What Is Hetzner Storage Box? Complete Review & Guide (2026)

What Is Hetzner Storage Box?

Hetzner Storage Box is a managed cloud storage service from German hosting provider Hetzner Online. It delivers straightforward block storage volumes ranging from 1TB to 20TB, accessible through multiple protocols including SFTP, SMB/CIFS, NFS, and WebDAV. Unlike object storage services that require API integration, Storage Box operates like a network-attached drive you can mount directly to servers or access via standard file transfer tools.

The service targets developers, small businesses, and content creators who need reliable backup storage or file hosting without the complexity of hyperscale cloud platforms. Hetzner positions Storage Box as a cost-effective alternative to AWS S3 or Google Cloud Storage for workloads that don't require advanced object storage features but do need large capacity at predictable prices.

Storage Box runs exclusively in Hetzner's German data centers in Falkenstein and Helsinki. Each box includes automatic daily and weekly snapshots, stored for seven and four weeks respectively, at no additional cost. The service integrates tightly with Hetzner's Cloud and dedicated server offerings, providing unlimited bandwidth for transfers within their infrastructure.

Key Features and Specs

Hetzner Storage Box offers five capacity tiers: 1TB (BX11), 5TB (BX21), 10TB (BX31), 20TB (BX41), and a legacy 100GB option (BX10) primarily for existing customers. Each storage box functions as a single volume with multiple access methods rather than a bucket-based object store.

The protocol support covers most common use cases. SFTP and SCP work with standard SSH key authentication, making automated backups straightforward with rsync or standard backup tools. SMB/CIFS allows Windows machines to mount Storage Box as a network drive. NFS support enables Linux servers to mount volumes directly into their filesystem. WebDAV provides browser-based access and compatibility with various desktop sync clients.

Snapshot functionality runs automatically without user intervention. Daily snapshots capture the entire volume once per day, keeping seven versions. Weekly snapshots preserve state across four weeks. Users can browse snapshot directories read-only to retrieve specific file versions. This differs from point-in-time recovery systems where you restore entire volumes—here you simply copy files from dated snapshot folders.

The web interface remains minimal. Users can view storage usage, configure access credentials, enable or disable protocols, and manage sub-accounts with restricted permissions. There's no graphical file browser or drag-and-drop interface—Hetzner expects users to connect via their preferred protocol and standard tools.

Bandwidth allocation deserves specific attention. Transfers between Storage Box and other Hetzner products (Cloud instances, dedicated servers) carry no bandwidth charges regardless of volume. External transfers—uploads from your local machine or downloads to non-Hetzner infrastructure—consume bandwidth from your Storage Box allocation. Each tier includes 10TB monthly traffic. Additional traffic costs €1.19 per TB.

Hetzner Storage Box Pricing

Pricing follows a straightforward tier structure with no hidden fees. The 1TB BX11 costs €3.81 per month. The 5TB BX21 runs €11.90 monthly. The 10TB BX31 costs €23.81 per month. The 20TB BX41 runs €47.62 monthly. All prices include German VAT; non-EU customers pay approximately 16% less.

This translates to roughly $4.10, $12.80, $25.60, and $51.20 respectively at current exchange rates, though Hetzner bills in euros. The effective per-TB cost decreases with larger tiers: approximately $4.10/TB for 1TB, dropping to $2.56/TB at the 20TB level.

Setup fees don't exist. Minimum contract terms don't exist. Cancellation requires one month's notice. Billing occurs monthly with payment via credit card, PayPal, or SEPA direct debit.

The snapshot feature costs nothing extra—a meaningful difference from providers charging per snapshot or per GB of snapshot storage. The 10TB monthly bandwidth allowance covers typical backup and restore operations for most users. Additional bandwidth at €1.19 per TB ($1.28/TB) remains considerably cheaper than AWS S3 egress charges, which start at $0.09/GB ($92.16/TB) for the first 10TB.

Hetzner doesn't charge for API requests, PUT operations, or GET operations because Storage Box doesn't use an API. You connect via standard protocols, and no per-request metering occurs.

Performance and Locations

Hetzner operates Storage Box from two German data centers: Falkenstein (primary) and Helsinki (Finland, technically part of Hetzner's European footprint). Users don't select regions—your Storage Box lives in whichever facility Hetzner assigns during provisioning, typically Falkenstein.

The service doesn't target low-latency workloads. Storage Box performs best for sequential read/write operations like backups, media file storage, and log archival. Small random I/O operations will feel slow compared to local SSDs or even network block storage optimized for databases.

Transfer speeds depend heavily on your connection to Hetzner's network. Users with Hetzner Cloud instances or dedicated servers in the same data center report SFTP transfers exceeding 500 Mbps consistently. NFS mounts from Hetzner infrastructure often sustain 700-900 Mbps for large files. External connections—your office or home internet—will hit your own bandwidth limits first.

The lack of global edge locations means Storage Box suits European workloads or backup scenarios where data doesn't need to move frequently. If you're running production applications in AWS us-east-1 and want to back up to Storage Box, expect slow transfers due to transatlantic distance and Hetzner's bandwidth metering on external traffic.

Workload fit matters significantly. Storage Box handles nightly backups from a dozen servers efficiently. It serves static media files for small websites adequately if visitors primarily access from Europe. It struggles with distributed applications requiring sub-50ms latency or applications making thousands of small file requests per second.

Who Is Hetzner Storage Box Best For?

Small development teams backing up CI/CD artifacts, databases, and configuration files find Storage Box practical. The SFTP access integrates with standard backup scripts without learning new APIs. The predictable monthly cost makes budgeting straightforward—a 10TB box runs about $25/month regardless of request patterns.

