DigitalOcean vs Hetzner Cloud
Two sides of the hosting decision: paaS and your own server. When each fits, what it costs, who moves from one to the other, and what makers who chose it say.
Ask your AI about this, with this page as the source:ChatGPT ↗Claude ↗Perplexity ↗
Which fits you
Choose DigitalOcean if- App Platform deploys from git next to DigitalOcean's managed databases, storage and droplets.
Use it whenYou already use DigitalOcean servers or databases and want managed deploys in the same account.
Trade-offFewer built-in extras than Vercel or Railway, and instances are billed per size, not per request.
Choose Hetzner Cloud if- You want a flat monthly bill and full control, and don't mind running one server
Use it whenCost per CPU and RAM matters more than a long list of managed services.
Trade-offFewer managed services than big clouds, and account verification can be strict.
At a glance
| DigitalOcean | Hetzner Cloud | |
|---|---|---|
| Used by | 141 makers' products | 100 makers' products |
| Cost at default usagerequests 5 million requests, data transfer out 100 GB, serverless function compute 100 GB-hours | — | $13/mo CPX12 |
| Downloads | ||
| Pricing | Pay-as-you-go and fixed monthly plans; Droplets from $4/month; App Platform hosts up to 3 static sites free; promotional credits for new users. · paid from $4/mo (Droplets) | Pay-as-you-go hourly or monthly billing per server; no free tier. |
| Free tier | Yes | No |
| Open source | No | No |
| Incidents, 90 daysfrom its status page | 24 (4 major) | no public status feed |
What makers say
Makers on using it for hosting, from Product Hunt and Starter Story interviews, each linked to the source. Products with a page of their own and fuller notes first.
On DigitalOcean…es our email and chat help desk Asana - project management for issues, bugs, and features Digital Ocean - where all 57 of our servers are housed, they were recently purchased by Amazon.…
I love cheap, standard VPS nodes - Digital Ocean (and Vultr, and GTHost) do not disappoint! AWS is fine, and has its strong suits, but for compute, just gimme a linux node in a datacenter.
We rely on DigitalOcean to host all our backend infrastructure. Its a simple interface, so we don't waste time figuring out a cluttered UI, and rather focus on developing.
On Hetzner Cloud"mb-3">· Brooce I procure servers from: · Servers.com · SoYouStart · Gorilla Servers · Hetzner What have been the most influential books, podcasts, or other resources? If you want to l…
Tech Stack - Bunny, Hertzner , TinyBird , Vercel , SupaBase , Business messaging platform - Crisp Affiliate
Shout out for being cheap and reliable! My classic setup with a Caddy reverse proxy and Docker worked perfectly.
Loved and watch-outs
Themes that recur in makers' words and Hacker News comments, each linked to what it summarises.
DigitalOceanOn Product Hunt: 5.0★, 83 reviews · mentioned most: cost effective, user-friendly interface, reliable hostingHetzner CloudMost loved
On Product Hunt: 5.0★, 11 reviews · mentioned most: affordable pricingWho uses each
DigitalOcean141 makers' products
Actx0
Aritect
BlogBowl
Calm Jobs
Swipeart
AI Santa Claus
Bubbl Widget
CotypistUsed by both — often one replacing the other, or each for a different part of the product
FeaturebaseWhat makers pair each with
With DigitalOceanTransactional Email
DigitalOcean + SendGrid:AirTrackBotBitBadgesBrowserlessByteStandDivlyLando AIMentorCruiseRAMP Global
Skilled Partner
Veritel
