We earn commissions when you shop through the links on this page.
Hetzner vs Hostwinds
Hetzner
Hostwinds
Side-by-side comparison of features, pricing, and performance to help you choose the right hosting provider.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Hetzner | Hostwinds |
|---|---|---|
| Rating | N/A | N/A |
| Price | Not offered | Not offered |
| Storage | 10 GB SSD | Unlimited |
| Bandwidth | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Websites | 1 | 1 |
| Free Domain | ||
| Free SSL | ||
| Server Locations | ||
| Regions | 5 ★ | 3 |
| Locations | US East, Ashburn, Virginia US West, Hillsboro, Oregon Central Europe, Nuremberg, Falkenstein Northern Europe, Helsinki Southeast Asia, Singapore | US East, Dallas, Texas US West, Seattle, Washington Western Europe, Amsterdam |
Features | ||
CMS & Platforms (7) | ||
Languages & Frameworks (9) | ||
Databases (4) | ||
Developer Tools (8) | ||
Performance & CDN (4) | ||
| Caching | ||
| CDN | ||
| LiteSpeed | ||
| SSD Storage | ||
Security (6) | ||
| 2FA | ||
| Backups | ||
| DDoS Protection | ||
| Malware Scan | ||
| SSL | ||
| WAF | ||
Support (4) | ||
Extras & Guarantees (5) | ||
| Slight discrepancies are possible. We recommend verifying details on the provider's website. | ||
| Visit Hetzner | Visit Hostwinds | |
Pricing & Plans
Hetzner Plans
Hostwinds Plans
Pros & Cons
Hetzner
Pros
- Exceptional price-to-performance ratio across all products
- Transparent hourly billing with monthly price cap on cloud servers
- 20 TB included traffic on EU cloud servers
- NVMe SSD storage on all cloud and web hosting plans
- ARM-based (Ampere) cloud servers for cost-efficient workloads
- Dedicated vCPU options (CCX) for consistent performance
- Free DDoS protection on all servers
- No contract lock-in -- cancel anytime
- Comprehensive API and CLI tools (hcloud)
- European data centers with strong privacy (GDPR compliant)
Cons
- No managed shared hosting with cPanel -- web hosting uses konsoleH
- Web hosting plans do not include a free domain
- Setup fee required on web hosting plans
- Prices shown in EUR -- may vary for non-EU customers
- Limited US and Asia presence (Germany and Finland primary)
- No phone support on cloud plans -- tickets and community only
- No managed WordPress hosting product
- Windows not officially supported on cloud servers
Hostwinds
Pros
- Affordable pricing with 35% first-cycle discount on most plans
- Unlimited bandwidth and disk space on all shared plans
- Free dedicated IP included on all shared and business plans
- Nightly backups included at no extra cost
- cPanel with Softaculous one-click installer
- Free SSL certificates on all plans
- 24/7/365 phone, chat, and ticket support
- Wide range of VPS tiers (1-16 vCPU, 1-96 GB RAM)
- 60-day money-back guarantee
- Free website migration
Cons
- Significant price increase on renewal (35% discount is first cycle only)
- Shared hosting offers only annual billing (no monthly option)
- No dedicated server pricing publicly available (custom quotes only)
- Basic shared plan limited to 1 domain
- No managed WordPress hosting product
- VPS plans are monthly-only billing (no annual discount)
- Weebly builder is dated compared to modern alternatives
Frequently Asked Questions
Hetzner
How do you bill your servers?
Servers have both a monthly price cap and a price per hour. Your server's bill will never exceed its monthly price cap. If you delete your Cloud Server before the end of the billing month, you will only be billed the hourly rate. We will bill you for each cloud server until you choose to delete them. Even if you aren't actively using your server, we will bill you for it.
Do you bill servers that are off?
Yes. All servers that have finished their creation process will be billed until they are deleted, regardless of their state. This is because, internally, we allocate full resources to servers regardless of their power state. And it enables rapid startup and boot times for you, the customer.
What are the Hetzner Cloud Volumes?
It is a feature for fast, flexible, and cost-effective (SSD based) block storage which you can attach to your Hetzner Cloud Server.
How does Hetzner Online store the data in Volumes?
Every block of data is stored on three different physical servers (triple replication).
How many servers can I create?
Each customer has a default limit for the number of Cloud resources that we simultaneously provide. If you would like to increase your limit, you can send a request to our support team by opening a support ticket via Hetzner Console. Our team will quickly review your request and, if everything is in order, they will increase your limit.
Do you plan to add x feature?/Will you add more features?
