Hetzner vs Netcup: which EU host is cheaper on renewal?

Hetzner and Netcup are two of the most-cited names when people talk about cheap, no-nonsense EU hosting — and both are in the OneYearDeal catalogue with live product and pricing rows. But their pricing behaves very differently: Hetzner fronts a promotional first price and raises it on renewal, while Netcup quotes the same figure for the first month and every month after. Here is what that means in real money, using the exact figures in our catalogue.

The head-to-head figures

Host	Plan	Type	RAM	Cores	Disk	Price	Renewal	Location
Hetzner	CX22	VPS	4 GB	2	40 GB	$4.51/mo	$5.83/mo	EU, US
Hetzner	CX32	Dedicated	8 GB	4	80 GB	$7.51/mo	$12.99/mo	EU, US
Hetzner	EX130	Dedicated	64 GB	4	2048 GB	$46.00/mo	$52.00/mo	EU (Falkenstein)
Netcup	RS 1000	VPS	8 GB	2	128 GB	$5.86/mo	$5.86/mo	EU (Nuremberg)
Netcup	Root Server RS 4000	Dedicated	32 GB	8	384 GB	$13.96/mo	$13.96/mo	EU (Nuremberg)

The renewal gap is the real story

Look at the Hetzner CX32: $7.51 today, $12.99 on renewal — a 73% jump. Over a year at the renewal rate you pay $155.88, versus $90.12 at the headline price. That difference is how promotional VPS pricing works: the first invoice is the loss-leader, the recurring rate is the business.

Netcup quotes $5.86 in month one and $5.86 in month twelve for the RS 1000, with the renewal price matched in our catalogue. There is no second-year ambush to model.

But compare specs, not just invoices

The CX32's $7.51 is not the apples-to-apples rival of the RS 1000's $5.86 — the CX32 carries a "dedicated" product type in our catalogue (vCPU-allocated class) alongside the CX22 at 4 GB. At the 8 GB tier, Netcup's 128 GB disk against the CX32's 80 GB is the standout: Netcup simply ships more storage at a lower recurring price. Hetzner's counterweight is its dedicated line — the AX41-NVMe gives you a full 64 GB / 6 cores / 1 TB NVMe physical server at $39/mo ($46 renewal), and the EX130 stretches that to 2 TB of disk. Netcup's own best-value dedicated row, the Root Server RS 4000 at $13.96 flat, has no Hetzner counterpart at that price.

Which should you pick?

• Lowest predictable bill: Netcup RS 1000 — $5.86/mo flat, 8 GB RAM, 128 GB disk.
• Lowest first-year spend on a bigger box: Hetzner CX32 — $7.51 the first month, but budget for $12.99/mo renewal from month two.
• Dedicated hardware: Netcup RS 4000 for value per month; Hetzner AX41-NVMe or EX130 when you need 1-2 TB of NVMe.
• Location flexibility: Hetzner lists EU and US locations; Netcup's rows are Nuremberg, Germany.

Verdict

Both hosts are cheap in absolute terms. Hetzner wins on first-invoice price and choice of locations; Netcup wins on renewal honesty and storage per dollar. Whatever you choose, price it out at the renewal rate — that is the number you will actually live with, and it is exactly why OneYearDeal shows renewal pricing next to every product.

Compare current Hetzner and Netcup listings — with renewals shown — on our VPS deals table.