Quick answer
Is bare metal cheaper than the cloud?
Bare metal is cheaper than the cloud for steady, always-on load. On 1 November 2026, Google, Azure and AWS charged $1,039.19 to $1,410.36 a month for a 32-vCPU, 128 GB on-demand VM in Europe. Disks and egress came on top. Lumenfer's Lumen 16 (16 cores / 32 threads, 128 GB DDR5) is $205.27 with NVMe and traffic; crypto, no KYC. The cloud wins on bursts.
Prices read on 1 November 2026, in short
| Google Cloud n4d-standard-32, Netherlands | $1,039.19 a month on demand (32 vCPU, 128 GiB) |
|---|---|
| Azure D32as v6, West Europe | $1,282.61 a month pay-as-you-go ($1.757 an hour × 730) |
| AWS m7i.8xlarge, Frankfurt | $1,410.36 a month on demand ($1.932 an hour × 730) |
| Egress, first tier | AWS $0.09/GB and Azure $0.087/GB after 100 GB free; Google $0.12/GiB (Premium Tier) |
| Lumen 16 | $205.27 per 30 days: AMD Ryzen 9 9950X (2024, 16 cores / 32 threads), 128 GB DDR5, 2 × 1.92 TB NVMe in RAID 1, 60 TB a month at 1 Gbit/s, 1 IPv4 and an IPv6 /64 |
How do cloud and bare-metal prices compare for the same machine?
For the same cores and memory, the cloud VMs cost several times the bare-metal plan, before any disk or traffic. The table sets a 16-core, 128 GB machine against the closest on-demand Linux VMs in European regions.
| Offer (region) | Cores / threads, RAM | Monthly price | Disks | Traffic out |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lumenfer Lumen 16 (any of the four cities) | 16 cores / 32 threads, 128 GB DDR5 | $205.27 per 30 days | 2 × 1.92 TB NVMe, RAID 1 | 60 TB a month at 1 Gbit/s |
| Google Cloud n4d-standard-32 (Netherlands) | 32 vCPU, 128 GiB | $1,039.19 | Billed apart | From $0.12/GiB |
| AWS r7a.4xlarge (Frankfurt) | 16 cores / 16 threads, 128 GiB | $1,071.87 | Billed apart | $0.09/GB after 100 GB |
| Azure D32as v6 (West Europe) | 32 vCPU, 128 GiB | $1,282.61 | Billed apart | $0.087/GB after 100 GB |
| AWS m7i.8xlarge (Frankfurt) | 16 cores / 32 threads, 128 GiB | $1,410.36 | Billed apart | $0.09/GB after 100 GB |
Prices checked on
On-demand Linux prices from each provider's price page or price list, read 2026-11-01; a cloud month is the hourly price × 730 hours. Lumenfer bills 30-day periods. AWS core and thread counts come from its instance documentation.
The cheapest 32-vCPU, 128 GB VM of the three clouds cost $1,039.19 a month on 1 November 2026, before disks and traffic. Lumen 16 costs $205.27 with both included.
One size down, the pattern holds. Google's n4d-standard-16 (16 vCPU, 64 GiB) cost $519.60 a month, Azure's D16as v6 $640.94 and AWS's m7i.4xlarge $705.18. Lumen 8 has 8 cores / 16 threads and 64 GB DDR5 for $109.37.
What does traffic cost on each side?
In the cloud, every gigabyte that leaves for the internet is billed; on a Lumenfer plan, a monthly allowance is part of the price. The table prices 10 TB (10,240 GB) of outbound traffic in one month.
| Provider (region) | Price per GB out | 10 TB in one month |
|---|---|---|
| AWS (Frankfurt) | $0.09 up to 10 TB after 100 GB free, then $0.085 for the next 40 TB | $912.60 |
| Azure (West Europe) | $0.087 after 100 GB free, Microsoft network routing | $882.18 |
| Google Cloud Premium Tier (Netherlands to Europe) | $0.12 up to 1,024 GiB, then $0.11 up to 10,240 GiB | $1,136.64 |
| Google Cloud Standard Tier (Netherlands) | $0.085 after 200 GiB free | $853.40 |
| Lumenfer Lumen 16 | Included: 60 TB a month at 1 Gbit/s | No extra charge |
Prices checked on
At 10 TB a month, each cloud's egress bill alone exceeded the price of its own 16-vCPU, 64 GB VM.
On Lumenfer: One dedicated IPv4 address and an IPv6 /64 come with every server. Each plan lists its port speed and its monthly traffic, counted on outgoing data per 30 days; going over never triggers an automatic charge.
When is the cloud the better deal?
The cloud is the better deal when load is short, spiky or unknown. You pay only while an instance runs, and a new one starts in minutes. Lumenfer prepares each server by hand. Setup time: Up to 72 hours from the moment your payment is confirmed.
Managed services are the second reason. A database with automatic failover, object storage, queues and load balancers take real work to rebuild yourself. Reach is the third: the large clouds run regions on every inhabited continent, while Lumenfer has four European cities.
Commitments narrow the gap. AWS advertises savings of up to 72% with EC2 Instance Savings Plans. Google's 3-year resource commitment brings n4d-standard-32 in the Netherlands to $467.08 a month. On the bare-metal side, Lumen 16 for 12 months costs $1724.26.
When is bare metal the better deal?
Bare metal wins when the machine is busy most of the month and the bill would grow with use:
- Steady load around the clock: databases, CI fleets, game servers, always-on APIs. The cost case for CI is on is a rented dedicated server cheaper than GitHub-hosted runners.
- Heavy outbound traffic: the allowance is in the plan price.
