AWS vs Hetzner
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Comprehensive cloud platform offering 200+ services for compute, storage, databases, and infrastructure.
Enterprise teams, startups needing multi-region scale, AI/ML workloads, compliance-heavy industries (HIPAA, PCI-DSS), and organizations valuing managed services over infrastructure control.
Hetzner Cloud & Hetzner Online
German-based IaaS provider specializing in affordable VPS, dedicated servers, and bare-metal infrastructure with transparent, low pricing.
Cost-conscious developers, bootstrapped startups, European businesses needing GDPR compliance, bandwidth-heavy applications (streaming, file distribution), and teams comfortable managing infrastructure.
Short Answer
AWS dominates enterprise cloud with 32% global market share, 200+ services, and premium pricing ($0.0116/GB data transfer), while Hetzner offers budget-friendly infrastructure starting at €3.29/month with 90% lower egress costs but limited service diversity and regional availability.
Our Verdict
AI-assistedChoose AWS if you need enterprise-grade multi-service infrastructure, global scale, advanced AI/ML capabilities, or compliance certifications—the cost is justified by feature depth and reliability. Choose Hetzner if you're budget-conscious, running simple workloads (VPS, dedicated servers), prioritize low egress costs, and can work with EU-centric infrastructure.
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Choose Amazon Web Services (AWS) if
Enterprise teams, startups needing multi-region scale, AI/ML workloads, compliance-heavy industries (HIPAA, PCI-DSS), and organizations valuing managed services over infrastructure control.
Choose Hetzner Cloud & Hetzner Online if
Cost-conscious developers, bootstrapped startups, European businesses needing GDPR compliance, bandwidth-heavy applications (streaming, file distribution), and teams comfortable managing infrastructure.
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Key Differences at a Glance
Key Facts & Figures
| Metric | Amazon Web Services (AWS) | Hetzner Cloud & Hetzner Online | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard Storage Cost($/GB/month) | $0.023 | — | — |
| Archival Storage Cost($/GB/month) | $0.004 | — | — |
| Global Data Centers(count) | 33 regions | — | — |
| Market Share 2026(%) | 32% | — | — |
| Global Market Share (2026)(%) | 32% | — | — |
| Total Available Services(services) | 200+ | — | — |
| Global Availability Zones(zones) | 33 | — | — |
| Pricing Model Complexity(simplicity score) | 5/10 | — | — |
| ML/AI Service Innovation Rating(score) | 8/10 | — | — |
| Windows/Active Directory Integration(native score) | 4/10 | — | — |
| Supported Cloud Providers(count) | AWS only | — | — |
| Global Geographic Regions(regions) | 33 regions | — | — |
| Availability Zones (AWS regions)(zones) | 105+ zones | — | — |
| Available Services/Integrations(count) | 190+ native services | — | — |
| Time to Provision Standard EC2 Instance(seconds) | 30-45 (via Console/CLI) | — | — |
| Monthly Cost (1 vCPU, 1GB RAM, Standard Instance)(USD) | $9.50 (t3.micro on-demand) | $3.60 (€3.29 CPX11) | +164% |
| Outbound Data Transfer Cost per GB(USD) | $0.0116 | $0.0013 (€0.0012) | +792% |
| Global Data Center Regions(regions) | 33 regions | 4 regions | +725% |
| Global Market Share(%) | 32% of global cloud infrastructure (2024) | — | — |
| Service Count(services) | 200+ | — | — |
| Compute Cost (e2-medium equivalent)(USD/hour) | $0.0416 | — | — |
| Data Transfer Out Cost(USD/GB) | $0.02 | — | — |
| ML Training Setup Time(hours) | 8-12 hours (SageMaker) | — | — |
| BigQuery Query Latency(seconds) | 15-30 seconds (Athena, 1TB scan) | — | — |
| Enterprise Support Annual Cost(USD) | $15,000 | — | — |
| Kubernetes Integration Complexity(manual steps) | 18-25 steps (EKS setup) | — | — |
| Available Cloud Services/Products(count) | 200+ | ~18 | +1011% |
| Free Tier Duration(months) | 12 months + always-free services | None | — |
| Premium Support Response Time(hours) | 1 hour (Business Support) | No SLA (email-based, 4-24 hours typical) | — |
| Monthly Cost for 10TB Egress Data Transfer(USD) | $116 (after 1GB free) | $13 (€12) | +792% |
| Minimum Setup Time(minutes) | 120 minutes | — | — |
| Minimum Monthly Cost(USD) | $4.34 (t3.micro EC2 only) | — | — |
| Global Edge Locations(locations) | 280+ CloudFront locations | — | — |
| Average Cold Start Latency(milliseconds) | 125ms (Lambda standard) | — | — |
| Setup Time to First Deploy(minutes) | 45-60 (configure VPC, IAM, EC2, security groups) | — | — |
| Built-in Database Support(count) | 8+ (RDS, DynamoDB, Aurora, ElastiCache, Neptune, DocumentDB, Keyspaces, Timestream) | — | — |
| SLA Uptime Guarantee(percentage) | 99.99% (us-east-1 region) | — | — |
| Concurrent Connections per Instance(requests/second) | 50,000+ (t3.large EC2) | — | — |
| Estimated Learning Time for New Developer(hours) | 80-100 hours | — | — |
| Supported Programming Languages for IaC(languages) | 3 languages (YAML, JSON, TypeScript/Python/Java via CDK) | — | — |
| Available Services/Resources(services) | 200+ AWS-specific services (largest portfolio in cloud) | — | — |
| Free Tier Cost(USD/month) | Free (1 year, then pay-as-you-go infrastructure costs) | — | — |
| AWS Regions/Availability Zones(regions) | 33+ geographic regions with 105+ availability zones | — | — |
| Certified Professionals(people) | 1M+ AWS Certified professionals | — | — |
All figures sourced from publicly available data. Last updated Jun 2026.
