Hetzner is a German hosting provider that has been around since 1997. While the world obsesses over AWS and Google Cloud, Hetzner quietly builds its own infrastructure, offering some of the lowest prices on the market with excellent quality. Their cloud platform has grown from classic hosting and dedicated servers into a full-fledged public cloud.
Pricing Grid
Hetzner’s pricing is the main talking point. The CX22 cloud server (2 vCPU, 4 GB RAM, 40 GB NVMe) costs €3.99/month. For comparison: a similar configuration at DigitalOcean is $24/month. That’s a sixfold difference.
The flagship CX52 (16 vCPU, 32 GB RAM, 360 GB NVMe) is €47.99/month. All plans include 20 TB of traffic — far more generous than most competitors.
They also offer dedicated servers — from €40/month for an Intel Xeon with 64 GB RAM. Plus object storage, managed databases, load balancers, and private networking.
Data Centers and Performance
Hetzner operates from Germany (Nuremberg, Falkenstein), Finland (Helsinki), and the US (Oregon, Virginia). European data centers show excellent connectivity — latency within Germany is under 5ms.
Processors are AMD EPYC and Intel Xeon of the latest generations. Storage is NVMe. Network throughput reaches up to 10 Gbit/s per instance. In terms of price-to-performance ratio, Hetzner beats virtually everyone.
Caveats
The European focus is both a plus and a minus. For audiences in Asia or South America, latency will be higher. Registration requires verification (passport/ID) — a barrier for some users. The Cloud Console interface is functional but not as polished as DigitalOcean or Vercel.
Tech support is in English and German. Responses are competent, but there’s no 24/7 live chat on entry-level plans.
Affiliate Program
Hetzner doesn’t have a public affiliate program with a dashboard and referral links in the traditional sense. However, there is a partner program for agencies and resellers with individual terms. For content affiliates, this isn’t the most convenient option — you’ll need to negotiate directly.
The Verdict
If your audience values price-to-performance and isn’t afraid of a European provider, Hetzner is unrivaled. Where DigitalOcean charges $24, Hetzner delivers the same for €4. The savings more than make up for any minor inconveniences.
Official website: hetzner.com