Amazon Web Services (AWS) vs Contabo: Complete 2026 Comparison
In-depth comparison of these two hosting providers across pricing, performance, features, and support.
Overall Winner
Contabo
- Wins in 2 of 7 categories
- Top in: Best Price, Best for Beginners
- 3.6/5 overall rating
Category Winners
Best Price
Contabo
$4.50/mo vs $5.00/mo
Best Value
Tie
Similar renewal pricing
Best Performance
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
99.99% uptime, 3.5/5 rating
Best Support
Tie
Similar support options
Best for WordPress
Tie
Similar WordPress features
Best for Developers
Tie
Similar developer features
Best for Beginners
Contabo
Higher ease of use score (4.0/10)
Feature Comparison
| Feature | ||
|---|---|---|
| Essential Info | ||
| Hosting Type | Cloud Infrastructure | Cloud Infrastructure |
| Monthly Price | $5.00/mo | $4.50/mo |
| Renewal Price | $5.00 | $4.50 |
| Renewal Markup | 0% | 0% |
| Overall Rating | 3.5/5 | 3.6/5 |
| Uptime Guarantee | 99.99% | 99.9% |
| Trustpilot Rating | 1.3/5 | 4.2/5 |
| Trustpilot Reviews | 361 | 8,168 |
| Free SSL | ||
| Free Domain | ||
| Free Migration | ||
| Pricing Details | ||
| First Year Cost | $60.00 | $54.00 |
| Second Year Cost | $60.00 | $54.00 |
| Money Back Guarantee | — | 14 days |
| Setup Fee | Free | Free |
| Monthly Billing | ||
| Minimum Contract | 0 months | 1 months |
| Technical Specs | ||
| Storage | 40 GB | 100 GB |
| Storage Type | SSD | SSD/NVME |
| Bandwidth | 2000 GB | 32000 GB |
| Max Websites | — | — |
| Max Databases | — | — |
| PHP Versions | — | — |
| SSH Access | ||
| Git Deployment | ||
| Staging Environment | — | — |
| Cron Jobs | ||
| Redis Available | ||
| Programming Languages | ||
| Node.js Support | ||
| Python Support | ||
| Ruby Support | ||
| WordPress Features | ||
| WordPress Optimized | ||
| WordPress Auto-Install | ||
| WordPress Auto-Updates | ||
| WordPress Staging | ||
| WooCommerce Optimized | ||
| LiteSpeed Cache | ||
| Object Caching | ||
| WP Multisite | ||
| WP-CLI Access | ||
| Security | ||
| DDoS Protection | ||
| DDoS Protection Level | AWS Shield Standard (free); Shield Advanced ($3000/mo+) | Basic DDoS protection included |
| Malware Scanning | ||
| Malware Removal | ||
| Firewall Included | ||
| Backup Frequency | Manual/Snapshot-based | Manual/Snapshot-based |
| Backup Retention | — | — |
| Backup Restore Fee | Free | Free |
| On-Demand Backup | ||
| Two-Factor Auth | ||
| Wildcard SSL | ||
| Dedicated IP | ||
| Support | ||
| Support Channels | Ticket, Phone, Chat, Knowledge Base, Forums | Live Chat, Ticket, Phone, Knowledge Base |
| Live Chat | ||
| Live Chat Hours | Paid support plans | Business hours |
| Phone Support | ||
| Phone Support Hours | 24/7 with paid support | Business hours |
| Ticket Support | ||
| Priority Support | ||
| Support Languages | English, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, German, French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish | German, English |
| Knowledge Base Quality | 5.0/10 | 3.0/10 |
| Avg Support Wait | — | — |
| Email Accounts | ||
| Email Account Limit | 0 | 0 |
| Mailbox Size | — | — |
| Webmail Access | ||
| Spam Filter | ||
| Email Forwarding | ||
| Performance | ||
| CDN Included | ||
| CDN Provider | CloudFront (additional cost) | — |
| Server Locations | US East (Virginia), US East (Ohio), US West (Oregon), US West (California), Canada (Central), Canada West (Calgary), South America (Sao Paulo), Europe (Ireland), Europe (London), Europe (Frankfurt), Europe (Paris), Europe (Stockholm), Europe (Milan), Europe (Spain), Europe (Zurich), Middle East (Bahrain), Middle East (UAE), Africa (Cape Town), Asia Pacific (Mumbai), Asia Pacific (Singapore), Asia Pacific (Sydney), Asia Pacific (Tokyo), Asia Pacific (Seoul), Asia Pacific (Osaka), Asia Pacific (Hong Kong), Asia Pacific (Jakarta), Asia Pacific (Melbourne), Asia Pacific (Hyderabad), China (Beijing), China (Ningxia), Israel (Tel Aviv), Thailand (Bangkok), Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur) | Nuremberg (Germany), Munich (Germany), Düsseldorf (Germany), New York (US), St. Louis (US), Seattle (US), Los Angeles (US), London (UK), Singapore, Tokyo (Japan), Sydney (Australia) |
