Contabo vs Hetzner: Complete 2026 Comparison
In-depth comparison of these two hosting providers across pricing, performance, features, and support.
Overall Winner
Hetzner
- Wins in 2 of 7 categories
- Top in: Best Price, Best Performance
- 4.0/5 overall rating
Category Winners
Best Price
Hetzner
$1.90/mo vs $4.50/mo
Best Value
Tie
Similar renewal pricing
Best Performance
Hetzner
99.9% uptime, 4.0/5 rating
Best Support
Contabo
Live chat, Phone
Best for WordPress
Tie
Similar WordPress features
Best for Developers
Tie
Similar developer features
Best for Beginners
Tie
Similar beginner-friendliness
Feature Comparison
| Feature | ||
|---|---|---|
| Essential Info | ||
| Hosting Type | Cloud Infrastructure | Cloud Infrastructure |
| Monthly Price | $4.50/mo | $1.90/mo |
| Renewal Price | $4.50 | $1.90 |
| Renewal Markup | 0% | 0% |
| Overall Rating | 3.6/5 | 4.0/5 |
| Uptime Guarantee | 99.9% | 99.9% |
| Trustpilot Rating | 4.2/5 | 3.5/5 |
| Trustpilot Reviews | 8,168 | 2,570 |
| Free SSL | ||
| Free Domain | ||
| Free Migration | ||
| Pricing Details | ||
| First Year Cost | $54.00 | $41.88 |
| Second Year Cost | $54.00 | $41.88 |
| Money Back Guarantee | 14 days | 14 days |
| Setup Fee | Free | Free |
| Monthly Billing | ||
| Minimum Contract | 1 months | 1 months |
| Technical Specs | ||
| Storage | 100 GB | 10 GB |
| Storage Type | SSD/NVME | SSD/NVME |
| Bandwidth | 32000 GB | 20000 GB |
| Max Websites | — | — |
| Max Databases | — | — |
| PHP Versions | — | 7.4, 8.0, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3 |
| 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 | Basic DDoS protection included | Basic DDoS protection included; Advanced protection available |
| 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 | Live Chat, Ticket, Phone, Knowledge Base | Ticket, Phone, Knowledge Base, Community Forum |
| Live Chat | ||
| Live Chat Hours | Business hours | — |
| Phone Support | ||
| Phone Support Hours | Business hours | Business hours (Mon-Fri) |
| Ticket Support | ||
| Priority Support | ||
| Support Languages | German, English | German, English |
| Knowledge Base Quality | 3.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| Avg Support Wait | — | — |
| Email Accounts | ||
| Email Account Limit | 0 | 0 |
| Mailbox Size | — | — |
| Webmail Access | ||
| Spam Filter | ||
| Email Forwarding | ||
| Performance | ||
| CDN Included | ||
| CDN Provider | — | — |
| Server Locations | Nuremberg (Germany), Munich (Germany), Düsseldorf (Germany), New York (US), St. Louis (US), Seattle (US), Los Angeles (US), London (UK), Singapore, Tokyo (Japan), Sydney (Australia) | Nuremberg (Germany), Falkenstein (Germany), Helsinki (Finland), Ashburn, VA (US), Hillsboro, OR (US), Singapore |
| Server Location Count | 11 | 6 |
| 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 | Contabo Control Panel | Hetzner Cloud Console |
| 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 | ISO 27001 | ISO 27001, SOC 1, SOC 2 |
| Ratings | ||
| Value for Money | 5.0/10 | 5.0/10 |
| Performance Rating | 4.0/10 | 4.5/10 |
| Support Quality | 2.5/10 | 2.5/10 |
| Security Rating | 3.5/10 | 4.0/10 |
| Features Rating | 3.0/10 | 3.5/10 |
| Ease of Use | 3.0/10 | 3.0/10 |
| Transparency Rating | 4.0/10 | 5.0/10 |
| Suitability Scores | ||
| For Bloggers | 2.0/10 | 2.0/10 |
| For E-commerce | 3.0/10 | 3.0/10 |
| For Agencies | 3.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| For Developers | 5.0/10 | 5.0/10 |
| For Beginners | 1.0/10 | 1.0/10 |
| For Enterprise | 3.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| Policies | ||
| Bandwidth Overage | 32TB included; overage billed per TB | 20TB+ included; €1.19/TB overage |
| Storage Overage | Pay for additional storage | Pay for additional storage volumes |
| Adult Content Allowed | ||
| Gambling Sites Allowed | ||
| Crypto Sites Allowed | ||
| Reseller Hosting | ||
| White Label | ||
| API Access | ||
| Company Info | ||
| Year Founded | 2003 | 1997 |
| Headquarters | Germany | Germany |
| Parent Company | Independent (privately held; founded by Michael Herpich and Michael Bolke as Giga-International, rebranded to Contabo 2013) | Independent (privately held; founded by Martin Hetzner) |
