Hetzner Webhosting: plans, backups and data protection at a glance

According to the plan overview, the entry-level plan Webhosting S is enough for the reference project. It offers storage for the website, emails and databases, one database for WordPress, unlimited mailboxes, free SSL certificates and daily backups. None of the four plans includes a domain. You therefore add the .de domain via Hetzner. It is charged annually and is included in the cost calculation as a mandatory extra. You can also use a domain you registered with another provider. For this, however, Hetzner charges a monthly fee in addition to the costs at your previous provider.

Hetzner does not state a minimum term for web hosting, and according to the service overview cancellation takes effect immediately. The plan page shows an hourly price and a monthly maximum. Billing is therefore based on usage time, up to the monthly price at most. The plan page does not mention a discounted introductory price for new customers that rises later.

According to the provider, you can switch between S, M, L and XL at any time. If the storage is not enough, you add extra storage or further databases as an add-on without changing the plan. If you exceed your storage, Hetzner charges the additional space per gigabyte and month.

You install WordPress with a one-click installer. Managed WordPress, where the provider takes care of updates and maintenance, is not part of Hetzner's web hosting. You handle updates of core, themes and plugins yourself. According to the provider, all four plans are suitable for a CMS such as WordPress. For online shops, Hetzner lists plan L as conditionally suitable and plan XL as suitable.

The plans differ mainly in their resources:

• PHP processes: their number determines how many requests are processed at the same time. S has two, XL twenty. According to the provider, two processes are often enough for small websites with few visitors.
• Memory limit: it applies per PHP process and rises from S to XL.
• Databases and cron jobs: S offers one database and one cron job, the larger plans considerably more.

Varnish is available as a cache from Webhosting S and, according to the provider, can shorten the loading times of CMS pages. PHP 5, 7 and 8 can be selected freely. From Webhosting L, interactive SSH access, Redis and Node.js are added. This makes the larger plans suitable for projects in which you work on the command line or run a Node.js application. Note: if you activate Node.js for a domain in konsoleH, according to the provider no other web applications such as PHP run on it any more.

Hetzner backs up the web hosting data automatically every night. The backups remain available for 14 days and are kept in a separate Hetzner data centre. In konsoleH you restore website files, emails and databases from the backups yourself. You restore individual files and folders, or roll back a database, which you either overwrite or create as a new database. The provider does not mention a price for restoring. For longer retention or a copy outside Hetzner, you need your own backup, for example via a WordPress plugin.

According to the provider, Let's Encrypt and Basic SSL certificates are free for the domains and subdomains of the hosting account and are renewed automatically. In addition, there are daily virus scans and DDoS protection.

According to the provider, the web hosting servers are located exclusively in Germany. According to the plan page, the web hosting packages run exclusively in Hetzner’s own data centres in the Nuremberg data centre park; according to the provider, Hetzner’s data centre parks are certified to ISO/IEC 27001. You conclude the data processing agreement under the GDPR directly in your customer account; Hetzner does not draw up individual agreements. For the customer account you can set up two-factor authentication if needed, including with a hardware key such as a YubiKey.

You book and manage domains in konsoleH. According to the provider, you can create as many domains and subdomains as you like in one web hosting package. However, you have to register each domain separately or connect it as an external domain for a monthly fee.

Email is included in all plans. You create unlimited mailboxes and forwards. In addition, there is webmail, spam and virus filtering, and synchronisation of calendars and contacts. The mailboxes share the plan's storage with the website and databases. In plan S this can become tight with many large mailboxes. Extra storage or a larger plan helps in that case.

For help, Hetzner first points you to its documentation. According to the provider, you can reach support by email and phone, and the general customer service is available by phone on weekdays during office hours. The plan overview lists telephone support for web hosting from plan XL onwards. The customer administration and the documentation are available in German and English.

In our view, Hetzner Webhosting is suitable for freelancers, small businesses and associations that want to run a WordPress website with email without a long contract and take care of WordPress themselves. The plans are clearly tiered, backups and SSL are included, and without a minimum term you can switch or end the plan at any time.

If you work technically, you get SSH, Redis and Node.js from plan L. Agencies can create many domains in one package, but the provider does not mention tools for client access or staging.

The offer fits less well if you want to hand over WordPress updates, staging and maintenance completely or expect a domain in the plan. In that case, managed WordPress offers or plans with an included domain fit better in this comparison.

Transparency note: TutKit itself uses cloud servers and Storage Boxes from Hetzner, not the web hosting. As for the other providers in this comparison, the information here comes from the provider.