Three servers with 4 vCPU and 8 GB of memory cost 106.47 EUR a month at Hetzner, while at AWS compute alone comes to about 380 EUR, which is 3.6 times as much. Hetzner's price includes the disk. At AWS, disks, data transfer and backups are paid separately. A cheaper server doesn't mean cheaper operations, though: someone has to run it. If the firm has nobody like that, self-hosting in our view doesn't pay off even at the cheapest provider. A managed cloud from the software vendor is the third route, and you pay a premium for it.
- Three CPX32 servers at Hetzner cost 106.47 EUR a month, three c6i.xlarge instances at AWS about 380 EUR for compute alone.
- Hetzner charges for IPv4 and backups separately; with them it is 129.26 EUR for three servers.
- Prices are excluding VAT and verified on 25 October 2026; AWS is converted at the ECB rate of 23 October.
- What decides it is who owns the server: without an administrator, self-hosting in our view doesn't pay off.
We verified the prices with the providers on 25 October 2026, and all are excluding VAT.
When to consider self-hosting
Self-hosting moves the work from the vendor to your team or to a partner. The points below are our judgement, not figures from sources.
- Reasons that hold up: rules on where data may be located (healthcare, public sector, finance), deep changes to software that a SaaS vendor won't allow, a network that must not have access to the internet, and a price at a large number of users that you have worked out yourself.
- Reasons that don't: "we want control" without a person who owns the server, and "it will be cheaper" when you don't count backups, monitoring and the administrator's time.
If you decide by where data may go, also read the article on Chinese cloud.
What three servers cost at Hetzner and at AWS
Take as an example an ERP that runs on two application servers and one database server. 4 vCPU and 8 GB of memory is enough for each. Hetzner offers such a server as the CPX32 (4 vCPU AMD, 8 GB, 160 GB NVMe, 20 TB of transfer). AWS offers it as the c6i.xlarge instance (4 vCPU, 8 GiB, EBS only).
| Hetzner CPX32 | AWS c6i.xlarge, Frankfurt | |
|---|---|---|
| Price of one server per month | 35.49 EUR | 141.62 USD (0.194 USD per hour) |
| Three servers per month | 106.47 EUR | 424.86 USD, about 380 EUR |
| Not in the price | IPv4 (0.50 EUR per server), backups (20% of the server price) | Disks, data transfer, backups |
| Disk in the price | Yes, 160 GB NVMe | No, paid separately |
Hetzner with IPv4 and backups comes to 129.26 EUR for three servers. We converted AWS at the ECB rate of 23 October 2026 (1 EUR = 1.1193 USD) and counted a month as 730 hours. The ratio of 3.6 holds only for compute itself. Hetzner bills by the hour, but the monthly price is a cap: the bill for a month won't exceed it. You do pay for a server until you delete it, even when it is switched off.
Hetzner: what you get and what you run yourself
The servers stand in Germany (Falkenstein, Nuremberg) and in Finland (Helsinki). Hetzner marks these as EU locations. It doesn't count its sites in the USA and Singapore as EU ones. If you need your data in the EU, choose only the first two countries.
For heavier loads there are dedicated servers. For example, the AX42 costs 99 EUR a month plus a one-off 49 EUR at ordering, and has 64 GB of DDR5 ECC memory and 2 NVMe disks of 512 GB each. Hetzner promises that its network will be up at least 99.9% of the time. That doesn't mean your program will be: you answer for that.
Above the hardware you run everything: the operating system, patches, backups, monitoring and protection. Backups are an optional service and cost 20% of the server price, and according to the billing FAQ they have 7 slots for stored copies.
AWS: when the premium makes sense
AWS makes sense when you need its services or are already on it. The service level agreement (SLA) promises that a region will be up at least 99.99% of the month, provided the instances stand in two or more zones. For a single instance it is 99.5%. The SLA is, per the page, dated 25 May 2022. Running in two zones needs more instances, and so a higher bill.
A managed cloud from the software vendor
The third route is to leave operations to the vendor. Lumenax does this for xOffice as follows: for 3,400 CZK a month you get a dedicated server with data in the EU, daily backups with verified restore, monitoring and security patches, an audit log for two years, a separate test environment and one move to a new version a year. On top you pay 249 CZK a month per full user and 49 CZK per light user. For 20 full users that is 8,380 CZK a month, and for 50 full users 15,850 CZK. More is on the xOffice page. The prices are starting prices, and the firm confirms the final amount after an analysis.
