Hetzner and OVHcloud do not have a defensible numeric price winner for a 24/7 YouTube stream in India from the published figures alone. Your result depends on the stream’s bitrate, the exact cloud location and plan, traffic charges, add-ons and tax treatment.
The useful comparison is not the cheapest instance label. Calculate the data your stream sends to YouTube, check the matching location’s allowance and overage rate, then compare complete live quotes for plans with suitable resources. The cloud instance sends the broadcast to YouTube; YouTube delivers it to viewers.
Why transfer cost matters for a continuous stream
A server running a video continuously sends data continuously. That makes outbound transfer a recurring part of the bill, not a small detail to check after choosing an instance. A plan with a lower monthly instance charge can cost more overall if the stream exceeds its included public traffic allowance.
Keep the direction of traffic clear. For the usual file-to-live setup, the cloud machine uploads the video stream to YouTube’s ingest service. Viewers watch from YouTube, rather than connecting to your cloud machine, so you should not count viewer playback as the cloud VM’s outbound traffic unless your actual setup also serves video directly to viewers.
This distinction matters when someone asks, “Does Hetzner or OVHcloud charge for bandwidth?” Both publish traffic terms, but the relevant question is what each charges for the outbound traffic generated by your particular stream at the location and plan you actually select. Do not treat a provider’s general network capacity as a monthly data allowance, or an allowance as a guaranteed end-to-end ingest speed.
Your real workload also includes the process that reads, encodes or relays the video, plus storage and any public IP address needed for the setup. If you are still deciding what source file and encoding approach to use, the practical notes in how to configure a 24/7 devotional stream for low data usage in India can help you identify the bitrate you need before comparing cloud bills.
Calculate monthly data from your bitrate
Start with the bitrate of the stream sent from the cloud instance to YouTube. A steady bitrate makes a useful estimate, though the actual total can differ if your encoder uses variable bitrate, includes audio at a separate rate, or sends extra data during reconnects. Use the bitrate reported by your own encoder or the value you intend to configure; there is no single stream bitrate that applies to every channel.
For an estimate in decimal gigabytes, multiply the total bitrate in kilobits per second by the seconds in your chosen month, then divide by 8,000,000. The division by eight converts bits to bytes; the remaining factor converts kilobits and seconds into gigabytes. For a 30-day estimate, the calculation is:
monthly GB ≈ total bitrate in kbps × 2,592,000 ÷ 8,000,000
For example, if your planned total bitrate is 2,500 kbps, the estimate is 810 GB for 30 days. That is an illustration of the arithmetic, not a recommended encoder setting or a claim about either provider’s billing unit. Add the audio bitrate if your stated video bitrate excludes audio. To compare a different month length, replace 2,592,000 with the number of seconds in that month.
Cloud provider quota pages may use TB, while your encoder shows kbps and your transfer logs may use GB or GiB. Those units are not interchangeable in every calculation. Record the provider’s exact quota unit and billing definition from its current page or quote before comparing it with your estimate. Leave some headroom for reconnects and measurement differences rather than treating a result close to the quota as certain to fit.
Also estimate the workload the instance must run. A simple file relay can have different CPU needs from a process that decodes, overlays and re-encodes video. Choose your video settings for the channel and audience, then make sure the cloud plan can sustain that specific process. A useful reference for decisions about picture quality is the resolution guidance for a 24/7 recorded study stream; resolution by itself does not specify the required bitrate.
OVHcloud Mumbai: check the allowance and excess rate
OVHcloud’s India Public Cloud pricing page lists an outbound public traffic allowance of 1 TB per month per Public Cloud project for Mumbai. The page also identifies Singapore and Sydney with that allowance; its FAQ describes Mumbai as an exception to the otherwise included or unlimited outbound public traffic terms. This is a project-level rule in the published information, so do not assume that creating another instance automatically gives it a separate allowance.
The same pricing information says additional traffic is charged, but the exact Mumbai excess rate was not exposed in the retrieved page content. That gap prevents a responsible overage calculation. Before ordering, check the current pricing page and the live estimate for the project and location, or ask OVHcloud to confirm the applicable rate. Do not substitute a rate from another region or assume that excess traffic is free.
Compare your bitrate-derived monthly data with the 1 TB allowance, but do not stop at that arithmetic. Confirm how OVHcloud measures the period, traffic direction and quota, and whether the quote’s rate includes tax. If your stream estimate approaches or crosses the allowance, the unknown or changing excess line can affect the total enough that a sticker-price comparison is misleading.
