Hetzner Review 2026: Pricing, Features and Verdict
This review is researched from each provider's official pricing, plans and public user feedback — see our editorial process for how we keep it accurate.
Is Hetzner good for hosting?
Hetzner is a strong choice if you're comfortable managing your own server — its cloud plans pack more CPU, RAM and storage per euro than almost any mainstream competitor. It's a poor choice if you want cPanel, one-click WordPress installs, or hand-holding support, since Hetzner sells raw compute, not managed shared hosting.
At a glance
| Starting price | €3.99/month (CX23: 2 vCPU, 4GB RAM, 40GB NVMe) |
| Billing model | Hourly, no long-term contract required |
| Control panel | None bundled — self-managed, install your own |
| Cancellation | Instant, from the Cloud Console |
| Data centers | Germany, Finland, US (Ashburn, Hillsboro), Singapore |
| Best for | Developers, self-hosters, budget-conscious VPS buyers |
What Hetzner actually is
Hetzner is a German infrastructure company that owns and operates its own data centers rather than reselling capacity from a larger cloud vendor — a big part of why its per-spec pricing runs so far below AWS, DigitalOcean or even other budget hosts. It sells two main product lines: Cloud (on-demand virtual servers, billed hourly) and dedicated/root servers (physical machines, billed monthly).
This is not shared hosting in the traditional sense. There's no bundled cPanel or hPanel, no pre-installed WordPress, and no "click a button to launch a site" workflow. You choose an OS image (Ubuntu, Debian, Rocky Linux, and others), get root/SSH access, and configure the server yourself — or install a control panel of your own choosing (Plesk is available as a paid add-on through Hetzner's marketplace apps, but nothing is bundled by default). If that sounds like more setup than you want, Hetzner isn't the right fit; if you're comfortable with a terminal, it's one of the better price-to-spec ratios available.
Pricing
Pricing below is quoted for Hetzner's German/Finnish data centers; US locations (Ashburn, Hillsboro) run roughly 20% higher. All prices are in EUR since that's how Hetzner bills.
| Plan | vCPU | RAM | Storage | Monthly price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CX23 | 2 | 4GB | 40GB NVMe | €3.99 |
| CX33 | 4 | 8GB | 80GB NVMe | €6.49 |
| CX43 | 8 | 16GB | 160GB NVMe | €11.99 |
| CX53 | 16 | 32GB | 320GB NVMe | €22.49 |
| CAX11 (ARM) | 2 | 4GB | 40GB NVMe | €4.49 |
All plans include 20TB of monthly traffic. Pricing was accurate as of this post's publish date and is subject to change — check Hetzner's live pricing page before buying, since Hetzner has adjusted prices more than once in 2026.
The real cost breakdown
Hetzner's advertised prices are close to what you'll actually pay, which is a meaningful difference from shared-hosting providers that lean on multi-year introductory pricing. A few things to add to the sticker price, though:
- IPv4 surcharge: Hetzner unbundled primary IPv4 addresses in 2024 — each one now costs an extra €0.50/month, whether or not it's attached to a running server. IPv6 is free.
- No long-term discount trap, but also no long-term discount: billing is hourly (capped at the monthly rate), so there's no "renews at 3x the intro price" surprise — but there's also no reward for prepaying years in advance the way some shared hosts offer.
- Backups and snapshots cost extra if you enable them (typically a percentage of the server's base price), and aren't included by default.
- Support is community/ticket-based at this price point — there's no phone line, and priority support tiers cost more.
Which plan should you choose
- Choose CX23 if you're running a single small app, a personal site, or a low-traffic API — 4GB of RAM is enough for a lean Node.js, Python or PHP stack behind Nginx.
- Choose CX33 if you're self-hosting something with a database alongside the app (WordPress + MySQL, a small SaaS backend) and want headroom before you start swapping.
- Choose CX43 or CX53 if you're consolidating several sites/services on one box, running a CI runner, or hosting something with real concurrent traffic.
- Choose the CAX (ARM) line if your stack is ARM-compatible (most modern Docker images and interpreted languages are) and you want slightly better performance-per-euro on compute-bound workloads.
