Cloud instance comparison · Prices checked July 2026
AWS m5.xlarge vs Hetzner CCX23
Hetzner CCX23 is cheaper than AWS m5.xlarge by $38.67/month (27.6% less), at matching specs of 4 vCPU and 16 GiB of memory. Hetzner CCX23 runs $101.49/mo on-demand versus $140.16/mo for AWS m5.xlarge, based on Hetzner's fsn1 and AWS's us-east-1 baseline on-demand Linux pricing.
Specs & pricing side by side
| Spec | AWS m5.xlarge | Hetzner CCX23 |
|---|---|---|
| vCPU | 4 | 4 |
| Memory | 16 GiB | 16 GiB |
| Region (baseline) | us-east-1 | fsn1 |
| Hourly (on-demand) | $0.1920 | $0.1390 |
| Monthly (730 hrs) | $140.16 | $101.49 |
| Price difference | Hetzner CCX23 is $38.67/mo cheaper than AWS m5.xlarge (27.6% less) | |
What to know before comparing Hetzner CCX23 prices
Bundled outbound transfer. The table above is VM price only — egress is excluded for both providers. But Hetzner CCX23 includes 20,000 GB/month of pooled outbound transfer in its price (overage: $0.001/GB), while AWS meters egress at roughly $0.09/GB beyond a small free tier. If your workload pushes serious traffic, factor that in — it often matters more than the VM list-price gap.
Which one should you pick?
Pick Hetzner CCX23 if price is your primary constraint — it's $38.67/mo cheaper for the same 4 vCPU / 16 GiB profile, which adds up to $464.04/year at steady utilization.
Pick AWS m5.xlarge if you're already committed to the AWS ecosystem — existing VPC/network setup, IAM policies, reserved capacity, or team expertise on AWS usually outweighs a 28% list-price gap on a single instance. Cross-provider migration cost rarely pays for itself on compute pricing alone.
Either way, this is a single-instance, on-demand comparison. Reserved/committed-use discounts (up to ~72% on both platforms) and your actual utilization pattern will move the real numbers — model your full workload with the calculator before deciding.
Frequently asked questions
Is AWS m5.xlarge cheaper than Hetzner CCX23?
Hetzner CCX23 is cheaper. It costs $101.49/mo on-demand versus $140.16/mo for AWS m5.xlarge — a difference of $38.67/mo (27.6%). Both instances offer 4 vCPU and roughly 16 GiB of memory, so the comparison is apples-to-apples on specs.
What are the specs of AWS m5.xlarge?
AWS m5.xlarge provides 4 vCPU and 16 GiB of memory, priced at $0.1920/hour on-demand ($140.16/month at 730 hours) in the us-east-1 baseline region.
How much does AWS m5.xlarge cost per month compared to Hetzner CCX23?
At 730 hours/month, AWS m5.xlarge costs $140.16 and Hetzner CCX23 costs $101.49. That is a monthly difference of $38.67, or $464.04/year.
Does the Hetzner CCX23 price include bandwidth?
The table price is VM-only and excludes egress for both providers. However, Hetzner bundles 20,000 GB/month of pooled outbound transfer into the Hetzner CCX23 price, with overage at just $0.001/GB. AWS bills outbound transfer separately at roughly $0.09/GB beyond a small free tier, so for egress-heavy workloads the real-world gap can be much larger than the VM prices suggest.
Prices checked July 2026. Baseline regions: AWS pricing uses us-east-1, Hetzner uses fsn1. All prices are on-demand Linux, list rate, before reserved/committed-use discounts. Hetzner prices exclude the bundled outbound transfer discussed above. See our methodology for pricing sources, update cadence, and mapping rules.
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