centron vs. Hetzner: Run it yourself or hand it over?
Both run cloud servers in German data centres. The difference lies in who manages the servers: Hetzner Cloud is built for teams that administer and automate their servers themselves. At centron you can do that too, or you hand over updates, 24/7 monitoring, backup and disaster recovery to our team for €50 per VM per month, plus infrastructure.
As of: 2 October 2026 · Publisher: centron GmbH
centron and Hetzner at a glance
centron is the right fit if you want your cloud servers managed for you and are looking for personal contacts to do it. You decide per VM what we take on, with no minimum term, and your data stays in Germany.
Hetzner is the right fit if your team manages and automates the servers itself, if your tender requires a C5 attestation Type 2, or if you need cloud locations in the USA or Asia.
The table compares cloud servers and their ongoing management. The overview below shows which other products both providers offer.
| Criterion | centron | Hetzner |
|---|---|---|
| Server operations | ccloud³ VMs with root access, self-managed or with Premium Full Managing: our team takes on administration, updates, monitoring, backup and disaster recovery. Bookable per VM, with no minimum term. | Hetzner Cloud as self-service with console, API and integrations, for example for Terraform and Ansible. Managed servers are available as a separate Managed Server product line. |
| Support | With Premium Full Managing, personal contacts and 24/7 monitoring with proactive fault resolution. Response times contractually defined per SLA level. | 24/7 support by email for Hetzner Cloud, requests via the Hetzner Console. By phone Monday to Friday, 8 am to 6 pm. |
| Availability | 99.5 % in the Worker and Power Pool, 99.8 % in the HA Pool, each monthly. | 99.9 % guaranteed uptime with defined credits in the event of a malfunction. |
| C5 attestation | C5:2020 Type 1 for ccloud³ / Managed Cloud, unqualified attestation, audit report dated 12 June 2026. | C5:2020 Type 2, unqualified attestation, audit report dated 17 November 2025, covering among others Cloud Server and Managed Server. |
| ISO 27001 | ISO/IEC 27001 based on IT-Grundschutz, certificate BSI-IGZ-0773-2026. | ISO/IEC 27001:2022. According to Hetzner, it focuses on internationally recognised certificates rather than IT-Grundschutz. |
| Data centres | Own data centre in Hallstadt, plus rented space in Frankfurt am Main, Nuremberg and Coburg. Data location 100 % Germany. | Own data centre parks in Nuremberg, Falkenstein and Helsinki. Cloud servers also in Ashburn, Hillsboro and Singapore, using colocation space there. |
| Prices | €50 per VM per month for managed operations, plus the infrastructure at public list prices. All prices excluding VAT. | Public prices per server type and region. Backups and snapshots are add-on options. Plan for operations by your team or a service provider. |
Products and prices at a glance
Both providers offer more than cloud servers. The overview shows entry prices, not a total price. The configurations differ, so the amounts do not show which provider is cheaper. All prices exclude VAT.
| Product | centron | Hetzner |
|---|---|---|
| Cloud servers | from €3.11 per month with 1 vCPU, 1 GB RAM and 10 GB SSD, billed by the hour | from €5.49 per month with 2 vCPUs, 4 GB RAM and 40 GB NVMe, plus €0.50 for an IPv4 address, billed by the hour |
| GPU servers | Cloud GPU NVIDIA RTX A4000 from €0.13 per hour or €92.59 per month, plus vCPU, RAM and NVMe | Dedicated GPU servers from €212.30 per month plus €209.00 setup (GEX45 with NVIDIA RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell), plus an IPv4 address. No GPU servers in Hetzner Cloud |
| Kubernetes | cStack from €29.99 per month, control plane included | No Kubernetes service of its own. Clusters can be set up yourself on cloud servers or run via third-party providers |
| Managed servers | Premium Full Managing: €50 per VM per month, plus infrastructure | Managed Server from €34.00 per month plus €34.00 setup, standardised hosting without root access |
| Block storage | Volumes from €0.05 per GB per month | Volumes from €0.044 per GB per month |
| S3 object storage | €0.02 per GB per month, minimum €5.00 (250 GB), traffic free of charge | €6.49 per month including 1 TB of storage and 1 TB of outgoing traffic, usage-based beyond that |
Managed for you or self-run?
Hetzner Cloud relies on self-service. You create servers, networks and firewalls in the console or via the API. According to Hetzner's technical and organisational measures, the customer is responsible for managing, maintaining and securing the server, while Hetzner monitors the physical hosts. For teams with their own administration and automation, that is a lean approach.
