Hetzner vs OVHcloud for Self-Hosting
Hetzner vs OVHcloud for self-hosting in 2026: pricing, IP allocations, bandwidth, DDoS protection and which one fits homelabs and small SaaS.
Hetzner and OVHcloud are the two budget-powerhouses of European hosting. Here is what actually differs for self-hosters: price, IPs, bandwidth, DDoS and abuse policies.
The short version
- Hetzner: better value, cleaner product, IPv6-rich, excellent network; support and abuse handling can be rigid.
- OVHcloud: generous IP allocations (IPv6 /56), strong DDoS mitigation, very cheap for dedicated boxes; older hardware options and rougher support.
Pricing (verified 2026)
| Spec | Hetzner CX22 | OVHcloud VPS-1 |
|---|---|---|
| vCPU | 2 | 2 |
| RAM | 4 GB | 2 GB |
| Disk | 40 GB NVMe | 40 GB NVMe |
| Traffic | 20 TB | Unlimited (fair use) |
| Price | $4.49 (+$0.48 IPv4) | ~$3.50 |
For the same money, Hetzner gives more RAM. OVH wins on the small boxes that come with an IPv4 and free /64 (even /56 on some ranges) IPv6.
The self-hosting specifics
IPs (the reason homelabbers pick OVH):
- Hetzner: 1 IPv4 + /64 IPv6 default; extra IPv4s cost monthly.
- OVHcloud: IPv4 + /56 IPv6 on VPS plans — massive for running dozens of services on distinct v6 addresses.
Bandwidth:
- Hetzner: 20 TB, 1 Gbit — plenty for most self-hosters.
- OVHcloud: unlimited with fair-use caps (2-10 TB depending on plan) — gameservers and media love this.
DDoS:
- OVHcloud has always-on DDoS mitigation at the edge — meaningful if your services get attacked (game servers, public-facing APIs).
- Hetzner relies on upstream/null-routing — for ordinary self-hosting it never matters; for attack targets it does.
Abuse and enforcement
- Hetzner: strict — SMTP, port scanning, and crypto-mining are policed hard. IP bans are real.
- OVHcloud: generally more permissive; you can self-host mail more comfortably.
Realistic recommendation
Our recommendation for a standard self-hosting project (web apps, dashboards, databases)
Hetzner CX22/CX32. Better RAM-per-dollar, cleaner network, and the /64 IPv6 is enough for typical services.
Our recommendation when you need v6 scale or attack resilience
OVHcloud: several services on IPv6 /56, media/game hosting, or anything that regularly gets attacked. The unlimited bandwidth is a genuine differentiator.
Cost example (firewall + reverse proxy + 3 services)
| Line | Hetzner | OVHcloud |
|---|---|---|
| VPS | $4.49 (CX22, 4 GB) | $3.50 (2 GB) — or $8.99 for 4 GB VPS-4 |
| IPv4 | $0.48 | $0 |
| Total | $4.97 | $3.50–8.99 |
On spec-parity Hetzner is cheaper; on entry price OVH wins.
Verdict
| Need | Choose |
|---|---|
| Best value RAM/dollar | Hetzner |
| Free generous IPv6 | OVHcloud |
| DDoS mitigation built-in | OVHcloud |
| Clean product/panel/support docs | Hetzner |
| Unlimited-ish bandwidth | OVHcloud |
| Running SMTP/mail | OVHcloud |
Both are a huge upgrade over US-brand pricing for EU-hosted workloads.