Netcup vs Hetzner: The German Classics
Germany is the birthplace of cheap and quality VPS. Two names dominate this market: Netcup and Hetzner. Both sit in German data centers, both offer an incredible price-to-performance ratio. But the devil, as always, is in the details.
Plans: VPS and Root Server
An important nuance upfront: Hetzner separates regular VPS from “Root Server” (essentially dedicated vCPU on a hypervisor with no overselling). Netcup also distinguishes between vServer and Root Server, but the boundaries are blurrier.
Entry-level plans — let’s crunch the numbers:
| Provider | Plan | vCPU | RAM | NVMe | Traffic | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Netcup | vServer VPS 1000 G11 | 4 | 4 GB | 256 GB | 80 TB | €5.75/mo |
| Hetzner | CX22 (VPS) | 2 | 4 GB | 40 GB | 20 TB | €4.39/mo |
| Netcup | RS 1000 G11 | 4 (dedicated) | 8 GB | 256 GB | ∞ | €10.50/mo |
| Hetzner | AX42 (Root) | 6 (dedicated) | 8 GB | 128 GB | 20 TB | €12.00/mo |
Netcup offers a colossal amount of disk space — 256 GB NVMe on the entry-level vServer. That’s atypical for the market. Hetzner is more modest on disk, but slightly cheaper to get started.
On Root Servers, the balance is roughly even: Hetzner is slightly pricier but offers more cores. Netcup throws in unlimited traffic — for streaming, CDN, and backup servers, that’s a deciding factor.
CPU Performance
Hetzner deploys AMD EPYC 2nd and 3rd gen on VPS, and on dedicated Root Servers you’ll even find desktop Ryzen chips. Per-core performance is above market average — stable and predictable. Overselling exists on the VPS line, but it’s moderate.
Netcup uses AMD EPYC on the latest G11 plan lines. A separate plus: dedicated cores are available for a reasonable surcharge. That means your 4 cores are truly your 4 cores, no neighbors.
Benchmark tests (UnixBench, Geekbench) show that a single Hetzner core is slightly faster, but Netcup compensates with generous core counts on their plans.
Network and Data Centers
Both are based in Germany:
- Hetzner: Falkenstein, Nuremberg (main), plus Finland (Helsinki) and US (Ashburn, Hillsboro). Own network, peering with DE-CIX, AMS-IX, LINX. Ping to Europe: 2–20 ms.
- Netcup: Karlsruhe, Nuremberg. Germany only. Also strong peering, but a smaller geographic footprint.
Hetzner wins on location count. For international projects, that’s a plus. Netcup only offers German data centers, but with excellent connectivity within Europe.
SLA and Reliability
Hetzner guarantees 99.9% SLA on VPS and Root Server. Actual uptime over recent years is close to 99.95–99.99%. Incidents happen (everyone remembers the 2023 data center fire), but overall infrastructure is top-notch.
Netcup promises the same 99.9%. Independent monitoring confirms stability. Fewer major screw-ups than the competitor, but the customer base is also smaller.
In practice — both hold the line. Serious downtime once every couple of years is the market, not the provider.
Control Panels and Software
Hetzner uses the Cloud Console web interface. Modern, fast, with an API, CLI, and Terraform provider. Snapshots, volumes, firewalls, Cloud-init — everything’s there. For DevOps — a dream.
Netcup relies on the Server Control Panel (SCP). Functional but archaic. Works reliably, but the design is straight out of the 2000s. An API exists, but documentation is weaker than Hetzner’s. Still, OS reinstall, reverse DNS, backups — all doable without jumping through hoops.
For flexible infrastructure (Terraform, IaC) — Hetzner hands down. For a static server you set up and forget — Netcup is just as good.
Hidden Nuances
Netcup has a quirk: minimum one-year contract (with monthly billing). You can cancel, but a month before expiry. Prices without discounts (after the promo period) go up — read the terms carefully.
Hetzner has no contract issues: monthly billing, cancel anytime. But there’s a nuance: registration requires verification — passport or ID card. Not everyone passes on the first try, especially non-EU residents. Plus, late payments can result in a hard server block with no warning.
Which to Choose
The choice boils down to three criteria:
Netcup — if:
- You need an absurd amount of disk space for pennies
- Unlimited traffic is critical (streaming, backups, file sharing)
- The project is long-term and a yearly contract doesn’t scare you
- You don’t need multi-region infrastructure
Hetzner — if:
- You need data centers in Finland or the US
- The ecosystem matters (Terraform, API, Cloud)
- You want freedom: pay monthly, leave anytime
- The project is DevOps-oriented with auto-scaling
For a €5 pet project, I’d pick Netcup — 256 GB of disk opens up a ton of possibilities. For a startup with growth potential — Hetzner: scaling is easier, there are more tools.