Content creators storing raw video footage, photo libraries, or podcast archives benefit from the low per-TB cost and simple mounting via SMB or WebDAV. A videographer can map Storage Box as a network drive on their Mac or Windows machine and drag files directly.

European SaaS companies needing GDPR-compliant backup storage appreciate the German data centers and clear data residency. Hetzner's privacy policies and infrastructure location satisfy many compliance requirements without extensive vendor assessment.

Hetzner Cloud or dedicated server customers gain maximum value through unlimited internal bandwidth. If you're already running workloads on Hetzner infrastructure, Storage Box provides extremely cheap backup storage with fast transfers that don't count against quotas.

The service doesn't suit applications requiring S3 API compatibility without workarounds. If your application expects to use AWS SDK calls for PutObject and GetObject, Storage Box won't work natively. Third-party gateways exist but add complexity.

Global businesses with infrastructure spanning multiple continents will find the single-region limitation restrictive. Storage Box doesn't replicate data across regions or offer CDN-like distribution.

Pros and Cons of Hetzner Storage Box

Pros:

Access via SFTP, SMB, NFS, and WebDAV provides exceptional flexibility. Developers can use rsync, Windows can mount network drives, Linux servers can use NFS mounts, and desktop clients can connect via WebDAV without specialized tools. This protocol diversity eliminates vendor lock-in—you access data through open standards.

Unlimited bandwidth between Storage Box and other Hetzner products creates powerful cost savings for backup architectures. A company with 20 Hetzner Cloud instances can back up terabytes monthly to Storage Box without bandwidth charges, paying only the €23.81 monthly Storage Box fee.

Automatic daily and weekly snapshots included at no extra cost prevent accidental deletions and provide point-in-time recovery. Many providers charge per snapshot or limit retention—Hetzner builds this into base pricing.

Transparent, predictable pricing eliminates surprise bills. The monthly fee covers storage, snapshots, and 10TB bandwidth. No per-request charges exist. No tiering complexity exists. You know exactly what you'll pay.

German data centers with GDPR compliance built-in simplify regulatory requirements for European businesses. Hetzner's German legal jurisdiction and clear privacy policies reduce compliance overhead compared to non-EU providers.

Cons:

Limited to Hetzner ecosystem for bandwidth benefits means external transfers consume metered bandwidth. Backing up from AWS or downloading to your office network counts against the 10TB monthly allowance, with overage fees applying.

No native S3 API support blocks direct use with applications expecting object storage interfaces. You'll need middleware or refactoring to connect S3-dependent applications, adding complexity and potential failure points.

Smaller feature set compared to AWS S3, Google Cloud Storage, or Azure Blob Storage means no lifecycle policies, no multi-region replication, no intelligent tiering, no CloudFront integration, and no event-driven processing hooks. Storage Box provides storage—period.

Hetzner Storage Box Alternatives

Wasabi offers S3-compatible object storage starting at $6.99/TB/month with unlimited egress. The S3 API compatibility supports more applications natively, but costs about 2.5x more than Storage Box for storage alone. Wasabi operates data centers globally but requires minimum 1TB storage commitments per bucket.

Backblaze B2 provides S3-compatible storage at $6/TB/month with egress priced at $0.01/GB. The first 10GB daily egress is free. B2 better serves applications requiring S3 APIs or global distribution, though bandwidth costs add up quickly for restore operations. B2's tooling ecosystem surpasses Hetzner's minimal interface.

OVHcloud Archive Storage targets cold backup scenarios with pricing around €0.002/GB/month (roughly $2.20/TB/month) but charges for retrieval and requires hours for data restoration. OVH suits long-term archival where Storage Box serves active backup workflows.

Within Hetzner's ecosystem, Hetzner Cloud Volumes provide block storage attached directly to Cloud instances starting at €0.054/GB/month (about $58/TB/month). Volumes offer better performance for database workloads but cost significantly more than Storage Box. Volumes suit production data; Storage Box suits backups.

Readers comparing these options should evaluate their specific protocol requirements, geographic distribution needs, and bandwidth patterns. ServerSpotter provides detailed comparisons of storage provider specs, pricing, and benchmark data to help match services to workloads.

Final Verdict

Hetzner Storage Box delivers exactly what it promises: large, affordable storage volumes accessible through standard protocols. The €23.81/month for 10TB costs less than most competitors while including features like automatic snapshots that others charge extra for.

The service excels in its intended niche. European developers and small businesses needing backup storage or file hosting get excellent value, especially when paired with other Hetzner infrastructure. The protocol flexibility—SFTP, SMB, NFS, WebDAV—eliminates lock-in and supports diverse workflows without specialized tools.

Limitations matter significantly. The lack of S3 API support excludes many modern applications expecting object storage interfaces. Single-region availability restricts global use cases. The minimal feature set disappoints users expecting lifecycle management, replication, or advanced access controls.

Storage Box isn't a general-purpose object storage platform competing with S3. It's a straightforward network storage service priced aggressively for backup and archival workloads in Europe. The value proposition holds strongest for existing Hetzner customers leveraging unlimited internal bandwidth and for European businesses prioritizing GDPR compliance and predictable costs.

For workloads fitting Storage Box's capabilities—backup storage, media archival, file sharing within teams—the cost advantage over hyperscale providers reaches 75-80%. For workloads requiring S3 APIs, multi-region distribution, or sub-50ms latency, Storage Box simply doesn't compete.

The service deserves consideration specifically from small to mid-sized European teams running infrastructure primarily in Germany or Finland, needing multi-terabyte backup capacity, and willing to work with standard file protocols rather than object storage APIs. For that audience, Storage Box offers uncommon value at transparent pricing.