Pros and cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Very low price per vCPU/RAM/storage vs. mainstream clouds | No bundled control panel — self-managed only |
| Hourly billing, cancel anytime, no lock-in | Support is ticket-based, no phone line at this tier |
| Runs its own data centers (no reseller markup) | Limited global footprint outside EU/US-East/US-West/Singapore |
| Simple, transparent per-resource pricing | IPv4 costs extra; backups/snapshots are add-ons |
| Good fit for Docker, self-hosted apps, dev/test environments | Trustpilot rating sits at 3.0/5 — mixed sentiment, partly reflecting Hetzner's stricter fraud/abuse account reviews |
Support
Hetzner's support is primarily ticket-based, backed by an extensive self-service documentation library (docs.hetzner.com) covering server setup, networking, and the Cloud API. There's no live phone support for standard Cloud accounts, and community forums fill in a lot of the practical troubleshooting knowledge. This works fine for the technical audience Hetzner targets, but it's a real gap if you're used to 24/7 live chat from a shared host.
Migration
Moving an existing site to Hetzner is a manual process — there's no one-click site importer or "we'll migrate your WordPress for you" service typical of shared hosting. In practice this means either standing up a fresh server and manually copying files/databases over (rsync, mysqldump, etc.), or using a snapshot/image if you're moving between two cloud providers with compatible tooling. Budget real time for this if you're coming from a managed host with an automated migration path — Hetzner doesn't replicate that convenience.
Where it's a strong fit
- Developers who want raw compute at a low price and are comfortable configuring their own stack.
- Self-hosted apps, Docker/Kubernetes workloads, CI runners, and dev/test environments where uptime SLAs matter less than cost.
- EU-based projects, or projects with a primarily EU/German audience, where Hetzner's home-turf data centers minimize latency.
- Anyone who wants to avoid the shared-hosting pattern of low introductory pricing followed by a much higher renewal rate.
Where to think twice
- Beginners who want a managed dashboard, one-click WordPress, or phone support — Hetzner offers none of these by default.
- Projects with a primarily US, Latin American, African, or broader Asia-Pacific audience outside Singapore's reach, where Hetzner's thin data center footprint could add latency versus a host with more regional points of presence.
- Anyone who needs guaranteed account continuity for high-risk verticals — Hetzner is known for strict fraud/compliance reviews that can suspend accounts pending verification, which shows up in some of its lower Trustpilot reviews.
Bottom line
Hetzner delivers genuinely excellent price-to-spec ratios for cloud compute, backed by its own data centers rather than resold capacity — that's the real draw, and it's a legitimate reason developers keep choosing it over pricier mainstream clouds. But it's infrastructure, not a beginner hosting product: there's no control panel, support is ticket-based, and its data center footprint is thin outside Europe, the US coasts, and Singapore. If you can administer a Linux server yourself and your audience is well-served by those regions, it's hard to beat on price. If you want a dashboard and hand-holding, look at a managed shared host instead.
FAQs
Does Hetzner include a free domain?
No. Hetzner sells compute and infrastructure, not domain registration bundled with hosting plans. You'll need to register a domain separately and point it at your server's IP.
Is Hetzner good for WordPress?
It can host WordPress well if you're comfortable setting up the LEMP/LAMP stack yourself or using a pre-built image, but it doesn't offer the one-click WordPress installs or managed WordPress features that shared hosts and dedicated WordPress hosts provide.
Does Hetzner offer a money-back guarantee?
Cloud servers bill hourly and can be cancelled instantly with no penalty, so there's no need for a traditional refund window in most cases. EU customers also have the statutory 14-day right of withdrawal on new contracts.
Why is Hetzner's Trustpilot rating only 3.0 out of 5?
Hetzner's rating reflects a mix of very satisfied technical users praising the price/performance and a smaller number of complaints tied to account verification holds and support response times — common friction points for a low-margin infrastructure provider rather than signs of unreliable hardware.
Does Hetzner charge extra for an IP address?
Yes. Since 2024, a primary IPv4 address costs €0.50/month extra on Cloud servers; IPv6 addresses remain free.
Is Hetzner cheaper than DigitalOcean or AWS?
Generally yes, for comparable specs — Hetzner's core appeal is that it owns its own data centers rather than reselling capacity, which lets it price meaningfully below hyperscale and boutique clouds at the same vCPU/RAM tier.
Can I use Hetzner if I'm outside Europe?
Yes — Hetzner has data centers in Ashburn, Virginia and Hillsboro, Oregon for US customers, and Singapore for Asia-Pacific, though its overall global footprint is smaller than major hyperscalers, so check latency from your specific audience first.
Do I need Linux experience to use Hetzner?
It helps significantly. Since there's no bundled control panel, you'll be managing the server over SSH — comfortable with basic Linux administration is close to a prerequisite for a good experience.
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