vevy.aiApply AIand 10 more
Skilled PartnerVeritelvevy.aiApply AIand 10 more
Formulaer
Invite.social
Prosed
Sheet NinjaFrontend Framework
DigitalOcean + Next.js:
Basejump AIBitBadgesEpisode NinjaFrontend MentorHollaExMaildroppa
OstivitiesRankSpotScrapingdog
Sleek AnalyticsType.link
VisionARand 12 more
Basejump AIBitBadgesEpisode NinjaFrontend MentorHollaExMaildroppaOstivitiesRankSpotScrapingdogSleek AnalyticsType.linkVisionARand 12 more
Layer
LiftmyCV
JustCMS
Vamah.aiPayments
DigitalOcean + Stripe:Baboo TravelBoondockers WelcomeBrowserlessByteStand
crtrdgDivlyEvolweFileDropForgeonFormaFrontend Mentor
Harborand 28 more
crtrdgDivlyEvolweFileDropForgeonFormaFrontend MentorHarborand 28 moreDigitalOcean + PayPal:Baboo TravelBoondockers WelcomeByteStandEvolweFrontend MentorHollaExImportifyLive helper chatMaildroppaNOVA A.I. LimitedRAMP GlobalReally Simple Storeand 3 more
DigitalOcean + Paddle:AirTrackBotBasejump AI
UXWizzvevy.aiNovel Factory
Basejump AIUXWizzvevy.aiNovel Factory
Mixy
Orca Scan
FireCut AIWith Hetzner CloudTransactional Email
Hetzner Cloud + Resend:Beam Analyticsviral.app
Brand.devbuilder
Builder's Bid BookCrewCue
IndieMerger
ManyPI
Open Analyticspolygonjs
Refgrow
Rybbitand 9 more
Brand.devbuilderBuilder's Bid BookCrewCueIndieMergerManyPIOpen AnalyticspolygonjsRefgrowRybbitand 9 more
Blacksmith
Stream
Tiptap
Eternity AC
Keywords Everywhere
MariaDBFrontend Framework
Hetzner Cloud + Next.js:viral.appbuilderBuilder's Bid BookCrewCueJustBackendMaildroppaManyPIOpen AnalyticsRefgrowRybbitSEO Kickstarter
serenitiesand 14 more
Builder's Bid BookCrewCueJustBackendMaildroppaManyPIOpen AnalyticsRefgrowRybbitSEO Kickstarterserenitiesand 14 moreHetzner Cloud + React:builderMaildroppaMorningscoreserenities
Smart Chrome Tabssupoclipbetterlyticscompass-calendarduck-uilightspeedlistenbrainz-servermediacmsand 4 more
serenitiesSmart Chrome Tabssupoclipbetterlyticscompass-calendarduck-uilightspeedlistenbrainz-servermediacmsand 4 moreHetzner Cloud + Astro:
Openchangelog
UXAudit.NowArtDecklightspeed
UptimeRobot
OpenchangelogUXAudit.NowArtDecklightspeedUptimeRobotPayments
Hetzner Cloud + Stripe:Beam AnalyticsIndifferent BroccoliBrand.devCrewCue
EasyStaff PayrollFoodDocsIndieMergerJustBackendMaildroppaManyPIMorningscore
Motion Minuteand 20 more
Brand.devCrewCueEasyStaff PayrollFoodDocsIndieMergerJustBackendMaildroppaManyPIMorningscoreMotion Minuteand 20 moreDatabase
Hetzner Cloud + PostgreSQL:supoclipMonsterWriterbetterlyticscompass-calendarfeeds.funisms-builderlightspeedlistenbrainz-servermediacmsMIRIXnextjs-firebase-authenticationSveltyCMS
Context.devNeither quite right?
See the whole hosting decision →
VercelFrontend cloudNext.js apps — zero-config deploys and preview URLs.
NetlifyFrontend cloudStatic sites and JAMstack apps on any framework.
CloudflareEdge platformCheap global hosting with Workers, plus database (D1) and storage (R2) on the same platform.
RailwayPaaSServers, workers and databases deployed together, with almost no configuration.vs Hetzner Cloud →
RenderPaaSA Heroku-style platform for web services, cron jobs and Postgres.
Fly.ioContainer platformDocker apps that should run close to users in many regions.vs Hetzner Cloud →
Amazon Web ServicesHyperscaler cloudThe widest catalog of building blocks — Lambda, containers, managed databases, queues — to assemble your own infrastructure.vs DigitalOcean →vs Hetzner Cloud →
CoolifyYour own serverA Heroku- or Vercel-style dashboard on your own server, with many one-click services.