VPS and app hosting · head to head
Cloudways vs Hetzner Cloud
What each costs, whether there's a free plan, and what each is best for, from prices checked on their own sites.
| Fact |  Cloudways |  Hetzner Cloud |
|---|---|---|
| From | $11/mo | $6.49/mo |
| Free plan | Yes · 3-day free trial, no card | No · No free tier or trial credit |
| Best for | Managed hosting on top of DigitalOcean, AWS and Google Cloud servers. | Lots of traffic for users in Europe |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
| Website | Visit | Visit |
The difference in short
- Hetzner Cloud costs less to start: $6.49/mo against $11/mo for Cloudways.
- Only Cloudways has a free plan, trial or credit.
Cloudways pricing
All about Cloudways| Plan | Price | Specs / includes | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| DigitalOcean Standard (SSD) 1 GB - Micro | $11/mo | 1 vCPU · 1 GB RAM · 25 GB SSD | pay-as-you-go hourly ($0.0164/hr), billed monthly in arrears; prices exclude taxes. Provider = DigitalOcean, server type Basic, Standard toggle. |
| DigitalOcean Standard (SSD) 2 GB - Small | $24/mo | 1 vCPU · 2 GB RAM · 50 GB SSD | pay-as-you-go hourly ($0.0357/hr), billed monthly in arrears; excl. taxes |
| DigitalOcean Standard (SSD) 4 GB - Medium | $46/mo | 2 vCPU · 4 GB RAM · 80 GB SSD | pay-as-you-go hourly ($0.0685/hr), billed monthly in arrears; excl. taxes. Labelled 'Most popular'. 8 GB / 4 vCPU / 160 GB is $88/mo. |
| DigitalOcean Premium (NVMe) 1 GB - Micro | $14/mo | 1 vCPU · 1 GB RAM · 25 GB NVMe | pay-as-you-go hourly ($0.0208/hr), billed monthly in arrears; excl. taxes. This Premium (NVMe) view is the page default. |
| DigitalOcean Premium (NVMe) 2 GB - Small | $28/mo | 1 vCPU · 2 GB RAM · 50 GB NVMe | pay-as-you-go hourly ($0.0417/hr), billed monthly in arrears; excl. taxes |
| DigitalOcean Premium (NVMe) 4 GB - Medium | $54/mo | 2 vCPU · 4 GB RAM · 80 GB NVMe | pay-as-you-go hourly ($0.0804/hr), billed monthly in arrears; excl. taxes. 8 GB / 4 vCPU / 160 GB NVMe is $99/mo. |
Hetzner Cloud pricing
All about Hetzner Cloud| Plan | Price | Specs / includes | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| CX23 (Cost-Optimized, Intel/AMD) | $6.49/mo | 2 vCPU · 4 GB RAM · 40 GB NVMe | hourly billing, capped at the monthly price. USD $6.49 = excl. VAT and excl. IPv4 (docs page). EUR 5.99 = incl. IPv4 (product page; EUR 5.49 excl. IPv4). Hourly: $0.0104 (docs) / EUR 0.0096 incl. IPv4 (product page). Available in Germany (FSN/NBG) and Finland (HEL). |
| CX33 | $9.99/mo | 4 vCPU · 8 GB RAM · 80 GB NVMe | hourly billing, capped at monthly price. USD excl. VAT and IPv4; EUR incl. IPv4 (EUR 8.49 excl. IPv4). Hourly: $0.0160 (docs). |
| CX43 | $18.49/mo | 8 vCPU · 16 GB RAM · 160 GB NVMe | hourly billing, capped at monthly price. USD excl. VAT and IPv4; EUR incl. IPv4 (EUR 15.99 excl. IPv4). Hourly: $0.0296 (docs). |
| CAX11 (Cost-Optimized, Arm Ampere) | $6.99/mo | 2 vCPU · 4 GB RAM · 40 GB NVMe | hourly billing, capped at monthly price. USD excl. VAT and IPv4; EUR incl. IPv4 (EUR 5.99 excl. IPv4). Arm64. Hourly: $0.0112 (docs). |
| CPX22 (Regular Performance, AMD) | $22.99/mo | 2 vCPU · 4 GB RAM · 80 GB NVMe | hourly billing, capped at monthly price. USD excl. VAT and IPv4; EUR incl. IPv4 (EUR 19.49 excl. IPv4). Hourly: $0.0368 (docs). Singapore location: $30.99 (docs) / EUR 26.99 (product page). |
| CPX32 | $41.99/mo | 4 vCPU · 8 GB RAM · 160 GB NVMe | hourly billing, capped at monthly price. USD excl. VAT and IPv4; EUR incl. IPv4 (EUR 35.49 excl. IPv4). Hourly: $0.0673 (docs). |
What's good, and what to watch for
Cloudways
Managed hosting on top of DigitalOcean, AWS and Google Cloud servers.
Hetzner Cloud
- 20 TB of traffic included in EU locations; extra traffic is $1.20 per TB
- Hourly billing, never above the monthly cap
- IPv6 is free, and listed prices already include an IPv4 address
- Every Cost-Optimized plan (CX and CAX) showed as not available on October 18, 2026
- US servers start at $21.09/month with 1 TB of traffic; servers bill until deleted
Other VPS and app hosting options
Cheapest first where the prices compare.
Fly.io
Vultr
Hostinger
UpCloudFAQ
Which is cheaper, Cloudways or Hetzner Cloud?
Hetzner Cloud costs less to start: $6.49/mo against $11/mo for Cloudways. Prices checked Oct 18, 2026 on each company's own site.
Do Cloudways and Hetzner Cloud have a free plan?
Cloudways: Yes. 3-day free trial, no card. Hetzner Cloud: No, we found no free plan or trial for Hetzner Cloud.
What else should I compare with Cloudways and Hetzner Cloud?
Other VPS and app hosting options we've checked: Fly.io ($2.19/mo), Vultr ($2.50/mo), Hostinger ($2.99/mo), UpCloud ($3.50/mo).
Keep comparing
Built from the prices and facts we checked on each company's own site. We haven't tested either hands-on.How we work