Not every team has that capacity. Anyone running a business application on two or three servers needs someone for patch days, alerts at night and recovery when things go wrong. With Premium Full Managing, our team takes on this work on your ccloud³ VMs. You book managed operations per VM and agree with us which systems and tasks are included.
Who does what in day-to-day operations?
The table shows who takes on which task.
| Task | centron with Premium Full Managing | Hetzner Cloud as self-service |
|---|---|---|
| Operating system updates and security patches | Our team, within the agreed scope. | Your team. |
| Monitoring and fault resolution | Our team: 24/7 monitoring with proactive fault resolution. | Your team. |
| Data backup | Our team, backup is part of the scope of services. | Automatic daily backups of the server disk, available as an option. Attached volumes are not included. |
| Disaster recovery | Our team, disaster recovery is part of the scope of services. | Your team, by rebuilding the server from a backup or snapshot. |
| Database and application | We agree this with you in the quote. | Your team. |
The allocation follows the public product descriptions of both providers; only the quote is binding.
When is centron the better choice?
In three cases centron is the better fit.
You want to hand over server operations and keep your environment.
At centron, any ccloud³ VM can become a managed server on request, with your own configuration and personal contacts. You decide per VM, with no package tiers and no minimum term.
Your requirements refer to IT-Grundschutz.
centron is certified to ISO/IEC 27001 based on IT-Grundschutz (BSI-IGZ-0773-2026). Hetzner holds ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certification and, according to its own statement, focuses on internationally recognised certificates. If your tender or your auditor requires the reference to IT-Grundschutz, that is the difference.
Your data must stay exclusively in Germany.
At centron, data is stored exclusively in German data centres, and no processing takes place in third countries. At Hetzner, you choose the Nuremberg or Falkenstein locations for this. For backups, Hetzner names the EU as the storage location when an EU location is selected. If backups must also stay in Germany, clarify this in advance.
When is Hetzner the better choice?
In four cases you should take a serious look at Hetzner.
Your team administers the servers itself.
Have you already organised responsibilities, automation and on-call duty? Then you do not need ongoing management. Hetzner Cloud offers an API, a command line and integrations for tools such as Terraform and Ansible.
C5 Type 2 is mandatory.
Hetzner holds a C5 attestation Type 2 that covers, among others, Cloud Server and Managed Server. centron holds a Type 1 attestation. If your tender requires Type 2, that currently speaks for Hetzner.
Your users are also in North America or Asia.
Hetzner offers cloud servers in Ashburn, Hillsboro and Singapore. centron operates locations in Germany only.
The infrastructure availability commitment is decisive.
Hetzner guarantees 99.9 % uptime for its cloud with credits, centron commits to 99.5 % or 99.8 % for VMs depending on the pool. When comparing, also look at the measurement method and exclusions.
What do operations and management cost?
Both providers publish their prices, but the amount of work included in a quote differs. An example: your application runs on two virtual machines, a web server and a database server.
At centron, managed operations for this cost €100 per month excluding VAT, that is €50 per VM. The monthly price covers updates and security patches, 24/7 monitoring, backup and disaster recovery. Setup is not included in the monthly price. On top come the servers at the prices of the ccloud³ price list, and depending on your needs also backup storage and data traffic.
With Hetzner Cloud you pay for servers and optional backups according to Hetzner's price list, and operations are handled by your team or an additional service provider.
A fair comparison is only possible for the same environment with the same scope of services, including your team's hours if you administer the servers yourself.
For a broader market overview, see Alternatives to US cloud providers.
Customer voices and success stories
Three companies that have been running their infrastructure at centron for years.
FOC Solutions: from proof of concept to full service
The Hamburg-based EDI service provider with more than 200 customers has been with centron since 2019 and migrated all systems after a proof of concept, with personal support and full-service management.
Read the success story
GIS Consult: from physical servers to virtual environments
The specialist for geographic information systems has been with centron since 2015 and moved step by step from physical servers to virtual environments.
Read the success story
meinBafög: from startup to million-euro business
The Cologne-based BAföG platform has relied on virtual managed servers at centron for around ten years and grew from €80,000 in annual revenue to a million-euro business over this time.
Read the success storyFrequently asked questions
How do centron and Hetzner differ?
Does my data stay in Germany with centron and Hetzner?
Does Hetzner also offer managed servers?
Is a C5 attestation Type 1 sufficient?
Does a server backup replace my database backup?
Let us talk about your environment
Tell us which servers you run and which tasks you would like to hand over. From that we will put together a specific quote for you. Prefer to test it yourself first? New business accounts receive €200 in starting credit for the first 60 days.
Provider information as of 2 October 2026, checked on the public pages of Hetzner and centron. Prices and services may change; the specific quote is authoritative. All centron prices exclude VAT. The trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners.