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Hetzner and DigitalOcean are both in the Few Servers provider directory, and both show up whenever someone asks where to put a small VPS. This page puts their listings side by side. Every row comes from the provider's own site, read on 12 Oct 2026, with the source linked below. It is a comparison of what they publish, not a rating: we have not run the same test on both.
Side by side
| Hetzner | DigitalOcean | |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | 1997 | 2012 |
| Server types listed | Dedicated, cloud VPS, GPU, managed hosting, colocation | Cloud VPS, GPU, bare metal |
| Data center countries | Germany, Finland, United States, Singapore | United States, Netherlands, Singapore, United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, India, Australia |
| Cities | Falkenstein, Nuremberg, Helsinki, Hillsboro (Oregon), Ashburn (Virginia), Singapore | New York City, San Francisco, Atlanta, Richmond, Kansas City, Memphis, Amsterdam, Singapore, London, Frankfurt, Toronto, Bangalore, Sydney |
| Cheapest cloud server listed | CX23, 5.99 EUR/month (Germany or Finland) | Basic Droplet, 512 MiB / 1 vCPU / 10 GiB SSD, USD 4/month |
| Other entry prices listed | Dedicated from 59 EUR/month (+39 EUR setup); managed servers from 34 EUR/month (+34 EUR setup); 1/3 rack colocation 100 EUR/month | GPU Droplet with NVIDIA RTX 4000 Ada, USD 0.76 per GPU per hour, on demand |
| Billing detail | Monthly prices in the site's price file; VAT treatment not stated there | Per-second billing, minimum charge 60 seconds or USD 0.01; the Droplet page also lists USD 0.00595 per hour |
| Free tier or credits | None listed | "DigitalOcean often provides promotional credits for new users" |
| Payment methods | Credit card, SEPA direct debit, bank/wire transfer, PayPal | Credit card, debit card, crypto wallet, PayPal, Google Pay, Apple Pay, bank account |
| Support channels | Phone, email | Ticket |
| Status page | status.hetzner.com | status.digitalocean.com |
Where the two differ most
Range of products. Hetzner's list runs from cloud servers through dedicated machines to rack space (colocation), so you can move up without changing provider. DigitalOcean's list stops at bare metal and GPU Droplets; it has no colocation or managed dedicated servers in its listing.
Locations. DigitalOcean lists more cities, including Toronto, London, Bangalore and Sydney. Hetzner's cloud page names two US locations (Hillsboro and Ashburn) and Singapore besides its own parks in Germany and Finland. If your users are in India, Australia or Canada, only DigitalOcean lists a data center there.
Entry price and size. The two cheapest cloud entries are not the same machine. DigitalOcean's USD 4 Droplet has 512 MiB of memory; Hetzner's price file gives CX23's price but this listing does not record its size. On our own test server, Coolify's stack alone sat at 618 MB idle, more than a 512 MiB plan has (see our $4 vs $6 vs $12 Droplet test), so check memory before comparing prices.
Currency. Hetzner's listed prices are in euros, DigitalOcean's in US dollars. The exchange rate and VAT will move the gap.
Getting help. Hetzner's dedicated server page promises support "around the clock via telephone and email"; DigitalOcean's docs point to tickets in its support portal.
How to choose between them
- Need a data center in Canada, the UK, India or Australia: DigitalOcean lists one, Hetzner does not.
- Want to grow from a small VPS to a dedicated server or your own rack with one provider: Hetzner lists all three.
- Want to pay with Apple Pay, Google Pay or a crypto wallet: DigitalOcean lists them.
- Want to pay by SEPA direct debit: Hetzner lists it.
- Prefer phone support: Hetzner lists phone; DigitalOcean lists tickets.
Both full listings, with every fact's source and read date, are in the directory: Hetzner and DigitalOcean. If you run a server company, listing it is free.
FAQ
Is Hetzner cheaper than DigitalOcean?
It depends on the plan. On 12 Oct 2026 DigitalOcean's cheapest Droplet was USD 4/month (512 MiB) and Hetzner's cheapest cloud server in its price file was CX23 at 5.99 EUR/month. These are different sizes, so compare plans with the same memory and CPU.
Does Hetzner have data centers in the US?
Yes. Hetzner's cloud page names Hillsboro, Oregon and Ashburn, Virginia, besides Falkenstein, Nuremberg, Helsinki and Singapore.
Does DigitalOcean offer dedicated servers?
DigitalOcean's site lists bare metal and GPU Droplets alongside its cloud Droplets. It does not list colocation or managed dedicated servers.
Which one has phone support?
Hetzner lists phone and email support. DigitalOcean's docs describe support by ticket.
Sources
- Hetzner, About us (read 12 Oct 2026) - founded 1997, German company.
- Hetzner Cloud (read 12 Oct 2026) - Falkenstein, Nuremberg, Helsinki, Hillsboro, Ashburn, Singapore.
- Hetzner price data file (read 12 Oct 2026) - CX23, dedicated, managed and colocation prices.
- Hetzner payment overview (read 12 Oct 2026) - payment methods.
- Hetzner dedicated root servers (read 12 Oct 2026) - phone and email support.
- DigitalOcean, About (read 12 Oct 2026) - founded 2012.
- DigitalOcean regional availability (read 12 Oct 2026) - data center cities.
- DigitalOcean Droplet pricing (read 12 Oct 2026) - USD 4 Basic Droplet, per-second billing, promotional credits.
- DigitalOcean GPU Droplet pricing (read 12 Oct 2026) - RTX 4000 Ada, USD 0.76 per GPU per hour.
- DigitalOcean billing docs (read 12 Oct 2026) - payment methods.
- DigitalOcean support (read 12 Oct 2026) - ticket support.
Used in this article
- Hetzner CloudVisit Hetzner Cloud
- DigitalOceanThe $6 Basic droplet (1 vCPU, 1 GB RAM, 25 GB SSD) our test server runs on.Visit DigitalOcean
Plain links: no vendor pays us for these today. Details.
