Hetzner vs DigitalOcean for Solo Developers

Quick Comparison

Hetzner Overview

Hetzner is the European cloud provider that gives you more server for less money than anyone else. Their cheapest VPS starts at EUR 3.79/month and gives you 2 vCPUs, 4GB RAM, and 40GB SSD. For context, that same spec on DigitalOcean costs $24/month. The price difference is not small. It's dramatic.

I run production workloads on Hetzner and the performance has been excellent. Uptime is consistently above 99.9%. The German data centers are well-maintained, and the network is fast. For European users, the latency is outstanding. Dedicated servers are where Hetzner really shines though. You can get a dedicated machine with 64GB RAM for what other providers charge for a small VPS.

The trade-off is that Hetzner is bare-bones. You get a server, an IP address, and SSH access. No managed databases, no app platform, no one-click deploys. You install everything yourself. You manage everything yourself. If the idea of setting up Nginx, configuring SSL, and managing backups excites you, Hetzner gives you the best hardware for the least money.

DigitalOcean Overview

DigitalOcean built its reputation on making cloud computing simple for developers. Droplets (VPS) deploy in under a minute. The documentation is some of the best on the internet. The App Platform gives you Heroku-style deployments from Git. Managed databases for PostgreSQL, MySQL, and Redis mean you don't need to be a DBA.

The developer experience is DigitalOcean's real strength. The control panel is clean and intuitive. One-click applications let you deploy WordPress, Docker, or a LAMP stack without configuration. The community tutorials cover virtually every common server task in step-by-step detail. When I was learning to manage servers, DigitalOcean's docs taught me more than any course.

Pricing is straightforward. A basic Droplet costs $4/month. Managed PostgreSQL starts at $15/month. The App Platform starts at $5/month. You always know what you'll pay, and there are no surprise bandwidth charges (within limits).

Key Differences

Price-to-performance ratio. Hetzner is roughly 3-6x cheaper for equivalent hardware. A Hetzner CX22 (2 vCPU, 4GB RAM) costs EUR 3.79/month. DigitalOcean's equivalent (Basic 4GB) costs $24/month. If you're running multiple services and cost matters, Hetzner saves hundreds per year.

Managed services vs DIY. DigitalOcean offers managed databases, a load balancer, an app platform, managed Kubernetes, and spaces (object storage). Hetzner offers servers, load balancers, and basic storage. If you want someone else to manage your PostgreSQL, DigitalOcean provides that. Hetzner requires you to install and maintain it yourself.

Documentation and learning resources. DigitalOcean's community tutorials are legendary. Thousands of well-written guides covering every server administration topic. Hetzner's documentation is functional but minimal. For a solo developer learning server management, DigitalOcean's tutorials are an enormous advantage.

Geographic presence. Hetzner has data centers primarily in Germany and Finland, with a US location in Ashburn, Virginia. DigitalOcean has data centers in New York, San Francisco, London, Amsterdam, Singapore, Bangalore, Toronto, and Sydney. If your users are global, DigitalOcean's geographic spread matters.

Support quality. DigitalOcean offers ticket support with generally good response times. Hetzner's support is responsive but more limited in scope. Neither offers phone support on basic plans. For a solo developer, both are adequate.

When to Choose Hetzner

• Budget is your primary concern and you want maximum hardware per dollar
• You're comfortable managing servers, databases, and deployments yourself
• Your users are primarily in Europe
• You want dedicated servers at prices other providers charge for VPS
• You enjoy the DIY approach and want full control over your stack

When to Choose DigitalOcean

• You want managed databases and one-click deployments
• You value excellent documentation and community tutorials
• You need data centers across multiple continents
• You prefer an App Platform for Heroku-style deployments
• You're learning server management and want guided resources

The Verdict

This one depends on where you are in your journey. If you're comfortable with server administration, pick Hetzner. The cost savings are too significant to ignore. Running a full production stack (app server, database, Redis) on Hetzner costs what a single small Droplet costs on DigitalOcean. For bootstrapped solo developers watching every dollar, that difference funds months of additional runway.

If you want managed services and don't want to think about database backups, PostgreSQL upgrades, or SSL certificate renewal, pick DigitalOcean. The App Platform and managed databases remove operational overhead that eats into your development time.

My setup: I use Hetzner for production servers where I've already figured out the infrastructure. I used DigitalOcean when I was learning. Both are excellent. The "right" choice is whichever one lets you spend more time building your product and less time fighting your infrastructure.