Head-to-head · Cloud Hosting
DigitalOcean vs Hetzner Cloud
Which one to pick in 2026 — comparing 🇺🇸 DigitalOcean with the European alternative 🇪🇺 Hetzner Cloud on the things that actually decide who can read your data.
🇺🇸 DigitalOceanvs🇪🇺 Hetzner Cloud
Verdict
Who has stronger privacy guarantees by law?
Hetzner Cloud — GDPR-native and outside the US CLOUD Act / FISA 702 reach.
Which one encrypts your data end-to-end by default?
Neither ships full E2E by default — check the table for nuance.
Which one tracks you for ads?
Neither monetises through ad tracking.
Which one is open source?
Hetzner Cloud is not fully open source — check details.
Side-by-side
DigitalOcean vs Hetzner Cloud — full comparison
Criteria
🇪🇺 Hetzner Cloud
🇺🇸 DigitalOcean
Headquarters
Gunzenhausen, Germany
New York, USA
Jurisdiction
Germany (GDPR)
USA
Data location
Germany, Finland
Global
GDPR-native
Yes
No
CLOUD Act / FISA exposed
No
Yes
Ad tracking
No
No
End-to-end encryption
No
No
Open source
No
No
Ownership
Hetzner Online GmbH
DigitalOcean Holdings
Founded
1997
2011
Make the switch
Try Hetzner Cloud instead of DigitalOcean
Affordable, performant European cloud.
Other European alternatives to DigitalOcean