Hetzner vs AWS: True Cost Comparison
The price difference between Hetzner and AWS is dramatic — often 5–10x for equivalent compute specs. Here's a real comparison:
Compute (4 vCPU / 8GB RAM): - Hetzner CX32: €5.92/month (NVMe SSD, 80GB) - AWS t3.xlarge: ~$133/month (on-demand, US East, EBS not included) - AWS t3.xlarge (1-year Reserved): ~$63/month
Storage (100GB): - Hetzner: Included in CX32 cost (80GB) + €3/month for extra 100GB - AWS EBS gp3: $8/month for 100GB - AWS S3: $2.30/month for 100GB storage + transfer fees
Bandwidth: - Hetzner: 20TB/month included with each server - AWS: First 1GB free, then $0.09/GB (~$180 for 2TB egress)
Database (PostgreSQL, 2 vCPU / 4GB RAM): - Hetzner: €10.33/month (self-managed on cloud server) - AWS RDS db.t3.medium: ~$69/month
When is AWS worth the premium over Hetzner? 1. You need specific AWS services (Lambda, SageMaker, DynamoDB) with no Hetzner equivalent 2. Your users are globally distributed (US + EU + APAC) and need AWS's 33 regions 3. You require enterprise compliance certifications only on AWS 4. You need managed Kubernetes (EKS) with AWS ecosystem integration 5. Your team has AWS expertise and replatforming costs would exceed savings