DigitalOcean Droplets vs Hetzner Cloud (dedicated vCPU)
Default scenario: At 32 vCPUs, 128 GB RAM, 10 TB egress to internet / month, estimated bills are $7,561/yr for Hetzner Cloud (dedicated vCPU) and $12,096/yr for DigitalOcean Droplets. That’s a $4,535 difference before accounting for different features or operating costs.
The services may differ in features, performance, support and the work you need to do yourself. Read the notes and test what matters to your setup.
Your selected usage
32 vCPUs, 128 GB RAM, 10 TB egress to internet / month
- DigitalOcean Droplets: $12,096/yr estimated
- Hetzner Cloud (dedicated vCPU): $7,561/yr estimated
Estimated costs at different usage levels
| Usage | DigitalOcean Droplets | Hetzner Cloud (dedicated vCPU) |
|---|---|---|
| Default scenario32 vCPUs, 128 GB RAM, 10 TB egress to internet / month | $12,096/yrg-16vcpu-64gb · 2 × $504 + $0 egress | $7,561/yrCCX53 · 1 × $630 + $0 egress |
| Side project2 vCPUs, 4 GB RAM, 0.5 TB egress to internet / month | $756/yrg-2vcpu-8gb · 1 × $63 + $0 egress | $613/yrCCX13 · 1 × $51 + $0 egress |
| Startup16 vCPUs, 64 GB RAM, 5 TB egress to internet / month | $6,048/yrg-16vcpu-64gb · 1 × $504 + $0 egress | $3,913/yrCCX43 · 1 × $326 + $0 egress |
| Scale-up128 vCPUs, 512 GB RAM, 50 TB egress to internet / month | $48,384/yrg-16vcpu-64gb · 8 × $504 + $0 egress | $30,244/yrCCX53 · 4 × $630 + $0 egress |
On-demand list prices, Linux, the vendor’s main US or EU region (see notes). Fleets are built from one instance type. A vCPU is one hardware thread; rows marked shared sell oversubscribed vCPUs. Disks, backups and committed-use discounts (often 30–60% on hyperscalers) aren’t included. Try your own numbers against all servers & vps providers.
Side by side
| DigitalOcean Droplets | Hetzner Cloud (dedicated vCPU) | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Developer-friendly VMs with flat monthly prices that include an SSD and a pooled bandwidth allowance. | German cloud with dedicated-vCPU CCX servers and 20–60 TB of traffic included. Prices more than doubled in 2026 but still undercut hyperscalers. |
| Headquarters | 🇺🇸 United States | 🇩🇪 Germany |
| Parent jurisdiction | 🇺🇸 United States | 🇩🇪 Germany |
| EU self-serve plan | Available; check eligible plans and regions | Available; check eligible plans and regions |
| GDPR DPA | Yes | Yes |
| Provider type | Developer cloud | Budget & bare metal |
| Billing | payg | payg |
| Free tier | No permanent free tier; promotional credit for new accounts. | — |
| Open source | No | No |
| Source last checked | 2026-10-06 | 2026-10-06 |
| Pricing evidence | Published rates | Published rates |
Which should you choose?
Hetzner Cloud (dedicated vCPU) has the lower estimated bill at every usage level we tested, from 3 vCPUs, 13 GB RAM, 1 TB egress to internet / month to 3,200 vCPUs, 13,000 GB RAM, 1,000 TB egress to internet / month.
They’re different kinds of provider. DigitalOcean Droplets (Developer cloud): A smaller set of managed services (databases, Kubernetes, load balancers) with simpler pricing and self-serve support. Hetzner Cloud (dedicated vCPU) (Budget & bare metal): Servers with few managed services. You run more yourself: databases, backups, failover and monitoring.
Choose DigitalOcean Droplets if…
- you want to start free (No permanent free tier; promotional credit for new accounts)
Choose Hetzner Cloud (dedicated vCPU) if…
- it has the lower estimated bill at Side project, Startup and Scale-up usage
- you want a provider whose parent company is outside the US (Germany)
Based on estimated list-price bills and the facts above. Features, performance and support aren’t scored.
