Contabo vs Hetzner (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Hetzner grades higher than Contabo: 2.4 against 1.6 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Hetzner grades higher on value for money, features, ease of use and platforms. They get the same grade on the free plan.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Hetzner
German hosting: web hosting, cloud servers and dedicated servers
Which one is for you
Pick Contabo if
- Fits if you want a lot of RAM and storage for little and can manage a server
- Works for staging boxes, CI runners and hobby servers
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you can't look after a Linux server, as support covers the VPS only
- Not for you if you won't commit: the lowest price is for 24 months
- Watch out: a one-time setup fee applies on monthly Cloud VPS 4 orders
- Watch out: outgoing traffic is unlimited only under fair use, and heavy servers can be throttled
- Watch out: the price after the term isn't shown
Pick Hetzner if
- Fits if you're in Europe and want euro billing and German data centres
- Works for small PHP sites on cheap shared hosting
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you want a free plan or trial
- Watch out: prices are in euros excl. VAT and were read from a non-US page, so confirm a dollar figure
- Watch out: a one-time setup fee applies, such as €4.12 on Webhosting M
- Skip it if you want managed cloud servers, as they're unmanaged unless you add Managed Server
- Watch out: no domain is included
How we grade them
| 1.6GPAContaboWeak | 2.4GPAHetznerFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | B$5.28 a month excl. VAT on a 24-month term for 4 vCPU, 8GB RAM and 100GB, at the edge of the cheaper quarter ($5.28). Terms differ and the price after the term isn't shown. | AWebhosting S is €1.60 a month excl. VAT, under the cheaper quarter's $5.28 and under 60% of it. Cloud servers start at €5.49. |
| Free plan and trial | FNo free plan and no trial on record; every plan is paid from the first day. | FNo free plan and no trial on record; every plan is paid from the first day. |
| Features | CVPS sizes from 4 to 18 vCPU, snapshots, Plesk and cPanel options, many locations. The gap: it's a bare server, and Contabo supports the VPS, not the software on it. | BWeb hosting, cloud, dedicated and auction servers, object storage, DNS and SSL, a REST API and Terraform. No gap in the core job is named, though domains are sold separately. |
| Ease of use | DNo rating on record. An unmanaged VPS means installing, patching and troubleshooting it yourself. | CNo store rating on record. Web hosting uses a panel, but cloud and dedicated servers are unmanaged. |
| Platforms and integrations | CWeb panel only, with no integrations listed. | BWeb only, with Terraform, Ansible, Kubernetes, Docker and an API and CLI. |
| Best for | cheap servers with lots of RAM | low-priced German hosting and servers |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Contabo and Hetzner. How we grade
Price against what you get
Contabo starts at $5.28 a month and scores 1.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Hetzner starts at about $1.79 a month and scores 2.7.
Hetzner scores higher and starts $3.49 a month lower. Of the other web hosts on the chart, 23 score higher than Contabo for less, and none scores higher than Hetzner for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Hetzner also covers file sharing.
At a glance
| Contabo | Hetzner | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Paid | Paid |
| Starts at | $5.28 per month excl. VAT, 24-month subscription (Cloud VPS 4) | €1.60 per month excl. VAT (Webhosting S) |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Contabo GmbH | Hetzner Online GmbH |
| Price read from | contabo.com | hetzner.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Contabo
- The price shown is the monthly rate on a 24-month subscription; the page does not show the price after the term or a plain monthly price.
- A one-time setup fee applies to new Cloud VPS 4 orders on monthly contracts.
- Outgoing traffic is unlimited under a fair usage policy, and Contabo may throttle servers with very high or disruptive usage.
- Contabo supports the VPS itself, not the software installed on it; maintenance and troubleshooting are the user's job.
Hetzner
- Prices are in euros and exclude VAT, read from a page that was served for a non-US visitor, so a US buyer should confirm the dollar figures.
- Web hosting packages do not include a domain; one must be ordered separately.
- A one-time setup fee is listed on the Webhosting page, for example €4.12 on Webhosting M.
- Cloud and dedicated servers are unmanaged unless you add the separate Managed Server product.
Key features
Contabo
- Cloud VPS range
- Six Cloud VPS sizes from 4 to 18 vCPU cores and 8GB to 96GB RAM, each with unlimited, unmetered incoming traffic and fair-usage outgoing traffic.
- Other VPS lines
- Performance VPS on AMD EPYC CPUs with NVMe storage, Max Performance, Storage VPS, Windows VPS and GPU VPS are sold alongside.
