Short answer
As of October 23, 2026, Contabo wins more of the head-to-head checks (5 vs 0) and ranks higher overall (#6 of 160). Contabo is cheaper to start ($6.16 vs $6.71 a month) and Contabo has more locations (10 vs 6).
Verdict
Contabo is cheaper to start: Cloud VPS 4 costs $6.16 per month against $6.71 at Hetzner Cloud, and it stays cheaper per gigabyte of RAM ($0.70 vs $1.75 median).
Contabo has the wider footprint with 10 locations in 7 countries, against 6 in 4 at Hetzner Cloud; both offer Nuremberg and Singapore.
On features, only Contabo offers Windows Server and only Hetzner Cloud bills hourly.
Customers rate Contabo higher on Trustpilot: 4.6 from 11,470 reviews versus 3.0 from 3,001.
Overall Contabo ranks #6 and Hetzner Cloud #38 of 160 providers we track. Choose Contabo if price matters most or you need a wider choice of locations; choose Hetzner Cloud if you want hourly billing.
Contabo and Hetzner side by side
| Contabo | Hetzner Cloud | |
|---|---|---|
| Cheapest plan | Cloud VPS 4: $6.16/mo | CX23: $6.71/mo |
| Entry plan specs | 4 vCPU, 8 GB RAM, 100 GB SSD, unmetered traffic | 2 vCPU, 4 GB RAM, 40 GB NVMe, 20 TB traffic |
| Cheapest Windows plan | Cloud VPS 4: $6.16/mo | No Windows |
| Median price per GB RAM | $0.70 | $1.75 |
| Data-center locations | 10 in 7 countries | 6 in 4 countries |
| Regions | Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania | Asia, Europe, North America |
| Virtualisation | KVM | KVM |
| Hourly billing | No | Yes |
| NVMe storage | Yes | Yes |
| DDoS protection | Yes | Yes |
| Backups | Paid | Paid |
| Managed option | No | No |
| Payment methods | card, paypal, wire, other | card, paypal, sepa, wire |
| Money-back | 14 days | 14 days |
| Uptime SLA | 99.9% (annual average network availability per ToS clause 11) | 99.9% |
| Trustpilot | 4.6 (11,470 reviews) | 3.0 (3,001 reviews) |
| Founded / HQ | 2003, Munich DE | 1997, Gunzenhausen DE |
Highlighted cells mark the better value where the comparison is objective (lower price, more locations, higher rating).
Plans at the same size
The closest matching plans by RAM from each provider.
| RAM | Contabo | $/month | Hetzner | $/month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 GB | no plan | — | CX23 (2 vCPU, 40 GB) | $6.71 |
| 8 GB | Cloud VPS 4 (4 vCPU, 100 GB) | $6.16 | CX33 (4 vCPU, 80 GB) | $10.07 |
| 16 GB | no plan | — | CX43 (8 vCPU, 160 GB) | $18.47 |
Locations
Contabo operates 10 locations (Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania); Hetzner Cloud operates 6 (Asia, Europe, North America).
Cities both offer: Nuremberg and Singapore.
Only Contabo: Mumbai, Munich, New York, Portsmouth, Seattle, St. Louis, Sydney and Tokyo.
Only Hetzner: Ashburn, Falkenstein, Helsinki and Portland.
Frequently asked questions
Is Contabo or Hetzner Cloud better?
As of October 23, 2026, Contabo wins more of the head-to-head checks (5 vs 0) and ranks higher overall (#6 of 160). Contabo is cheaper to start ($6.16 vs $6.71 a month) and Contabo has more locations (10 vs 6).
Is Contabo cheaper than Hetzner Cloud?
Contabo has the lower entry price: $6.16 against $6.71 per month. The plans-at-equal-RAM table compares them size by size.
Which has more data centers, Contabo or Hetzner Cloud?
Contabo, with 10 locations in 7 countries versus 6 at Hetzner Cloud. Both operate in Nuremberg and Singapore.
Do Contabo and Hetzner Cloud offer Windows VPS?
Only Contabo offers Windows Server.
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.