Contabo vs Hetzner 2026: Battle of the Budget Giants

Contabo vs Hetzner 2026: Battle of the Budget Giants

When it comes to budget VPS hosting in Europe, two names dominate the conversation: Contabo and Hetzner. Both providers offer incredible value that puts most other providers to shame, but they achieve this in very different ways.

Which budget giant offers better value for your specific needs? Let’s dive into this battle of the European titans.

Quick Summary

Aspect	Contabo	Hetzner
Starting price	~€4-6/month (varies)	€4.24/month
Entry-level specs	4 vCPU, 8GB RAM	2 vCPU, 4GB RAM
Value per USD	Extreme (8-10x better)	Excellent (4x better)
Storage focus	Massive allocations	Standard SSD
Location	Germany + EU + US/SG	Germany + US/SG
Performance	Good (shared)	Good (shared)
Availability	Generally available	Often sold out
Best for	Storage-heavy apps	General use

Bottom line: Contabo offers more storage and CPU, Hetzner has simpler pricing and better reputation. Both are incredible values.

Detailed Pricing Comparison

Contabo Pricing Structure

VPS Plans:

Plan	vCPU	RAM	Storage	Transfer	Price (USD est.)
VPS S	4	8GB	200GB SSD	2TB	~€4-6/mo
VPS M	8	16GB	400GB SSD	8TB	~€12-14/mo
VPS L	16	32GB	800GB SSD	17TB	~€24-28/mo
VPS XL	24	64GB	1.6TB SSD	32TB	~€44-52/mo
VPS XXL	48	128GB	3.2TB SSD	60TB	~€85-95/mo

Contabo pricing notes:

• Prices vary by region
• Setup fee may apply
• VAT for EU customers
• Monthly billing only
• First month can be higher (prorated)
• Extremely generous storage

Hetzner Pricing Structure

Plan	vCPU	RAM	Storage	Transfer	Price (USD est.)
CX11	2	4GB	20GB SSD	20TB	~€4.24/mo
CX21	3	8GB	40GB SSD	20TB	~€9.16/mo
CX31	4	16GB	80GB SSD	20TB	~€18.82/mo
CX41	8	32GB	160GB SSD	20TB	~€37.65/mo
CX51	12	64GB	240GB SSD	20TB	~€75.29/mo

Hetzner pricing notes:

• Simple, consistent pricing
• 20TB transfer on all plans
• Setup fee: €1 for new accounts
• Monthly billing only
• VAT included for EU

Value Comparison

At ~€6-7/month:

Contabo VPS S:

• 4 vCPU
• 8GB RAM
• 200GB SSD
• 2TB transfer
• ~€4-6/month

Hetzner CX11:

• 2 vCPU
• 4GB RAM
• 20GB SSD
• 20TB transfer
• ~€4.24/month

Contabo offers 2x the CPU, 2x the RAM, and 10x the storage for similar price!

At ~€19-20/month:

Contabo VPS L:

• 16 vCPU
• 32GB RAM
• 800GB SSD
• 17TB transfer
• ~€24-28/month

Hetzner CX31:

• 4 vCPU
• 16GB RAM
• 80GB SSD
• 20TB transfer
• ~€18.82/month

Contabo offers 4x the CPU, 2x the RAM, and 10x the storage!

Pricing winner: Contabo - Absolutely insane storage allocations.

Transfer winner: Hetzner - 20TB on all plans is very generous.

The Storage Showdown

This is Contabo’s biggest advantage:

Contabo storage allocations:

• VPS S: 200GB
• VPS M: 400GB
• VPS L: 800GB
• VPS XL: 1.6TB
• VPS XXL: 3.2TB

Hetzner storage allocations:

• CX11: 20GB
• CX21: 40GB
• CX31: 80GB
• CX41: 160GB
• CX51: 240GB

Contabo offers 10x the storage for similar pricing!

