. We don't benchmark for this page, so treat vCPU counts as an allocation, not a performance score. Read the full method.
Prices and availability change. Confirm current terms with the provider before you buy. See our affiliate disclosure.