What is the difference between Hetzner and Vultr?

Hetzner is best for European developers wanting affordable, powerful servers, while Vultr is best for Developers wanting affordable cloud across 30+ locations. Hetzner starts at €3.29/mo and Vultr starts at $2.50/mo.

Hetzner vs Vultr

Hetzner is german cloud provider with high-performance servers at unbeatable prices, while Vultr is cloud infrastructure with compute, storage, and Kubernetes across 30+ global locations. Vultr comes in cheaper, but price alone does not tell the full story. Hetzner is built for european developers wanting affordable, powerful servers, whereas Vultr targets developers wanting affordable cloud across 30+ locations.

At a glance

	Hetzner	Vultr
Best for	European developers wanting affordable, powerful servers	Developers wanting affordable cloud across 30+ locations
Starting price	€3.29/mo	$2.50/mo
Free tier	—	—
Open source	—	—
Free tier available	—	—
Open source	—	—
Bare Metal	—	✓
Block Storage	✓	—
Cloud Compute	—	✓
Cloud VMs	✓	—
Dedicated Servers	✓	—
Global	—	✓
Kubernetes	—	✓
Load Balancers	✓	—

Hetzner

Strengths

Includes Dedicated Servers as a core feature, purpose-built for cloud hosting workflows
Includes Cloud VMs as a core feature, purpose-built for cloud hosting workflows
Affordable at €3.29/mo — one of the lower-priced options in the cloud hosting category
Established product with 29+ years on the market and a mature ecosystem

Weaknesses

No free plan — you need to pay €3.29/mo from day one to use it
Fewer built-in features means you may need additional tools to cover gaps
Costs can spike unexpectedly during traffic surges if limits aren't configured
Mobile experience lags behind the desktop version in features and polish

Try Hetzner → Full review

Vultr

Strengths

Includes Cloud Compute as a core feature, purpose-built for cloud hosting workflows
Includes Kubernetes as a core feature, purpose-built for cloud hosting workflows
Affordable at $2.50/mo — one of the lower-priced options in the cloud hosting category
Established product with 12+ years on the market and a mature ecosystem

Weaknesses

No free plan — you need to pay $2.50/mo from day one to use it
Fewer built-in features means you may need additional tools to cover gaps
Costs can spike unexpectedly during traffic surges if limits aren't configured
Limited team/admin features if your organization eventually scales up

Try Vultr → Full review

The bottom line

Pricing: Hetzner starts at €3.29/mo. Vultr starts at $2.50/mo. Vultr is the more affordable option.

Feature gaps: Hetzner offers Block Storage, Cloud VMs and Dedicated Servers that Vultr lacks. Vultr brings Bare Metal, Cloud Compute and Global that Hetzner does not have.

Team fit: Hetzner is geared toward any size teams, while Vultr is aimed at small teams teams. Pick the one that matches where your team is today and where it is headed — migrating tools later is always painful.

Where each tool shines: Hetzner's biggest strengths are: includes dedicated servers as a core feature, purpose-built for cloud hosting workflows. includes cloud vms as a core feature, purpose-built for cloud hosting workflows. Vultr's biggest strengths are: includes cloud compute as a core feature, purpose-built for cloud hosting workflows. includes kubernetes as a core feature, purpose-built for cloud hosting workflows.

Watch out for: With Hetzner, users commonly note that no free plan — you need to pay €3.29/mo from day one to use it. With Vultr, the main complaint is that no free plan — you need to pay $2.50/mo from day one to use it.

Choose Hetzner if...

You need a tool built for european developers wanting affordable, powerful servers
You specifically need Block Storage and Cloud VMs
You care about includes cloud vms as a core feature, purpose-built for cloud hosting workflows
Your team size fits the any size profile Hetzner is designed for

Choose Vultr if...

Your profile matches its sweet spot: developers wanting affordable cloud across 30+ locations
You want to save on per-user costs — Vultr is $0.79/user/mo cheaper
You specifically need Bare Metal and Cloud Compute
You care about includes kubernetes as a core feature, purpose-built for cloud hosting workflows
Your team size fits the small teams profile Vultr is designed for