Use cases where Contabo wins:

• Media servers (Plex, Jellyfin)
• File hosting
• Backup servers
• Storage-intensive applications
• Database servers (need space)
• Large datasets

Use cases where Hetzner wins:

• Applications that don’t need much storage
• Web hosting
• Application servers
• Microservices

Performance Comparison

Contabo Performance

Strengths:

• Massive CPU allocations (many cores)
• High RAM (great for databases)
• Good network quality
• Solid German infrastructure
• DDoS protection

Considerations:

• Shared infrastructure (high density)
• Can be oversold
• Performance varies by host
• More users per physical server
• Potential noisy neighbor issues

Real-world:

• Good enough for most workloads
• Excellent value for the price
• May see performance variation at peak times

Hetzner Performance

Strengths:

• Good performance for price
• Solid reputation
• German quality
• Reliable infrastructure
• Good network
• Fast deployment

Considerations:

• Also shared infrastructure
• Can be oversold at times
• Performance varies by host
• Fewer resources per plan but less dense

Real-world:

• Consistently good performance
• Better reputation for reliability
• More predictable performance
• Less oversold than Contabo

Performance winner: Hetzner (slight edge) - Better reputation and consistency.

Availability Comparison

This is a major difference:

Contabo Availability

Status: Generally available

• Plans usually in stock
• Can sign up anytime
• No waiting for restocks
• Multiple locations available
• Predictable availability

Advantage: Easy to get started, no waiting

Hetzner Availability

Status: Often sold out

The Hetzner stock problem:

• Popular plans frequently out of stock
• CX11 often sold out
• Can wait days/weeks for restock
• Need to monitor for availability
• Restocks unpredictable

Why: Don’t oversell, stop selling when full

Advantage: Less oversold when you do get in

Availability winner: Contabo - Easy to get, no waiting game.

Data Center Locations

Contabo Data Centers

Germany:

• Munich (HQ)
• Nuremberg
• Other German locations

Europe:

• London, UK
• Netherlands
• (Other EU locations vary)

North America:

• St. Louis, Missouri, USA

Asia:

• Singapore (new)

Coverage: Strong EU + strategic US/Asia

Hetzner Data Centers

Germany:

• Falkenstein (Nuremberg region)
• Nuremberg
• Helsinki, Finland

USA:

• Hillsboro, Oregon
• Asheboro, North Carolina

Asia:

• Singapore

Coverage: German-focused + limited US/Asia

Location winner: Contabo - Better European coverage.

Features and Developer Experience

Contabo Features

Strengths:

• Massive storage allocations
• High CPU core counts
• Generous RAM
• DDoS protection
• Free backups (daily snapshots)
• Multiple locations
• Good control panel

Unique:

• Object Storage (S3-compatible)
• Managed Databases
• Private Networking
• Kubernetes available

Developer tools:

• Standard control panel
• API available
• Multiple Linux distros
• Windows support (extra cost)

Weaknesses:

• Basic interface
• Less polished
• Documentation available but technical
• Smaller community

Hetzner Features

Strengths:

• Very generous bandwidth (20TB)
• Fast deployment
• DDoS protection
• Rescue system
• Snapshot backups
• Good reputation

Unique:

• Server auction (get surplus cheaper)
• Dedicated servers (easy upgrade path)
• Colocation services
• Cloud console improvements

Developer tools:

• Cloud console (modernizing)
• API available
• Standard Linux images
• No official CLI

Weaknesses:

• Basic interface (improving)
• Limited documentation
• Fewer one-click apps
• Smaller community vs. big clouds

Features winner: Tie - Contabo has more cloud features, Hetzner has upgrade path to dedicated.

Support and Reputation

Contabo

Support:

• Ticket-based support
• Response time: varies
• German and English support
• Good documentation

Reputation:

• Known for great value
• Some complaints about support speed
• Solid but not outstanding reputation
• Growing user base

Hetzner

Support:

• Ticket-based support
• Response time: generally good
• German and English support
• Good documentation

Reputation:

• Cult following among developers
• Excellent reputation for value
• Known for reliability
• Highly recommended in communities
• Strong brand loyalty

Support winner: Hetzner - Better reputation and community trust.

