Teams looking for European infrastructure usually end up comparing Hetzner and OVHcloud. Both operate their own data centres, both have long track records, and both are frequently chosen for the same reason: the hyperscalers cost more than the workload justifies.
Different centres of gravity
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Hetzner
Known for an unusually strong ratio of compute and bandwidth to price, with a lean product set and a following among developers and cost-conscious teams.
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OVHcloud
A broader catalogue spanning cloud instances, bare metal, hosted private cloud and storage, with a strong emphasis on data sovereignty and transparent pricing.
That difference in breadth is the practical dividing line. If your requirement is “reliable Linux servers at a sensible price”, both qualify. If it extends to bare metal, private cloud or a specific sovereignty posture, the catalogue matters.
Questions that separate them for a given project
- Where exactly must the data live, and does the provider document that clearly?
- Do you need bare metal, or are virtual instances sufficient?
- How much egress traffic will you actually move in a normal month?
- Does your infrastructure-as-code tool have a mature provider for the platform?
- What does the support relationship look like when something breaks at scale?
Data residency is a contractual question, not a marketing one
European hosting is often chosen for regulatory reasons, and that is worth handling carefully. Check the specific region a resource is created in, not just the provider headquarters. Read what the contract says about where data is processed, stored and backed up, and who may access it. If a compliance obligation is driving the decision, get the answer in writing rather than from a landing page.
A sensible way to decide
| If your priority is | Lean towards |
|---|---|
| Maximum compute per unit of spend | Hetzner, and budget for self-managed operations. |
| Bare metal alongside virtual instances | OVHcloud, for the breadth in one account. |
| A documented sovereignty story | Whichever names your exact requirement in writing. |
| Simplest possible product choice | Hetzner, for the smaller surface area. |
| Mixed estate under one contract | OVHcloud, for the range of offerings. |
Test with a realistic workload
Benchmarks published by other people describe other people’s workloads. Spin up an instance on each, run the thing you actually run – the build, the query, the render – and measure it. Include a restore from backup in the test, because that is the operation you will care most about on your worst day.
Summary
Hetzner rewards teams comfortable operating their own stack with a very strong price per unit of compute. OVHcloud suits teams that want a wider catalogue and a clearer sovereignty conversation under one roof. Both are credible; the right answer depends on how much operational work you want to own. OVHcloud options are listed separately.