We want to keep adding new features and services and are always interested in hearing from you on how we can improve our product! There are several ways you can provide us with product feedback or feature requests: Via our forum: please post your request in the Hetzner Cloud Board Via email: send us your ideas to [email protected] Unfortunately, we cannot give you a detailed roadmap of what we are working on. However, you can keep up to date by following us on our social media chann
Will you add additional locations in different geographic regions?
We have continuously expanded our cloud locations in recent years. In addition to Germany and Finland, we now also have international locations in Ashburn, Virginia; Hillsboro, Oregon (USA) and Singapore. We are constantly examining possible future locations. If you don’t want to miss the opening of a new location, subscribe to our newsletter or follow us on our social media channels.
Can I create email addresses for a subdomain?
Yes, if the subdomain is created as a separate domain in web hosting, email addresses can also be configured for it.
How much storage space do I have for emails, databases, and websites?
You can flexibly use all of the storage space in your web hosting plan for your emails, website, and databases.
What happens if I exceed my storage space?
If you exceed your storage space, you will be charged €1.09 (including 19% VAT) per GB per month. If your storage space requirements have increased significantly, you can either switch to a larger web hosting package or purchase a storage space add-on (for €1.00 per 10GB).
What is a PHP process? Why do I need PHP processes?
PHP is the programming language used by many websites (e.g., WordPress). Normally, every visitor who accesses a page requires a short-term “PHP process” to generate dynamic content. The more simultaneous visitors there are, the more PHP processes are needed. Two processes are often sufficient for small websites with little traffic, while heavily visited sites require more PHP processes.
What is the PHP memory limit?
The memory_limit in PHP determines the maximum amount of memory that a single script can use. For example, if the value is set to 192 MB, each script can use up to 192 MB of RAM during its execution. The memory limit therefore applies per process and not as a total budget for all processes. If the set limit is exceeded, PHP terminates execution and reports an error (“Allowed memory size exhausted”). This setting protects the server from excessive memory consumption.
What is Varnish and what advantages does it offer?
Varnish is a cache that can be used with CMS systems (e.g., WordPress, Drupal, TYPO3). Frequently requested content is stored in the cache and can thus be delivered directly without having to query PHP or the database again. This significantly reduces the server load and results in much faster loading times. Previously, Varnish could only be activated on managed servers. Now you can use it starting with Webhosting S.
Do the web hosting packages include a domain?
No, the web hosting packages do not include a domain. This must be booked separately. Domain registration is available from Hetzner starting at /year. Without a domain, many web hosting features, such as HTTP access for publicly hosting websites, mailboxes, Varnish, and much more, cannot be used.
Hostwinds
What is Shared Web Hosting?
Shared Web Hosting is a perfect place to start your web hosting. It is the most affordable option and has many features to help you build and manage a website.Our Shared Web Hosting servers come with SSD's (Solid State Drives). They are ideal if you need fast, secure, and affordable web hosting for your portfolio, personal site, or small business website.When you get started with any of our Shared Web Hosting plans, your website will live on a server with other websites. You will receive your ow
Do I need to have any technical experience or knowledge to get started with a Shared Web Hosting plan?
Technical knowledge is not required to use Shared Web Hosting. As soon as you order your service, we will send you your login details in addition to information about beginning your web hosting journey.We also offer you 24/7/365 support through Live Chat or ticket to ensure we answer any questions you have along the way.Once you receive your cPanel login details, you can begin managing all aspects of your website.This includes the ability to use the Weebly drag-and-drop Website Builder, install
Can I upgrade my package later?
You can always upgrade your package through your Hostwinds Client Area. Upgrading is a quick process, and there is no downtime.If you register more domains or need to use your account to host more websites, upgrading your package to Advanced or Ultimate web hosting can be done in a few clicks.Once you have upgraded your plan and paid the invoice, you can begin adding more domains immediately.
What is Business Web Hosting?
Business Web Hosting is a web hosting solution that is perfect for businesses of all sizes. Our Business Hosting packages are all hosted on Solid State Drives (SSDs) for optimum performance. We additionally increase Business Hosting performance further by utilizing LiteSpeed Web Server.We differentiate our Business Hosting services by provisioning our plans on robust servers, with fewer clients sharing the resources. We provide more resources than Shared Web Hosting plans, including higher inode
Is Business Web Hosting only for businesses?
Although Business Web Hosting is ideal for businesses, it is certainly not exclusively for business owners.Our Business Hosting platform is perfect for performance-driven individuals who want the best and fastest possible experience for their website.If you are not happy with your current hosting and want something faster, then any of our business packages will be a great fit. We will even migrate your site to your Business Web Hosting account free of charge!