Use Case Recommendations

Choose Contabo If:

• You need massive storage
• You want many CPU cores
• You need high RAM + storage
• You’re running media servers
• You need file hosting
• You want predictable availability (no stock issues)
• You need multiple locations in Europe
• You want object storage options
• Budget is #1 and you need storage

Ideal for:

• Media servers (Plex, Jellyfin)
• Backup servers
• File hosting/storage
• Databases needing space
• Storage-heavy applications
• Applications needing 100s of GB

Choose Hetzner If:

• You want proven reliability
• You prefer simpler pricing
• You value reputation
• You need generous bandwidth
• You want dedicated server upgrade path
• You’re in Germany/Europe
• You don’t need massive storage
• You want to avoid overselling

Ideal for:

• Web hosting
• Application servers
• Development environments
• Databases (RAM-focused)
• European projects
• Users wanting proven reliability

Performance by Use Case

Media Servers (Plex, Jellyfin)

Winner: Contabo (by far)

Why:

• 200GB-3.2TB storage
• Good CPU for transcoding
• Enough RAM for caching
• Unbeatable value

Database Servers

Winner: Contabo for storage-heavy, Hetzner for RAM-heavy

Contabo: Large databases need space Hetzner: More RAM per euro for caching

Web Hosting

Winner: Hetzner (slight edge)

Why:

• Better reputation
• More consistent performance
• Proven reliability

Application Servers

Winner: Hetzner

Why:

• Good balance of resources
• Better reputation
• Less oversold

Backup Servers

Winner: Contabo (clear winner)

Why:

• Massive storage allocations
• Free backups included
• Excellent value

Development/Staging

Winner: Hetzner (reputation) or Contabo (more resources)

Hetzner: Proven, reliable Contabo: More resources for testing

The “Hetzner Stock Problem”

Hetzner’s popularity is a double-edged sword:

Pros of being sold out:

• Less oversold
• Better performance when available
• Responsible capacity management

Cons:

• Can’t always get what you want
• Waiting games for restocks
• Unpredictable availability
• May need to choose different location

Contabo advantage:

• Always available
• No waiting
• Predictable

The Reputation Factor

Hetzner has a “cult following”:

• Highly recommended on Reddit
• Strong community support
• Long-time users praise it
• Considered the “gold standard” for budget VPS

Contabo is:

• Known for value
• Growing in popularity
• Less community enthusiasm
• More of a “hidden gem”

Does reputation matter?

• Hetzner: Proven track record
• Contabo: Great value but less proven

The Hybrid Strategy

Use both strategically:

Contabo for:

• Storage and backups
• Media servers
• High-resource applications
• Testing with large datasets
• Non-critical storage needs

Hetzner for:

• Production web hosting
• Application servers
• Databases
• Critical infrastructure
• When reputation matters

How to Compare Plans

Use our tools:

1. VPS Finder - Filter by budget
2. Performance page - Compare specs
3. Compare tool - Side-by-side

Example Comparison

Compare these popular plans:

• Contabo VPS M - ~€12-14/mo, 8 vCPU, 16GB RAM, 400GB SSD
• Hetzner CAX31 - ~€12.49/mo, 8 vCPU, 16GB RAM, 160GB NVMe

Contabo offers 2x the CPU and 5x the storage for less money.

Conclusion

Contabo and Hetzner are both incredible values, but they excel in different areas:

Choose Contabo for:

• Massive storage (10x Hetzner)
• More CPU cores
• Predictable availability (no stock issues)
• Storage-heavy workloads
• Media servers
• Backup servers
• Maximum specs per dollar

Choose Hetzner for:

• Proven reputation
• Better reliability perception
• Simpler pricing
• Generous bandwidth (20TB)
• Web hosting
• Application servers
• When community trust matters

The Verdict

For storage and maximum resources: Contabo is unbeatable. 10x the storage for similar pricing is incredible.

For reputation and reliability: Hetzner’s cult following and proven track record make it the safer choice.

Bottom line:

• Storage-heavy/CPU-intensive → Contabo (clear winner)
• Web hosting/App servers → Hetzner (reputation edge)
• Need storage now → Contabo (available)
• Can wait for stock → Hetzner (if available)

Both are excellent values. You really can’t go wrong with either. The choice comes down to:

• Do you need storage? → Contabo
• Do you value reputation? → Hetzner
• Do you need it now? → Contabo
• Can you wait for stock? → Hetzner

Ready to decide? Use our VPS Finder to compare Contabo and Hetzner plans.

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Data note: Both providers are German, prices in EUR. Check current pricing and availability on their websites.

Need help with other providers? See our provider comparisons or browse all providers.