Hetzner
Vercel
| Feature | Hetzner | Vercel |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | From $3.79/mo | Free / from $20/mo |
| Free Plan | ✗ No | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4.6 / 5 | 4.7 / 5 |
| Best For | startups, indie-hackers, european-companies, cost-conscious-teams | frontend-developers, startups, agencies, jamstack-teams |
| Founded | 1997 | 2015 |
| Cloud Servers | ✓ | ✗ |
| Dedicated Servers | ✓ | ✗ |
| Load Balancers | ✓ | ✗ |
| Block Storage | ✓ | ✗ |
| Object Storage | ✓ | ✗ |
| Firewalls | ✓ | ✗ |
| Private Networks | ✓ | ✗ |
| Git Deploy | ✗ | ✓ |
| Cdn | ✗ | ✓ |
| Serverless Functions | ✗ | ✓ |
| Preview Deployments | ✗ | ✓ |
| Analytics | ✗ | ✓ |
| Edge Middleware | ✗ | ✓ |
| Cron Jobs | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ 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
✓ Vercel Pros
- Zero-config deployments from Git
- Instant global CDN
- Preview deployments for every PR
- Created and maintains Next.js
✗ Vercel Cons
- Serverless limitations for long-running tasks
- Can get expensive with high traffic
- Best suited for Next.js — others less optimized
The Verdict
Hetzner is built for startups and indie hackers, with a focus on cloud-servers and dedicated-servers. Vercel targets frontend developers and startups and leads with git-deploy and cdn.
On pricing, Hetzner is the clear winner for budget-conscious users — starting at $3.79/mo compared to $20/mo for Vercel. That $16.21/mo difference adds up quickly for growing teams.
Vercel 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.