← Compare hub
Hetzner vs DigitalOcean
Agent-native side-by-side. Scores are curated estimates on a 0–10 scale. Lock-in: higher = worse. Prefer JTBD picks via /api/decide when choosing for a job.
| Dimension | Hetzner | DigitalOcean |
|---|---|---|
| Overall | 8.2 | 8.2 |
| Capability fit | 7.5 | 7.8 |
| Price / performance | 9.6 | 8.2 |
| Latency / reliability | 8.6 | 8.8 |
| Developer & agent DX | 7.2 | 8.5 |
| Privacy / data retention | 8.0 | 7.5 |
| Lock-in risk (higher = worse) | 2.5 | 3.5 |
| Maturity / track record | 9.0 | 9.2 |
| Pricing | Very cheap cloud VMs and dedicated; auction servers; Object Storage; EU-strong. | Droplets, App Platform, Spaces, Managed DBs, Paperspace GPUs; simple pricing. |
| Tagline | When you need cheap always-on CPU in EU, start here. DIY the agent orchestration yourself. | Classic simple cloud. Use for steady VMs and Spaces; pair Paperspace/RunPod for GPUs. |
Hetzner
When you need cheap always-on CPU in EU, start here. DIY the agent orchestration yourself. Strengths: Outstanding price/performance for CPU; EU data center strength; Transparent pricing.
Strengths
- Outstanding price/performance for CPU
- EU data center strength
- Transparent pricing
Weaknesses
- Fewer regions than hyperscalers
- Less managed PaaS candy
- Support model is ticket-oriented
DigitalOcean
Classic simple cloud. Use for steady VMs and Spaces; pair Paperspace/RunPod for GPUs. Strengths: Clear pricing and docs; Good enough for most agent backends; Spaces S3-compat.
Strengths
- Clear pricing and docs
- Good enough for most agent backends
- Spaces S3-compat
Weaknesses
- Not the cheapest EU option (Hetzner)
- AI-native features limited
- Support tiered
More pairs: anthropic-vs-openai · openai-vs-google-ai · groq-vs-fireworks · fireworks-vs-together · qdrant-vs-pinecone · pinecone-vs-supabase-pgvector · e2b-vs-modal · browserbase-vs-firecrawl