Hetzner vs DigitalOcean
Hetzner offers comparable performance to DigitalOcean at 40–60% lower cost, with all infrastructure in the EU. For European teams, Hetzner is the clear choice.
✓Hetzner wins for EU teams
Our recommendation
Hetzner's price-to-performance ratio is unmatched in Europe. If you need EU data residency, GDPR compliance, or simply lower bills, Hetzner is the better choice. DigitalOcean's ecosystem and documentation are excellent, but you pay a significant premium for equivalent resources.
Try Hetzner →Affiliate link — supports Eutory
Pros & cons
Hetzner🇪🇺
Pros
- +40–60% cheaper per vCPU/GB
- +All data centers in EU
- +GDPR compliant by default
- +ISO 27001 certified
- +Transparent pricing (no egress surprises)
Cons
- −Fewer managed service offerings
- −Smaller global network
- −Less polished UI than DigitalOcean
DigitalOcean🇺🇸
Pros
- +Excellent documentation
- +Large community & marketplace
- +Simple onboarding
- +More managed services (databases, Kubernetes)
- +Global edge network
Cons
- −30–60% more expensive for equivalent resources
- −Data stored in US by default
- −GDPR compliance is your responsibility
- −Egress fees add up
Feature comparison
| Feature | Hetzner 🇪🇺 | DigitalOcean |
|---|---|---|
| EU Data ResidencyDO has EU regions but US company | ✓ Yes | ~ Partial |
| GDPR Compliant | ✓ Yes | ~ Partial |
| 2 vCPU / 4 GB RAM price/mo | €3.29 | $18 |
| Managed Kubernetes | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Managed Databases | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Object Storage | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| DDoS Protection | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| IPv6 Support | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| ISO 27001 | ✓ Yes | ✗ No |
| Bare Metal Servers | ✓ Yes | ✗ No |
Pricing
Hetzner 🇪🇺
Cloud from €3.29/mo. Dedicated from €37/mo. Storage from €1.19/TB/mo.
See current pricing →DigitalOcean
Droplets from $4/mo. Managed DBs from $15/mo. Spaces from $5/mo + egress.
Learn more about Hetzner
German cloud hosting trusted by 600,000+ customers worldwide.