- Plesk and cPanel VPS
- Plesk and cPanel VPS plans are listed, and Plesk is free for the first month on Cloud VPS, Cloud VDS, Storage VPS and dedicated servers.
- Longer terms for lower prices
- Prices shown are the effective monthly rate for a 24-month subscription, and no setup fee applies on longer contracts.
- Snapshots and storage extension
- Each Cloud VPS includes snapshots, and Core VPS plans can double their storage through Storage Extension.
- Many locations
- The product page describes hosting across the EU, US, UK, Australia and Asia.
Hetzner
- Shared web hosting
- Four Webhosting packages with mailboxes, databases, cronjobs and PHP processes, and no minimum contract period.
- Cloud servers
- Shared-resource and dedicated-vCPU cloud servers, with stateful firewalls included at no extra cost and one-click apps such as Docker, GitLab CE and Nextcloud.
- Dedicated servers
- AX, EX, GPU, SX and DX lines, plus a Server Auction of refurbished machines starting at €78.70 a month.
- REST API and CLI
- Cloud resources can be managed through a REST API and a command-line tool, with integrations for Terraform, Ansible and Kubernetes.
- Storage products
- S3-compatible Object Storage, Storage Box backup servers and Storage Share, which Hetzner describes as GDPR-compliant storage.
- Domains, DNS and SSL
- Domain registration from €4.90 a year, DNS management and SSL certificates are sold separately.
Plans
Contabo
Cloud VPS 4$5.28
per month excl. VAT, 24-month term; $6.60 incl. tax
4 vCPU cores, 8GB RAM, 100GB SSD, 1 snapshot, 200 Mbit/s port and unlimited traffic. A setup fee applies on monthly contracts.
Cloud VPS 6$7.20
per month excl. VAT, 24-month term; $9.00 incl. tax
6 vCPU cores, 12GB RAM, 200GB SSD or 100GB NVMe, 2 snapshots, 300 Mbit/s port and unlimited traffic.
Cloud VPS 8$13.44
per month excl. VAT, 24-month term; $16.80 incl. tax
8 vCPU cores, 24GB RAM, 300GB SSD or 150GB NVMe, 3 snapshots, 600 Mbit/s port and unlimited traffic.
Cloud VPS 12$24.00
per month excl. VAT, 24-month term; $30.00 incl. tax
12 vCPU cores, 48GB RAM, 400GB SSD or 200GB NVMe, 3 snapshots, 800 Mbit/s port and unlimited traffic.
Cloud VPS 16$35.60
per month excl. VAT, 24-month term; $44.50 incl. tax
16 vCPU cores, 64GB RAM, 500GB SSD or 250GB NVMe, 3 snapshots, 1 Gbit/s port and unlimited traffic.
Cloud VPS 18$47.04
per month excl. VAT, 24-month term; $58.80 incl. tax
18 vCPU cores, 96GB RAM, 600GB SSD or 300GB NVMe, 3 snapshots, 1 Gbit/s port and unlimited traffic.
Hetzner
Webhosting S€1.60
per month, excl. VAT
10GB storage, unlimited mailboxes, 1 database, 1 cronjob, 2 PHP processes and a 192MB memory limit. No contract minimum.
Webhosting M€4.12
per month, excl. VAT
50GB storage, unlimited mailboxes, 5 databases, 5 cronjobs, 5 PHP processes and a 256MB memory limit.
Webhosting L€8.32
per month, excl. VAT
100GB storage, 20 databases, 10 cronjobs, 10 PHP processes, a 384MB memory limit, and Redis, SSH and Node.js.
Webhosting XL€16.72
per month, excl. VAT
300GB storage, unlimited mailboxes, 50 databases, 20 cronjobs, 20 PHP processes and a 512MB memory limit.
Cloud servers€5.49
per month and up, excl. VAT
Regular Performance shared-resource cloud servers from €5.49; Cost-Optimized from €5.99; General Purpose with dedicated vCPUs from €36.99.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Contabo or Hetzner?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Hetzner is cheaper to start with: about $1.79 a month, against $5.28 a month for Contabo. Contabo starts at $5.28 per month excl. VAT, 24-month subscription (Cloud VPS 4), and Hetzner starts at €1.60 per month excl. VAT (Webhosting S).
Which has a free plan, Contabo or Hetzner?
As of Nov 12, 2026, neither Contabo nor Hetzner has a free plan.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.