Hetzner vs Cloudflare Pages for Solo Developers

Quick Comparison

Hetzner Overview

Hetzner keeps things simple: affordable servers, reliable infrastructure, no frills. Their entry-level VPS at EUR 3.79/month packs 2 vCPUs, 4GB RAM, and 40GB SSD. Dedicated servers with serious hardware start around EUR 39/month. These are real machines in well-maintained German and Finnish data centers.

You get full root access, pick your OS, and run whatever you want. Django, Rails, Go services, Docker containers, databases, the works. Hetzner doesn't care what you deploy. They care about keeping the hardware running, and they do that very well.

The limitation is clear. Hetzner is infrastructure only. No CDN, no edge functions, no automatic deployments. Every layer above the bare server is your responsibility. For solo developers who know their way around a Linux box, this is freedom. For everyone else, it's a to-do list.

Cloudflare Pages Overview

Cloudflare Pages is a deployment platform for frontend applications and full-stack frameworks that uses Cloudflare's global edge network. Connect your GitHub or GitLab repository, and every push triggers an automatic build and deployment to 300+ data centers worldwide. Your site is fast everywhere because it runs everywhere.

The free tier is exceptionally generous: unlimited bandwidth, 500 builds per month, and unlimited sites. No surprise bills. No bandwidth caps you'll actually hit. For static sites and JAMstack applications, it's legitimately free hosting with global CDN performance.

Cloudflare Pages also supports server-side rendering through Cloudflare Workers (edge functions). Frameworks like Next.js, Astro, Nuxt, SvelteKit, and Remix can run on the edge with Pages Functions. You get dynamic capabilities without managing a server, though with the constraints of an edge runtime (no native Node.js modules, execution time limits).

Key Differences

Hosting model. Hetzner gives you a single server in one location. Cloudflare Pages distributes your site across 300+ locations globally. For static content and edge-rendered pages, Cloudflare Pages is faster for users everywhere. For server-side applications with database connections, Hetzner's single location with direct database access is simpler.

What you can run. Hetzner runs anything. Python, Ruby, Go, Java, PHP, whatever you want. Cloudflare Pages runs static files and JavaScript/TypeScript edge functions. If your application needs Python backend processing, a PostgreSQL database, or long-running background jobs, Cloudflare Pages can't do it alone. You'd need separate backend hosting.

Operational burden. Cloudflare Pages requires zero server management. No OS updates, no security patches, no SSL configuration, no monitoring. Hetzner requires all of that. For a solo developer, the hours saved on infrastructure management with Cloudflare Pages are hours gained for building features.

Cost analysis. Cloudflare Pages is free for most solo developer use cases. Hetzner costs EUR 3.79/month minimum. The real cost comparison matters when you need a backend too. If you use Cloudflare Pages for your frontend but need a separate database and API server, you might end up spending more total than running everything on one Hetzner VPS.

Preview deployments. Cloudflare Pages automatically creates preview URLs for every pull request. You can share staging links with testers before merging. Hetzner has no built-in preview deployment system. You'd need to set that up yourself.

Build system. Cloudflare Pages builds your project automatically on each push. It supports all major frameworks and custom build commands. With Hetzner, you build and deploy manually or set up your own CI/CD pipeline.

When to Choose Hetzner

• You need a backend server with databases, queues, and background processing
• You're running a full-stack application that needs persistent server-side state
• Your tech stack isn't JavaScript/TypeScript
• You want all services (app, database, cache) on one machine for simplicity
• You need long-running processes or WebSocket connections

When to Choose Cloudflare Pages

• You're building a static site, blog, or documentation site
• You're using a JAMstack framework (Astro, Next.js, Nuxt, SvelteKit)
• You want free global CDN hosting with unlimited bandwidth
• You want automatic Git-connected deployments with preview URLs
• You don't need server-side databases or background processing

The Verdict

For static sites, blogs, marketing pages, and frontend applications, Cloudflare Pages is the obvious winner. Free hosting, global CDN, automatic deployments, and zero maintenance. There is no reason to manage a Hetzner server for a static site.

For full-stack applications that need databases, background processing, or non-JavaScript backends, Hetzner is the better foundation. You can run your entire stack on one server at a predictable low cost.

The smart move for many solo developers is to use both. Put your frontend on Cloudflare Pages for free global distribution, and run your API and database on a Hetzner VPS. Your frontend loads instantly from the nearest edge location, your API runs on affordable infrastructure, and your total monthly cost stays under EUR 4. That combination is hard to argue against.