DigitalOcean vs Hetzner
The two favorite clouds of independent developers. The friendly American platform with the famous tutorials takes on the German price-performance champion.
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DigitalOcean
The friendliest cloud for developers.
Hetzner
The best price-to-performance in cloud hosting.
Prices last checked on
| Feature | DigitalOcean | Hetzner |
|---|---|---|
| Our score | 4.4 / 5 | 4.5 / 5 |
| Price | From $4/mo | From $4.59/mo |
| Free plan | No | No |
| Best for | Developers | Price-to-performance |
| Category | Cloud & developers | Cloud & developers |
| Provider | DigitalOcean | Hetzner Online GmbH |
| Visit DigitalOcean | Visit Hetzner |
Our verdict
Hetzner wins on raw value. Per dollar you get two to three times the performance, with excellent hardware and a no-nonsense interface. DigitalOcean wins on ecosystem, with the tutorials, the managed databases and app platform, and the larger choice of US regions.
If you mainly need a fast, cheap server and know your way around Linux, take Hetzner. If you lean on documentation and managed add-ons, DigitalOcean earns its premium.
“Your own server is running within a minute and the documentation is among the best on the internet. With per-second billing, experimenting is cheaper than ever.”Editorial team, on DigitalOcean
“Two to three times cheaper per unit of performance than the big clouds, with solid German engineering. The sharpest deal going for anyone comfortable managing a server.”Editorial team, on Hetzner
Frequently asked questions
Is Hetzner better than DigitalOcean?
On value, yes. Hetzner gives two to three times the performance per dollar and we score it 4.5 against 4.4. DigitalOcean wins on ecosystem, with tutorials that are among the best on the internet, managed databases and app platform, and a wider choice of US regions. If you mainly need a fast, cheap server and know Linux, take Hetzner.
What is cheaper, DigitalOcean or Hetzner?
DigitalOcean has the lower entry price, Hetzner the better value. A Basic Droplet starts at $4 a month ($48 a year) against $4.59 a month ($55.08 a year) for a Hetzner Cloud CX22, checked August 2026. For roughly half a dollar more you get 2 vCPU and 4 GB of RAM, which is where the price-performance gap comes from. Neither uses promo pricing.
Which should I pick if I am new to servers?
DigitalOcean. You manage everything yourself on both, but its documentation and tutorials are among the best anywhere, and per-second billing means a failed experiment costs almost nothing. Hetzner's interface is more spartan and its guides are scarcer, so it rewards people who already know their way around a terminal.
Where are the data centers?
Hetzner runs data centers in Germany, Finland, and the United States. DigitalOcean offers the larger choice of US regions. If your visitors are European, Hetzner puts a server close to them at a lower price. If your audience is American and you want several regions to pick between, DigitalOcean has the wider footprint.