Is Hetzner's CAX21 the best deal?

Cloud Servers · $12.49/mo (8 GB RAM, 4 vCPU, 80 GB SSD/NVMe, 20000 GB transfer)

Better deals exist

Hetzner CAX21 is competitively priced at $12.49/mo with strong specs, but several alternatives offer better value when accounting for renewal costs and hidden fees. Contabo's Cloud VPS 4 at $5.94/mo matches your RAM/vCPU for less than half the price, though it requires a 24-month commitment. IONOS VPS M+ at $11/mo is nearly identical in specs and slightly cheaper with a lower renewal-price trap.

Cloud VPS 4

$5.94/mosave 52%

Matches 8GB RAM and 4 vCPU for less than half Hetzner's price, with 100GB SSD and unlimited traffic.

Caveat: Requires 24-month prepaid contract; shorter 1 or 12-month terms cost significantly more per month, and support is ticket-only.

Cloud VPS Plus 4

$12.39/mosave 1%

Nearly identical price to Hetzner but with 150GB NVMe (vs 80GB), 8GB RAM, 4 vCPU, and 500 Mbit/s port on a 24-month term.

Caveat: 24-month prepaid commitment required; shorter terms cost more; fair usage policy on unlimited traffic may throttle sustained high-bandwidth usage.

VPS M+

$11/mosave 12%

Slightly cheaper at $11/mo with 4 vCPU, 4GB RAM, 120GB NVMe, and unlimited traffic; 99.99% SLA matches Hetzner.

Caveat: Intro pricing is a 1-year promotional rate; renewal pricing is 2-6x higher; additional IPv4 addresses cost $6/month each.

KVM 4

$12.99/mo

Slightly more expensive but offers 16GB RAM (vs 8GB), 200GB NVMe (vs 80GB), and 16TB transfer on a 12/24/48-month prepay.

Caveat: Renewal price jumps to $28.99/mo (2.2x higher); displayed price is intro-only; weekly (not daily) backups on base plan.

Quasar

$12.88/mo

Comparable price at $12.88/mo with 4 vCPU, 6GB RAM, 120GB SSD, and 3TB transfer; unmanaged by default.

Caveat: Renewal pricing is substantially higher; unmanaged by default (add $10-25/mo for management); SLA undefined.

Before you switch

Hetzner CAX21 specs list 'CAX ARM64 shared' which may indicate ARM-based vCPUs rather than x86; verify CPU architecture matches your workload requirements.
Hetzner traffic overage is billed per GB beyond 20TB in EU; confirm your region and typical bandwidth usage to avoid surprise charges.
Contabo's 24-month prepay requirement is a significant upfront commitment; calculate total cost-of-ownership and verify the fair usage policy won't throttle your workload.
IONOS renewal pricing can be 2-6x higher after the intro year; lock in a longer-term contract or budget for a 2-3x price jump at renewal.
Hostinger's renewal price ($28.99/mo) is 2.2x the intro rate; factor this into long-term cost projections if you plan to keep the instance beyond the initial term.
VAT is excluded from all Hetzner and Gcore prices; add local VAT (typically 19-21% in EU) to get your true monthly cost.

This comparison is generated from publicly listed pricing and may contain errors or omissions. It is not financial or professional advice, and CloudHosting.io is not responsible for decisions made based on it. Pricing, promotions, and specs change frequently and may not reflect current terms, regional availability, taxes, or contract length. Always verify current pricing and terms directly on the provider's site before purchasing or switching.

Comparable plans across providers

Provider	Plan	Price	Specs
Bluehost	VPS Hosting · NVMe 4 (Recommended)	$4.18/mo	4 GB RAM, 2 vCPU, 100 GB NVMe SSD	Visit
OVHcloud	VPS · VPS-1	$4.54/mo	4 GB RAM, 2 vCPU, 40 GB NVMe	Visit
Contabo	Core VPS · Cloud VPS 4	$5.94/mo	8 GB RAM, 4 vCPU, 100 GB SSD	Visit
IONOS	Cloud VPS (Linux) · Cloud VPS M	$6.67/mo	4 GB RAM, 2 vCPU, 120 GB NVMe	Visit
Hosting.com (formerly A2 Hosting)	VPS Hosting (Self-Managed) · VPS XS	$9.99/mo	4 GB RAM, 2 vCPU, 80 GB NVMe SSD	Visit
InMotion Hosting	VPS Hosting · VPS 4 vCPU	$9.99/mo	8 GB RAM, 4 vCPU, 160 GB NVMe SSD	Visit
IONOS	IONOS CLOUD Cubes (Basic) · Basic Cube S	$10.08/mo	4 GB RAM, 2 vCPU, 120 GB NVMe	Visit
IONOS	VPS Hosting (VPS+) · VPS M+	$11/mo	4 GB RAM, 4 vCPU, 120 GB NVMe	Visit
Gcore	Cloud Compute (Standard Gen 0, Linux) · g0-standard-2-4	$12.32/mo	4 GB RAM, 2 vCPU	Visit
Contabo	Performance VPS · Cloud VPS Plus 4	$12.39/mo	8 GB RAM, 4 vCPU, 150 GB NVMe	Visit
Namecheap	VPS Hosting · Quasar	$12.88/mo	6 GB RAM, 4 vCPU, 120 GB SSD	Visit
Hostinger	KVM VPS · KVM 4	$12.99/mo	16 GB RAM, 4 vCPU, 200 GB NVMe SSD	Visit
IONOS	IONOS CLOUD Cubes (Memory) · Memory Cube S	$13.68/mo	8 GB RAM, 2 vCPU, 120 GB NVMe	Visit
Scaleway	Virtual Instances · DEV1-M	$14.74/mo	4 GB RAM, 3 vCPU	Visit
DreamHost	Self-Managed VPS · Stack 4	$15.99/mo	4 GB RAM, 2 vCPU, 75 GB NVMe SSD	Visit

Visit Hetzner

Comparing prices across every provider we track...