Hetzner Cloud review
by Hetzner Online GmbHCloud servers (VPS)
German cloud servers billed hourly up to a monthly cap, with 20 TB of transfer in the EU, overage at $1.20 per TB and a DPA accepted in the account; US plans cost more.
- Paid only
- Self-serve
- Usage-based
- Public prices
What you're paying for
- Worth the price (main value)
- Compliance included
EU 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.
Hetzner Cloud's value is in its European locations: the CPX22 with 2 vCPUs, 4 GB and 80 GB is $22.99 a month in Nuremberg or Helsinki with 20 TB of transfer, and each extra TB is $1.20. The contracting company is German, the DPA is concluded in the customer account, and the ISO 27001 certificate and a BSI C5 Type 2 attestation are published. In the US, the older CPX line costs more and includes 2 TB at the reference size. It suits teams that serve European users or move large amounts of data.
- 20 TB of transfer in the EUEU plans include at least 20 TB of outbound transfer, each extra TB is $1.20 in the EU and US, and inbound and internal traffic are free.Evidence: Plan pages and the price data they load (2026-10-16)
- DPA in the accountThe DPA is concluded by checkbox in the customer account, supplemented by EU standard contractual clauses for third-country products, and TÜV Rheinland reviews the technical measures each year.Evidence: Data protection docs and terms (2026-10-16)
- ISO 27001 and BSI C5The ISO 27001:2022 certificate (SOCOTEC, valid to Sep 2028) covers all hosting services at the Nuremberg, Falkenstein and Tuusula sites; Hetzner also publishes a BSI C5 Type 2 attestation.Evidence: ISO certificate PDF and information security docs (2026-10-16)
- Networking extras at no chargeCloud Firewalls, private networks and DDoS protection carry no charge; IPv6 is free and a primary IPv4 address is $0.60 a month.Evidence: Firewall, network, DDoS and primary IP pages (2026-10-16)
- Best for
- Teams serving European users that want EU data centers, generous transfer and a German contracting party.
- Good to know
- US locations use an older, more expensive CPX line with 2 TB of transfer at the reference size.
How Hetzner Cloud compares
Against 3 other products we reviewed in Cloud servers (VPS): what you pay for with each, the five access facts, the plan limits we recorded and each review's bottom line. The note under the table says how each one was checked.
| Metric | Hetzner Cloud | Akamai Cloud (Linode) | DigitalOcean Droplets | Vultr Cloud Compute |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What you're paying for | 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. | Worth the priceA 2 vCPU, 4 GB Linode for $24 a month with 4 TB of pooled transfer, overage at $0.005 per GB and ISO 27001 coverage for compute. | 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 priceA 2 vCPU, 4 GB, 80 GB server for $20 a month with 3 TB of pooled transfer, backed by Vultr's own SOC 2 Type II report and ISO 27001. |
| Overall score | 4.7 | 6.7Best | 6.6 | 6.6 |
| Free option | Paid only | Free trial | Free trial | Free trial |
| Card to start | –Not measured | Card required | Card required | Card required |
| Getting access | Self-serve | Self-serve | Self-serve | Self-serve |
| Starter priceCheapest paid plan | $7.49/mo | $5/mo | $4/mo | $2.50/mo |
| Pricing model | Usage-based | Usage-based | Usage-based | Usage-based |
| Pricing page | Public prices | Public prices | Public prices | Public prices |
| Reference server | US CPX21: 3 vCPU (shared), 4 GB, 80 GB NVMe, 2 TB transfer, $37.49/mo plus $0.60 IPv4 | Linode 4 GB: 2 vCPU (shared), 4 GB, 80 GB SSD, 4 TB transfer, $24/mo | Basic Regular: 2 vCPU (shared), 4 GiB, 80 GiB SSD, 4,000 GiB transfer, $24/mo | Regular Performance: 2 vCPU (shared), 4 GB, 80 GB SSD, 3 TB transfer, $20/mo |
| Reference scenario (US, monthly) | $45.59: $37.49 plan + $0.60 IPv4 + $7.50 backups (20%), computed | $29: $24 plan + $5 Backups add-on, computed | $28.80: $24 plan + $4.80 weekly backups, computed | $24: $20 plan + $4 backups (20%), computed |
