Compare / Netlify vs Hetzner Cloud
Netlify vs Hetzner Cloud
Pre-calculated from hand-checked data — Netlify checked 2026-08-01, Hetzner Cloud checked 2026-08-01.
The short version
Netlify wins more of our comparison points, but Hetzner Cloud still fits if european projects that need serious compute or move a lot of traffic describes you.
Price Netlify
Netlify is cheaper at every stage we model — about $20/mo even for a growing project.
Ease Netlify
Netlify is easier to get running: connect the Git repo; pushes build and deploy automatically with previews for every pull request.
Control Hetzner Cloud
Hetzner Cloud gives you more control over the stack — the flip side of the convenience trade.
Free tier Netlify
Netlify has a free tier; Hetzner Cloud doesn't.
Features Netlify
Netlify comes out ahead on 8 of the 15 features we track, versus 3.
What developers say about this matchup
We couldn't find a substantive first-person discussion comparing this exact pair. We leave the section empty instead of filling it with vendor marketing or generic SEO comparisons.
At a glance
| Netlify | Hetzner Cloud | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Static sites and frontend apps that deploy from Git and want a generous, mature workflow. | European projects that need serious compute or move a lot of traffic. |
| How deploys work | Connect the Git repo; pushes build and deploy automatically with previews for every pull request. | You get root on a bare server: bring your own setup, or use one-click apps like Docker and WordPress. |
| The tradeoff | The credit system makes bills hard to predict — traffic, deploys, and compute all drain one pool. | Self-managed like any VPS, and the bandwidth advantage mostly applies to EU locations. |
| Free tier | Free: 300 credits per month with a hard stop. Enough for a small personal site with few deploys. | None |
What you'd realistically pay
| Project stage | Netlify | Hetzner Cloud | Cheaper |
|---|---|---|---|
| Just starting | Free Free | ≈€43.49/mo CCX13 (EU) | Netlify |
| Steady traffic | ≈$9/mo Personal | ≈€43.49/mo CCX13 (EU) | Netlify |
| Growing | ≈$20/mo Pro | ≈€86.49/mo CCX23 (EU) | Netlify |
Our ratings
Ease of use Netlify
Pricing clarity Hetzner Cloud
Free tier Netlify
Scaling Netlify
Control Hetzner Cloud
Feature by feature
Netlify wins 8, Hetzner Cloud wins 3, with 4 even.
Deploy workflow
| Netlify | Hetzner Cloud | |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy from Git push | Yes Connect GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, or Azure DevOps; pushes deploy. | No No deploy pipeline — bring your own CI or scripts. |
| Preview deploys | Yes Deploy previews per pull request and branch deploys, free of credit cost. | No Nothing built in. |
| Official CLI | Yes The netlify CLI runs local dev, deploys, and manages functions. | Yes hcloud CLI manages servers, networks, and snapshots. |
| Instant rollbacks | Yes Every deploy is kept; publish any previous one instantly. | Partial Snapshots and paid backups restore machines; no deploy-level rollback. |
Platform
| Netlify | Hetzner Cloud | |
|---|---|---|
| Custom domains + HTTPS | Yes Custom domains with automatic TLS on all plans, including Free. | Yes Point DNS at the server; TLS is yours via certbot or a proxy. |
| Built-in CDN / edge network | Yes Global edge CDN serves all sites by default. | No No CDN product — put Cloudflare in front if needed. |
| Serverless functions | Yes Netlify Functions (AWS Lambda under the hood) plus edge functions. | No Not a VPS feature. |
| Docker containers | No No container deploys — builds run in Netlify’s build image. | Yes Docker CE one-click app or install it yourself. |
| SSH / shell access | No No shell access; logs are the debugging surface. | Yes Full root SSH. |
| EU hosting region | Partial The CDN is global, but functions default to a US region; region choice needs higher tiers. | Yes Germany and Finland are the home turf — this is where the value is. |
Runtime & operations
| Netlify | Hetzner Cloud | |
|---|---|---|
| Automatic scaling | Yes CDN and functions scale automatically with traffic. | No Manual resizing or manual fleet management. |
| Scale to zero | Yes Nothing runs (or bills) while the site has no traffic — apart from credits. | No Servers bill until deleted, even powered off. |
| Scheduled jobs | Yes Scheduled functions run on a cron expression. | Yes Classic cron on the box. |
| Managed database | Partial Netlify DB (Neon Postgres) is in early access; most projects bring an external database. | No No managed database product — self-host or go external. |
| Logs & metrics built in | Partial Function and deploy logs included; analytics is a paid add-on. | Partial Basic server graphs in the console; app-level monitoring is yours. |
Watch out for
Netlify
- Every production deploy costs 15 credits, so the 300-credit free tier covers only about 20 deploys a month even with zero traffic.
- The free tier has a hard stop: when credits run out, the site pauses until the next month.
- Bandwidth burns credits quickly — 1 GB costs 20 credits.
Hetzner Cloud
- US locations include only 1–2 TB of traffic versus 20 TB in the EU — the famous value is a European value.
- A public IPv4 address costs €0.50/month extra; only IPv6 is free.
- Servers bill until deleted, even while powered off.
- Cheaper shared-CPU (CX) plans exist but are not yet in our checked dataset.
Read the full reviews: Netlify and Hetzner Cloud. Or answer four questions to see what fits your project.