What this page is
A dated procurement snapshot for indie hackers and CN-remote founders choosing among three common “serious indie” VPS picks: Contabo, Hetzner Cloud, and DigitalOcean. Stickers below were re-fetched from official URLs on 2026-11-06 Asia/Shanghai. This is not a forever ranking, and it is not the Hostinger-inclusive three-way — that sibling lives at DigitalOcean vs Hostinger vs Contabo.
Short AEO answer
Pick Contabo when you want max RAM/CPU/disk per euro and can live with fair-use + a plan port cap. Pick Hetzner when you want the indie EU shared-cloud default (hourly with monthly cap, large EU inclusive outbound traffic, public EUR excl.-VAT cards). Pick DigitalOcean when you want polished docs/UX, tear-down-friendly per-second billing, and a spreadsheet-able transfer pool at $0.01/GiB after included GiB. This page is a dated snapshot of public entry bands — not a forever #1.
| Provider | One-line snapshot |
|---|---|
| Contabo | Specs/€ + fair-use traffic + plan port caps; 24-mo effective public framing |
| Hetzner | EU shared Regular Performance; hourly+cap; large inclusive TB on EU Cloud |
| DigitalOcean | Docs/UX polish; per-second + monthly cap; predictable $0.01/GiB overage |
Snapshot compare matrix
Bands from public pages on 2026-11-06 Asia/Shanghai. Currency as published. VAT / locale caveats labeled. No invented benchmarks, uptime %, or ping numbers.
| Dimension | Contabo (Core Cloud VPS) | Hetzner (Regular Performance) | DigitalOcean (Basic Droplets) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting price band | From €4.40/mo (Price Including VAT on en-us pricing table) for Cloud VPS 4 — 4 vCPU / 8 GB / 100 GB SSD / 200 Mbit/s / Unlimited Traffic*. VPS product cards also print a higher figure beside the same plan (e.g. €5.50 next to Cloud VPS 4 this check) — see Sources conflict. Source: Contabo pricing · Contabo VPS. | From €6.49/mo excl. VAT Regular Performance (CPX02 EU). Cost-Optimized from €5.99 excl. VAT but hub badge “Currently not available” — do not steer into that family. Source: Cloud pricing · Regular Performance. | From $4.00/mo — Basic 512 MiB / 1 vCPU / 10 GiB SSD / 500 GiB transfer / $0.00595/hr. Source: DO Droplet pricing. |
| Billing model | Public rate framed as effective monthly for a 24-month subscription including applicable taxes (VPS footer). Min initial contract 1 month. One-time setup fee applies to new Cloud VPS 4 on monthly contracts; longer contracts: no setup fees (per Contabo VPS page). Exact cart € setup without signup = TBD. | Hourly + monthly price cap; delete early → hourly only (hours rounded up); bill until delete; powered-off still bills. Primary IPv4 €0.50/mo excl. VAT; IPv6 free. Public cards excl. VAT; cart locale total = TBD. | Per-second (min 60s or $0.01) effective 2026-01-01, with monthly cap on bundled plans. Good for tear-down. |
| Locations | Marketing map: USA · UK · Europe · Asia · Australia (choose for latency; no invented ping). | DE FSN/NBG · FI HEL · US HIL/ASH · SG SIN. | Multi-region create path (NYC, SFO, AMS, LON, FRA, TOR, BLR, SGP, SYD, ATL + more on DO pricing FAQ). |
| Bandwidth model | Marketing unlimited inbound + outbound with fair-usage; Contabo may throttle exceptionally high/disruptive use; email then work on a solution. No published GB throttle threshold — do not invent one. Port capped by plan. Deep dive: HS-04 Contabo fair-use. | Inclusive outbound TB by plan/location (EU CPX often 20 TB); overage €1.00/TB (EU & US) · €7.40/TB (Singapore) excl. VAT — billed in 100 MB blocks (cite €/TB from docs/Robot pattern; not the marketing widget “per hour” string). Expect about 300–500 Mbit/s shared (RP FAQ). Deep dive: HS-01 Hetzner. | Inbound free; outbound beyond team pool $0.01/GiB; pool at team level; no rollover; accrues per second up to 2,419,200 s / 28 days. Don’t confuse App Platform ($0.02/GiB). Deep dive: HS-05 DO overage. |
| Best for | RAM/disk-heavy labs; buyers optimizing specs per euro. | Indie / EU-first shared cloud; tear-down-friendly hourly+cap; large inclusive EU TB. | Side projects & small prod wanting docs, 1-clicks, easy destroy; multi-region. |
| Caveats | Fair-use throttle risk; port caps; dual public stickers; monthly-contract setup fee on Cloud VPS 4; UX/docs less polished. | Public cards excl. VAT; IPv4 add-on; Cost-Optimized may be unavailable; create path can show stock constraints while cards remain published. | Entry RAM tiny (512 MiB); bandwidth overage math; account verification. |
*Contabo fair-use applies — see bandwidth row and HS-04.
