Compare / Hetzner Cloud vs Netcup VPS / Root Server
Hetzner Cloud vs Netcup VPS / Root Server
Pre-calculated from hand-checked data — Hetzner Cloud checked 2026-08-06, Netcup checked 2026-08-06.
The short version
Hetzner Cloud and Netcup VPS / Root Server split our comparison — the right pick depends on what your project values.
Price Netcup VPS / Root Server
Netcup VPS / Root Server is cheaper at most of the stages we model.
Ease Tie
Both take similar effort to get a first deploy live.
Features Hetzner Cloud
Hetzner Cloud comes out ahead on 1 of the 15 features we track, versus 0.
What developers say about this matchup
We couldn't find a substantive first-person discussion comparing this exact pair. We leave the section empty instead of filling it with vendor marketing or generic SEO comparisons.
At a glance
| Hetzner Cloud | Netcup VPS / Root Server | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | European projects that need serious compute or move a lot of traffic. | European projects that want the most NVMe and RAM per euro and can live with German contract formalities. |
| How deploys work | You get root on a bare server: bring your own setup, or use one-click apps like Docker and WordPress. | You get root on a bare server: bring your own setup; the Server Control Panel handles images, snapshots, and a remote console. |
| The tradeoff | Self-managed like any VPS, and the bandwidth advantage mostly applies to EU locations. | Best-in-class specs per euro, but 12-month terms, strict signup checks, and an unforgiving abuse process. |
| Free tier | None | None |
What you'd realistically pay
Hetzner Cloud Netcup VPS / Root Server
| Project stage | Hetzner Cloud | Netcup VPS / Root Server | Cheaper |
|---|---|---|---|
| Just starting | ≈€5.99/mo CX23 (EU) — €5.49 + €0.50 IPv4. 2 shared vCPU, 4 GB RAM, 40 GB SSD, 20 TB traffic. Germany and Finland only. | ≈€5.91/mo VPS 500 G12 — Incl. 19% VAT. 2 shared vCores, 4 GB DDR5 RAM, 128 GB NVMe, unmetered traffic. Also available hourly at €0.010/h. | ≈ Tie |
| Steady traffic | ≈€8.99/mo CX33 (EU) — €8.49 + €0.50 IPv4. 4 shared vCPU, 8 GB RAM, 80 GB SSD, 20 TB traffic. | ≈€12.79/mo RS 1000 G12 — Incl. 19% VAT. 4 dedicated EPYC cores, 8 GB RAM, 256 GB NVMe — dedicated cores at a shared-core price. | Hetzner Cloud |
| Growing | ≈€43.49/mo CCX13 (EU) — €42.99 + €0.50 IPv4. 2 dedicated vCPU, 8 GB RAM, 80 GB NVMe — move to dedicated CPUs when shared bursting stops being enough. | ≈€19.25/mo VPS 2000 G12 — Incl. 19% VAT. 8 shared vCores, 16 GB RAM, 512 GB NVMe, unmetered traffic. | Netcup VPS / Root Server |
Hetzner Cloud pricing notes
- Traffic overage costs €1/TB in the EU — most providers charge 10–100x that per GB.
- Billed hourly up to a monthly cap.
- The Arm-based CAX plans match CX specs at similar prices if the Intel CX line is out of stock.
Netcup VPS / Root Server pricing notes
- Every plan has an hourly-billed variant with no minimum term (VPS 500: €0.010/h) — slightly pricier per month but cancellable anytime.
- IPv6-only saves €0.60/month, but you cannot add a public IPv4 later.
- Non-EU locations (US, Singapore) and Vienna carry a small surcharge (about €0.90/month on the entry plan).
Our ratings
Ease of use
Pricing clarity Hetzner Cloud
Free tier
Scaling
Control
Feature by feature
Hetzner Cloud wins 1, Netcup VPS / Root Server wins 0, with 14 even.
Deploy workflow
| Hetzner Cloud | Netcup VPS / Root Server | |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy from Git push | No No deploy pipeline — bring your own CI or scripts. | No No deploy pipeline — bring your own CI or scripts. |
| Preview deploys | No Nothing built in. | No Nothing built in. |
| Official CLI | Yes hcloud CLI manages servers, networks, and snapshots. | Partial The Server Control Panel exposes a webservice API; there is no first-class official CLI. |
| Instant rollbacks | Partial Snapshots and paid backups restore machines; no deploy-level rollback. | Partial Manual copy-on-write snapshots restore machines; no automatic backups, no deploy-level rollback. |
Platform
| Hetzner Cloud | Netcup VPS / Root Server | |
|---|---|---|
| Custom domains + HTTPS | Yes Point DNS at the server; TLS is yours via certbot or a proxy. | Yes Point DNS at the server; TLS is yours via certbot or a proxy. |
| Built-in CDN / edge network | No No CDN product — put Cloudflare in front if needed. | No No CDN product — put Cloudflare in front if needed. |
| Serverless functions | No Not a VPS feature. | No Not a VPS feature. |
| Docker containers | Yes Docker CE one-click app or install it yourself. | Yes Install Docker yourself on any image. |
| SSH / shell access | Yes Full root SSH. | Yes Full root SSH. |
| EU hosting region | Yes Germany and Finland are the home turf — this is where the value is. | Yes Vienna, Nuremberg, and Amsterdam are the core locations. |
Runtime & operations
| Hetzner Cloud | Netcup VPS / Root Server | |
|---|---|---|
| Automatic scaling | No Manual resizing or manual fleet management. | No Manual plan upgrades only. |
| Scale to zero | No Servers bill until deleted, even powered off. | No The contract bills until cancelled, powered off or not. |
| Scheduled jobs | Yes Classic cron on the box. | Yes Classic cron on the box. |
| Managed database | No No managed database product — self-host or go external. | No No managed database product — the closest thing is a fully managed vServer. |
| Logs & metrics built in | Partial Basic server graphs in the console; app-level monitoring is yours. | Partial Basic graphs in the Server Control Panel; app-level monitoring is yours. |
Watch out for
Hetzner Cloud
- Hetzner raised prices on 15 June 2026: dedicated CCX and shared CPX plans roughly tripled, while the budget CX line rose about 35%.
- The cheap CX plans are sold in Germany and Finland only, in limited capacity — Hetzner sometimes pauses sales when stock runs out.
- US locations include only 1–2 TB of traffic versus 20 TB in the EU — the famous value is a European value.
- A public IPv4 address costs €0.50/month extra; only IPv6 is free.
- Servers bill until deleted, even while powered off.
Netcup
- Regular rates have a 12-month minimum term; cancellation must arrive at least 31 days before term end or the contract renews.
- An hourly-billed model with no minimum term exists — pick it deliberately if you want flexibility.
- The abuse team can suspend servers instantly (including Friday night) and works Mon–Fri office hours; out-of-hours phone support costs €40 per 15 minutes.
- Sign-up identity checks are strict and some orders get rejected.
- Prices are displayed including 19% German VAT — your actual VAT depends on your country.
Read the full reviews: Hetzner Cloud and Netcup. Or answer four questions to see what fits your project.