Short answer
As of October 23, 2026, the closest alternative to Hetzner Cloud is netcup, followed by LikeVPS and DigitalOcean. The cheapest of the 12 is netcup at $2.07/month, against $6.71 at Hetzner Cloud.
Key takeaways
- Prices run from $2.07 (netcup, prepaid annually or longer) with a median of $4.44 per month across 12 providers.
- Widest footprint: LikeVPS, 26 data-center locations in 26 countries.
- Best rated: Contabo, 4.6/5 on Trustpilot from 11,470 reviews.
- 4 of 12 offer Windows Server, 11 include DDoS protection and 6 bill by the hour.
Best Hetzner Cloud alternatives
-
1
netcup
German budget VPS and dedicated-core root servers with traffic flat rate in five locations across three continents. VPS piko G11s at $2.07/month with 1 GB RAM. DDoS protection included, hourly billing and unmetered traffic on some plans.
VPS piko G11s: 1 vCPU, 1 GB RAM, 30 GB SSD, unmetered traffic. -
2
LikeVPS
UK-registered VPS provider with 26 locations across Europe, North America, Asia and Oceania; DDoS protection and unlimited traffic included in most plans. Lite 2.0 at $10.00/month with 2 GB RAM. 26 locations in 26 countries, DDoS protection included and Windows Server available.
Lite 2.0: 1 vCPU, 2 GB RAM, 25 GB NVMe, 20 TB traffic. -
3
DigitalOcean
US public cloud with Droplet VMs from $4/mo across 13 cities on four continents. Basic 512 MB (s-1vcpu-512mb-10gb) at $4.00/month with 512 MB RAM. DDoS protection included, hourly billing and accepts crypto.
Basic 512 MB (s-1vcpu-512mb-10gb): 1 vCPU, 512 MB RAM, 10 GB SSD, 500 GB traffic. -
4
Cherry Servers
Lithuanian provider offering shared VPS, dedicated-core VDS and ARM servers in seven locations with hourly billing. Cloud VPS 1 at $10.53/month with 1 GB RAM. DDoS protection included, hourly billing and accepts crypto.
Cloud VPS 1: 1 vCPU, 1 GB RAM, 20 GB SSD, 5 TB traffic. -
5
UpCloud
Finnish cloud with Starter VPS from €3/mo ($3.50), Premium MaxIOPS plans with a 99.999% SLA and 15 zones in 12 countries. Starter 1xCPU-1GB at $3.50/month with 1 GB RAM. Windows Server available and hourly billing.
Starter 1xCPU-1GB: 1 vCPU, 1 GB RAM, 10 GB SSD, traffic n/a.
All 12 alternatives
| # | Provider | Plan | $/month | RAM | $/GB RAM | Locations | Windows | Hourly | Trustpilot |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | VPS piko G11s | $2.07 | 1 GB | $2.07 | 5 | No | Yes | 3.8 (3,022) | |
| 2 | Lite 2.0 | $10.00 | 2 GB | $5.00 | 26 | Yes | No | — | |
| 3 | Basic 512 MB (s-1vcpu-512mb-10gb) | $4.00 | 512 MB | $8.00 | 13 | No | Yes | 4.5 (2,581) | |
| 4 | Cloud VPS 1 | $10.53 | 1 GB | $10.53 | 7 | No | Yes | 4.4 (152) | |
| 5 | Starter 1xCPU-1GB | $3.50 | 1 GB | $3.50 | 14 | Yes | Yes | 3.0 (168) | |
| 6 | 512 MB DDR5 | $2.48 | 512 MB | $4.96 | 13 | No | Yes | — | |
| 7 | Leaseweb VPS 1 | $5.58 | 6 GB | $0.93 | 9 | No | No | 3.4 (319) | |
| 8 | Cloud VPS 4 | $6.16 | 8 GB | $0.77 | 10 | Yes | No | 4.6 (11,470) | |
| 9 | WAWs-1 | $6.64 | 2 GB | $3.32 | 11 | Yes | Yes | 2.6 (119) | |
| 10 | VPS.2 | $4.67 | 2 GB | $2.33 | 11 | No | No | 2.6 (90) | |
| 11 | NVMe 2 GB | $4.00 | 2 GB | $2.00 | 14 | No | No | 2.7 (91) | |
| 12 | Starter 2C2G 40GB | $4.20 | 2 GB | $2.10 | 11 | No | No | — |
Prices compared
Why people switch from Hetzner Cloud
Hetzner Cloud sells plans from $6.71 a month in 6 locations (Asia, Europe, North America); it has no Windows plans, bills hourly.
Its strengths: 20 tb of included outbound traffic on eu plans with overage at only €1/tb (billed in 100 mb blocks) and arm64 (ampere) and dedicated-vcpu lines, free stateful firewalls, private networks and ddos protection. Its limits: only six locations (3 in europe, 2 us, 1 singapore); us/singapore plans cost more and include just 0.5-8 tb traffic and backups cost 20% of the server price and no windows images are offered (bring-your-own iso only, x86 plans). The alternatives below match the strengths and avoid at least one of the limits.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best alternative to Hetzner Cloud?
As of October 23, 2026, the closest alternative to Hetzner Cloud is netcup, followed by LikeVPS and DigitalOcean. The cheapest of the 12 is netcup at $2.07/month, against $6.71 at Hetzner Cloud.
What is a cheaper alternative to Hetzner Cloud?
netcup at $2.07 per month (VPS piko G11s: 1 vCPU, 1 GB RAM, 30 GB SSD, unmetered traffic).
Sources
Prices, plans and locations were read from these pages; last checked October 23, 2026. Prices change, so confirm on the provider's site before you buy.