Entry-plan snapshot (same as-of)
As-of 2026-11-06 Asia/Shanghai. Three entry columns only — optional like-for-like RAM band below.
| Provider | Entry SKU (public) | CPU / RAM / Disk | Transfer / port | Entry price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Contabo | Cloud VPS 4 | 4 vCPU / 8 GB / 100 GB SSD | Unlimited* · 200 Mbit/s | €4.40/mo incl. VAT (en-us pricing table) · VPS card also shows €5.50 beside it · setup fee on monthly contracts (cart € = TBD) |
| Hetzner | CPX02 (EU) | 1 vCPU AMD / 1 GB / 20 GB NVMe | 20 TB inclusive · shared host ~300–500 Mbit/s | €6.49/mo · €0.0104/hr excl. VAT · + Primary IPv4 €0.50/mo excl. VAT if needed |
| DigitalOcean | Basic Droplet | 1 vCPU / 512 MiB / 10 GiB SSD | 500 GiB outbound | $4.00/mo · $0.00595/hr |
Optional second band (same as-of; still official rows)
| Provider | SKU | Specs | Transfer / port | Public price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Contabo | Cloud VPS 6 | 6 vCPU / 12 GB / 200 GB SSD or 100 GB NVMe | Unlimited* · 300 Mbit/s | €6.00/mo incl. VAT (pricing table) · VPS card also shows €7.50 |
| Hetzner | CPX12 (EU) | 1 vCPU AMD / 2 GB / 40 GB NVMe | 20 TB inclusive (EU card) | €11.99/mo excl. VAT (Regular Performance card) |
| DigitalOcean | Basic 1 GiB | 1 vCPU / 1 GiB / 25 GiB SSD | 1,000 GiB | $6.00/mo (common “real starter”) |
Contabo Core ladder (en-us pricing table, Price Including VAT)
| Model | CPU / RAM / Storage | Port | €/mo (incl. VAT) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cloud VPS 4 | 4 vCPU / 8 GB / 100 GB SSD | 200 Mbit/s | €4.40 |
| Cloud VPS 6 | 6 vCPU / 12 GB / 200 GB SSD or 100 GB NVMe | 300 Mbit/s | €6.00 |
| Cloud VPS 8 | 8 vCPU / 24 GB / 300 GB SSD or 150 GB NVMe | 600 Mbit/s | €11.20 |
| Cloud VPS 12 | 12 vCPU / 48 GB / 400 GB SSD or 200 GB NVMe | 800 Mbit/s | €20.00 |
| Cloud VPS 16 | 16 vCPU / 64 GB / 500 GB SSD or 250 GB NVMe | 1 Gbit/s | €29.60 |
| Cloud VPS 18 | 18 vCPU / 96 GB / 600 GB SSD or 300 GB NVMe | 1 Gbit/s | €39.20 |
DigitalOcean Basic band (bundled)
| RAM | vCPU | Transfer | SSD | $/mo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 512 MiB | 1 | 500 GiB | 10 GiB | $4.00 |
| 1 GiB | 1 | 1,000 GiB | 25 GiB | $6.00 |
| 2 GiB | 1 | 2,000 GiB | 50 GiB | $12.00 |
| 2 GiB | 2 | 3,000 GiB | 60 GiB | $18.00 |
| 4 GiB | 2 | 4,000 GiB | 80 GiB | $24.00 |
Bandwidth models side-by-side
Three different meters — pick the model that matches how you actually ship bytes.
| Layer | Contabo | Hetzner Cloud | DigitalOcean Droplets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inclusive story | Marketing unlimited in/out | Large inclusive TB (EU CPX often 20 TB) | Plan outbound GiB (500 → 6,000 GiB on Basic $4–$96) |
| Soft limit | Fair-use + discretionary throttle | Hard inclusive TB, then overage | Team pool, then overage |
| Hard meter | Plan port (200 Mbit/s → 1 Gbit/s) | Shared host; expect ~300–500 Mbit/s (RP FAQ) | Plan allowance + $0.01/GiB |
| Overage bill | None published (throttle / email path) | €1.00/TB EU & US · €7.40/TB Singapore (100 MB blocks) | $0.01/GiB outbound beyond pool |
| Deep dive | HS-04 Contabo fair-use | HS-01 Hetzner provider | HS-05 DO overage |
Billing shape differences
- Contabo — Public sticker often = 24-month effective monthly rate including applicable taxes (VPS footer). Min initial contract 1 month; following term equals initial; cancel notice none (pre-paid) or 4 weeks (post-paid). Setup: Contabo VPS page states a one-time setup fee applies to new Cloud VPS 4 instances (monthly contracts only); longer contracts have no setup fees. Exact euro amount in cart without signup = TBD. Live HostStack Contabo provider may still say setup TBD on its older money-check — prefer Contabo’s official wording here; see Sources conflict.
- Hetzner — Hourly rate with monthly cap; delete early → hourly only; bill until delete; powered-off still bills. Primary IPv4 €0.50/mo excl. VAT; IPv6 free. Public cards excl. VAT.
- DigitalOcean — Per-second billing (min 60s or $0.01) effective 2026-01-01; bundled plans monthly-capped. Transfer allowance accrues per second up to 2,419,200 seconds / 28 days; no rollover across months.