This is not comparable with a bare server. The price includes operations, not just hardware. What you can compare it with is the sum of the server, backups, monitoring and the administrator's time.
What self-hosting involves
The four points below are our judgement from practice. Their point doesn't depend on where the server stands.
- Someone owns the server. The system has to be patched and certificates renewed on a calendar. If a named person doesn't handle it, technical debt builds up faster than you save money.
- Restores from backup get tested. A backup that has never been restored is only a hope. Test it regularly on a separate copy.
- Monitoring runs from day one. You have to know about an outage before your users do: watch whether the server responds, how much disk is left, how loaded it is and whether the program is alive.
- Count the cost honestly. Server, backups, monitoring, the administrator's time at a real hourly rate, and time for incidents. For a firm without its own IT this often exceeds the price of a managed cloud.
How to secure a server and verify that it holds up is something the cyber protection service can help with.
- Someone can own and watch the serverYou have an administrator or a partnerHetzner, 129.26 EUR for three servers with IPv4 and backups
- You're already on AWSOr you need its servicesAWS, 424.86 USD for three instances, compute only
- Nobody wants to run the serverYou don't want to handle operationsA managed cloud, for xOffice 8,380 CZK a month for 20 full users
- You don't know how many hours administration takesWork out the administrator's time before comparing prices
An example for a firm of 20 people
A firm of 20 people wants to run its ERP on three servers. At Hetzner that comes to 129 EUR a month including backups and IPv4. On top comes the administrator's work: install and set up the servers, patch every month, test restores and stay on call. If one person does it for part of their working time, their time is the real price. A managed cloud for the same firm costs, according to the xOffice page, 8,380 CZK a month, and that amount already includes operations. Decide by how many hours a month administration takes at your firm.
Common questions
Is self-hosting more secure than a managed cloud?
Not automatically. It is more secure only if someone actively maintains it: installs patches, watches access and tests restores. It depends on the care, not on where the server stands.
How much do three servers cost at Hetzner?
Three CPX32 servers cost 106.47 EUR a month excluding VAT, and 129.26 EUR with IPv4 and backups. The prices have applied since 15 June 2026.
How much do three identical servers cost at AWS?
Three c6i.xlarge instances in Frankfurt cost 424.86 USD a month for compute only, without disks, transfer and backups. At the ECB rate of 23 October 2026 that is about 380 EUR.
Does Lumenax run the server after launch?
For xOffice on Lumenax's server, operations (monitoring, daily backups with verified restore, security patches) are included in the 3,400 CZK a month plus user accounts. When the system runs on your server, it prices operations by scope.
Where may servers stand if I want my data in the EU?
At Hetzner in Germany and Finland. Hetzner doesn't count its sites in the USA and Singapore as EU ones.
Sources
- Hetzner, Price Adjustment 15 June 2026, prices excluding VAT: https://docs.hetzner.com/general/infrastructure-and-availability/price-adjustment/
- Hetzner Cloud, Regular Performance (CPX32), viewed 25 Oct 2026: https://www.hetzner.com/cloud/regular-performance/
- Hetzner Cloud, locations, viewed 25 Oct 2026: https://www.hetzner.com/cloud/
- Hetzner Docs, cloud billing, viewed 25 Oct 2026: https://docs.hetzner.com/cloud/billing/faq/
- Hetzner, AX42, viewed 25 Oct 2026: https://www.hetzner.com/dedicated-rootserver/ax42/
- AWS, EC2 on-demand price list, Linux, Frankfurt (c6i.xlarge), data of 23 Oct 2026: https://b0.p.awsstatic.com/pricing/2.0/meteredUnitMaps/ec2/USD/current/ec2-ondemand-without-sec-sel/EU%20(Frankfurt)/Linux/index.json
- AWS, Amazon Compute Service Level Agreement, updated 25 May 2022: https://aws.amazon.com/compute/sla/
- ECB, euro foreign exchange reference rates, 23 Oct 2026: https://www.ecb.europa.eu/stats/eurofxref/eurofxref-daily.xml
- Lumenax, xOffice ERP system, verified on the page 12 Oct 2026, viewed 25 Oct 2026: https://www.lumenax.cz/erp-system
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