Cloud servers (VPS) · Comparison
Amazon Lightsail vs Hetzner Cloud
2 products compared side by side: what you pay for with each one first, then the five access facts, entry prices, recorded plan limits and the bottom line of each review. The evidence note under the table says how each product was checked.
Side by side
| Metric | Amazon Lightsail | Hetzner Cloud |
|---|---|---|
| What you're paying for | Easy to adoptA fixed-price AWS server: 2 vCPUs, 4 GB, 80 GB SSD, 4 TB of transfer and an IPv4 address for $24 a month, with a path to Amazon EC2. | Worth the priceEU servers with 20 TB of transfer, overage at $1.20 per TB and a DPA accepted in the account, from a German provider with ISO 27001 and BSI C5. |
| Overall score | 5.6Best | 4.7 |
| Free option | Free trial | Paid only |
| Card to start | –Not measured | –Not measured |
| Getting access | Self-serve | Self-serve |
| Starter priceCheapest paid plan | $3.50/mo | $7.49/mo |
| Pricing model | Usage-based | Usage-based |
| Pricing page | Public prices | Public prices |
| Reference server | Linux General Purpose: 2 vCPU (burstable), 4 GB, 80 GB SSD, 4 TB transfer, $24/mo with IPv4 | US CPX21: 3 vCPU (shared), 4 GB, 80 GB NVMe, 2 TB transfer, $37.49/mo plus $0.60 IPv4 |
| Reference scenario (US, monthly) | $28: $24 plan + $4 for one 80 GB snapshot, computed | $45.59: $37.49 plan + $0.60 IPv4 + $7.50 backups (20%), computed |
| Billing | Hourly up to the monthly bundle price | Hourly, rounded up, capped at the monthly price |
| Transfer overage | $0.09/GB in US regions; inbound counts toward the allowance; pooled per plan and region | $1.20/TB in the EU and US ($8.30 in Singapore); inbound free |
| Public IPv4 | Included in IPv4 bundles; IPv6-only bundles $1.50 to $4 less | $0.60/mo per primary IPv4; IPv6 free |
| Backups | Automatic daily snapshots, latest 7 kept, billed as snapshot storage (Linux only) | 20% of the server price; 7 daily slots |
| Snapshots | $0.05/GB-month, incremental | $0.0199/GB-month of compressed size |
| Free credit | $100 in AWS credits, up to $100 more, Free plan up to 6 months | None |
| Dedicated vCPU from | Not offered (burstable plans) | $50.49/mo EU, $50.99 US (CCX13, 2 vCPU, 8 GB) |
| Image export | Snapshot export to Amazon EC2 only; no download or import | Snapshot download not described; custom ISOs added by support from a link |
| SOC 2 / ISO 27001 | Lightsail not listed in AWS SOC or ISO scope | No SOC 2; ISO 27001:2022 (German and Finnish sites) and BSI C5 Type 2 |
| HIPAA BAA | Lightsail not on the HIPAA eligible services list | Not stated |
| EU regions | Frankfurt, Ireland, Paris, Stockholm, Spain (opt-in) | Falkenstein, Nuremberg, Helsinki |
| Spend cap | AWS Budgets alerts; project spend limits that pause resources only in AWS's new sign-up experience, which is in limited release | Cost alerts only |
| Bottom line | From its public pages, Lightsail is a simple way to a fixed-price AWS server, with snapshots billed by storage and an export path to EC2. It is not on AWS's compliance scope lists, and transfer beyond the allowance costs $0.09 per GB. | From its public pages, Hetzner Cloud is strongest in Europe: 20 TB of transfer, $1.20 per extra TB and a DPA in the account. In the US the reference server costs the most of the five we compare, and SOC 2, HIPAA and SSO are not described. |
Evidence: Amazon Lightsail: facts checked 2026-10-16 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; Hetzner Cloud: facts checked 2026-10-16 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run. Prices in USD as listed, excluding tax. "–" means not recorded.
Entry price
Baseline: each product's cheapest paid plan, per month. Included usage differs, so read the line under each price.
- Amazon LightsailLowest priceLinux 512 MB (IPv6 only)$3.50/mo$0.0047/hour; no public IPv4
- 2 burstable vCPUs, 512 MB, 20 GB SSD
- 1 TB of transfer
- Hetzner CloudCPX02 (EU)$7.49/mo$0.0120/hour; plus $0.60/mo for a primary IPv4
- 1 shared AMD vCPU, 1 GB, 20 GB NVMe
- 20 TB of transfer
- Falkenstein, Nuremberg, Helsinki
Prices as listed on each pricing page, in USD per month, excluding tax. Observed: Amazon Lightsail 2026-10-16, Hetzner Cloud 2026-10-16.
Which one fits
- If you need to start today without a sales call
- Amazon LightsailSelf-serve sign-up; the highest score of the 2 self-serve products here (5.6/10).
- Lowest starter price
- Amazon Lightsail$3.50/mo for the Linux 512 MB (IPv6 only) plan.
- Highest overall score
- Amazon Lightsail5.6/10 (Fair). The review shows the score breakdown and the run behind it.
Picked by fixed rules from the table above, not by hand. How we score
Full reviews
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