Hetzner vs Oracle Cloud (OCI)
Verdict up front: Oracle Cloud (OCI) starts cheaper (Free/mo); Oracle Cloud (OCI) covers more ground (48 regions). The right pick depends on workload — details below.
| Hetzner | Oracle Cloud (OCI) | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $3.79/mo | Free |
| Billing | monthly | monthly |
| Regions | 6 | 48 |
| Free tier / trial | None | Always Free: 4 ARM OCPUs, 24GB RAM, 200GB storage, 10TB egress |
| Category | iaas, baremetal | iaas, baremetal |
Hetzner
German engineering — best price-per-vCPU in the business
- + Cheapest compute per spec anywhere
- + Generous bandwidth (20TB+)
- + Dedicated servers excellent value
- + Auction servers even cheaper
- − EU-centric (US regions newer/smaller)
- − Strict account verification
- − No managed K8s on auction/dedicated
Oracle Cloud (OCI)
The always-free ARM tier that every 'free VPS' list eventually lands on
- + Always Free: 4 Ampere ARM cores + 24GB RAM
- + Free 200GB block storage + 10TB egress
- + Enterprise-grade IaaS underneath
- + Competitive paid pricing vs hyperscalers
- − Signup approval can take days
- − Free tier is ARM-only and often out of capacity
- − Enterprise UX, not indie-friendly
- − x86 free allowance is much smaller