Hetzner vs Google GCP

Hetzner and Google Cloud Platform (GCP) serve overlapping but distinct segments of the infrastructure market. GCP is one of the three major hyperscale cloud providers, backed by Google's global network and offering a comprehensive suite of managed services. Hetzner is a German infrastructure provider known for delivering exceptional compute performance at a fraction of hyperscaler prices. Choosing between them involves weighing cost, managed services, global reach, and data sovereignty.

The pricing gap between Hetzner and GCP is substantial. Hetzner Cloud servers cost roughly 3 to 8 times less than equivalent GCP Compute Engine instances. For example, a Hetzner CPX31 (4 vCPUs, 8 GB RAM, 160 GB NVMe) costs around 10 EUR per month, while a comparable GCP e2-standard-4 instance in the europe-west3 (Frankfurt) region runs significantly higher, even with committed use discounts. Hetzner's dedicated servers push the value proposition even further, offering bare-metal performance at prices lower than many cloud VMs.

Where GCP distinguishes itself is in its managed services ecosystem. Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) is widely regarded as one of the best managed Kubernetes offerings, providing automated cluster management, node auto-provisioning, and deep integration with Google's networking and observability stack. Cloud SQL, Cloud Spanner, BigQuery, Pub/Sub, Cloud Functions, and Cloud Run provide managed solutions for databases, data analytics, messaging, and serverless compute that would require significant effort to replicate on Hetzner.

Google's global network is another major differentiator. GCP operates on Google's private fiber backbone, which spans the globe and provides low-latency connectivity between regions. For applications that serve a global user base, this network advantage translates to measurably faster response times. GCP offers regions across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, South America, and the Middle East, allowing workloads to be placed close to end users. Hetzner's presence is limited to Germany and Finland, making it best suited for European-focused workloads.

GCP's per-second billing and sustained use discounts provide some cost optimization for variable workloads. Committed use discounts (1 or 3-year commitments) can reduce Compute Engine costs by up to 57%, narrowing the gap with Hetzner somewhat. However, even with maximum discounts applied, Hetzner typically remains significantly cheaper for equivalent compute resources.

Data sovereignty considerations favor Hetzner for organizations that prioritize knowing exactly where their data resides and who can access it. Hetzner's data centers in Germany operate under German law, and the company is not subject to US extraterritorial legislation. GCP's Frankfurt region provides European data residency, but Google as a US company is subject to the CLOUD Act and other US legal frameworks. For organizations in regulated industries or those that simply value infrastructural independence, the legal clarity and operational transparency of a German provider can be a decisive factor.

For Kubernetes workloads specifically, GKE offers a significantly smoother experience than self-managed Kubernetes on Hetzner. GKE handles control plane management, automatic upgrades, node pool management, and integrates with Google's load balancers, monitoring (Cloud Monitoring), and logging (Cloud Logging) out of the box. On Hetzner, you provision and manage Kubernetes yourself, using tools like k3s, kubeadm, or Terraform-based automation. The Hetzner Cloud Controller Manager and CSI driver provide basic integration, but the operational responsibility is entirely yours.

Machine learning and data analytics workloads strongly favor GCP. BigQuery provides serverless data warehousing, Vertex AI offers managed ML training and serving, and TPU (Tensor Processing Unit) access provides specialized hardware for AI workloads. Hetzner offers GPU-equipped dedicated servers, but without the managed ML platform services that simplify model development and deployment.

The decision between Hetzner and GCP ultimately depends on workload characteristics and organizational capabilities. For compute-intensive European workloads where cost efficiency and data sovereignty are priorities, and where your team has the expertise to manage infrastructure, Hetzner is difficult to beat. For globally distributed applications that leverage managed services, advanced data analytics, or managed Kubernetes, GCP provides capabilities that justify its premium pricing. A hybrid approach, using Hetzner for cost-sensitive workloads and GCP for specific managed services, is also a practical strategy adopted by many organizations.

IaaS, Hetzner, AWS, Azure, GCP, K8s