| Billing | Hourly, rounded up, capped at the monthly price | Hourly, rounded up, capped at the monthly price; G8 plans and extra IPv4 uncapped | Per second, 60-second minimum, capped at 672 hours a month | Hourly, 1-hour minimum, capped at 672 hours; VX1 and GPU at 730 hours |
| Transfer overage | $1.20/TB in the EU and US ($8.30 in Singapore); inbound free | $0.005/GB (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific); pooled; inbound free | $0.01/GiB in every region; pooled across the team; inbound free | $0.01/GB; pooled across the account with 2 TB free; inbound free |
| Public IPv4 | $0.60/mo per primary IPv4; IPv6 free | One per Linode included; extra addresses need justification, price not listed | Included on bundled plans; reserved IPv4 $5/mo when unassigned | One included; reserved IP $3/mo; extra addresses for an unlisted fee |
| Backups | 20% of the server price; 7 daily slots | Priced per plan ($2 to $5/mo at small sizes); daily, weekly and biweekly copies | Weekly 20% or daily 30% of the Droplet price; usage-based from $0.01/GiB | 20% of the server price; daily to monthly schedules; two most recent kept |
| Snapshots | $0.0199/GB-month of compressed size | One manual snapshot in Backups; captured images $0.10/GB-month | $0.06/GB-month | $0.05/GB-month of compressed size |
| Free credit | None | $100 for new customers via promo page or referral, payment method required | $5 for 90 days, payment method required | Coupon credit up to $300 (up to 30 days); free tier server by application |
| Dedicated vCPU from | $50.49/mo EU, $50.99 US (CCX13, 2 vCPU, 8 GB) | $36/mo (G6 Dedicated 4 GB) or $43 (G7) | $42/mo (CPU-Optimized, 2 vCPU, 4 GiB, 25 GiB) | $28/mo (CPU Optimized, 1 vCPU, 2 GB); 2 vCPU, 4 GB at $40 |
| Image export | Snapshot download not described; custom ISOs added by support from a link | No backup download; raw .img image upload up to 6 GB | No snapshot download; custom image import (raw, qcow2, VHDX, VDI, VMDK) | No snapshot download; ISO and raw image import from a URL |
| SOC 2 / ISO 27001 | No SOC 2; ISO 27001:2022 (German and Finnish sites) and BSI C5 Type 2 | SOC 2 Type 1 for compute; ISO 27001:2022 covers compute | SOC 2 Type II; own ISO 27001 not stated | SOC 2 Type II (with HIPAA) in the console; ISO 27001:2022 |
| HIPAA BAA | Not stated | On request; compute listed in HIPAA scope | Through sales or support | By contract, after an architecture review |
| EU regions | Falkenstein, Nuremberg, Helsinki | Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Paris, Milan, Madrid, Stockholm | Amsterdam, Frankfurt (London in the UK) | Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Paris, Madrid, Stockholm, Warsaw, Milan |
| Spend cap | Cost alerts only | None; transfer emails at 80, 90 and 100% | Spend alerts only | None self-serve; bandwidth usage emails |
| Bottom line | 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. | From its public pages, Akamai Cloud keeps Linode's clear plan list and adds low-cost pooled transfer ($0.005 per GB over the allowance), ISO 27001 for compute and free support. Compute has a SOC 2 Type 1 report, and G8 plans are billed without a cap. | 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, Vultr has the lowest list price for the reference server and a broad compliance file with free SSO. Some regional prices are missing from the pricing page, and several pages disagree on details such as DDoS protection. |
Evidence: Hetzner Cloud: facts checked 2026-10-16 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; Akamai Cloud (Linode): facts checked 2026-10-16 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; DigitalOcean Droplets: facts checked 2026-10-16 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; Vultr Cloud Compute: 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.
