Google Cloud vs Hetzner Comparison

Why choose Google Cloud

• Has a free plan (Hetzner does not)
• Higher Analytics score (9/10 vs 4/10)
• Higher Scalability score (10/10 vs 6/10)
• Better fit for enterprise (9/10 vs 4/10)

Why choose Hetzner

• Higher Cost score (9/10 vs 5/10)
• Higher Ease of Use score (6/10 vs 5/10)
• Better fit for small business (6/10 vs 4/10)

Google Cloud

Pros

• Very broad managed catalogue that spans VMs, GKE, serverless, several database engines, a CDN and Cloud Armor, so most infrastructure can come from one vendor.
• Global footprint, which Wikipedia put at 40 regions and 121 zones in early 2024, helps teams deploy close to users and across zones.
• A 300 USD, 90-day credit plus a permanent Always Free tier, including a small VM, lets developers prototype at no cost.
• Capterra reviewers credit its scalability with helping them adapt quickly to changing client demand.

Cons

• Capterra reviewers repeatedly say the billing is complex, hard to audit and sometimes produces unexpected charges.
• Technical support requires a paid plan priced as a percentage of spend, and Premium starts at 15,000 USD a month.
• Reviewers report a steep learning curve and inconsistent documentation.
• The free e2-micro VM is limited to three US regions, so other regions incur standard charges.

Hetzner

Pros

• Compute is still cheaper than DigitalOcean, Linode or Vultr and several times cheaper than the hyperscalers, even after the 2026 price rises.
• Cloud servers are billed hourly with a monthly cap, and firewalls and private networks are included at no extra cost.
• Infrastructure can be automated through a REST API, a CLI, and integrations for Terraform, Ansible and Kubernetes.
• Hetzner owns its data centers in Germany and Finland, which suits teams that need EU data residency.
• Object storage includes 1 TB of storage and 1 TB of egress for a flat base price.

Cons

• Prices rose by about 30 to 37 percent in April 2026, the second increase in about 18 months.
• US cloud bandwidth allowances were cut sharply in December 2024.
• Reviewers often report strict identity checks that block or close new accounts.
• There is no 24/7 chat support, and some reviewers say support is slow to respond.
• Managed services are limited compared with the hyperscalers, so most of the stack is self-managed.