Vercel vs Hetzner for Solo Developers

Quick Comparison

Vercel Overview

Vercel is frontend deployment without the deployment part. Push to Git, get a live site. SSL, CDN, preview URLs, and edge functions happen automatically. The platform is built around the developer experience of writing code and having it appear on the internet, without thinking about servers, certificates, or networking.

Next.js is a first-class citizen (Vercel builds it), but Astro, Remix, SvelteKit, and static sites all deploy just as smoothly. The free tier handles most solo projects, and the Pro tier at $20/month scales without requiring infrastructure changes.

For frontend-focused projects, Vercel's value proposition is hard to argue against. You trade infrastructure control for development speed, and for most solo developers, that's the right trade.

Hetzner Overview

Hetzner is a German cloud and dedicated server provider known for aggressive pricing. You get significantly more compute, memory, and storage per dollar than nearly any other provider. A $4/month Hetzner Cloud VPS gives you 2 vCPUs and 4GB RAM. A comparable setup on other cloud providers costs two to four times more.

Dedicated servers start around $37/month for hardware that would cost $200+ on AWS or DigitalOcean. For compute-intensive workloads, machine learning, or projects that need raw power, Hetzner's price-to-performance ratio is unmatched.

The tradeoff: Hetzner gives you a server and an IP address. Everything else is your responsibility. Operating system configuration, firewall rules, SSL certificates, web server setup, deployment pipelines, monitoring, and backups. There's no managed app platform, no one-click deployments, no Git integration.

I run production workloads on Hetzner and the value is real. The servers are reliable, the network is fast, and the pricing means you can afford more resources than you'd get elsewhere. But every hour of server administration is an hour I'm not building product.

Key Differences

Managed vs unmanaged. Vercel manages everything: builds, deployments, SSL, CDN, scaling. Hetzner gives you raw infrastructure. You install the operating system, configure the web server, set up CI/CD, and manage security. They're at opposite ends of the hosting spectrum.

Pricing model. Vercel charges for a managed service: free or $20/month with usage limits. Hetzner charges for raw resources: ~$4/month for a VPS, ~$37/month for a dedicated server. For the same budget, Hetzner gives you dramatically more compute. Whether that matters depends on whether you need raw compute or a managed platform.

Resource availability. Hetzner's pricing lets solo developers afford resources that would be expensive elsewhere. Need a dedicated server with 64GB RAM for running AI models locally? About $50/month on Hetzner. The same on AWS would cost several hundred. For resource-intensive projects, Hetzner is the cost-effective choice.

Deployment workflow. Vercel: git push and wait. Hetzner: SSH into your server, pull changes, restart services (or set up CI/CD to automate this). The deployment experience gap is significant. Every Hetzner deployment requires infrastructure you build and maintain yourself.

Geographic coverage. Hetzner has data centers in Germany, Finland, the US, and Singapore. Vercel's CDN and edge network span dozens of global locations. For users worldwide, Vercel delivers static content faster. For backend-heavy applications where the server location matters most, Hetzner's specific data center placement can be optimized.

Scaling. Vercel scales automatically with serverless functions. More traffic means more function invocations, handled transparently. Hetzner requires manual scaling: resize VMs, add load balancers, configure multiple servers. Vercel handles traffic spikes without intervention. Hetzner requires planning.

When to Choose Vercel

• You're deploying frontend applications and want zero server management
• Automatic scaling and global CDN are important
• Developer experience and deployment speed are top priorities
• You don't want to manage SSL, firewalls, or operating system updates
• Your project fits the serverless and edge computing model

When to Choose Hetzner

• You need maximum compute resources for minimum cost
• Your project requires a persistent server (backend, database, ML, etc.)
• You're comfortable with Linux server administration
• You want to host multiple projects on one powerful server
• Budget efficiency is critical and you're willing to invest setup time

The Verdict

These platforms serve completely different roles. Vercel is a managed frontend platform. Hetzner is affordable infrastructure. Comparing them directly is like comparing a meal delivery service to buying ingredients wholesale. One saves time, the other saves money.

Vercel's 9/10 reflects its perfect execution of managed frontend hosting. Hetzner's 7/10 reflects incredible value that requires real technical effort to utilize. Solo developers who know Linux administration can build powerful, cost-effective setups on Hetzner. Solo developers who'd rather not touch a terminal can deploy instantly on Vercel.

The smart solo developer setup: Vercel for your frontend (free or $20/month), Hetzner for your backend and database ($4-10/month). You get the best developer experience for your frontend and the best pricing for your backend. Combined, you're paying under $30/month for infrastructure that would cost significantly more on any single platform.