Hetzner
Tailscale
| Feature | Hetzner | Tailscale |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | From $3.79/mo | Free / from $5/mo |
| Free Plan | ✗ No | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4.6 / 5 | 4.7 / 5 |
| Best For | startups, indie-hackers, european-companies, cost-conscious-teams | developers, remote-teams, homelab-users, small-businesses |
| Founded | 1997 | 2019 |
| Cloud Servers | ✓ | ✗ |
| Dedicated Servers | ✓ | ✗ |
| Load Balancers | ✓ | ✗ |
| Block Storage | ✓ | ✗ |
| Object Storage | ✓ | ✗ |
| Firewalls | ✓ | ✗ |
| Private Networks | ✓ | ✗ |
| Mesh Vpn | ✗ | ✓ |
| Wireguard Encryption | ✗ | ✓ |
| Zero Config | ✗ | ✓ |
| Acl Policies | ✗ | ✓ |
| Magic Dns | ✗ | ✓ |
| Subnet Routers | ✗ | ✓ |
| Exit Nodes | ✗ | ✓ |
| Ssh | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ 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
✓ Tailscale Pros
- Incredibly easy setup with no configuration needed
- Built on WireGuard for fast, modern encryption
- Works across NATs and firewalls seamlessly
- Free for personal use with up to 100 devices
✗ Tailscale Cons
- Requires Tailscale client on all devices
- Coordination server is not self-hostable (use Headscale fork)
- Less suitable for traditional site-to-site VPN use cases
The Verdict
Hetzner is built for startups and indie hackers, with a focus on cloud-servers and dedicated-servers. Tailscale targets developers and remote teams and leads with mesh-vpn and wireguard-encryption.
Pricing is close: Hetzner starts at $3.79/mo versus $5/mo for Tailscale — not a deciding factor on its own.
Tailscale 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.
Feature-wise, Tailscale offers broader built-in capabilities (8 features vs 7), while Hetzner takes a more focused approach — which can mean a simpler, faster onboarding experience.
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.