DigitalOcean vs Hetzner: green hosting compared
DigitalOcean and Hetzner side by side: each one's Green Web Foundation listing, where its data centres are and how carbon-intensive those grids are, and the evidence it publishes. They are in alphabetical order: no host pays for its place.
The difference
Only Hetzner is listed in the Green Web Foundation's directory of verified green providers; we found no matching entry for DigitalOcean.
Neither host's listed countries all have lower-carbon grids than the other's. Across both, their countries' grid averages run from 192 gCO2e/kWh in Canada (2025) to 671 gCO2e/kWh in India (2025), so which grid your site runs on depends on the region you choose.
These are the facts we can show, not a verdict on which is greener: the listing, the grids and each company's own claims measure different things, and none of them measures your website. Each host's full page has every quote and source.
Each dot is a country where the host lists data centres, placed by that country's grid average. DigitalOcean, no matching entry in the Green Web Foundation's directory: 8 countries, from 192 gCO2e/kWh in Canada to 671 in India. Hetzner, listed in the Green Web Foundation's directory: 1 country, 334 gCO2e/kWh in Germany.
Show the data as a table
| Country | Grid average, gCO2e/kWh | Year | DigitalOcean | Hetzner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canada | 192 | 2025 | Yes | No |
| United Kingdom | 218 | 2025 | Yes | No |
| Netherlands | 254 | 2025 | Yes | No |
| Germany | 334 | 2025 | Yes | Yes |
| United States | 384 | 2025 | Yes | No |
| Singapore | 497 | 2025 | Yes | No |
| Australia | 518 | 2025 | Yes | No |
| India | 671 | 2025 | Yes | No |
DigitalOcean
- Green Web Foundation
No matching entry in the Green Web Foundation's directory when we checked on 17 October 2026.
We looked for a provider with DigitalOcean's website and found none. That says nothing either way about the energy behind its hosting; the evidence below is DigitalOcean's own.
- Data centres
United States, Netherlands, Singapore, United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, India and Australia
DigitalOcean's datacenters, in space it rents from data-centre operators.
- Grid average where they are
- Across the listed countries, from 192 gCO2e/kWh in Canada (2025) to 671 gCO2e/kWh in India (2025).
- DigitalOcean's own evidence
- Evidence checked
- 16 October 2026
Hetzner
- Green Web Foundation
Listed in the Green Web Foundation's directory of verified green providers, checked 17 October 2026.
GWF lists it as “Hetzner Online GmbH” (provider 131).
GWF does not publish when a provider was last verified. Providers verified before October 2026 are reassessed under its new criteria, which no longer accept offsets, at their next reverification.
- Data centres
Germany
Web hosting runs in Hetzner's own data-centre park in Nuremberg. Its cloud and dedicated servers are also offered in Finland, the USA and Singapore.
- Grid average where they are
- 334 gCO2e/kWh in Germany (2025).
- Hetzner's own evidence
- Sustainability at Hetzner 3 September 2026
- Hydropower certificate 2025 (naturenergie) Undated
- Sustainability Undated
- Evidence checked
- 16 October 2026
Grid figures: Ember, Yearly electricity data (2026), CC BY 4.0. Listing data from the Green Web Foundation's Green Web Dataset, made available under the Open Database License (ODbL).