They’re not the same kind of product. Hetzner sells you a raw VPS you administer yourself. Cloudways sells a managed layer on top of other clouds. People compare them because the real question is the same: pay more for convenience, or pay less and do it yourself?
The one decision that settles it
Before any benchmark, this comparison comes down to a single question: how much server administration do you want to do?
- If patching the OS, configuring a firewall, and setting up your own backups sounds like a chore you’d rather skip — Cloudways exists to do exactly that, and the premium is the price of never thinking about it.
- If that same list sounds like a normal Tuesday — Hetzner gives you dramatically more hardware per dollar, and the “management” Cloudways charges for is work you’d happily do anyway.
Almost everything below is a longer version of that trade-off. Be honest with yourself about which camp you’re in and the choice mostly makes itself.
Cloudways vs Hetzner at a glance
| Cloudways | Hetzner | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Managed (on DO/Vultr/etc.) | Raw VPS (self-managed) |
| Who runs the server | Cloudways | You |
| Value (resources/$) | Lower (you pay for management) | Highest |
| Setup difficulty | Click-and-go | You install the stack |
| Backups | Built-in (paid add-on) | You set them up |
| Root / full control | Restricted | Full |
| Docker / custom stacks | Limited (PHP-focused) | Anything you want |
| Best for | Hands-off hosting | Max value, full control |
| Underlying cloud | DO/Vultr/Linode/AWS/GCP | Hetzner’s own DCs |
The day-to-day experience
Cloudways is a dashboard. You pick a provider and region, choose an app, and a few minutes later you have a running server with SSL, a firewall, and a backup option — none of which you configured by hand. Updates, staging environments, and one-click TLS all live in the GUI. SSH access exists but is deliberately fenced off; parts of the stack are managed and not meant to be hand-edited. For someone who doesn’t want to learn Nginx, that fence is a feature.
Hetzner is a server and a root password. You get an empty, very fast, very cheap box and everything above the OS is yours to install. That means an afternoon with Docker, a reverse proxy, and a firewall the first time — and total freedom afterward. Want to run Nextcloud, Immich, and a password manager side by side on one box? Nothing stops you.
The pricing model (why the gap exists)
The two price differently, and understanding that explains the whole comparison:
- Hetzner charges you for hardware. A small CX-series instance is among the cheapest real RAM/CPU you can rent anywhere.
- Cloudways charges you for hardware plus a management fee. It provisions a VM at DigitalOcean/Vultr/etc. and adds its layer on top, so the same underlying resources cost more than buying them direct.
Neither is “overpriced” — they’re selling different things. Hetzner sells compute. Cloudways sells not having to manage compute. The right question isn’t which is cheaper (Hetzner, clearly) but whether the management is worth the delta to you.
Approximate entry pricing changes often — Hetzner from ~€4/mo, Cloudways from ~$11/mo — always check the current rate on each provider’s site.
Lock-in and switching later
A practical point people miss: starting on the right model saves a migration. Cloudways keeps your stack inside its managed environment; moving off it later means re-deploying on a raw box and migrating data. It’s doable, not a disaster — but it’s real work. If you suspect you’ll eventually want full control, starting on Hetzner avoids the round trip. If you just want a site that runs and never want to touch a terminal, Cloudways is the destination, not a stepping stone.
How I’m testing (methodology)
To keep this honest, the benchmark section will use the same stack on both: identical-tier instances, the same yabs.sh / fio / iperf3 runs, and the same real app deployment (Nextcloud). Raw numbers and the bills get published here — no vendor marketing figures.
📊 Benchmark + pricing tables: in progress — real data only.
When Cloudways wins
- You don’t want to patch the OS, configure a firewall, or babysit backups.
- You value your time over saving a few dollars a month.
- You run WordPress/WooCommerce or other PHP apps and want a dashboard, not a terminal.
When Hetzner wins
- You’re fine on the command line and want the most resources per dollar.
- You want full root control and Docker for any stack you like.
- You’re running RAM/disk-heavy apps (media, photos) where value matters most.
Hetzner is genuinely the better raw value here, and I’ll say so even though it doesn’t pay me a commission — that’s the point of testing honestly.
Which should you pick?
- Most self-hosters who want it to “just work”: Cloudways.
- Tinkerers and value-seekers: Hetzner.
New to this? Start at the hub: Best VPS for Self-Hosting. Building a homelab on a budget? See cheapest VPS for Docker. Running it for a China audience instead? See the BandwagonHost HK review.
