Independent comparison for European cloud and bare-metal infrastructure. Updated May 2026.
Quick verdict: Choose OVHcloud for a broader European-sovereign cloud catalogue including managed Kubernetes, public cloud, AI offerings, and SecNumCloud-qualified hosting for French regulated workloads. Choose Hetzner for the lowest per-resource pricing in Europe, particularly on bare-metal dedicated servers where Hetzner's value-for-money is rarely matched. The differentiator is service breadth vs raw price.
| Criteria | OVHcloud | Hetzner |
|---|---|---|
| Rating | 4.2 / 5.0 (3,400 reviews) | 4.5 / 5.0 (2,800 reviews) |
| Origin / Headquarters | France (Roubaix) | Germany (Gunzenhausen) |
| Data Centres | 43 data centres across 4 continents | 5 locations (Germany, Finland, USA, Singapore) |
| Public Cloud (VMs) | OVHcloud Public Cloud (OpenStack-based) | Hetzner Cloud |
| Bare Metal | Broad catalogue, from €30/month | Dedicated servers from €33/month |
| Managed Kubernetes | Managed Kubernetes Service (free control plane) | Not offered natively |
| Managed Databases | PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, Redis | Not offered |
| Regulated Compliance | SecNumCloud (France), HDS (health data), GDPR | ISO 27001, GDPR |
| AI Platform | AI Endpoints, AI Notebooks, AI Training | Self-managed on GPU servers |
| European Sovereignty | Strong — French sovereign cloud certified | Strong — German operator with EU data centres |
OVHcloud is Europe's largest cloud provider by infrastructure footprint, with 43 data centres across France, Germany, Poland, UK, Canada, Australia, Singapore, and the United States. The product catalogue spans bare metal (the original OVH business), public cloud (OpenStack-based with managed Kubernetes), hosted private cloud (VMware-based), and managed services including PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, and Redis. SecNumCloud certification — the French ANSSI's qualified sovereign cloud standard — makes OVHcloud the default choice for French public sector and regulated industry workloads requiring data sovereignty assurance.
Hetzner is a German hosting provider with over 25 years of operations and an unusually price-aggressive cloud and dedicated server catalogue. Hetzner Cloud offers x86 and Arm-based virtual machines with significantly lower per-vCPU pricing than any other European provider. Dedicated servers start at €33/month for 6-core, 64 GB RAM, dual NVMe — pricing rarely matched outside Hetzner. The trade-off is a thinner managed-service catalogue: no managed databases, no Kubernetes-as-a-service, no AI platform beyond raw GPU server availability.
Both vendors deliver strong European data sovereignty. OVHcloud has the regulatory certifications (SecNumCloud, HDS healthcare data) and broader service depth, while Hetzner has lower per-resource cost. Browse additional European cloud options in the cloud infrastructure category.
Hetzner's pricing is lower than OVHcloud at most equivalent capacity tiers. A 4 vCPU / 8 GB Hetzner CPX31 instance costs €13.10/month, while OVHcloud Public Cloud B2-15 (4 vCPU / 15 GB) lists at approximately €52/month. The gap narrows on bare metal, where OVHcloud's broader catalogue offers more configuration options at competitive pricing, though Hetzner's entry-tier dedicated servers remain among the lowest priced in Europe.
For managed services, OVHcloud has the catalogue Hetzner lacks. Managed Kubernetes is free on the control plane on OVHcloud (worker nodes billed at public cloud rates). Managed PostgreSQL starts at €25/month on OVHcloud, while equivalent capacity on Hetzner requires self-management. Total cost depends heavily on operational requirements — if managed services are needed, OVHcloud's total cost is often lower than Hetzner once operational labour is factored in.
Choose OVHcloud if you need European-sovereign cloud with broader managed services, SecNumCloud certification for French regulated workloads, HDS hosting for healthcare data, or VMware-based hosted private cloud. OVHcloud also fits organisations wanting a single European provider for both bare metal and public cloud across multiple geographies (France, Germany, Poland, UK, Canada, Singapore, Australia).
Choose Hetzner if cost is the primary criterion and your team is comfortable managing infrastructure. Hetzner fits workloads with predictable resource requirements, bare-metal needs for performance-sensitive applications, and high-bandwidth workloads where the 20 TB included allowance avoids overage charges. Hetzner is also the right choice when GDPR-aligned hosting is enough — without needing SecNumCloud or HDS certifications.