Hetzner wins almost every VPS price comparison for Node.js — but only if your users are in Europe or North America. If your API needs to be fast in Tokyo, Seoul, or Johannesburg, Hetzner's 5 regions don't help you. That's where Vultr's 32 datacenters change the calculus.
Pricing (2026)
| Plan | vCPU | RAM | Storage | Bandwidth | Price/month |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 vCPU | 1 | 1 GB | 25 GB NVMe | 1 TB | $6 |
| 1 vCPU | 1 | 2 GB | 55 GB NVMe | 2 TB | $12 |
| 2 vCPU | 2 | 4 GB | 80 GB NVMe | 3 TB | $24 |
| 4 vCPU | 4 | 8 GB | 160 GB NVMe | 4 TB | $48 |
NVMe on every tier is worth noting — DigitalOcean only gives you that on Premium plans, not Basic.
Performance
| Metric | Vultr (AMD HF) | Hetzner CX22 | DO Basic 4GB |
|---|---|---|---|
| Express API (light load) | 9–16ms | 8–15ms | 10–18ms |
| Disk read (sequential NVMe) | ~1,500 MB/s | ~2,000 MB/s | ~500 MB/s |
| Price/month (2 vCPU/4GB) | $24 | ~€4.35 | $24 |
For a region Hetzner and DigitalOcean both cover, Hetzner still wins on price-per-spec. The reason to pick Vultr isn't raw performance — it's reach.
The region list that matters
32 datacenters including Tokyo, Seoul, Singapore, Mumbai, São Paulo, Mexico City, Johannesburg, and Sydney — on top of the usual US/EU spread. If your API serves APAC or LATAM users, this is one of the few budget providers with dedicated hardware there instead of routing through a single regional hub.
Who this is actually for
- ✅ Apps needing low latency to Asia-Pacific, Africa, or Latin America specifically
- ✅ Multi-region deployments — consistent pricing and NVMe across every datacenter
- ✅ Short-lived workloads — hourly billing on every plan
- ❌ Pure EU/US budget optimization — Hetzner wins on price-per-spec here
- ❌ Teams that need first-class support — ticket response is inconsistent compared to DigitalOcean
Verdict
Don't pick Vultr for Europe or North America unless hourly billing specifically matters to you — Hetzner is cheaper for the same specs. Pick it the moment your user base includes APAC, LATAM, or Africa, where it has datacenters competitors simply don't.
Full region list, benchmarks, and Node.js setup steps at vpsfor.dev →
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