Harbor
Hetzner
| Feature | Harbor | Hetzner |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free only | From $3.79/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✗ No |
| Rating | 4.3 / 5 | 4.6 / 5 |
| Best For | enterprise-devops, container-teams, security-teams, regulated-industries | startups, indie-hackers, european-companies, cost-conscious-teams |
| Founded | 2016 | 1997 |
| Container Registry | ✓ | ✗ |
| Vulnerability Scanning | ✓ | ✗ |
| Rbac | ✓ | ✗ |
| Image Signing | ✓ | ✗ |
| Replication | ✓ | ✗ |
| Garbage Collection | ✓ | ✗ |
| Audit Logs | ✓ | ✗ |
| Cloud Servers | ✗ | ✓ |
| Dedicated Servers | ✗ | ✓ |
| Load Balancers | ✗ | ✓ |
| Block Storage | ✗ | ✓ |
| Object Storage | ✗ | ✓ |
| Firewalls | ✗ | ✓ |
| Private Networks | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ Harbor Pros
- Completely free and CNCF graduated project
- Built-in vulnerability scanning (Trivy integration)
- Image signing and policy enforcement
- Multi-registry replication for geo-distribution
✗ Harbor Cons
- Requires self-hosting and infrastructure management
- UI is functional but not modern
- Initial setup complexity for production
✓ 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
Harbor is built for enterprise devops and container teams, with a focus on container-registry and vulnerability-scanning. Hetzner targets startups and indie hackers and leads with cloud-servers and dedicated-servers.
Harbor uses custom enterprise pricing, while Hetzner starts at $3.79/mo — a tangible advantage for teams with a fixed budget.
Harbor 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.
Bottom line: Hetzner has a slight overall edge — but if completely free and cncf graduated project matters most to you, Harbor may still be the right call.