I needed a VPS for a side project and benchmarked Vultr, Hetzner, and DigitalOcean. Here's the honest data.
Test setup
- 1 vCPU, 1 GB RAM, 25 GB SSD
- Ubuntu 24.04 LTS
- Same test script on all three
- Location: Frankfurt (closest to me)
Raw performance
| Test | Vultr | Hetzner | DigitalOcean |
|---|---|---|---|
| CPU (sysbench) | 1,842 evt/s | 2,156 evt/s | 1,698 evt/s |
| Disk read | 1.2 GB/s | 1.8 GB/s | 980 MB/s |
| Disk write | 890 MB/s | 1.1 GB/s | 720 MB/s |
| Network (down) | 2.1 Gbps | 1.8 Gbps | 1.9 Gbps |
Winner: Hetzner — 20% faster CPU, 50% faster disk.
Price (monthly)
| Provider | 1GB plan | Backup cost | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vultr | $6 | $1.20 | $7.20 |
| Hetzner | €4.35 (~$4.70) | €0.87 | ~$5.57 |
| DigitalOcean | $6 | $1.20 | $7.20 |
Winner: Hetzner — cheapest and fastest.
The catch with Hetzner
- EU locations only (no US East)
- No managed Kubernetes
- Support is email-only, 24-48h response
When to pick Vultr or DO
Pick Vultr if you need US locations or hourly billing for short tests. Pick DigitalOcean if you want the best documentation and community tutorials.
My pick
For EU projects: Hetzner. For US projects: Vultr. I use both.
Full benchmark data + uptime logs →
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