Google Compute Engine vs Hetzner Cloud Servers

Google Compute Engine—Visit HSHetzner Cloud Servers—Visit

Google Compute Engine #1 in Ubuntu VPS Hosting —/10 Free plan Free plan Visit Google Cloud

vs

HS Hetzner Cloud Servers #4 in Ubuntu VPS Hosting —/10 Paid Visit Hetzner

• Google Compute Engine fits best

  Ubuntu workloads needing a scalable cloud platform

• Hetzner Cloud Servers fits best

  Ubuntu users prioritizing value, NVMe and DDoS defense

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Side by side

Feature	Google Compute Engine —/10 Visit ↗	HSHetzner Cloud Servers —/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	—	—
Ranking	#1 in Ubuntu VPS Hosting	#4 in Ubuntu VPS Hosting
Best for	Ubuntu workloads needing a scalable cloud platform	Ubuntu users prioritizing value, NVMe and DDoS defense
Pricing model	Free plan + paid	Paid
Starting price	Not published	Not published
Free plan	✓ (best)	—
Free trial	—	—
Deployment	Cloud	Cloud
Platforms	Web	Web, Linux, Windows
Support	Docs, Community · 24/7	Email, Docs · 24/7
Integrations	4 integrations	5 integrations
Built for	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise	Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Specs
vCPU cores	Not published	Not published
RAM	Not published	4 GB
NVMe storage	Not published	Not published
Bandwidth	Not published	Not published
Server locations	Not published	Not published
Managed support	Not published	Not published
DDoS protection	Not published	Included
Our review
Pros	Autoscaling and load balancing support changing VM workloads Preset or custom machine types suit varied compute requirements Broad regions, zones and storage options support distributed deployments	CX23 includes 2 vCPU, 4 GB RAM and 40 GB NVMe storage. Hourly billing is capped at a monthly price. Continuously active DDoS detection and filtering are included.
Cons	Usage-based pricing varies by machine type and configuration Cloud-only deployment limits infrastructure placement choices Proprietary platform rather than an open-source VM service	Backups are optional rather than included. Server plans use shared or dedicated resources, which differ by type. Pricing and plan availability vary by location.
Our verdict	Google Compute Engine is Google Cloud’s infrastructure-as-a-service offering for creating and running virtual machines. It fits teams managing Linux workloads such as web servers, application servers, databases, containers, analytics and… Read the review →	Hetzner Cloud Servers provide virtual machines for running operating systems and applications on Hetzner infrastructure in Europe, the United States and Singapore. Ubuntu users can select an operating system and manage servers through the… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• Google Compute Engine — where it wins

  • Autoscaling and load balancing support changing VM workloads
  • Preset or custom machine types suit varied compute requirements
  • Broad regions, zones and storage options support distributed deployments

  Where it doesn't

  • Usage-based pricing varies by machine type and configuration
  • Cloud-only deployment limits infrastructure placement choices
  • Proprietary platform rather than an open-source VM service

• Hetzner Cloud Servers — where it wins

  • CX23 includes 2 vCPU, 4 GB RAM and 40 GB NVMe storage.
  • Hourly billing is capped at a monthly price.
  • Continuously active DDoS detection and filtering are included.

  Where it doesn't

  • Backups are optional rather than included.
  • Server plans use shared or dedicated resources, which differ by type.
  • Pricing and plan availability vary by location.

• Google Compute Engine—/10 · Free plan

  A scalable Google Cloud VM platform with autoscaling, load balancing and a free tier.

  Visit Google CloudFull verdict →
• HSHetzner Cloud Servers—/10 · Paid

  A flexible Linux VPS with NVMe storage, DDoS filtering and optional backups.

  Visit HetznerFull verdict →