Linode (Akamai) vs Hetzner Cloud
A detailed comparison to help you choose between Linode (Akamai) and Hetzner Cloud.
Quick Verdict
4.0/5
Linode (Akamai)
0 reviews
4.4/5
Hetzner Cloud
0 reviews
Hetzner Cloud is rated higher (4.4 vs 4.0). Linode provides managed VPS instances on SSD storage with data centers across North America, Europe, and Asia. Built for developers and small-to-medium businesses needing reliable cloud infrastructure. German cloud provider offering the best price-to-performance ratio in the market. CX22 (2 vCPU, 4GB RAM, 40GB NVMe) costs €4.35/month. Loved by European developers for fast NVMe, generous bandwidth, a
Linode (Akamai) High-performance Linux VPS hosting with predictable pricing. | Hetzner Cloud Affordable VPS hosting with fast deployment and transparent pricing | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Rating | 4.0 (0 reviews) | 4.4 (0 reviews)✓ |
| Pricing model | usage-based | paid |
| Starting price | From $5/mo✓ | From $5.99/mo |
| Best for | Small production teams wanting an API-first Linux platform with a real uptime SLA, pooled transfer, managed Kubernetes and databases, and one vendor for compute plus edge delivery. | Developers and small teams who want unmanaged Linux infrastructure at the lowest cost per unit of compute, especially for European workloads with data-residency requirements, dev/test environments, CI runners, and price-sensitive production web apps. |
| Specifications (entry plan) | ||
| CPU cores | 1 vCPU | 2 vCPU✓ |
| RAM | 1 GB | 4 GB✓ |
| Storage | 25 GB | 40 GB✓ |
| Bandwidth | 1 TB/mo | 20 TB/mo✓ |
| SLA uptime | 99.99%✓ | 99.9% |
| Data-center count | 26✓ | 6 |
| €/vCPU/mo | €5.00 | €3.00✓ |
| €/GB RAM/mo | €5.00 | €1.50✓ |
| Performance | ||
| CPU score (sysbench) | 1,800 | 4,820✓ |
| Disk read (fio) | 800 MB/s | 2,100 MB/s✓ |
| Disk IOPS (4K random) | 14,000 | 42,000✓ |
| Network out | 0.5 Gbps | 1 Gbps✓ |
| Latency (TTFB) | 30 ms | 18 ms✓ |
| Features | ||
| IPv6 | ||
| DDoS protection | ||
| Automated backups | ✓ | |
| Snapshots | ✓ | |
| Managed option | ||
| Bare metal | ||
| GPU available | ||
| S3-compatible | ||
| Hourly billing | ||
| Free tier | ✓ | |
| Data-center locations | ||
| Regions | United StatesUnited KingdomGermanyIndiaSingaporeJapan+3 | GermanyFinlandUnited StatesSingapore |
| Tags | ||
| Tags | free tierhourly billingnvme storageipv6ddos protectionbackups includedsnapshotsmanaged optioneu datacenterus datacenterapac datacenterapi accesskubernetes support | hourly billingnvme storageipv6ddos protectionbackups includedsnapshotseu datacenterus datacentergdpr compliantterraform providerapi access |
| Visit Linode (Akamai) → | Visit Hetzner Cloud → | |
Linode (Akamai)
Pros
- + Published hourly pricing with monthly caps and low egress overage ($0.005/GB)
- + 99.99% compute uptime SLA with pro-rata service credits; 99.9% for other services
- + Complete platform: LKE, managed databases, object storage, NodeBalancers, DNS, GPU
- + Excellent documentation and a well-documented REST API, CLI, and Terraform support
- + 25+ core data centers across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and South America
Cons
- - Entry price-performance is not class-leading (our Nanode benchmark: CPU 1,800 at €5/mo)
- - Backups, snapshots, and managed databases are all paid add-ons
- - Product surface is fragmenting as Akamai folds Linode into its enterprise strategy
- - Service availability varies by region (Backups are core-regions-only)
- - Shared entry plans run on explicitly legacy hardware
Hetzner Cloud
Pros
- + Best CPU-per-euro in our 2026-04-01 benchmark run: the CX22 outperformed plans costing up to six times as much
- + Strong NVMe throughput: 2,100-2,400 MB/s sequential reads and 42,000-48,000 random 4K IOPS in our tests
- + Transparent hourly billing with a monthly price cap and no setup fees or contracts
- + Six cloud locations with owned, ISO 27001-certified EU data centers and GDPR-compliant processing
- + At least 20 TB included transfer at EU locations, plus free DDoS mitigation for all customers
- + Mature automation: REST API, Terraform provider, official Go/Python libraries, cloud firewalls and private networks
Cons
- - Backups and snapshots are paid add-ons rather than plan inclusions, which erodes the headline price advantage
- - Email-only support with no phone option and no managed tier for cloud customers
- - Entry plans use shared vCPUs and Hetzner offers no bandwidth guarantee (typical 300-500 Mbit/s stated by Hetzner)
- - No supported Windows installs and a smaller managed-ecosystem than larger providers
- - Default resource limits on new accounts require a support ticket to raise; cost-optimized stock is periodically unavailable
- - Object storage only available in the three European locations
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