Google Compute Engine vs Hetzner Cloud
Hetzner Cloud is cheaper across every workload modelled here.
List prices checked
Rate cards side by side
Only the axes at least one of them bills on. A dash means that provider does not charge for it.
| Billing axis | Google Compute Engine | Hetzner Cloud | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry plan | — | $3.79/mo | — |
| Compute | $0.048/vCPU-hr | $0.0052/vCPU-hr | 9.1× Hetzner Cloud |
| Data transfer out | $0.120/GB | $0.0012/GB | 100× Hetzner Cloud |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes | — |
Source: Google pricing (May 2026) · Hetzner pricing (May 2026). Published list prices only — committed-use discounts, regional variation, and per-request charges are not included. Not yet independently re-checked against the vendor’s page.
Monthly cost for three real workloads
The rate cards applied to identical usage. This is where the winner changes.
| Workload | Google Compute Engine | Hetzner Cloud | Cheaper |
|---|---|---|---|
| Side projectA personal site or small app with modest traffic, a few gigabytes of assets, and one small always-on process. | $47 | $3.80 | Hetzner Cloudsaves $43/mo (92%) |
| Growing SaaSA funded product serving a few thousand daily users, with an image-heavy frontend and two application servers. | $189 | $7.59 | Hetzner Cloudsaves $182/mo (96%) |
| Media-heavy siteA publisher or video product where delivery dominates the bill and compute is almost an afterthought. | $1,235 | $3.80 | Hetzner Cloudsaves $1,231/mo (100%) |
Workload definitions are identical on every comparison page, so figures here can be read against any other pair in the same category.
What each one is for
Google Compute Engine
by Google
Comparable to EC2 on list price, with sustained-use discounts applied automatically as an instance runs rather than requiring an upfront commitment.
Free tier: One e2-micro instance per month, always free
Hetzner Cloud
by Hetzner
The cheapest mainstream cloud compute by a wide margin, with 20 TB of traffic bundled into every instance. Regions are limited to Germany, Finland, Singapore, and the United States.
Free tier: 20 TB of traffic included with every server
Common questions
- Is Google Compute Engine or Hetzner Cloud cheaper in 2026?
- Hetzner Cloud is cheaper in all 3 modelled workloads.
- What is the difference in egress cost between Google Compute Engine and Hetzner Cloud?
- Hetzner Cloud charges $0.0012 per GB against Google Compute Engine's $0.120, roughly 100× cheaper. Egress usually dominates the bill once traffic is measured in terabytes.
- Which has the better free tier, Google Compute Engine or Hetzner Cloud?
- Both publish one. Google Compute Engine: One e2-micro instance per month, always free. Hetzner Cloud: 20 TB of traffic included with every server.
- What do these estimates not include?
- Committed-use and reserved discounts, regional price variation, per-request API charges, support plans, and minimum retention periods. All of those move real invoices, sometimes by a lot. These figures compare published list prices for the same workload, which is the comparison the rate cards alone cannot give you.