OVHcloud publishes India instance examples in rupees. Its current India page, accessed 3 October 2026, lists d2-2 at ₹579 per month, d2-4 at ₹1,161 and d2-8 at ₹2,089, excluding VAT. They have different CPU, memory, storage and advertised public network capacities, so those figures are not like-for-like prices for an identical workload. Treat them as examples from the page, not as an endorsement of any one configuration or a quote for your account.
For those figures and the Mumbai traffic terms, consult OVHcloud’s India Public Cloud pricing page and its Public Cloud FAQ. Pricing pages change; check both again when requesting a live quote.
Hetzner Singapore: verify the selected plan’s quota
Hetzner does not list an India Cloud location on its locations page. Its Singapore Cloud page presents Singapore for customers in India, which may be relevant geographically, but Singapore is not an Indian data centre. Your route to YouTube ingest and the audience geography both matter when choosing a location; check the route from the actual candidate instance rather than inferring performance from a map.
Hetzner’s Singapore page says included outbound traffic ranges from 0.5 TB to 5 TB a month depending on the Cloud plan, and lists $8.49 per additional TB. Those figures are plan-dependent terms from the current page, not a single allowance that applies to every instance. Confirm the selected plan’s quota, how excess is counted and the currency or tax treatment shown in your order flow. The page was accessed on 3 October 2026; use the live listing for a purchase decision.
A smaller traffic allowance may be enough for a low-bitrate channel but not for a higher-bitrate continuous stream. Conversely, a larger allowance has little value if the instance is unsuitable for the encoder workload or a different location is required. Compare the actual plan and route, not just the maximum allowance shown across the provider’s range.
Avoid using an old price announcement as a present-day quote. Hetzner’s June 2024 CX22 announcement listed €3.79 per month and 20 TB of traffic for that plan at that time. It is historical context only, not the current Singapore price or allowance. Hetzner’s changelog says new Cloud pricing applied to new orders and rescales from 15 June 2026. Check the current Hetzner Singapore Cloud page and Cloud changelog for current terms rather than carrying a 2024 figure into a 2026 calculation.
Include the instance, IP, storage and tax
A complete monthly cost is more than the compute line. Put each of these items in your comparison: instance charge, public IPv4, storage, outbound traffic or overage, tax, and any other compulsory line item shown for the selected plan. If you keep a source file or backups on the instance, distinguish that storage from the video stream’s outbound transfer. The stream itself is not downloaded by every viewer from your VM in the normal YouTube ingest model.
OVHcloud’s India pricing page says that from 1 October 2026, local storage and IPv4 are billed separately for its listed Gen 3 B3 instances. The page displays public IPv4 at around ₹199.8594 per month excluding VAT. It also gives B3 examples, including b3-8 at about ₹3,796 and b3-16 at about ₹7,577.40 per month, excluding VAT. These are different resource configurations; add the applicable storage and IP charges at checkout for the exact B3 plan rather than assuming those components are included.
The same page states that its Gen 3 instance monthly estimate is based on 730 hours. That billing basis is useful context if your planned use or quote is presented differently, but it does not establish the final charge for your account. Confirm whether a quoted monthly figure assumes continuous use, and what happens if the instance is stopped, resized or billed for a partial period.
For Hetzner, obtain the current Singapore configuration and quote, then record whether the displayed amount includes the storage and IP arrangement your workload needs. Do not infer that an item is included because another plan or provider bundles it. For both providers, record the tax basis separately: an excluding-VAT amount and a tax-inclusive payment total should not be compared as if they were the same figure.
A useful comparison sheet has one row per actual candidate plan and separate columns for instance, IP, storage, traffic, overage and tax. Keep the currency visible. If you convert a USD amount to rupees, write down the exchange-rate source and date you used, and remember that your card or payment provider may apply a different conversion or fee. This produces a transparent estimate rather than a false precision that hides billing assumptions.
Get comparable live quotes
First decide what the instance must do. Record your encoder or relay method, video and audio settings, expected bitrate, storage requirement and whether you need a backup stream process. A file that is merely relayed is not the same workload as one that is being transcoded. Compare plans with enough CPU and memory for your actual process, rather than choosing the cheapest item in each catalogue.
Then request or generate a quote for OVHcloud Mumbai and Hetzner Singapore using the same assumptions. Include the intended billing period, public IP, disk size, traffic estimate and tax treatment. For OVHcloud, ask for the exact Mumbai excess rate and the B3 storage and IPv4 lines if applicable. For Hetzner, confirm the Singapore plan’s included traffic and the current overage terms. Keep a dated copy or screenshot of each quote because displayed rates and billing components can change.
Make the location and expected route explicit. A Mumbai instance and Singapore instance are not geographically identical, and the best location for your source-to-YouTube ingest route may not be the closest one to your viewers. In the ordinary setup, viewer delivery is YouTube’s responsibility; your cloud route is chiefly about a stable, suitable upload to YouTube. A high advertised public network figure, such as 100 Mbit/s, does not prove that the instance will sustain that rate to YouTube ingest or establish a service-level guarantee for your broadcast.