Score
- Pricing clarity
- 6.0 / 10, Good
- scenario plan priced in USD; hourly rule and monthly cap stated; US transfer overage published; IPv4 charge stated; block storage is $0.0484/GB in the page text and $0.0500 in the calculator on the same page; Floating IPv4 has a price only in EUR (€3.00) in the docs, none in USD; the billing FAQ backup example uses a $4.49 server price that is no longer on the price list; the US CCX63 hourly price differs between the price-adjustment table and the plan page data
- Free credit and trial
- 0.0 / 10, Fair
- no sign-up credit, trial or free server; the referral program was discontinued
- Price of the reference server
- 5.2 / 10, Fair
- $45.59/mo: CPX21 in Ashburn or Hillsboro (3 vCPU, 4 GB, 80 GB NVMe) $37.49; IPv4 $0.60; backups $7.50; no transfer overage; backups at 20% of the server price with 7 daily slots; 2 TB of transfer included; assumes the 20% backup charge applies to the server price without the IPv4 fee
- Transfer terms
- 8.0 / 10, Excellent
- $0.0012/GB over the allowance in the US; 2 TB included on the scenario plan; pooling not stated; inbound free; overage billed, server not cut off
- Backups, cost control and exit
- 5.0 / 10, Fair
- automatic backups priced, daily available; snapshot or image storage $0.0199/GB-month; no image download or self-serve import; spend alerts, no hard cap; no retention period after closing stated in days
- Compliance and account security
- 4.0 / 10, Fair
- no SOC 2 Type II for the product, ISO 27001, no HIPAA BAA for the product, self-serve DPA, EU region, 2FA, no SSO stated, no audit log stated
Review
Review from public pages
Written from Hetzner Cloud's public pages (pricing, security or privacy, and docs) as read on Oct 16, 2026. We did not sign up, and no hands-on run is published yet.
What the public pages show
We read Hetzner's cloud overview and plan pages (Cost-Optimized, Regular Performance, General Purpose, Load Balancer, Block Storage), the price data those pages load, the cloud docs on billing, traffic, primary and floating IPs, backups and snapshots, servers, limits and cancellation, the payment, fraud prevention, data protection and information security docs, the price adjustment notices, the terms and the ISO certificate on Oct 16, 2026; we did not sign up, create a server or call the API for this review. The plan pages fill in prices by script, so we read the USD figures from Hetzner's price data, which matches its price-adjustment table. Every location has a USD price.
The billing rules are stated plainly: a server is billed by the hour, rounded up, never more than its monthly price, and billed for as long as it exists, running or not. Prices depend on location: the EU is cheapest, then the US, then Singapore. Since June 15, 2026, new orders and rescales use higher prices, while servers rented before keep their terms. The US is sold an older CPX line (CPX11 to CPX51) rather than the CPX22 to CPX62 sold in the EU and Singapore, and the Cost-Optimized line is shown with prices but marked not available.
A few points need a question. Block storage is $0.0484 per GB in the page text and $0.0500 in the calculator on the same page. Floating IPv4 has a price only in EUR. And the billing FAQ's backup example uses a server price that is no longer on the list.
Strengths
- Generous transfer in the EU
EU servers include at least 20 TB a month, and extra transfer is $1.20 per TB in the EU and US.
Compared: DigitalOcean and Vultr charge $0.01 per GB ($10 per TB) over the allowance.
- DPA concluded in the account
The DPA is accepted by checkbox in the customer account, with EU standard contractual clauses for third-country products, and customers receive the yearly TÜV Rheinland audit report.
Compared: Vultr provides its DPA on request for electronic signature.
- Daily backups with 7 slots
Backups cost 20% of the server price and keep 7 daily copies; snapshots are $0.0199 per GB-month of compressed size.
- Free firewalls, networks and DDoS protection
Cloud Firewalls, private networks and DDoS protection carry no charge on any plan.
Compared: Vultr charges $10 a month per instance for its DDoS protection add-on.
Things to know
- US plans cost more
In the US, the reference size is the older CPX21 at $37.49 plus $0.60 for IPv4, with 2 TB of transfer; the EU CPX22 is $22.99 with 20 TB.
Workaround: Teams whose users are in Europe can use the EU locations.
- No SOC 2, HIPAA BAA or SSO stated
The information security page says Hetzner focuses on ISO 27001 rather than SOC 2; no HIPAA BAA, single sign-on or account audit log is described.
Workaround: The ISO 27001 certificate and BSI C5 attestation are published as PDFs.
- No sign-up credit
There is no free credit or trial, the referral program was discontinued, and accounts are verified by ID or a card prepayment.
- No image download or self-serve upload
The docs describe no way to download snapshots or backups, and custom ISOs are added by support from a download link you send.
Workaround: The Rescue System gives access to the data on the disks, so you can copy it off yourself.
Pricing reality
Servers are priced per plan and location, billed by the hour up to the monthly price, with each primary IPv4 at $0.60 a month. For our US scenario, the CPX21 (3 shared vCPUs, 4 GB, 80 GB NVMe, 2 TB of transfer) is $37.49, plus $0.60 for IPv4 and backups at 20% of the server price ($7.50), so $45.59 a month (computed); the 2 TB of transfer fits in the allowance. In Nuremberg or Helsinki, the CPX22 with the same RAM and disk is $22.99, or $28.19 with IPv4 and backups (computed), and includes 20 TB. Dedicated vCPUs start at $50.49 in the EU and $50.99 in the US (CCX13). Snapshots are $0.0199 per GB-month of compressed size.
