Choose Hetzner for the best price-performance ratio and EU data, AWS when you need a broad range of managed services at large scale, and Vercel for front-end deploys with minimal configuration. For most projects, Hetzner with Cloudflare in front is the smartest choice: for comparable capacity you pay a fraction of what AWS charges. At NedDev, we host on Hetzner by default, including management.
An identical application that ran up a hefty monthly bill on AWS ran with us on Hetzner for a fraction of that, with better performance. Not because AWS is bad, but because for this project it was a Ferrari to do the groceries with. Choosing hosting is not a fashion decision and not a question of who has the biggest logo. It is a sober trade-off between cost, control, and convenience, and that trade-off turns out differently per project.
Hetzner is a German host with a price-performance ratio the big cloud parties do not match. For the money of one comparable AWS instance you get considerably more CPU, RAM, and storage at Hetzner. You rent a solid dedicated server there for a modest fixed monthly amount, with hardware that costs a multiple at the hyperscalers.
The advantages at a glance:
The downside is the flip side of that same control: you manage it yourself. Updates, security, backups, and monitoring are on you or your partner. Whoever underestimates that soon runs an outdated, vulnerable server. That is why we deliver Hetzner hosting with full management, including the security stack, backups, and monitoring. The price depends on your application and we agree it up front after a short conversation. You get the price-performance of Hetzner without the management risk.
AWS offers hundreds of managed services: databases, queues, machine learning, serverless functions, content delivery, you name it. If you genuinely need those services and run at large scale, AWS is powerful and hard to beat. The automatic scalability during traffic peaks and the worldwide network of data centers are a serious advantage for those who use them.
But AWS is expensive and complex, and that complexity also costs time and expertise. The bill is notoriously hard to predict due to data egress, separate costs per service, and options you switch on by accident. For an SME platform or a SaaS in the growth phase that is often overkill: you pay heavily for flexibility and scale you are not using for now. AWS only gets truly interesting at large scale, with specific managed services you cannot get anywhere else, or when a customer or compliance framework explicitly prescribes it.
Vercel is built for front-end deploys, in particular Next.js, which is developed by the same company. You push code to your repository and it goes live, with edge caching worldwide and zero server management. Every pull request automatically gets a preview environment. For a marketing site or a front end you want to deploy quickly and without hassle, that is especially pleasant.
The trade-offs:
In practice we often combine the best of both worlds: the front end on the edge via Cloudflare or Vercel for speed and deploy convenience, and the back end with the database on Hetzner for predictable costs and EU data. That way you get fast, simple deploys without the price and complexity of a full AWS stack.
A warning that saves money: watch for vendor lock-in with every cloud choice. The deeper you nest yourself into the specific managed services of one supplier, the more expensive and painful a possible switch becomes later. Whoever builds their application on a dozen AWS-specific services is effectively stuck with it at the price AWS sets. By building on standard components such as a plain PostgreSQL database and a container instead of proprietary services, you keep the freedom to move if the price or terms no longer suit you. That freedom is, in the long run, often worth more than a few handy extra features.
For the majority of our projects, from ClaimHandler to JinSulate, Hetzner with Cloudflare is the choice: EU data, predictable costs, and strong performance for a fraction of the price. We deviate to AWS when a customer needs specific managed services or extreme, unpredictable scale, and we lean on Vercel for pure front-end projects where deploy convenience weighs heaviest.
The rule of thumb we always apply: do not pay for flexibility you are not using. Many companies choose AWS out of habit or because it feels safe, and pay for that every month. Want honest advice on the right hosting for your specific application? Take a look at our hosting service. We calculate transparently what each scenario actually costs you.
Yes, for comparable compute and memory capacity you often pay a fraction of AWS at Hetzner. AWS is not more expensive for no reason: you pay for managed services and scalability that you only truly use at large scale.
AWS pays off at real scale, when you need specialized managed services such as advanced databases, queues, or machine learning, or when compliance requirements specifically call for AWS services. For an SME platform or a SaaS in the growth phase it is usually overkill: you pay for flexibility you are not using.
Yes, and we do that often. The front end runs on the edge via Vercel or Cloudflare for fast, simple deploys, while the back end and database sit on Hetzner for predictable costs and EU data. That way you combine deploy convenience with price-performance without the complexity and cost of a full AWS stack.