| Server Location Count | 38 | 11 |
| Choose Server Location | ||
| HTTP/2 Support | ||
| Brotli Compression | — | |
| Uptime SLA Credit | ||
| Platform Support | ||
| Drupal Support | ||
| Joomla Support | ||
| Magento Support | ||
| Laravel Support | ||
| Django Support | ||
| Next.js Support | ||
| Rails Support | ||
| Static Site Support | ||
| Control Panel | ||
| cPanel Included | ||
| Control Panel | AWS Console / Lightsail Console | Contabo Control Panel |
| Softaculous | ||
| Website Builder | ||
| Builder Name | — | — |
| Migration | ||
| Migration Websites Limit | 0 | 0 |
| Migration Turnaround | — | — |
| Paid Migration Cost | — | — |
| Migration Quality | — | — |
| Compliance | ||
| GDPR Compliant | ||
| PCI Compliant | ||
| HIPAA Compliant | ||
| Data Center Certs | SOC 1, SOC 2, SOC 3, ISO 27001, ISO 27017, ISO 27018, ISO 9001, PCI DSS Level 1, HIPAA, FedRAMP | ISO 27001 |
| Ratings | ||
| Value for Money | 3.0/10 | 5.0/10 |
| Performance Rating | 5.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| Support Quality | 2.0/10 | 2.5/10 |
| Security Rating | 5.0/10 | 3.5/10 |
| Features Rating | 5.0/10 | 3.0/10 |
| Ease of Use | 2.5/10 | 3.0/10 |
| Transparency Rating | 2.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| Suitability Scores | ||
| For Bloggers | 2.0/10 | 2.0/10 |
| For E-commerce | 4.0/10 | 3.0/10 |
| For Agencies | 4.0/10 | 3.0/10 |
| For Developers | 5.0/10 | 5.0/10 |
| For Beginners | 1.0/10 | 1.0/10 |
| For Enterprise | 5.0/10 | 3.0/10 |
| Policies | ||
| Bandwidth Overage | 2TB included on $5 Lightsail; overage $0.09/GB | 32TB included; overage billed per TB |
| Storage Overage | Pay for additional volumes/snapshots | Pay for additional storage |
| Adult Content Allowed | ||
| Gambling Sites Allowed | ||
| Crypto Sites Allowed | ||
| Reseller Hosting | ||
| White Label | ||
| API Access | ||
| Company Info | ||
| Year Founded | 2006 | 2003 |
| Headquarters | United States | Germany |
| Parent Company | Amazon.com Inc. (subsidiary) | Independent (privately held; founded by Michael Herpich and Michael Bolke as Giga-International, rebranded to Contabo 2013) |
| Green Hosting | — | |
| Instant Activation | ||
| Managed WordPress | ||
| Managed WP Available | ||
| Pricing Model | — | — |
| Monthly Visit Limit | — | — |
| Visit Overage Cost | — | — |
| PHP Workers | — | — |
| Plugin Restrictions | — | — |
| Dev Environment | — | — |
| Dev Env Name | — | — |
| Regional Info | ||
| Best Countries | United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Australia, Singapore, Brazil, India, Canada | Germany, United States, United Kingdom, Singapore, Japan, Australia |
| Local Currencies | USD, EUR, GBP, JPY, AUD, SGD, BRL, INR, CAD | EUR, USD, GBP |
| Support Languages | English, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, German, French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish | German, English |
| Data Sovereignty | GDPR, PCI-DSS, HIPAA, FedRAMP, SOC 2, ISO 27001 | GDPR |
| External Ratings | ||
| G2 Rating | 4.6/5 | 4.0/5 |
| BBB Rating | NR | N/A (Germany-based) |
| Advanced Technical | ||
| Inode Limit | — | — |
| Max DB Size | — | — |
| Max Upload Size | — | — |
| Database Type | MySQL/MariaDB/PostgreSQL/MSSQL/Oracle | MySQL/MariaDB/PostgreSQL |
| Elasticsearch | ||
| Image Optimization | — | — |
| PHP Switching | — | — |
| Subdomains | — | — |
| FTP Accounts | — | — |
| Additional Pricing | ||
| Free Domain Duration | — | — |