Exit path
The docs describe no way to download snapshots or backups; they can create or rebuild a server, and snapshots can move to another Hetzner project. The Rescue System gives access to the data on the disks, so you can copy it off yourself. Backups are deleted with their server; snapshots remain. Deleting a project deletes all its resources, which cannot be restored. After payment reminders on an unpaid invoice, the account can be deactivated.
Compared with
- 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.
- Pick Hetzner Cloud when
- You want a DPA accepted in the account, free DDoS protection and published prices for every location.
- Pick Vultr Cloud Compute when
- You need a SOC 2 report, single sign-on or a lower price in the US.
- Pick Hetzner Cloud when
- You want EU servers with 20 TB of transfer and a German contracting party.
- Pick Akamai Cloud (Linode) when
- You need a HIPAA BAA, SAML single sign-on or 4 TB of transfer on a $24 US server.
Choose it if
- Your users are in Europe and you want EU data centers with 20 TB of transfer.
- You want a DPA accepted in the account and a published ISO 27001 certificate.
- You move large amounts of data and want overage at $1.20 per TB.
Look elsewhere if
- You need servers in the US at the lowest price.
- Your review asks for SOC 2, a HIPAA BAA or single sign-on.
- You want a sign-up credit to try the service.
Bottom line
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.
Plan limits at a glance
| Limit | As recorded |
|---|---|
| Reference server | US CPX21: 3 vCPU (shared), 4 GB, 80 GB NVMe, 2 TB transfer, $37.49/mo plus $0.60 IPv4 |
| Reference scenario (US, monthly) | $45.59: $37.49 plan + $0.60 IPv4 + $7.50 backups (20%), computed |
| Billing | Hourly, rounded up, capped at the monthly price |
| Transfer overage | $1.20/TB in the EU and US ($8.30 in Singapore); inbound free |
| Public IPv4 | $0.60/mo per primary IPv4; IPv6 free |
| Backups | 20% of the server price; 7 daily slots |
| Snapshots | $0.0199/GB-month of compressed size |
| Free credit | None |
| Dedicated vCPU from | $50.49/mo EU, $50.99 US (CCX13, 2 vCPU, 8 GB) |
| Image export | Snapshot download not described; custom ISOs added by support from a link |
| SOC 2 / ISO 27001 | No SOC 2; ISO 27001:2022 (German and Finnish sites) and BSI C5 Type 2 |
| HIPAA BAA | Not stated |
| EU regions | Falkenstein, Nuremberg, Helsinki |
| Spend cap | Cost alerts only |
Read from the vendor's public pages on Oct 16, 2026. No hands-on run is published yet. How we check
We have not published a sign-up run for Hetzner Cloud yet. The access facts above were read from its sign-up and pricing pages on Oct 16, 2026.
We have not published API calls for Hetzner Cloud yet.
Hetzner Cloud lists 4 plans. The cheapest paid plan, CPX02 (EU, plus $0.60 IPv4), costs $7.49/mo.
- Hetzner CloudLowest priceCPX02 (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
- Hetzner CloudCPX22 (EU)$22.99/mo$0.0368/hour; plus $0.60/mo for a primary IPv4
- 2 shared AMD vCPUs, 4 GB, 80 GB NVMe
- 20 TB of transfer
- Backups +20%
- Hetzner CloudCPX21 (US)$37.49/mo$0.0601/hour; plus $0.60/mo for a primary IPv4; the plan used in our scenario
- 3 shared AMD vCPUs, 4 GB, 80 GB NVMe
- 2 TB of transfer
- Ashburn and Hillsboro
- Backups +20%
- Hetzner CloudCCX13 (US)$50.99/mo$0.0817/hour; plus $0.60/mo for a primary IPv4; $50.49 in the EU
- 2 dedicated AMD vCPUs, 8 GB, 80 GB NVMe
- 1 TB of transfer in the US, 20 TB in the EU
Prices as listed, USD, excluding tax; observed 2026-10-16.
Source: hetzner.com pricing page. Prices change; the observed date above is when our agent read them.