8 of 52 providers reward us when you sign up through our links. It never changes a ranking. Which ones
Akamai Cloud (Linode) vs Hetzner
Akamai Cloud (Linode) starts $3.09 per month cheaper at the entry tier, counting the IPv4 address billed on top.
Akamai Cloud (Linode)
$5/mo entry
Akamai Cloud (Linode) pricingTeams that value platform maturity and stability over the lowest possible invoice.
Hetzner
$8.09/mo entry$7.49 plus $0.60 for an IPv4 address
Hetzner pricingWorkloads with European users that move a lot of traffic each month.
Akamai Cloud (Linode) lists more regions, which matters if latency to a specific city is your constraint. Hetzner is the better pick for workloads with European users that move a lot of traffic each month.
Specification differences
Entry plans compared line by line. Rows marked with a dash are preferences rather than measurable wins, so we do not pick a side on them.
| Attribute | Akamai Cloud (Linode) | Hetzner | Better |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry plan price / month, with IPv4 where billed extra | $5 | $8.09 | Akamai Cloud (Linode) |
| Entry plan vCPU | 1 | 1 | |
| Entry plan RAM | 1 GB | 1 GB | |
| Entry plan storage | 25 GB | 20 GB | Akamai Cloud (Linode) |
| Included transfer | 1 TB | 20 TB | Hetzner |
| Listed regions | 20 | 6 | Akamai Cloud (Linode) |
| Management model | Unmanaged (you run the OS) | Unmanaged (you run the OS) | |
| Support | Ticket and phone support; paid premium tiers available. | Ticket support; no phone support on cloud plans. | |
| Billing | Hourly metering, capped at the listed monthly price. | Hourly metering, capped at the listed monthly price. | |
| Free tier | No free tier. Trial credit is offered to new accounts from time to time. | No free tier. |
Same size, side by side
The cheapest plan from each provider that meets each size, so the comparison is between equal servers rather than two entry plans. Prices include a separately-billed IPv4 address where the provider charges for one.
| Size | Akamai Cloud (Linode) | Hetzner | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 vCPU / 1 GB | $5Nanode 1GB · 1 vCPU · 1 GB · 25 GBEntry shared instance. | $8.09CPX02 · 1 vCPU · 1 GB · 20 GBSmallest Regular Performance type. Price excludes VAT and the IPv4 address ($0.60 a month extra). | Akamai Cloud (Linode) cheaper by $3.09 |
| 2 vCPU / 4 GB | $24Linode 4GB · 2 vCPU · 4 GB · 80 GBMid-tier shared instance. | $23.59CPX22 · 2 vCPU · 4 GB · 80 GBRegular-performance AMD line. Price excludes VAT and IPv4. Was $9.49 before 15 June 2026. | Hetzner cheaper by $0.41 |
| 4 vCPU / 8 GB | $48Linode 8GB · 4 vCPU · 8 GB · 160 GBFour cores with the largest included transfer in the shared range. | $42.59CPX32 · 4 vCPU · 8 GB · 160 GBRegular-performance AMD line. Price excludes VAT and IPv4. Was $15.99 before 15 June 2026. | Hetzner cheaper by $5.41 |
| 8 vCPU / 16 GB | $192Linode 32GB · 8 vCPU · 32 GB · 640 GBEight shared cores and 32GB, with 16TB of transfer included. | $82.59CPX42 · 8 vCPU · 16 GB · 320 GBRegular-performance AMD line. Price excludes VAT and IPv4. Was $29.99 before 15 June 2026. | Hetzner cheaper by $109.41 |
Not in the table because they are sold out on the provider's own site today: Hetzner CX23 (2 vCPU, 4 GB, $7.09/mo), Hetzner CX33 (4 vCPU, 8 GB, $10.59/mo), Hetzner CX43 (8 vCPU, 16 GB, $19.09/mo). We check stock every day, and a plan returns to the table once it can be ordered again.
Every provider at these sizes, ranked: 1 GB RAM · 4 GB RAM · 8 GB RAM · 16 GB RAM
Where each one wins and loses
Akamai Cloud (Linode)
Linode predates most of the budget cloud market and was acquired by Akamai, which folded it into a much larger edge network. The instance shapes and flat pricing remain close to DigitalOcean, and the platform is mature and stable. It is the safe, unexciting choice in this list.