| Money Back Exclusions | Pay-as-you-go; No traditional refund; Free tier available for 12 months | 14-day cancellation period; Most setup fees non-refundable once server deployed |
| Payment Methods | Credit Card, Debit Card, ACH Direct Debit, Wire Transfer, AWS Credits | Credit Card, Debit Card, PayPal, Bank Transfer, SEPA Direct Debit |
| Auto Renewal Default | ||
| Domain Privacy Included | — | |
| Domain Privacy Cost | — | — |
| SSL Provider | AWS Certificate Manager (free SSL for AWS resources) | Self-managed (Let's Encrypt recommended) |
| Dedicated IP Cost | — | — |
| Additional Support | ||
| Phone Support Countries | Global | Germany, United States, United Kingdom |
| Priority Support Cost | — | — |
| Community Forum | ||
| Support Outsourced | ||
| Object Cache Type | — | — |
| Business & Affiliate | ||
| Affiliate Program | ||
| Commission Type | Per sale | Per sale |
| Commission Amount | Varies by service; AWS Partner Network available | €25-€100 per referral; 30-day cookie |
| Additional Policies | ||
| File Hosting Allowed | ||
| Proxy/VPN Allowed | ||
| Bandwidth Overage Cost | $0.09 | — |
| Account Suspension Policy | Violation of ToS; non-payment; abuse | Violation of ToS; non-payment; abuse reports |
| Malware Removal Cost | — | — |
| Downloadable Backups | ||
| Additional Platforms | ||
| PrestaShop | ||
| Ghost | ||
| Shopify Migration | ||
| Wix Migration | ||
| Squarespace Migration | ||
| Webflow Export | ||
| Editorial Info | ||
| Best For | Enterprise deployments needing AWS ecosystem; Developers comfortable with cloud infrastructure; Businesses needing compliance certifications (HIPAA, PCI, FedRAMP); Global deployments with 38 regions; Those already invested in AWS ecosystem | Budget-conscious users wanting high specs at low price; Developers comfortable with unmanaged servers; Users needing lots of RAM/storage cheaply; Long-term projects where value matters most; Users who don't need premium support |
| Avoid If | Beginner wanting simple hosting; Need included support; Want managed WordPress; Budget-conscious without cloud expertise; Need predictable billing | Need reliable 24/7 support; Want managed WordPress; Require consistent uptime; Beginner requiring hand-holding; Need included cPanel; Critical applications requiring premium reliability |
| Known Issues | Extremely poor Trustpilot rating (1.3) due to billing complaints and support issues; Complex pricing can lead to unexpected bills; Support costs extra (free tier has no support); Not beginner-friendly; EC2 pricing confusing; Lightsail less flexible than competitors | Support response times can be slow and inconsistent; No managed services; No cPanel included; Some users report downtime issues (26-hour outage reported); Policies described as inconsistent; No phone support 24/7; Backups are manual only; Interface less polished than competitors |
| Unique Selling Point | Market-leading cloud provider with 38 regions, most compliance certifications, and Lightsail for simplified VPS at $5/month | Highest specs per dollar with 8GB RAM VPS for under $5/month and 32TB bandwidth |
| Ideal Customer | Enterprise or developer needing global cloud infrastructure with extensive compliance certifications and AWS ecosystem integration | Developer or tech user wanting maximum specs at minimum cost who doesn't need premium support |
| Best Alternative To | Google Cloud Platform | Hetzner |
| Primary Competitors | Google Cloud Platform, Microsoft Azure, DigitalOcean, Vultr | Hetzner, OVHcloud, Vultr |
We strive for accuracy, but pricing and features change frequently. Some data may be outdated. Report an error and we'll update it promptly.
Our Verdict
Choose Amazon Web Services (AWS) if you...
- Need enterprise-grade features
- Want more server locations (38 available)
Choose Contabo if you...
- Want to save money ($4.50/mo vs $5.00/mo)
- Want higher-rated hosting (3.6/5)