Cloud servers (VPS) · Comparison
DigitalOcean Droplets 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 | DigitalOcean Droplets | Hetzner Cloud |
|---|---|---|
| What you're paying for | Worth the priceA 2 vCPU, 4 GiB server with 4,000 GiB of pooled transfer and a public IPv4 address for $24 a month, billed per second and capped at 672 hours. | 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 | 6.6Best | 4.7 |
| Free option | Free trial | Paid only |
| Card to start | Card required | –Not measured |
| Getting access | Self-serve | Self-serve |
| Starter priceCheapest paid plan | $4/mo | $7.49/mo |
| Pricing model | Usage-based | Usage-based |
| Pricing page | Public prices | Public prices |
| Reference server | Basic Regular: 2 vCPU (shared), 4 GiB, 80 GiB SSD, 4,000 GiB transfer, $24/mo | US CPX21: 3 vCPU (shared), 4 GB, 80 GB NVMe, 2 TB transfer, $37.49/mo plus $0.60 IPv4 |
| Reference scenario (US, monthly) | $28.80: $24 plan + $4.80 weekly backups, computed | $45.59: $37.49 plan + $0.60 IPv4 + $7.50 backups (20%), computed |
| Billing | Per second, 60-second minimum, capped at 672 hours a month | Hourly, rounded up, capped at the monthly price |
| Transfer overage | $0.01/GiB in every region; pooled across the team; inbound free | $1.20/TB in the EU and US ($8.30 in Singapore); inbound free |
| Public IPv4 | Included on bundled plans; reserved IPv4 $5/mo when unassigned | $0.60/mo per primary IPv4; IPv6 free |
| Backups | Weekly 20% or daily 30% of the Droplet price; usage-based from $0.01/GiB | 20% of the server price; 7 daily slots |
| Snapshots | $0.06/GB-month | $0.0199/GB-month of compressed size |
| Free credit | $5 for 90 days, payment method required | None |
| Dedicated vCPU from | $42/mo (CPU-Optimized, 2 vCPU, 4 GiB, 25 GiB) | $50.49/mo EU, $50.99 US (CCX13, 2 vCPU, 8 GB) |
| Image export | No snapshot download; custom image import (raw, qcow2, VHDX, VDI, VMDK) | Snapshot download not described; custom ISOs added by support from a link |
| SOC 2 / ISO 27001 | SOC 2 Type II; own ISO 27001 not stated | No SOC 2; ISO 27001:2022 (German and Finnish sites) and BSI C5 Type 2 |
| HIPAA BAA | Through sales or support | Not stated |
| EU regions | Amsterdam, Frankfurt (London in the UK) | Falkenstein, Nuremberg, Helsinki |
| Spend cap | Spend alerts only | Cost alerts only |
| Bottom line | From its public pages, DigitalOcean is a predictable choice for small servers: IPv4 included, a monthly cap, pooled transfer at $0.01 per GiB and backups at a flat share of the price. Images cannot be downloaded, and new accounts start with limits. | 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: DigitalOcean Droplets: 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.
When to pick each
In the words of each review, with the date its facts were checked.
From our Hetzner Cloud review
Checked Oct 16, 2026- Pick Hetzner Cloud when
- Your servers are in the EU, where 20 TB of transfer is included, and you want overage at $1.20 per TB.
- Pick DigitalOcean Droplets when
- You need US servers at a lower price, a SOC 2 Type II report or team SSO.
Entry price
Baseline: each product's cheapest paid plan, per month. Included usage differs, so read the line under each price.
- DigitalOcean DropletsLowest priceBasic Regular 512 MiB$4/mo$0.00595/hour, billed per second up to 672 hours
- 1 shared vCPU, 512 MiB, 10 GiB SSD
- 500 GiB of outbound transfer
- Public IPv4 included
- 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: DigitalOcean Droplets 2026-10-16, Hetzner Cloud 2026-10-16.
Which one fits
- If you need to start today without a sales call
- DigitalOcean DropletsSelf-serve sign-up, card required; the highest score of the 2 self-serve products here (6.6/10).
- Lowest starter price
- DigitalOcean Droplets$4/mo for the Basic Regular 512 MiB plan.
- Highest overall score
- DigitalOcean Droplets6.6/10 (Good). 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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