Key Differences
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
32%🏆
Hetzner Cloud & Hetzner Online
~2%
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
$9.50
Hetzner Cloud & Hetzner Online
€3.29 (~$3.60)🏆
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
$0.0116
Hetzner Cloud & Hetzner Online
€0.0012 (~$0.0013)🏆
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
200+🏆
Hetzner Cloud & Hetzner Online
15-20
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
33 regions🏆
Hetzner Cloud & Hetzner Online
4 regions (Germany, Finland, US)
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
12 months free tier + always-free services🏆
Hetzner Cloud & Hetzner Online
No free tier
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
1 hour (Business Support)🏆
Hetzner Cloud & Hetzner Online
Email-based (no guaranteed SLA)
Full Comparison
| Attribute | Amazon Web Services (AWS) | Hetzner Cloud & Hetzner Online |
|---|---|---|
| Standard Storage Cost($/GB/month) | $0.023 | — |
| Archival Storage Cost($/GB/month) | $0.004 | — |
| Pricing Model Complexity(simplicity score) | 5/10 | — |
| Base Software Cost(USD/month) | Pay-per-use only | — |
| Terraform Cloud Team Plan Cost(USD/month per user) | N/A | — |
Show 8 more attributesMonthly Cost (1 vCPU, 1GB RAM, Standard Instance)(USD) $9.50 (t3.micro on-demand) $3.60 (€3.29 CPX11) Outbound Data Transfer Cost per GB(USD) $0.0116 $0.0013 (€0.0012) Compute Cost (e2-medium equivalent)(USD/hour) $0.0416 — Data Transfer Out Cost(USD/GB) $0.02 — Free Tier Duration(months) 12 months + always-free services None Monthly Cost for 10TB Egress Data Transfer(USD) $116 (after 1GB free) $13 (€12) Minimum Monthly Cost(USD) $4.34 (t3.micro EC2 only) — Free Tier Cost(USD/month) Free (1 year, then pay-as-you-go infrastructure costs) — | ||
| AI/ML Model Flexibility | Multiple models via Bedrock | — |
| Hybrid Cloud Support Maturity | AWS Outposts (limited) | — |
| Global Data Centers(count) | 33 regions | — |
| Global Availability Zones(zones) | 33 | — |
| Global Geographic Regions(regions) | 33 regions | — |
| Availability Zones (AWS regions)(zones) | 105+ zones | — |
Show 1 more attributeGlobal Data Center Regions(regions) 33 regions 4 regions | ||
| Container Serverless Performance | Fargate (feature-rich) | — |
| Market Share 2026(%) | 32% | — |
| Global Market Share (2026)(%) | 32% | — |
| Total Available Services(services) | 200+ | — |
| ML/AI Service Innovation Rating(score) | 8/10 | — |
| Hybrid Cloud Support Level(capability) | Moderate (Outposts) | — |
| Windows/Active Directory Integration(native score) | 4/10 | — |
| Developer Community Size(developers) | Largest | — |
| Container/Kubernetes Strength(native integration) | Strong (ECS/EKS) | — |
| BigQuery-Grade Analytics(capability) | Via Athena/Redshift | — |
| Supported Cloud Providers(count) | AWS only | — |
| Available Services/Integrations(count) | 190+ native services | — |
| Time to Provision Standard EC2 Instance(seconds) | 30-45 (via Console/CLI) | — |
| Global Edge Locations(locations) | 280+ CloudFront locations | — |
| Average Cold Start Latency(milliseconds) | 125ms (Lambda standard) | — |
| GitHub Integration for IaC(native support) | AWS CloudFormation requires manual GitHub setup | — |
| Global Market Share(%) | 32% of global cloud infrastructure (2024) | — |
| Service Count(services) | 200+ | — |
| Available Cloud Services/Products(count) | 200+ | ~18 |
| AI/ML Service Availability(availability) | SageMaker, Bedrock, Forecast, Lookout, Kendra | Not offered |
| Built-in Database Support(count) | 8+ (RDS, DynamoDB, Aurora, ElastiCache, Neptune, DocumentDB, Keyspaces, Timestream) | — |
| ML Training Setup Time(hours) | 8-12 hours (SageMaker) | — |