| 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 | Germany, United States, United Kingdom, Singapore, Japan, Australia | Germany, Finland, Austria, Switzerland, Netherlands, United States |
| Local Currencies | EUR, USD, GBP | EUR, USD |
| Support Languages | German, English | German, English |
| Data Sovereignty | GDPR | GDPR |
| External Ratings | ||
| G2 Rating | 4.0/5 | 4.5/5 |
| BBB Rating | N/A (Germany-based) | N/A (Germany-based) |
| Advanced Technical | ||
| Inode Limit | — | — |
| Max DB Size | — | — |
| Max Upload Size | — | — |
| Database Type | MySQL/MariaDB/PostgreSQL | MySQL/MariaDB/PostgreSQL |
| Elasticsearch | ||
| Image Optimization | — | — |
| PHP Switching | — | |
| Subdomains | — | — |
| FTP Accounts | — | — |
| Additional Pricing | ||
| Free Domain Duration | — | — |
| Money Back Exclusions | 14-day cancellation period; Most setup fees non-refundable once server deployed | 14-day cancellation period for most services; Dedicated servers typically have setup fees that may not be refunded |
| Payment Methods | Credit Card, Debit Card, PayPal, Bank Transfer, SEPA Direct Debit | Credit Card, Debit Card, PayPal, Bank Transfer, SEPA Direct Debit |
| Auto Renewal Default | ||
| Domain Privacy Included | — | |
| Domain Privacy Cost | — | — |
| SSL Provider | Self-managed (Let's Encrypt recommended) | Self-managed (Let's Encrypt recommended) |
| Dedicated IP Cost | — | $1/mo |
| Additional Support | ||
| Phone Support Countries | Germany, United States, United Kingdom | Germany |
| Priority Support Cost | — | — |
| Community Forum | ||
| Support Outsourced | ||
| Object Cache Type | — | — |
| Business & Affiliate | ||
| Affiliate Program | ||
| Commission Type | Per sale | Revenue share |
| Commission Amount | €25-€100 per referral; 30-day cookie | 10% recurring commission; 30-day cookie |
| Additional Policies | ||
| File Hosting Allowed | ||
| Proxy/VPN Allowed | ||
| Bandwidth Overage Cost | — | $1.19 |
| Account Suspension Policy | Violation of ToS; non-payment; abuse reports | Violation of ToS; non-payment; abuse reports; illegal content |
| Malware Removal Cost | — | — |
| Downloadable Backups | ||
| Additional Platforms | ||
| PrestaShop | ||
| Ghost | ||
| Shopify Migration | ||
| Wix Migration | ||
| Squarespace Migration | ||
| Webflow Export | ||
| Editorial Info | ||
| Best For | 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 | Developers wanting best price-performance VPS/dedicated; European businesses needing GDPR-compliant hosting; Users comfortable with self-management; Cost-conscious users wanting consistent pricing; Large-scale deployments; Users wanting green hosting |
| Avoid If | Need reliable 24/7 support; Want managed WordPress; Require consistent uptime; Beginner requiring hand-holding; Need included cPanel; Critical applications requiring premium reliability | Need managed WordPress hosting; Want 24/7 live chat support; Beginner requiring hand-holding; Need cPanel included; US-based wanting local support; Need included email hosting |
| Known Issues | 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 | Support limited to business hours and primarily German; No live chat support; Strict account verification can frustrate users; No managed WordPress; No cPanel/Plesk included; SSL not included free; Mixed Trustpilot reviews (3.5) despite excellent G2 (4.5); Some account termination complaints |
| Unique Selling Point | Highest specs per dollar with 8GB RAM VPS for under $5/month and 32TB bandwidth | Best price-performance VPS in industry with 100% green energy and German data protection |
| Ideal Customer | Developer or tech user wanting maximum specs at minimum cost who doesn't need premium support | Developer or business wanting affordable, high-performance infrastructure with European data sovereignty |
| Best Alternative To | Hetzner | Contabo |
| Primary Competitors | Hetzner, OVHcloud, Vultr | Contabo, 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 Contabo if you...
- Want more server locations (11 available)
Choose Hetzner if you...
- Want to save money ($1.90/mo vs $4.50/mo)
- Want higher-rated hosting (4.0/5)
- Need enterprise-grade features