Use a table like this, filling it only with current details from the chosen plan and quote. “Check quote” is a reminder to obtain a value, not a statement that the item is zero or included.
| Cost or workload input | OVHcloud Mumbai | Hetzner Singapore |
|---|---|---|
| Region and expected route | Mumbai; test route to YouTube ingest | Singapore; test route to YouTube ingest |
| vCPU and RAM | Record selected instance | Record selected Cloud plan |
| Storage and public IP | Confirm plan line items; B3 terms may bill these separately | Confirm selected plan’s included items and any add-ons |
| Monthly instance charge | Current INR quote; note VAT basis | Current quote; note currency and tax basis |
| Outbound allowance | Published 1 TB/month per Public Cloud project; verify live terms | Published range is plan-dependent; verify selected plan |
| Excess traffic | Obtain exact Mumbai rate | Published page lists $8.49/TB beyond allowance; verify terms |
| Stream estimate | Your bitrate × actual billing period | Same bitrate and period |
| Total monthly estimate | Instance + applicable add-ons + traffic excess + tax | Instance + applicable add-ons + traffic excess + tax |
The arithmetic is straightforward once the missing quote lines are filled in. For each candidate, add the monthly instance charge, required IP and storage, expected excess traffic charge and applicable tax. If the provider bills traffic in a unit different from your calculation, convert using the provider’s definition before multiplying by its rate. If one quote omits a component, mark it unresolved rather than treating it as zero.
If managing an operating system, encoder process and reconnect behaviour is the part you would rather avoid, StreamNeo removes that specific burden by turning an uploaded file into a YouTube live stream that can run with your computer switched off. It does not change the need to check content rights, YouTube’s current rules or whether a cloud VM is the right fit for your own setup.
Choose on total cost and test the route
Once the quotes are complete, compare the total under your own bitrate, location and tax assumptions. If you stream more than one channel, calculate each channel’s traffic separately and determine whether the provider applies a quota per project, instance or another billing scope. Do not assume allowances combine or reset in the way you expect without checking the terms.
Test a candidate instance before relying on it overnight. Confirm it can reach YouTube ingest, watch encoder logs for dropped frames and reconnects, and inspect cloud traffic measurements against the estimate. A route test is evidence about the connection at that time, not a promise that it will remain identical or a substitute for the provider’s service terms. If the channel cannot tolerate a single process failing, cost and test the backup arrangement too.
The answer to “Hetzner vs OVHcloud, which is cheaper in India?” is therefore conditional. OVHcloud offers rupee-denominated India prices and a clear Mumbai allowance, but you still need the exact overage and any separated components. Hetzner offers Singapore plans with different traffic allowances and a stated excess rate, but you need a current plan quote, route test and currency/tax basis. The official pages do not establish a numeric winner for all streamers.
A local machine may suit you better if you already have a reliable computer and power arrangement, want direct access to your encoder, and can accept responsibility for connectivity and overnight recovery. A cloud VM may suit you if you want the stream source to run away from your home computer, but it brings plan selection, billing checks and system administration. If the trade-off is between hosted cloud and a spare PC, the electricity-cost comparison for a YouTube loop PC is a useful reminder to include power in the local option’s total cost.
Before committing, compare the operating options on the pricing page. When the file and channel are ready, start free — 24-hour trial, no card.
FAQ
How much does a VPS cost to stream 24/7 to YouTube?
There is no single cost without the bitrate, location, instance size, storage, traffic terms and tax treatment. Estimate the stream’s monthly transfer from its total bitrate, then add the selected plan’s compute and required add-ons plus any excess traffic charge. Use a current quote rather than relying on a historical instance price.
Does Hetzner or OVHcloud charge for bandwidth?
The published terms differ by location and plan. OVHcloud lists 1 TB/month of outbound public traffic for Mumbai per Public Cloud project and charges for additional traffic; Hetzner’s Singapore allowance varies by plan and its page lists a charge for traffic beyond the allowance. Confirm the exact current terms before ordering.
Is Hetzner Singapore an India location?
No. Hetzner lists Singapore as a Cloud location presented to customers in India, but it is not an India data centre. Test the route to YouTube ingest from the location you plan to use and compare it with the available alternative.
Should I use the 2024 Hetzner CX22 price in my comparison?
No. The €3.79/month and 20 TB figure was in a June 2024 announcement and is historical, not a current Singapore quote. Check Hetzner’s current plan page and changelog, then compare a live configuration with the same workload and billing assumptions as your OVHcloud quote.