Hetzner vs IONOS
Hetzner Online GmbH in Gunzenhausen and IONOS SE in Montabaur are both German, but they sell different things. Hetzner is a server and cloud specialist with hourly billing and an API. IONOS is a hosting group that puts cloud, managed databases, domains and mail on one invoice. Hetzner wins on server price; IONOS on breadth.
Choose Hetzner if
you want raw servers at a low monthly price, with hourly billing, an API and CLI, and generous included traffic, and you are happy to run your own software stack.
Read the Hetzner reviewChoose IONOS if
you already buy domains, mail or websites from IONOS, or want managed PostgreSQL and MongoDB billed per core and GB, on one account and one invoice.
Read the IONOS reviewHetzner and IONOS side by side
| Hetzner | IONOS | |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Hetzner Online GmbH | IONOS SE |
| Headquarters | Gunzenhausen, Germany | Montabaur, Germany |
| Founded | 1997 | 1988 |
| Jurisdiction | EU (Germany) | EU (Germany) |
| Where the data sits | Germany (Falkenstein, Nuremberg) and Finland (Helsinki), plus Oregon, Virginia and Singapore | Germany (Frankfurt, Berlin), France, the UK and Spain, plus Las Vegas, Newark and Lenexa |
| Pricing | From about €4.51/month (Cloud VPS) | From about €1/month |
| Entry-level list price (vendor site, checked 13 November 2026) | Cloud VPS from €4.51 per month (2 vCPU, 4 GB RAM, 40 GB SSD), hourly or monthly billing, no free tier | From about €1 per month at the lowest hosting entry; managed PostgreSQL from about €0.06 per core-hour plus €0.007 per GB RAM-hour (per the site's records; not re-checked on the vendor's page today) |
| Free tier or trial | No trial; pay by the hour | Free tier options |
| Certifications and checks | ISO 27001 | ISO 27001, 100% renewable energy |
| Source code | Closed source | Closed source |
| Usually replaces | AWS, DigitalOcean | AWS, Google Cloud, DigitalOcean, GoDaddy |
| Position in our Cloud Computing guide | #1 of 19 | #4 of 19 |
Both are listed in our European Cloud Computing guide. The table is built from the same directory data as those entries, except the list price, which is quoted from each vendor's own pricing page (see Sources below); how we check it is described in the editorial process.
Where Hetzner and IONOS differ
Across the five points below, Hetzner has the edge on 2 points, IONOS on 1 point and 2 are a tie. A count like that is a summary, not a verdict: the point that matters to you may be the one the other product wins.
What the company is built around
Hetzner (founded 1997) is organised around servers: cloud VPS, dedicated machines, Storage Boxes and load balancers, in data centres it operates itself. IONOS (founded 1988, traced back to 1&1) is a hosting group where cloud is one product next to domains, mail and websites. Which model suits you depends on whether you want a server specialist or one supplier for everything.
No clear winner on this point.
Entry price
Hetzner lists Cloud VPS from €4.51 a month for 2 vCPUs, 4 GB RAM and 40 GB SSD. IONOS's cloud entry is listed on our records as from about €1 a month, but that figure covers the cheapest option in its range and is not a like-for-like server. On the specs we can compare, Hetzner shows the clearer price for a real server.
Edge: Hetzner
Billing style
Hetzner bills by the hour and by the month, has no free tier, and includes about 20 TB of outbound traffic on most plans with free inbound traffic. IONOS prices its managed databases per core-hour, per GB of RAM and per GB of storage, which is precise but hard to estimate upfront. Hetzner's bill is easier to predict.
Edge: Hetzner
Managed services and bundle
IONOS sells managed PostgreSQL, MongoDB and a Redis-compatible in-memory database, next to hosting, domains and email on the same invoice. Hetzner's catalogue of managed services is smaller than Scaleway's or OVHcloud's, per our own page. For a buyer who wants a database and a website from one vendor, IONOS has more on offer.
Edge: IONOS
Locations and certification
Hetzner's own data centres are in Nuremberg, Falkenstein and Helsinki, with additional locations in the US and Singapore on its cloud page. IONOS lists Germany, France, the UK and Spain, plus three US sites. Both state ISO 27001. IONOS spreads across more European countries; Hetzner is concentrated in Germany and Finland.
No clear winner on this point.
When neither Hetzner nor IONOS fits
If neither fits: Scaleway and OVHcloud (both France) offer wider managed catalogues, Infomaniak (Switzerland) and Exoscale (Switzerland) are other European options on the site.
Hetzner vs IONOS: questions
On the figures we hold, Hetzner shows €4.51 a month for a 2 vCPU, 4 GB, 40 GB cloud server. IONOS lists its cloud from about €1 a month, but without a matching spec, so a real comparison needs the same configuration quoted by both.
Yes. Hetzner Online GmbH is in Gunzenhausen, Germany, and IONOS SE is in Montabaur, Germany. Our records show German law governing the IONOS Cloud agreement via IONOS Cloud GmbH.
Yes. IONOS lists managed PostgreSQL and MongoDB plus a Redis-compatible in-memory database, billed hourly per core, RAM and storage. It has no Kafka, Cassandra or OpenSearch in that line-up.
Hetzner has no free tier or trial, and you pay by the hour. IONOS lists free tier options in its range, though we found no published trial for its database service.
Sources
Facts, prices and plan details on this page were checked on the vendors' own websites on . Prices and plans change; the vendor's current page is authoritative.
- Hetzner website: Cloud products, locations, certification, entry price (checked 13 November 2026)
- Hetzner Cloud pricing: Cloud VPS price and billing (checked 13 November 2026)
- IONOS website: Hosting, cloud and database range, Montabaur headquarters (checked 13 November 2026)