Cost guide · checked 19 October 2026
DigitalOcean vs Hetzner: a US VPS cost comparison
The published entry prices are far apart, but the configurations and billing details differ.
Price and configuration
DigitalOcean Basic Regular 2 GiB lists 1 vCPU, 50 GiB SSD, 2,000 GiB transfer and $12 per month. Hetzner CPX11 in Ashburn or Hillsboro lists 2 shared vCPUs, 40 GiB NVMe, 1 TiB transfer and $20.49 per month after the June 2026 adjustment. Hetzner primary IPv4 adds $0.60 per month. These are published prices, not a performance benchmark.
The extra cost question
DigitalOcean weekly backups are 20% of Droplet cost and daily backups 30%. Its snapshot storage is $0.06 per GiB-month. Hetzner backup and snapshot costs are deliberately left unknown in this catalog until plan-specific US terms are verified.
Choosing a fair comparison
Check actual region, CPU model, latency, support needs, tax and bandwidth pattern at checkout. A lower base price is only one part of cost. For short-lived servers, consult each provider’s hourly rules and monthly caps.
Continue with the interactive tools or the plan catalog.
Sources and verification 4 official pages · checked 19 Oct 2026
Pricing can change. Confirm terms at checkout.