Amazon Web Services (AWS) vs Hetzner Cloud Comparison
Compare Amazon Web Services (AWS) vs Hetzner Cloud features, pricing, and more.
Last updated: November 2026
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
7.9/10
Amazon's public cloud platform, with over 200 pay-as-you-go services for compute, storage, databases, networking and AI, used by startups through large enterprises and governments.
Hetzner Cloud
6.2/10
Hourly-billed virtual cloud servers, object storage, networking and load balancers from German host Hetzner, aimed at developers and cost-conscious technical teams.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | | |
|---|---|---|
| Scores | ||
| Overall Rating | 7.9/10 | 6.2/10 |
| Integration | 10/10 | 7/10 |
| Support | 6/10 | 4/10 |
| Cost | 5/10 | 8/10 |
| Customization | 10/10 | 7/10 |
| Security | 9/10 | 6/10 |
| Reliability | 9/10 | 7/10 |
| Ease of Use | 4/10 | 7/10 |
| Analytics | 8/10 | 4/10 |
| Scalability | 10/10 | 6/10 |
| Pricing | ||
| Free plan | Yes | No |
| Cheapest paid plan | Contact for pricing | €6/mo Cost-Optimized CX23 |
| Estimated cost for 10 users | Free Free plan | €6/mo Cost-Optimized CX23 |
| Features | ||
| API and CLI | ||
| Managed Databases | Not listed | |
| Multiple Regions | ||
| Object Storage | ||
| Uptime SLA | ||
| Serverless Functions | Not listed | |
| Managed Kubernetes | Not listed | |
| VPS Hosting | ||
| Cloud Compute | ||
| Content Delivery Network | Not listed | |
| Dedicated Servers | Not listed | |
| Automatic Backups | Not listed | |
Which One Should You Choose?
Why choose Amazon Web Services (AWS)
- Has a free plan (Hetzner Cloud does not)
- Higher Analytics score (8/10 vs 4/10)
- Higher Scalability score (10/10 vs 6/10)
- Better fit for saas companies (9/10 vs 7/10)
Why choose Hetzner Cloud
- Higher Cost score (8/10 vs 5/10)
- Higher Ease of Use score (7/10 vs 4/10)
Pros & Cons
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Pros
- The service catalogue is unusually broad, with over 200 services across 38 regions, so most infrastructure needs can be met on one platform.
- EC2 has a 99.99% region-level SLA with credits of up to 100%, and instances unavailable for more than six minutes in an hour are not billed for that hour.
- The free plan gives up to $200 in credits, and more than 30 always-free services let new teams experiment at low cost.
- Support scales from a $29 minimum up to dedicated Enterprise and Unified Operations tiers for mission-critical workloads.
- G2 rates it 4.4 across more than 17,000 reviews, and reviewers praise its scalability and global reach.
Cons
- Reviewers widely cite a steep learning curve across the console and services.
- Usage pricing is complex and can produce unexpected bills unless spend is monitored closely.
- Paid support is billed as a percentage of total AWS spend, so support costs rise with usage.
- A July 2025 billing console bug showed customers estimated charges in the billions, which hurt trust in its cost tooling.
Hetzner Cloud
Pros
- EU servers include 20 TB of traffic, and extra traffic costs only €1 per TB.
- Hourly billing capped at a monthly price, with no contracts.
- A full API and CLI plus Terraform and Ansible integrations make automation straightforward.
- Stateful firewalls and private networks come at no extra cost.
- Still cheaper per spec than DigitalOcean in independent 2026 comparisons.
Cons
- Prices rose twice in 2026, with CPX and CCX new orders up by as much as about 176%.
- Cost-Optimized types are listed as unavailable, and provisioning was limited for new customers from June 2026.
- Many users report account verification failures and suspensions with little explanation.
- No managed database, serverless or managed Kubernetes products.
- US and Singapore servers include far less traffic than EU servers.