Strengths
- Mature platform with a long operational track record
- Flat pricing and instance shapes broadly comparable to DigitalOcean
- Backed by Akamai edge infrastructure
Weaknesses
- Unmanaged, same operational burden as its peers
- Product direction now set by a much larger parent company
- Smaller developer community than DigitalOcean
Support: Ticket and phone support; paid premium tiers available.
Billing: Hourly metering, capped at the listed monthly price.
Free tier: No free tier. Trial credit is offered to new accounts from time to time.
Hetzner
Hetzner made its name as the price floor for European cloud servers, with included traffic far larger than the US budget clouds. Two things have changed that: prices rose on 15 June 2026, by 25% to 204% depending on the server type, and Hetzner’s cheapest shared-vCPU lines (CX, and the Arm-based CAX) are sold out, which leaves the dearer CPX line as what you can buy today. Prices exclude VAT, the region map is Europe-heavy, and a public IPv4 address is billed separately.
Strengths
- Very large included traffic allowance
- Hourly billing, capped at the monthly price
- An official API, command-line tool and Terraform provider
Weaknesses
- Europe-weighted region map; thin coverage outside the EU and two US sites
- Prices rose by 25% to 204% on 15 June 2026, and the cheapest lines (CX, CAX) are sold out
- IPv4 addresses carry a separate monthly charge
- New-account identity verification can delay first provisioning
Support: Ticket support; no phone support on cloud plans.
Billing: Hourly metering, capped at the listed monthly price.
Free tier: No free tier.
The full cost stack
What a server costs beyond its sticker price, shown for 2 vCPU / 4 GB. Only figures read from each provider's own documentation appear; a gap says “not captured yet”.
| Item | Akamai Cloud (Linode) | Hetzner |
|---|---|---|
| Plan (2 vCPU / 4 GB) | $24 | $23.59 |
| Automatic backups | not captured yet | 20% = +$4.72 ($28.31 total) |
| Outbound traffic beyond the allowance | not captured yet | Traffic beyond the included allowance is billed in 100 MB blocks; the per-TB price is not stated on the billing FAQ. |
| Smallest managed load balancer | not captured yet | not captured yet |
Sources: docs.hetzner.com
Price changes we have logged
- 15 Jun 2026 · Hetzner CX23 (before the $0.60 IPv4 address): $4.99 → $6.49 notice
- 15 Jun 2026 · Hetzner CX33 (before the $0.60 IPv4 address): $7.99 → $9.99 notice
- 15 Jun 2026 · Hetzner CPX22 (before the $0.60 IPv4 address): $9.49 → $22.99 notice
- 15 Jun 2026 · Hetzner CPX32 (before the $0.60 IPv4 address): $15.99 → $41.99 notice
- 15 Jun 2026 · Hetzner CX43 (before the $0.60 IPv4 address): $13.99 → $18.49 notice
- 15 Jun 2026 · Hetzner CX53 (before the $0.60 IPv4 address): $26.49 → $34.99 notice
- 15 Jun 2026 · Hetzner CPX42 (before the $0.60 IPv4 address): $29.99 → $81.99 notice
- 15 Jun 2026 · Hetzner CPX62 (before the $0.60 IPv4 address): $59.49 → $152.99 notice
Full record at the change log.
Every plan
The complete plan ladders, with the date and source of every price, are on each provider's page: Akamai Cloud (Linode) and Hetzner.
These are the providers' own list prices, shown in US dollars and last updated 23 Oct 2026. Where a provider bills a public IPv4 address on top, it is added to the monthly price, the ranking and every cost per vCPU or per GB, and the row shows the parts: the server, any disk priced apart, and the IPv4 charge. Each row says when we read its price, and whether it excludes VAT or needs a term. Check the provider's page before you buy.
Related comparisons
Where both sell
Akamai Cloud (Linode) and Hetzner both have data centers in these places. Each page ranks every provider there at the price charged in that location.
Akamai Cloud (Linode) vs Hetzner — frequently asked
Every answer is computed from this pair's own prices and costs.
- Which is cheaper for 1 vCPU / 1 GB, Akamai Cloud (Linode) or Hetzner?
- Akamai Cloud (Linode) Nanode 1GB at $5/mo, which is $3.09 (38%) less than Hetzner CPX02 at $8.09/mo.
- How many data center locations do Akamai Cloud (Linode) and Hetzner have?
- Akamai Cloud (Linode) lists 20 and Hetzner lists 6.
- What do backups add at Akamai Cloud (Linode) and Hetzner?
- Akamai Cloud (Linode): not captured yet; Hetzner: 20% of the plan price.