Which one is cheaper?

One or both use custom pricing, so it depends on your specific needs.

Both use a usage-based model, so the comparison is straightforward — it comes down to features and limits at each price point.

Which one is a better deal?

Depends on what you need. Hetzner: Hetzner is aggressively the budget option in European cloud infrastructure — they undercut AWS, GCP, and Azure significantly and compete directly with Scaleway and OVHcloud on price. They're winning teams who prioritize EUR-denominated, GDPR-friendly hosting without enterprise overhead. Linode: Aggressively priced in the budget-friendly segment of cloud infrastructure - that $5 Nanode undercuts AWS/GCP significantly. They're positioning as the scrappy alternative for developers who want simplicity without enterprise markup.

Hetzner vs Linode Pricing (2026)

How do these two stack up on price? Here's what each one costs, what you get, and where the value sits.

	Hetzner	Linode
Starts at	Custom	$5/mo
Number of plans	3	8
Free plan	—	—
Free trial	—	—
Pricing model	usage-based	usage-based

Hetzner

Official page

Cost-Optimized

Custom

Extremely cost-effective
Low CPU usage
Medium traffic applications

Regular Performance

Custom

Inexpensive due to shared resources
Low to medium CPU usage
Medium traffic applications

General Purpose

Custom

Dedicated vCPUs
Constantly high CPU usage
High-traffic applications

Linode

Official page

Nanode 1 GB

$5/mo

1 GB RAM
1 CPU
25 GB Storage
1 TB Transfer
40/1 Gbps Network

Linode 2 GB

$12/mo

2 GB RAM
1 CPU
50 GB Storage
2 TB Transfer
40/2 Gbps Network

Linode 4 GB

$24/mo

4 GB RAM
2 CPUs
80 GB Storage
4 TB Transfer
40/4 Gbps Network

Linode 8 GB

$48/mo

8 GB RAM
4 CPUs
160 GB Storage
5 TB Transfer
40/5 Gbps Network

G7 Dedicated 4 GB

$43/mo

4 GB RAM
2 vCPUs
80 GB Storage
4 TB Transfer
40/4 Gbps Network

G7 Dedicated 8 GB

$86/mo

8 GB RAM
4 vCPUs
160 GB Storage
5 TB Transfer
40/5 Gbps Network

RTX 4000 Ada GPU x1 Small

Custom

16 GB RAM
1 GPU
4 CPUs
500 GB Storage
0 TB Transfer
40/16 Gbps Network

Linode 24 GB

$60/mo

24 GB RAM
2 CPUs
20 GB Storage
5 TB Transfer
40/5 Gbps Network

Hetzner vs Linode FAQ

Which one is cheaper?: One or both use custom pricing, so it depends on your specific needs.
Can I use either one for free?: Neither has a free plan.
How do they charge?: Both use a usage-based model, so the comparison is straightforward — it comes down to features and limits at each price point.
Which one is a better deal?: Depends on what you need. Hetzner: Hetzner is aggressively the budget option in European cloud infrastructure — they undercut AWS, GCP, and Azure significantly and compete directly with Scaleway and OVHcloud on price. They're winning teams who prioritize EUR-denominated, GDPR-friendly hosting without enterprise overhead. Linode: Aggressively priced in the budget-friendly segment of cloud infrastructure - that $5 Nanode undercuts AWS/GCP significantly. They're positioning as the scrappy alternative for developers who want simplicity without enterprise markup.

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