Cherry Servers vs Hetzner: Which Bare Metal Provider Wins in 2026?

Verdict: Pick Hetzner if you want the absolute lowest price and a mature cloud platform. Pick Cherry Servers if you need actual human support, custom hardware configurations, or crypto payments. Hetzner just raised prices for the second time in 2026 and removed custom RAM/storage configs - making Cherry Servers a stronger alternative than it was six months ago. But Hetzner still wins on raw cost and product breadth.

Disclosure: SaaSpicious has an affiliate relationship with Cherry Servers. If you sign up through our links, we earn a commission at no extra cost to you. We do not have a financial relationship with Hetzner.

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The 2026 Price Reality

Hetzner has long been the default answer for budget bare metal in Europe. But June 15, 2026 changed the math. Hetzner implemented its second price increase of the year, raised monthly rates across all dedicated server and cloud plans, and standardized its dedicated servers into fixed “-1”, “-2”, “-3” tiers with pre-set RAM and storage - no more custom configurations.

These changes make Cherry Servers look better than it has in years. Cherry still offers full component-level customization, charges no setup fees on its entry plans, and throws in a dedicated account manager on every plan. The question is whether that support premium is worth it for your workload.

Pricing Breakdown

Hetzner EX-Line (Intel)

Hetzner’s entry dedicated server, the EX44, starts at €74.05/mo (incl. 25.5% VAT) with no setup fee. It packs an Intel Core i5-13500 (14 cores P+E), 64 GB DDR4 RAM, and 2x 512 GB NVMe SSDs on a 1 Gbit/s port with unlimited traffic. This is the cheapest path to a dedicated server from a major European provider, period.

The next step up, the EX63, starts at €299.95/mo (incl. 25.5% VAT) with a €149.35 setup fee. The top of the line, the EX131, runs €701.55/mo (incl. 25.5% VAT) with a €350.15 setup fee featuring a Xeon Gold 6731P (32 cores) with DDR5 ECC RAM.

Key point: Hetzner now offers unlimited traffic on 1 Gbit/s ports for all dedicated servers. That is rare. Most providers cap at some TB limit.

Cherry Servers Dedicated (AMD)

Cherry Servers’ dedicated server pricing starts at €159/mo for its entry-level configurations:

Server	Cores/Threads	RAM	Storage	Price/mo
AMD RYZEN 7700X	8/16	64 GB	2x 1TB NVMe	€159
AMD EPYC 7313P	16/32	64 GB	2x 250GB NVMe	€159
AMD EPYC 7443P	24/48	64 GB	2x 250GB NVMe	€169
AMD RYZEN 7950X	16/32	128 GB	2x 1TB NVMe	€199

All plans include 100TB free egress traffic per month (extra at €0.50/TB). Cherry Servers prices above include deployment in Lithuania. All plans can be deployed in 7 locations worldwide.

Cherry Servers also offers hourly billing on all plans - you can spin up a server for €0.084/hr and only pay for what you use. Hetzner offers hourly billing on cloud VPS but not on dedicated servers.

Where the Costs Diverge

A straight spec-to-spec comparison is tricky because these are different CPU architectures (AMD vs Intel), but the pricing story is clear:

• For the absolute cheapest dedicated server: Hetzner’s EX44 at €74.05/mo (incl. VAT) with unlimited traffic and no setup fee wins. Cherry’s cheapest is €159/mo with a 100TB traffic cap.
• For flexibility: Cherry Servers lets you customize RAM and storage on most plans. Hetzner’s new standardization means you take what the tier gives you - no adding RAM or swapping drives.
• For billing: Cherry Servers offers hourly, monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, and annual billing (discounts up to 50% on long-term commitments), plus spot servers. Hetzner is monthly only for dedicated servers.
• For setup fees: Cherry Servers has no setup fees visible on its pricing page. Hetzner charges setup fees on everything above the EX44 (currently €149.35 to €350.15).

Prices accurate as of June 2026; check the vendor’s site for current rates.

Support: The Biggest Gap

This is where the comparison becomes lopsided. Cherry Servers and Hetzner operate on different planets when it comes to customer support.

Cherry Servers assigns a personal account manager to every customer at no extra cost. Support is 24/7 by live chat, ticket, and phone - staffed by real engineers, not chatbots. Average support response time is 45 seconds. There are no paid support tiers - every customer gets the same level of support regardless of plan size.

Hetzner offers 24/7 support by phone and email with data center technicians on-site around the clock. Support covers hardware replacement and OS reloading. It is functional and competent. But it is not consultative - there is no personal account manager, no dedicated relationship, and no chat-based support option.

For a small team that treats its server as infrastructure, Hetzner’s support is fine. For a business that treats its hosting provider as a partner, Cherry Servers wins by a wide margin.

Where Cherry Servers Loses

Cherry Servers is not the right choice for every buyer. Here is where it falls short:

1. Absolute lowest price. Hetzner’s EX44 at ~€59/mo (without VAT) with unlimited traffic is untouchable. Cherry Servers cannot match that for raw cost-per-server.

2. Unlimited traffic. Cherry caps free egress at 100TB/mo. Hetzner gives unlimited traffic on all 1 Gbit/s dedicated ports. If you push massive bandwidth, Hetzner is the clear winner.

3. Mature cloud ecosystem. Hetzner Cloud has volumes, snapshots, firewalls, load balancers, one-click apps (Docker, WordPress, GitLab, etc.), and Kubernetes support. Cherry Servers has virtual servers and a load balancer but no comparable cloud platform depth.