Does this include everything I need to get my company online?
Once you have your domain name and signed up for web hosting, your company's website technically has everything it needs to launch.We understand that launching a new business venture can be daunting. This is why our Business Web Hosting plans provide you with more assistance than you would generally receive with a web hosting account. We offer a full range of utilities to help you create and manage your website. These tools make it easy to create a great-looking website to represent your busines
Do I need to have technical knowledge to use your business hosting?
Not at all. That's what our enterprise support team is here for. Our Support Experts are available 24/7/365 to resolve technical issues or answer any questions you may have.We are always here for you if you need any assistance at all. We hope to become a valuable asset to you and your business.
What is the difference between Business Web Hosting and Shared Web Hosting?
Our Business Web Hosting plans come with more resources than Shared Web Hosting plans. Business plans also offer higher PHP Memory Limits, higher inode limits, and an increased outbound email limit.When you have a Shared Web Hosting account, you share dedicated resources with more individuals than you would as a Business Web Hosting client.Furthermore, our Business Web Hosting plans utilize LiteSpeed Web Server, which gives your viewers faster loading times when they visit your website.
How is your Reseller Web Hosting different than your Shared or Business Hosting?
Reseller Web Hosting is unique to Shared or Business Web Hosting. You become the hosting provider as a Reseller Web Hosting client. You sell hosting services to others rather than employing the hosting services of a web hosting company.When you sign up for Reseller Web Hosting, you rent Hostwinds server space, sell Hostwinds services, and our team handles everything else.
How is Reseller Web Hosting different than White Label Reseller Web Hosting?
White Label Reseller Web Hosting is different from Reseller Web Hosting for a few reasons. First, White Label Reseller Web Hosting allows you to sell all of the products and services that Hostwinds offers to your clients under your brand. In contrast, Reseller Web Hosting allows you to sell shared services under Hostwinds. It does not include WHMCS or the ability to sell other products and services. Both are great offerings, and your choice is entirely dependent on your needs as a reseller.
Does your team handle the technical details for me?
YES! Reseller Hosting is particularly fantastic because you can launch your very own web hosting company without knowing anything about server management. Hostwinds technicians take care of all the technical details for you, so all you have to do is grow your hosting business.
Can I upgrade my accounts after purchasing?
Yes, you can! You can upgrade all of your accounts to increase the number of domains capable of being hosted, and upgrades happen instantly upon ordering. If one or more of your clients need additional room for more websites, upgrading is instant and straightforward.
What is a Linux VPS?
A Linux VPS hosting service includes dedicated resources including CPU Cores, RAM, and Disk Space exclusively reserved for you.You can think of it as your own personal Linux computer, with its own set of dedicated resources. This gives you massive benefits over shared hosting, as you are much less likely to be impacted by "noisy neighbors". You also benefit from much-improved security by having your operating system environment completely separate from other users.Linux Virtual Private Servers a
Will you help me migrate from my old provider to Hostwinds?
We are happy to help you migrate your content to any new service so you can get started with your Hostwinds account as soon as possible.We have helped many new clients move their Linux VPS web hosting services from other providers. We are proud to offer this complimentary service for any new orders.Once you have submitted a migration request, our migration experts will begin with the transfer and communicate with you throughout this process.We also have lots of experience migrating from other pl
What is included in Full Server Management?
Our tiers of support include 24/7/365 support via Live Chat and support tickets. We also offer a 99.9999% network uptime guarantee, a 99.9999% power uptime guarantee, ongoing server maintenance, and the setup of automated tasks upon request.More included offerings: operating system updates, virus scans, mitigation of load problems or sluggishness, troubleshooting for network-related issues, assistance if a server fails to boot, help with hardware failures, package installations, and much more!Ch
Ready to Choose?
Both providers offer great features. Visit their websites to see the latest deals and pricing.
Related Articles
VPS Price Per GB of RAM: 711 Plans Across 39 Hosts
AI Crawlers Are Eating Your Hosting Plan: The 2026 Bot Traffic Problem
ARM VPS Hosting in 2026: More Cores for Less Money
Amazon Lightsail Review 2026: Pricing, Stacks & Alternatives
Vercel AI SDK Alternatives and Where to Host Them in 2026
US East, Ashburn, Virginia
Central Europe, Nuremberg, Falkenstein
Northern Europe, Helsinki
Southeast Asia, Singapore
Western Europe, Amsterdam