Google Cloud Platform vs Hetzner
- ✦ Compute Engine
- ✦ Cloud Storage
- ✦ Cloud Functions
- ✦ Cloud Servers
- ✦ Dedicated Servers
- ✦ Block Storage
Google Cloud Platform and Hetzner are both Cloud Hosting tools. Compare features, pricing, and ratings below to find the best fit for your team.
When to Choose Google Cloud Platform vs Hetzner
The question that matters: “In what situation will I regret choosing A over B after 3 months?”
Cloud Functions process 50,000+ events per minute into BigQuery the moment files land in Cloud Storage - no ETL servers to manage, no idle compute costs.
Cloud Run scales REST APIs from zero to peak demand with per-request billing. At 100,000 monthly calls, costs land at $8-12 versus a $200 always-on VM.
Partition BigQuery tables by date and move 90-day-old data to Cloud Storage, cutting query costs 55% while keeping analysis of recent data under 3 seconds.
Hetzner's Cloud Servers in Frankfurt keep customer data within EU borders, satisfying GDPR and MiFID II on Private Networks without cross-border audit overhead.
Assign a Floating IP to an upgraded database, flip traffic in seconds, and keep apps running with zero rewrites. The old instance stays live for rollback.
Product photos on Hetzner Object Storage, proxied through Floating IPs, hit 85% cache rates across EU traffic at a fraction of typical CDN costs.
Pricing Comparison & PlansHigh· Verified Jul 2, 2026
Google Cloud Platform Plans
Free tier available
Always Free
Free- ✓Free usage of Compute Engine (1 e2-micro instance/month)
- ✓Free usage of Cloud Storage (5 GB-months Standard Storage)
- ✓Free usage of BigQuery (1 TB queries/month)
- ✓Free usage of Cloud Run (2 million requests/month)
- ✓Free usage of Google Kubernetes Engine (1 Autopilot or Zonal cluster/month)
Pay-as-you-go
Contact SalesBest for: Custom pricing for Compute Engine from $0.006/hr, Cloud Storage $0.020/GB
- ✓Access to all Google Cloud products
- ✓Billed for actual resource usage
- ✓No upfront costs
- ✓No termination fees
- ✓Pricing varies by product and usage
Committed Use Discounts
Contact Sales- ✓Significant discounts for 1-year or 3-year commitments
- ✓Up to 70% savings on Compute Engine
- ✓Predictable costs for stable workloads
- ✓Available for various Google Cloud services
Hetzner Plans
Paid plans only
CX23
$4.49/moBest for: This entry-level cloud server is ideal for small projects, testing environments, or low-traffic websites
- ✓4 GB RAM
- ✓40 GB SSD
- ✓20 TB Traffic
- ✓Intel®/AMD CPU
CAX11
$4.99/moBest for: This ARM-based cloud server is a cost-effective option for specific workloads optimized for ARM architecture
- ✓4 GB RAM
- ✓40 GB SSD
- ✓20 TB Traffic
- ✓Ampere® Altra® ARM64 CPU
CX33
$6.99/moBest for: A step up from CX23, this plan provides more resources suitable for growing applications or medium-sized websites
- ✓8 GB RAM
- ✓80 GB SSD
- ✓20 TB Traffic
- ✓Intel®/AMD CPU
CPX22
$7.99/moBest for: Part of the premium CPU line, CPX22 offers better single-core performance for applications that benefit from faster processing
- ✓2 vCPU
- ✓4 GB RAM
- ✓80 GB SSD
- ✓20 TB Traffic
- ✓AMD EPYC CPU
Capability Breakdown
9 differences found across 18 standardized features
- •Compute Engine
- •Cloud Storage
- •Cloud Functions
- •Cloud Run
- •Kubernetes Engine (GKE)
- •BigQuery
- •Cloud SQL
- •Firestore
- •Vertex AI
- •Cloud CDN
- •VPC Networking
- •IAM
- •Monitoring
- •API Management
- •100+ Services
- •Cloud Servers
- •Dedicated Servers
- •Block Storage
- •Object Storage
- •Load Balancers
- •Firewalls
- •Floating IPs
- •Private Networks
- •Snapshots
- •Backups
- •API
- •CLI
- •Terraform Provider
- •DNS Management
- •Data Centers in EU/US
Strengths & Limitations
Evaluative strengths and weaknesses: not feature lists
- +Industry-leading AI/ML services like Vertex AI and BigQuery ML
- +Superior global private fiber network for low latency and high speed
- +Live migration for virtual machines enables updates with zero downtime
- +Per-second billing and sustained use discounts offer cost efficiency
- +Exceptional data analytics and warehousing with BigQuery
- −Smaller global datacenter footprint compared to AWS and Azure
- −Complex pricing structure can be difficult to forecast and manage
- −Less enterprise-focused support and documentation than competitors
- −Steeper learning curve for users not familiar with Google's ecosystem
- −Market share trails AWS/Azure, leading to a smaller talent pool
- +Industry-leading price-to-performance ratio for compute
- +Generous free egress traffic (20TB/month included)
- +Affordable dedicated root servers with high-end CPUs
- +No-frills, developer-focused interface without vendor lock-in
- +Strong European data sovereignty with German/Finnish locations
- −Limited managed services (e.g., no managed databases or Kubernetes)
- −Support is ticket-based and can be slower than premium providers
- −Fewer global data center locations outside of Europe and the US
- −Strict account verification process can be slow for new users
- −Network performance can be less consistent than AWS/GCP
At a Glance
Recent Price History
Hetzner removed the "Dedicated Server (AX42)" plan
Plan removed · May 30, 2026
Hetzner removed the "CX42" plan
Plan removed · May 30, 2026
Hetzner removed the "CX32" plan
Plan removed · May 30, 2026
Hetzner removed the "CX22" plan
Plan removed · May 30, 2026
Hetzner added a new "Load Balancer" plan at $39/mo
Plan added · May 30, 2026
Google Cloud Platform added a new "Sustained Use Discounts" plan (Custom pricing)
Plan added · May 28, 2026
Google Cloud Platform added a new "Spot VMs" plan (Custom pricing)
Plan added · May 28, 2026
Google Cloud Platform removed the "Committed Use Discounts (CUD)" plan
Plan removed · May 28, 2026
Google Cloud Platform added a new "Committed Use Discounts" plan (Custom pricing)
Plan added · May 28, 2026
Google Cloud Platform removed the "Free Tier" plan
Plan removed · May 21, 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
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