Google Cloud Platform
Hetzner
| Feature | Google Cloud Platform | Hetzner |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / from $0/mo | From $3.79/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✗ No |
| Rating | 4.4 / 5 | 4.6 / 5 |
| Best For | data-teams, kubernetes-users, ai-ml-teams, startups | startups, indie-hackers, european-companies, cost-conscious-teams |
| Founded | 2008 | 1997 |
| Compute Engine | ✓ | ✗ |
| Bigquery | ✓ | ✗ |
| Kubernetes Gke | ✓ | ✗ |
| Cloud Functions | ✓ | ✗ |
| Vertex Ai | ✓ | ✗ |
| Cloud Storage | ✓ | ✗ |
| Firebase | ✓ | ✗ |
| Cloud Servers | ✗ | ✓ |
| Dedicated Servers | ✗ | ✓ |
| Load Balancers | ✗ | ✓ |
| Block Storage | ✗ | ✓ |
| Object Storage | ✗ | ✓ |
| Firewalls | ✗ | ✓ |
| Private Networks | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ Google Cloud Platform Pros
- Best-in-class data and analytics tools (BigQuery)
- Leading Kubernetes offering (GKE) from its creators
- Clean, modern console and developer experience
- $300 free credits for new accounts
✗ Google Cloud Platform Cons
- Smaller service catalog than AWS
- Enterprise support and sales lag behind AWS/Azure
- History of deprecating services concerns users
✓ Hetzner Pros
- Dramatically cheaper than AWS, GCP, and Azure
- Excellent price-to-performance ratio
- European data centers with strong GDPR compliance
- Simple and transparent pricing
✗ Hetzner Cons
- Fewer managed services than hyperscalers
- Limited regions (Europe and US East only)
- Less ecosystem of integrated services
The Verdict
Google Cloud Platform is built for data teams and kubernetes users, with a focus on compute-engine and bigquery. Hetzner targets startups and indie hackers and leads with cloud-servers and dedicated-servers.
Pricing is close: Google Cloud Platform starts at $0/mo versus $3.79/mo for Hetzner — not a deciding factor on its own.
Google Cloud Platform has a free plan, which gives it a meaningful edge for individuals and small teams exploring their options. Hetzner requires a paid subscription from day one.
Both tools are a solid fit for startups — in those cases, the decision often comes down to workflow style and how your team prefers to organize work.
This is a genuinely close comparison. If you can, sign up for both free trials (where available) and run a one-week test with your actual team tasks before deciding.