Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Hetzner
| Feature | Amazon Web Services (AWS) | Hetzner |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / from $0/mo | From $3.79/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✗ No |
| Rating | 4.5 / 5 | 4.6 / 5 |
| Best For | enterprises, startups, large-scale-applications, machine-learning-teams | startups, indie-hackers, european-companies, cost-conscious-teams |
| Founded | 2006 | 1997 |
| Compute Ec2 | ✓ | ✗ |
| Storage S3 | ✓ | ✗ |
| Serverless Lambda | ✓ | ✗ |
| Databases Rds | ✓ | ✗ |
| Machine Learning | ✓ | ✗ |
| Containers Ecs | ✓ | ✗ |
| Cdn Cloudfront | ✓ | ✗ |
| Cloud Servers | ✗ | ✓ |
| Dedicated Servers | ✗ | ✓ |
| Load Balancers | ✗ | ✓ |
| Block Storage | ✗ | ✓ |
| Object Storage | ✗ | ✓ |
| Firewalls | ✗ | ✓ |
| Private Networks | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ Amazon Web Services (AWS) Pros
- Most extensive service catalog of any cloud provider
- Global infrastructure with 30+ regions worldwide
- 12-month free tier covering many services
- Mature enterprise tooling and compliance certifications
✗ Amazon Web Services (AWS) Cons
- Complex pricing that is hard to predict
- Steep learning curve with overwhelming service count
- Console UI feels dated compared to competitors
✓ Hetzner Pros
- Dramatically cheaper than AWS, GCP, and Azure
- Excellent price-to-performance ratio
- European data centers with strong GDPR compliance
- Simple and transparent pricing
✗ Hetzner Cons
- Fewer managed services than hyperscalers
- Limited regions (Europe and US East only)
- Less ecosystem of integrated services
The Verdict
Amazon Web Services (AWS) is built for enterprises and startups, with a focus on compute-ec2 and storage-s3. Hetzner targets startups and indie hackers and leads with cloud-servers and dedicated-servers.
Pricing is close: Amazon Web Services (AWS) starts at $0/mo versus $3.79/mo for Hetzner — not a deciding factor on its own.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) has a free plan, which gives it a meaningful edge for individuals and small teams exploring their options. Hetzner requires a paid subscription from day one.
Both tools are a solid fit for startups — in those cases, the decision often comes down to workflow style and how your team prefers to organize work.
This is a genuinely close comparison. If you can, sign up for both free trials (where available) and run a one-week test with your actual team tasks before deciding.