Gcore vs Hetzner Cloud: Complete Comparison (2026)
An in-depth comparison of Gcore and Hetzner Cloud to help you choose the right tool for your business.
Last updated: November 2026
Gcore
6.9/10
Luxembourg-based edge and cloud provider offering CDN, virtual machines, bare metal, managed Kubernetes, object storage, AI GPU cloud, and DDoS/WAF security for businesses.
Hetzner Cloud
6.2/10
Hourly-billed virtual cloud servers, object storage, networking and load balancers from German host Hetzner, aimed at developers and cost-conscious technical teams.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | | H Hetzner Cloud |
|---|---|---|
| Scores | ||
| Overall Rating | 6.9/10 | 6.2/10 |
| Analytics | 7/10 | 4/10 |
| Cost | 7/10 | 8/10 |
| Customization | 7/10 | 7/10 |
| Ease of Use | 6/10 | 7/10 |
| Integration | 7/10 | 7/10 |
| Reliability | 7/10 | 7/10 |
| Scalability | 8/10 | 6/10 |
| Security | 8/10 | 6/10 |
| Support | 5/10 | 4/10 |
| Pricing | ||
| Free plan | Yes | No |
| Cheapest paid plan | €390/mo DDoS Protection Start | €6/mo Cost-Optimized CX23 |
| Estimated cost for 10 users | €390/mo DDoS Protection Start | €6/mo Cost-Optimized CX23 |
| Features | ||
| API and CLI | ||
| Cloud Compute | ||
| Dedicated Servers | ||
| Multiple Regions | ||
| Object Storage | ||
| Automatic Backups | Not listed | |
| Content Delivery Network | Not listed | |
| DDoS Protection | Not listed | |
| Managed Databases | Not listed | |
| Managed Kubernetes | Not listed | |
| Serverless Functions | Not listed | |
| Uptime SLA | Not listed | |
| VPS Hosting | Not listed | |
Gcore vs Hetzner Cloud cost by team size
Hetzner Cloud costs less at every team size we checked.
| Team size | Gcore | Hetzner Cloud |
|---|---|---|
| 1 user | €390/moDDoS Protection Start | €6/moCost-Optimized CX23 |
| 5 users | €390/moDDoS Protection Start | €6/moCost-Optimized CX23 |
| 10 users | €390/moDDoS Protection Start | €6/moCost-Optimized CX23 |
| 25 users | €390/moDDoS Protection Start | €6/moCost-Optimized CX23 |
| 50 users | €390/moDDoS Protection Start | €6/moCost-Optimized CX23 |
The plan that fits each team size, billed monthly, before add-ons and usage charges. Each cost opens that tool's pricing calculator for the team size.
Which One Should You Choose?
Why choose Gcore
- Has a free plan (Hetzner Cloud does not)
- Higher Analytics score (7/10 vs 4/10)
- Higher Scalability score (8/10 vs 6/10)
HWhy choose Hetzner Cloud
- Lower estimated cost for 10 users: €6/mo vs €390/mo
- Higher Cost score (8/10 vs 7/10)
- Higher Ease of Use score (7/10 vs 6/10)
- Better fit for startups (8/10 vs 6/10)
Pros & Cons
Gcore
Pros
- The CDN includes 1 TB of traffic and 1 billion requests free each month, and traffic after that starts at 0.01 EUR per GB.
- DDoS protection pricing does not depend on attack size, and mitigation is not metered on any plan.
- The managed Kubernetes control plane is free with high availability, so you pay only for the nodes.
- A large edge footprint, reported at about 210 PoPs and 200 Tbps of capacity, suits latency-sensitive workloads such as gaming and streaming.
- Headquarters in Luxembourg is an advantage for buyers who prefer an EU-based provider.
Cons
- Trustpilot scores are around 2.5 out of 5, with complaints about recurring billing, refunds, and slow support.
- There is no public price list for VMs and bare metal; prices are only available through the calculator.
- The Terraform v2 provider is still in alpha and Gcore says it is not ready for production.
- The product range is very broad, which can make it harder for small teams to understand how pricing works.
HHetzner Cloud
Pros
- EU servers include 20 TB of traffic, and extra traffic costs only €1 per TB.
- Hourly billing capped at a monthly price, with no contracts.
- A full API and CLI plus Terraform and Ansible integrations make automation straightforward.
- Stateful firewalls and private networks come at no extra cost.
- Still cheaper per spec than DigitalOcean in independent 2026 comparisons.
Cons
- Prices rose twice in 2026, with CPX and CCX new orders up by as much as about 176%.
- Cost-Optimized types are listed as unavailable, and provisioning was limited for new customers from June 2026.
- Many users report account verification failures and suspensions with little explanation.
- No managed database, serverless or managed Kubernetes products.
- US and Singapore servers include far less traffic than EU servers.
Not sold on either?
Frequently Asked Questions
Gcore scores higher on our Hosting & Infrastructure criteria: 6.9/10 against 6.2/10 for Hetzner Cloud. The largest gap is in Analytics: 7/10 for Gcore and 4/10 for Hetzner Cloud.
Hetzner Cloud costs less for 10 users: about €6/mo on its Cost-Optimized CX23 plan, against about €390/mo on its DDoS Protection Start plan for Gcore, billed monthly.
Gcore has a free plan; Hetzner Cloud does not list one.
Hetzner Cloud is the better fit for startups: we rate it 8/10 for them, against 6/10 for Gcore.
