Three popular VPS providers. Three different approaches. Which one is right for you?
I've used all three for different projects over the past year. Here's my honest comparison.
Quick Comparison Table
| Feature | Hetzner | Contabo | OVHcloud |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | €4.51 (~$4.90) | $8.49 | $4.50 |
| vCPU (base plan) | 2 vCPU | 2 vCPU | 1 vCPU |
| RAM (base plan) | 2 GB | 4 GB | 2 GB |
| Storage | 40 GB NVMe | 200 GB NVMe | 20 GB SSD |
| Traffic | 20 TB | 32 TB | Unmetered (100 Mbps) |
| DDoS Protection | Basic (10 Gbps) | Basic | Enterprise (1.6 Tbps) |
| Data Centers | Germany, Finland, US | US, Europe, Asia | Worldwide (many locations) |
| Sign-up Difficulty | Hard (ID verification) | Easy | Medium |
| Best For | Budget + performance | Storage-heavy projects | DDoS protection |
Performance Comparison
CPU Performance
Hetzner wins here. Their CPX series uses AMD EPYC and Intel Xeon Gold processors. UnixBench scores around 1280 for single-core. Contabo's performance is less consistent due to noisy neighbors. OVH sits in the middle.
Hetzner > OVHcloud > Contabo
Disk Speed
Contabo offers NVMe storage with decent speeds. Hetzner also uses NVMe and performs well. OVH uses standard SSDs which are slower.
Contabo ≈ Hetzner > OVHcloud
Network & Uptime
OVH has the most reliable network and best DDoS protection. Hetzner is solid but basic. Contabo has occasional network hiccups.
OVHcloud > Hetzner > Contabo
Who Should Choose Hetzner?
Hetzner is for budget-conscious users who want the best performance for their money. The sign-up process requires ID verification, which annoys some people but keeps spammers away. If you can get approved, the value is unbeatable.
Best for: Developers, production sites, anyone who wants maximum performance per dollar.
Who Should Choose Contabo?
Contabo offers crazy amounts of storage and RAM for the price. Their base plan includes 200 GB NVMe and 4 GB RAM. But performance can be inconsistent because they oversell their servers. Great for storage-heavy projects that don't need rock-solid performance.
Best for: Storage servers, backup servers, development environments.
Who Should Choose OVHcloud?
OVH is the king of DDoS protection. Their enterprise-grade mitigation comes standard on all VPS plans. If you run a game server or any service likely to be attacked, OVH is worth the premium. The control panel is clunky but the network is solid.
Best for: Game servers, streaming services, any project that needs strong DDoS protection.
Final Verdict
There's no single "best" provider. It depends on your needs.
- Best overall value: Hetzner
- Best for storage: Contabo
- Best for DDoS protection: OVHcloud
If you're just starting out, try Hetzner first. The performance per dollar is hard to beat. Just be prepared for the verification process.
All three providers offer money-back guarantees. Test them yourself and see which works best for your specific workload.