4. Object storage. Hetzner has S3-compatible object storage. Cherry Servers does not. If your workflow depends on S3, you will need a third-party solution with Cherry.

5. Server Auction. Hetzner’s refurbished server auction - with decreasing prices and zero setup fees - has no equivalent at Cherry Servers. For non-critical workloads on a tight budget, the auction is unbeatable.

6. Green energy. Hetzner publicly runs on 100% renewable electricity and publishes sustainability metrics. Cherry Servers does not prominently claim green energy credentials.

7. Product breadth. Hetzner sells domains, DNS, web hosting, managed servers, and storage boxes alongside dedicated servers. Cherry Servers is a bare-metal-and-VPS specialist. If you want everything from one vendor, Hetzner is the answer.

Where Hetzner Loses

Hetzner’s dominance in price comes with real tradeoffs:

1. Support speed and depth. Cherry Servers answers support requests in 45 seconds on average. Hetzner’s support is competent but slower and less personal. If your business depends on fast issue resolution, this gap matters more than the price difference.

2. Hardware customization. As of June 15, 2026, Hetzner standardized all dedicated servers into fixed tiers. You can no longer add extra RAM or configure storage individually. Cherry Servers still offers full component-level customization on most plans.

3. Crypto payments. Cherry Servers accepts 12 cryptocurrencies (BTC, USDC, ETH, LTC, MATIC, TRX, SOL, XRP, DOGE, BNB, DAI, BUSD). Hetzner accepts none. For Web3 companies and crypto-native businesses, Cherry is the only option.

4. Repeated price increases. Hetzner raised prices twice in 2026 (April 1 and June 15). Cherry Servers’ pricing appears stable. If you are budgeting for the long term, Hetzner’s trajectory is concerning.

5. Money-back guarantee. Cherry Servers offers a 15-day money-back guarantee on all plans. Hetzner does not. You can cancel immediately without a minimum contract on either provider, but only Cherry lets you test risk-free.

6. Tokyo and more Asian presence. Cherry Servers has data centers in Singapore and Tokyo. Hetzner’s dedicated servers are available only in Germany and Finland (cloud locations in Singapore and USA). Tokyo is a Cherry-exclusive.

7. Personal relationship. Cherry Servers assigns a dedicated account manager to every customer. Hetzner does not. If you want a single point of contact who knows your setup, Cherry delivers this at no extra cost.

The Web3 / Crypto Angle

Cherry Servers has a unique differentiator that Hetzner does not compete with: purpose-built Web3 infrastructure. Cherry offers:

• Dedicated Solana validator nodes and RPC infrastructure
• DoubleZero network integration (a parallel network to the public internet for Solana)
• Crypto-native billing (12 currencies accepted)
• Direct PNI connections for HFT/low-latency trading in Amsterdam, Frankfurt, and Chicago

If your business operates in crypto, blockchain, DeFi, or Web3, Cherry Servers is purpose-built for you. Hetzner is a general-purpose provider that does not engage with this space.

Comparison Table

Dimension	Cherry Servers	Hetzner	Edge
Entry dedicated server	€159/mo	€74.05/mo (incl. VAT)	Hetzner
Custom hardware configs	Full flexibility	Standardized fixed tiers	Cherry
Support response (avg.)	45 seconds	No live chat	Cherry
Personal account manager	Free, all plans	None	Cherry
Traffic on 1G port	100TB, then €0.50/TB	Unlimited	Hetzner
Crypto payments	12 currencies	None	Cherry
Global locations	7 (EU+US+SG+JP)	5 regions (EU+US+SG)	Cherry
Cloud ecosystem	Basic (VPS/VDS)	Mature (volumes, K8s, etc.)	Hetzner
Object storage	No	S3-compatible	Hetzner
Server auction	No	Yes (refurbished)	Hetzner
Money-back guarantee	15 days	None	Cherry
ISO certifications	Location-dependent	ISO 27001:2022 + C5	Hetzner
Setup fees	None visible	From €149.35 on EX63+	Cherry
Green energy	Not claimed	100% renewable	Hetzner
Web3 specialization	Core focus	None	Cherry

Bottom Line

Choose Hetzner if: you need the cheapest possible dedicated server, unlimited traffic, a mature cloud platform with object storage and Kubernetes, and you are comfortable with functional (not consultative) support. The EX44 at €74.05/mo (incl. VAT) with no setup fee and unlimited bandwidth is still the best dollar-for-dollar deal in Europe.

Choose Cherry Servers if: you value human support that answers in seconds, need custom hardware configurations, pay in crypto, operate in Web3/blockchain, or want a personal account manager you can call. The extra ~€100/mo over Hetzner’s entry server buys you a relationship, not just a rental.

Who Cherry Servers is wrong for: pure price shoppers, high-bandwidth users pushing hundreds of TB/month, teams that need a full cloud platform (object storage, managed Kubernetes, one-click app deploys), and anyone hunting refurbished bargains in Hetzner’s Server Auction. If you want a wider look at Hetzner alternatives beyond Cherry Servers, see our roundup of the best cheaper Hetzner alternatives.

Cherry Servers has an affiliate program that pays 10% lifetime recurring commissions with a 90-day cookie window. If you are interested in becoming a Cherry Servers affiliate or trying their bare metal, check their dedicated server pricing or read about their affiliate program.