| Kubernetes Integration Complexity(manual steps) | 18-25 steps (EKS setup) | — |
| Supported Programming Languages for IaC(languages) | 3 languages (YAML, JSON, TypeScript/Python/Java via CDK) | — |
| BigQuery Query Latency(seconds) | 15-30 seconds (Athena, 1TB scan) | — |
| Enterprise Support Annual Cost(USD) | $15,000 | — |
| Premium Support Response Time(hours) | 1 hour (Business Support) | No SLA (email-based, 4-24 hours typical) |
| Minimum Setup Time(minutes) | 120 minutes | — |
| Setup Time to First Deploy(minutes) | 45-60 (configure VPC, IAM, EC2, security groups) | — |
| Estimated Learning Time for New Developer(hours) | 80-100 hours | — |
| SLA Uptime Guarantee(percentage) | 99.99% (us-east-1 region) | — |
| Concurrent Connections per Instance(requests/second) | 50,000+ (t3.large EC2) | — |
| GitHub Stars(stars) | N/A (not a single GitHub repo) | — |
| Multi-Cloud Support(cloud providers) | AWS only | — |
| Available Services/Resources(services) | 200+ AWS-specific services (largest portfolio in cloud) | — |
| AWS Regions/Availability Zones(regions) | 33+ geographic regions with 105+ availability zones | — |
| Certified Professionals(people) | 1M+ AWS Certified professionals | — |
Show 8 more attributes
Show 1 more attribute
Visual Comparison
Side-by-side comparison of numeric attributes
Pros & Cons
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Pros
- 200+ integrated services (EC2, S3, Lambda, RDS, SageMaker) enabling end-to-end solutions
- 33 global regions + 108 availability zones for 99.99% uptime SLA
- 12 months free tier + perpetual free services (S3, CloudFront caching tier)
- Advanced AI/ML services (SageMaker, Bedrock) with pre-trained models
- Enterprise support with 1-hour response time for Business Support tier
Cons
- Egress data transfer costs at $0.0116/GB rapidly inflate bills for data-heavy applications
- Pricing complexity requires dedicated cost management tools; novices often overspend 30-40%
- Steeper learning curve with 100+ configuration options per service
Hetzner Cloud & Hetzner Online
Pros
- 90% cheaper egress at €0.0012/GB (~$0.0013) vs AWS's $0.0116/GB
- Entry-level VPS from €3.29/month (2GB RAM, 40GB SSD) with no surprise costs
- Transparent, fixed pricing with no hidden fees or consumption-based surprises
- German data centers with GDPR-friendly privacy stance and no US Patriot Act exposure
- Bare-metal servers from €49/month for compute-intensive workloads without hypervisor overhead
Cons
- Only 4 data center regions (Germany 2x, Finland, US-East) limiting global redundancy and latency optimization
- No managed services—customers handle OS patching, database administration, scaling; ops burden ~40% higher
- Email-only support with no SLA; typical response 4-24 hours vs AWS's 1-hour guarantee
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, significantly. A basic 1vCPU/1GB RAM server costs $3.60/month on Hetzner vs $9.50 on AWS—72% cheaper. More importantly, Hetzner's egress data transfer costs €0.0012/GB vs AWS's $0.0116/GB, making Hetzner 9x cheaper for bandwidth-heavy apps. However, AWS includes managed services (databases, load balancers, CDN), so true comparison depends on workload type.
Resources & Learn More
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Wikipedia
Amazon Web Services (AWS) on Wikipedia
Comprehensive cloud platform offering 200+ services for compute, storage, databases, and infrastructure.
Hetzner Cloud & Hetzner Online on Wikipedia
German-based IaaS provider specializing in affordable VPS, dedicated servers, and bare-metal infrastructure with transparent, low pricing.
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