Hetzner vs Amazon AWS

Hetzner and Amazon Web Services represent fundamentally different approaches to cloud infrastructure. AWS is the world's largest cloud provider, offering an enormous ecosystem of over 200 managed services spanning compute, storage, databases, machine learning, IoT, and more. Hetzner is a German hosting company that focuses on providing high-performance compute and storage infrastructure at exceptionally competitive prices. Understanding when each is the right choice requires looking beyond headline pricing.

The most striking difference is cost. For equivalent compute resources, Hetzner is typically 3 to 10 times cheaper than AWS. A Hetzner Cloud server with 4 vCPUs, 16 GB RAM, and 160 GB NVMe storage costs around 15 EUR per month. A comparable AWS EC2 instance (such as a t3.xlarge) costs significantly more, even with reserved instance pricing. For dedicated servers, the gap widens further: Hetzner offers bare-metal machines with 64 GB RAM and modern CPUs for prices that would barely cover a modest EC2 instance on AWS.

However, comparing raw compute prices alone is misleading. AWS provides a vast ecosystem of managed services that Hetzner does not offer. If your application relies on services like Amazon RDS for managed databases, Amazon SQS for message queuing, AWS Lambda for serverless functions, Amazon ElastiCache for in-memory caching, or Amazon CloudFront for CDN, then the total cost of replicating these services on Hetzner with self-managed alternatives must be factored in. The operational overhead of running and maintaining your own PostgreSQL, Redis, RabbitMQ, and other services can be substantial.

AWS excels in breadth of services and global reach. With regions spanning North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, South America, Africa, and the Middle East, AWS can place your infrastructure close to users anywhere in the world. AWS also provides mature managed Kubernetes (EKS), sophisticated IAM policies, comprehensive monitoring through CloudWatch, and enterprise-grade compliance certifications across numerous industry standards.

Hetzner's strength lies in its simplicity and value. The product lineup is focused: cloud servers, dedicated servers, storage boxes, load balancers, firewalls, and private networking. The Hetzner Cloud API is clean and well-documented, and Terraform support through the official Hetzner Cloud provider is solid. For workloads that primarily need compute power and storage, such as web applications, databases, CI/CD pipelines, and development environments, Hetzner delivers outstanding performance per euro.

Data sovereignty is an important consideration. Hetzner's data centers in Germany and Finland provide clear jurisdictional certainty for organizations that need to know exactly where their data resides. AWS offers European regions (Frankfurt, Ireland, Stockholm, and others), but the company is subject to US jurisdiction under laws like the CLOUD Act, which can compel disclosure of data stored overseas. For organizations with strict data residency requirements, an independent provider like Hetzner offers clearer legal standing. Reducing dependence on a single dominant cloud vendor is also a matter of strategic resilience: organizations that diversify their infrastructure retain more negotiating power and operational independence.

For Kubernetes workloads, AWS offers the fully managed EKS service, which handles control plane management, upgrades, and integration with other AWS services. On Hetzner, you manage Kubernetes yourself using tools like kubeadm, k3s, or Terraform-based provisioning tools. The Hetzner Cloud Controller Manager and CSI driver provide basic infrastructure integration, but the operational burden is higher than with EKS.

Network performance and bandwidth also differ. Hetzner includes generous bandwidth allowances, with most cloud servers including 20 TB of outbound traffic per month. AWS charges for data transfer out, which can become a significant cost for bandwidth-heavy applications. Hetzner's dedicated servers often include unmetered bandwidth on their 1 Gbit/s ports.

The right choice depends on your organization's needs and capabilities. If you require a broad managed services ecosystem, global presence, and are willing to pay a premium for operational convenience, AWS is the established choice. If your primary needs are compute and storage, you have the expertise to manage your own infrastructure stack, and cost efficiency is a priority, Hetzner offers remarkable value. Many organizations use both: Hetzner for compute-intensive workloads and development environments, and AWS for specific managed services that would be impractical to self-host.

IaaS, Hetzner, AWS, Azure, GCP