DigitalOcean Droplets pricing
Calculated from the listed vendor rates; exclusions still apply.
| Plan | vCPUs / instance | RAM / instance (GB) | Instance / month | Internet egress / TB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| g-2vcpu-8gb | 2 | 8 | $63 | $10.74 |
| g-4vcpu-16gb | 4 | 16 | $126 | $10.74 |
| g-8vcpu-32gb | 8 | 32 | $252 | $10.74 |
| g-16vcpu-64gb | 16 | 64 | $504 | $10.74 |
| g-32vcpu-128gb | 32 | 128 | $1,008 | $10.74 |
| g-40vcpu-160gb | 40 | 160 | $1,260 | $10.74 |
General Purpose Droplets (dedicated hyperthreads, 4 GB per vCPU), same price in every region, billed per second and capped at the monthly price (672 hours). Price includes boot SSD (25–200 GB) and a public IPv4. Transfer allowance per Droplet (4,000–9,000 GiB, shown here in TB) is pooled across the team; overage is $0.01/GiB. The uncapped "v5" General Purpose line bills hourly ($0.095/h for 2 vCPU). Shared-vCPU Basic Droplets start at $4/month. No public commitment discounts.
DigitalOcean Droplets plan limits, full rates and cheaper alternatives · official pricing page
Hetzner Cloud (dedicated vCPU) pricing
Calculated from the listed vendor rates; exclusions still apply.
| Plan | vCPUs / instance | RAM / instance (GB) | Instance / month | Internet egress / TB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CCX13 | 2 | 8 | $51.09 | $1.2 |
| CCX23 | 4 | 16 | $102.09 | $1.2 |
| CCX33 | 8 | 32 | $163.59 | $1.2 |
| CCX43 | 16 | 64 | $326.09 | $1.2 |
| CCX53 | 32 | 128 | $630.09 | $1.2 |
| CCX63 | 48 | 192 | $1,007.59 | $1.2 |
CCX dedicated vCPU (AMD, 4 GB per vCPU) in Germany/Finland, Hetzner's own USD prices, hourly with a monthly cap. Each price includes the primary IPv4 ($0.60/month) and local NVMe (80–960 GB). Included traffic per server is 20–60 TB in the EU; overage $1.20/TB. Hetzner raised prices twice in 2026, citing memory costs: from 1 April for all customers, and again from 15 June for new orders and rescales, when CCX roughly doubled (CCX33 went from €62.49 to €138.49/month). US locations (Ashburn, Hillsboro) cost ~1–2% more but include only 1–8 TB of traffic. Hetzner Online GmbH, Gunzenhausen; privately owned. DPA (AVV) available.
Hetzner Cloud (dedicated vCPU) plan limits, full rates and cheaper alternatives · official pricing page
Frequently asked questions
Is DigitalOcean Droplets cheaper than Hetzner Cloud (dedicated vCPU)?
Hetzner Cloud (dedicated vCPU) has the lower estimated bill at every usage level we tested, from 3 vCPUs, 13 GB RAM, 1 TB egress to internet / month to 3,200 vCPUs, 13,000 GB RAM, 1,000 TB egress to internet / month. At 32 vCPUs, 128 GB RAM, 10 TB egress to internet / month, the estimates are $12,096/yr for DigitalOcean Droplets and $7,561/yr for Hetzner Cloud (dedicated vCPU). Estimates use list prices and leave out features, support and operating costs.
Do DigitalOcean Droplets and Hetzner Cloud (dedicated vCPU) offer EU data residency?
Both offer EU data residency on a self-serve plan. Check which plans and regions qualify.
Do DigitalOcean Droplets and Hetzner Cloud (dedicated vCPU) have a free tier or trial?
DigitalOcean Droplets: No permanent free tier; promotional credit for new accounts. Hetzner Cloud (dedicated vCPU) has no free tier or trial in our data.
Where are DigitalOcean Droplets and Hetzner Cloud (dedicated vCPU) based?
DigitalOcean Droplets is headquartered in the United States. Hetzner Cloud (dedicated vCPU) is headquartered in Germany.