Both sell no-nonsense virtual servers at prices well below the hyperscalers. They separate cleanly on two axes: cost and reach.
Quick comparison
| Linode (Akamai) | Hetzner | |
|---|---|---|
| Price per core | Competitive | Lower |
| Regions | North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Australia | Germany, Finland, plus limited others |
| Network | Akamai edge backing | Own network, strong in Europe |
| Dedicated hardware | No | Yes, including auction |
| Managed services | Databases, Kubernetes, Object Storage | Kubernetes, load balancers, storage |
| Accounts here | 2 configurations from $25 | 3 configurations from $50 |
The Akamai factor
Linode’s acquisition by Akamai gave it access to one of the largest edge networks in the world. For latency-sensitive delivery and for reaching users far from your origin, that is a genuine advantage Hetzner cannot match.
If your users are concentrated in Europe, the advantage narrows considerably and Hetzner’s price becomes the dominant factor.
The Hetzner factor
Price, and the availability of real dedicated hardware. For a steady workload running around the clock, a dedicated root server delivers far more capacity per unit of spend than any virtualised instance. The auction market extends that further. See Hetzner cloud vs dedicated.
Hetzner also has no equivalent to a global region footprint, which is the trade you are making.
Region coverage decides most cases
Ask where your users are:
- Europe only. Hetzner, on cost.
- North America, Asia Pacific or Australia. Linode, because latency is not something you can optimise away in code.
- Global with heavy static content. Either, with a CDN in front.
- Global with latency-sensitive dynamic requests. Linode.
See choosing a cloud region for how much this actually costs you.
Verification and onboarding
Hetzner’s identity verification is stricter than most, with manual review common for international customers and documents that do not exactly match the account details. Linode’s onboarding is more conventional.
This is a real difference in time-to-first-server, and it is the practical reason accounts with billing already active are useful against a deadline.
Mail sending
Both restrict outbound SMTP on port 25 by default, and both have configurations here with it opened. Those are for running a genuine mail server; application email should relay through Amazon SES on port 587.
Hetzner IP ranges carry mixed sending reputation because of their popularity, so reverse DNS, SPF, DKIM, DMARC and gradual IP warming matter more there. See port 25 across providers.
Account options on BuyCloudAccess
- Linode accounts: 2 configurations from $25, a free trial with $100 credit and an open port 25 option.
- Hetzner accounts: 3 configurations from $50, covering 5 server, 10 server and open port 25.
Which should you choose
- European workload, budget-driven? Hetzner.
- Users outside Europe? Linode.
- Need dedicated hardware? Hetzner.
- Need Object Storage and managed databases with global reach? Linode.
- Comparing against DigitalOcean too? See DigitalOcean vs Linode and DigitalOcean vs Hetzner.
Common questions
Is Hetzner always cheaper?
For equivalent CPU and RAM, generally yes. Include bandwidth and any dedicated hardware in the comparison.
Does Linode have dedicated servers?
It offers dedicated CPU instances, which is not the same as bare metal hardware.
Which is better for a mail server?
Both need an open port 25 configuration. Reputation work is heavier on Hetzner ranges.