Who should pick which / skip-if
- Need max RAM/CPU/disk per euro and can accept fair-use + port caps → lean Contabo. Skip if you need DO-like docs polish or cannot tolerate discretionary throttle risk.
- Need EU shared Regular Performance, hourly+cap tear-down, large inclusive EU TB, GDPR-oriented German HQ marketing → lean Hetzner. Skip if you optimize pure RAM stickers (Contabo) or want tutorial marketplace first (DO). Do not pick Cost-Optimized while the hub says unavailable.
- Need docs/UX/1-clicks, per-second destroy billing, and a spreadsheet-able $0.01/GiB overage → lean DigitalOcean. Skip if absolute cheapest $/GB RAM is the only job.
- Want Hostinger prepaid intro + panel → that is a different matrix: DO vs Hostinger vs Contabo.
- Want managed WordPress/app stack instead of raw VPS → see Cloudways (separate product; disclosure applies). Do not mix managed SaaS credits into this VPS answer.
How HostStack compares
We stamp as-of Asia/Shanghai, cite official URLs only for money/spec/bandwidth rows, mark TBD when a figure needs signup, and refuse invented benchmarks. Full rules: Methodology. Affiliate posture: Contabo CJ may apply on Contabo CTAs; Hetzner + DigitalOcean stay official-only until approved — Disclosure.
FAQ
Is Contabo always cheapest?
Often wins raw specs per euro on the public sticker — but dual stickers (€4.40 table vs higher VPS-card figures), 24-mo effective framing, monthly-contract setup fee on Cloud VPS 4, fair-use, and port caps all change total cost of ownership. Compare like-for-like specs and term length.
Is Hetzner always the indie default?
It is a strong EU shared-cloud default for many indies, not a universal #1. Contabo can still win RAM/disk stickers; DO can still win polish and tear-down UX. Verify Console availability — published cards are not guaranteed stock.
Is DigitalOcean worth the premium?
Pay for docs, marketplace, multi-region create path, and predictable overage math — not for max RAM per dollar. The $4 / 512 MiB plan is real but RAM-starved for many stacks; the $6 / 1 GiB band is the common “real starter.”
Why isn’t Hostinger on this page?
Hostinger belongs on the sibling three-way: DigitalOcean vs Hostinger vs Contabo. This HS-03 page is the Hetzner-inclusive three-way. Two siblings, not duplicates.
Outbound links
Contabo VPS plans (CJ) Cloud VPS 4 Hetzner Cloud pricing (official) DO Droplet pricing (official)
Official verify (non-affiliate):
- Contabo: pricing · VPS · bandwidth help
- Hetzner: Cloud pricing · Regular Performance · billing FAQ
- DigitalOcean: Droplet pricing · Bandwidth Billing · product pricing docs
Provider deep-dives: Contabo · Hetzner Cloud · DigitalOcean · sibling DO vs Hostinger vs Contabo · Home
Sources + last price-check
Opened on write day 2026-11-06 Asia/Shanghai:
- https://contabo.com/en-us/pricing/
- https://contabo.com/en-us/vps/
- https://help.contabo.com/en/support/solutions/articles/103000271195-are-there-any-bandwidth-or-traffic-limits-at-contabo-
- https://www.hetzner.com/cloud/pricing
- https://www.hetzner.com/cloud/
- https://www.hetzner.com/cloud/regular-performance/
- https://www.hetzner.com/European-cloud
- https://docs.hetzner.com/cloud/billing/faq/
- https://docs.hetzner.com/cloud/servers/overview/
- https://docs.hetzner.com/robot/general/traffic/
- https://www.digitalocean.com/pricing/droplets
- https://docs.digitalocean.com/platform/billing/bandwidth/ (DO stamp observed: last verified 5 Nov 2026)
- https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/droplets/details/pricing/
- Methodology: /methodology/ · Disclosure: /disclosure/
Conflicts labeled this pass (do not silently overwrite)
- Contabo setup fee: Contabo VPS page states a one-time setup fee for new Cloud VPS 4 on monthly contracts; longer contracts no setup fees. Cart € amount without signup = TBD. Live HostStack Contabo provider may still say setup TBD from its 2026-11-02 money check — this compare prefers Contabo’s official wording.
- Contabo dual stickers: Pricing table €4.40/mo (Price Including VAT / 24-mo effective monthly framing in footer) vs VPS card €5.50 next to Cloud VPS 4 (and similar dual figures on higher Core cards). We label what Contabo prints; we do not invent which is list vs promo or invent renew math.
- Hetzner overage unit: Regular Performance marketing HTML can expose “€1.00 / €7.40 per hour” next to “for each additional TB.” HostStack cites €/TB (EU & US €1.00 · Singapore €7.40) with 100 MB blocks from billing FAQ / Robot traffic pattern — not widget-per-hour.
- Sibling Hostinger three-way stays separate at /compare/digitalocean-vs-hostinger-vs-contabo/.
Last price-check: 2026-11-06 Asia/Shanghai. Soft sister digest: deals.benhu.ggff.net. No counseling-brand links.