- Disk-heavy work: local NVMe has no per-IOPS fee. AWS charges $0.0952 per GB-month for gp3 volumes in Frankfurt, plus $0.006 per provisioned IOPS-month above the included baseline.
- Whole-machine needs: No hypervisor and no neighbours: all cores, all memory and every NVMe drive of the machine work for you alone.
Kubernetes users weigh the same trade on should I run Kubernetes on bare metal or on VMs.
What does bare metal cost you that the cloud does not?
It costs you operations work. On a rented server, you run the parts a cloud provider manages:
- Backups: Backups are not included: keep copies of your data somewhere else.
- Console access: There is no IPMI or KVM-over-IP console for customers: you request reboots and reinstalls in the dashboard and the team performs them.
- Failover: one server is one failure domain. Two Lumen 16 servers cost 2 × $205.27; set that against one VM in the table above.
- Capacity: there is no autoscaling. Size for the peak, or keep a small cloud pool for bursts.
- Billing unit: the shortest term is 30 days, not one hour.
Put a price on your team's hours before you compare the bills.
What do other bare-metal hosts charge for the same machine?
Far less than the cloud, and more than Lumenfer. In Lumenfer's check of 30 October 2026, comparable 16-core current-generation servers at 8 hosts no-KYC crypto hosts had a median price of $430.21 a month.
| Host | Server | Monthly price | Payment and ID |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lumenfer Lumen 16 | AMD Ryzen 9 9950X, 16 cores / 32 threads, 128 GB DDR5 | $205.27 | Crypto only, no KYC |
| AbeloHost | AMD Ryzen 9 7950X, 16 cores / 192 GB / 2 x 2 TB NVMe | €244.99 ($273.70) | Crypto, no ID at signup |
| Median of 8 hosts | 16 cores or more, 2022+ CPU, NVMe only | $430.21 | Crypto, no ID at signup |
| Hetzner AX102 | Ryzen 9 7950X3D (AMD), 16 cores, 128 GB DDR5, 2 × 1.92 TB NVMe | €259.00 a month + €129.00 one-time setup: $301.36 a month spread over 12 months | No crypto; ID or prepayment may be requested |
Prices checked on
Hetzner lists unmetered traffic on a 1 Gbit/s port for this line, more generous than a fixed allowance. Euro prices converted at 1 EUR = 1.1172 USD (ECB, 30 October 2026).
Hardware-equivalent options are compared on what are the alternatives to Hetzner AX dedicated server hosting. All Lumenfer plans and terms are on how much a Lumenfer bare-metal server costs.
How do you work out your own break-even?
Compare a full month, not an hour. Cloud cost is the hourly price × hours run, plus storage, egress and managed extras. Bare-metal cost is the plan price, plus a second server if you need failover.
Then divide the plan price by the VM's hourly price. The result is the number of hours a month the VM can run before the server is cheaper. An always-on VM passes that point long before the month ends.
Planning a move off AWS? The migration steps are on should I move from AWS to bare metal servers.
Bare metal against cloud cost: FAQ
Is Hetzner cheaper than the cloud?
Yes, by a wide margin for similar hardware. The AX102 cost $301.36 a month over a year on 30 October 2026, against $1,039.19 or more for a 32-vCPU cloud VM on 1 November. Hetzner takes no crypto and may ask for ID.
Are reserved instances cheaper than bare metal?
They close part of the gap. Google's 3-year commitment puts n4d-standard-32 in the Netherlands at $467.08 a month, still above $205.27, and it binds you for three years. AWS advertises up to 72% off with EC2 Instance Savings Plans.
Does the cloud charge for incoming traffic?
Usually not. Google lists ingress as free, and Azure's price list shows inbound transfer at $0. Outbound traffic is where the bill grows.
How fast can I get a bare-metal server compared with a VM?
A cloud VM starts in minutes. A Lumenfer server is prepared by a person: Up to 72 hours from the moment your payment is confirmed. Order capacity a few days before you need it.
Is it fair to compare a Ryzen server with cloud VMs?
Partly. AMD Ryzen 9 9950X is a desktop-class AM5 chip with 2 memory channels and a high boost clock. Cloud VMs run on server CPUs with more channels, shared with other tenants. For memory-bound work, compare against Lumen 24 or Lumen 32.
Price your steady load on bare metal
Traffic and NVMe included, from $91.65 per 30 days, less on 6- and 12-month terms. No KYC, paid in crypto.
- Operator: DomaineGoat LLC, Panama
- Prices checked against 13 hosts, 30 October 2026
- No KYC: no ID, no card, no phone
- Built by hand within 72 h of payment
Sources (9)
- Amazon EC2 On-Demand Pricing (EU Frankfurt, Linux; price data published 2026-10-29) — Amazon Web Services (read 2026-11-01)
- AWS Price List: AWSDataTransfer, eu-central-1 (data transfer out to the internet) — Amazon Web Services (read 2026-11-01)
- Amazon EBS pricing (gp3, EU Frankfurt) — Amazon Web Services (read 2026-11-01)
- Compute Savings Plans and EC2 Instance Savings Plans pricing — Amazon Web Services (read 2026-11-01)
- Amazon EC2 instance types: general purpose and memory optimized specifications — Amazon Web Services (read 2026-11-01)
- Azure Retail Prices API: Virtual Machines and Bandwidth, West Europe (data behind the Azure pricing pages) — Microsoft (read 2026-11-01)
- Google Cloud: General purpose VM pricing (N4D, Netherlands europe-west4) — Google Cloud (read 2026-11-01)
- Google Cloud: Network pricing (internet data transfer) — Google Cloud (read 2026-11-01)
- Hetzner dedicated root servers (AX102 price and setup fee) hetzner.com/dedicated-rootserver — Hetzner Online (checked 2026-10-30)