Hetzner Cloud vs DigitalOcean App Platform
Pricing data as of 2026-10-12 · refreshed weekly
Hetzner Cloud (vps) and DigitalOcean App Platform (paas) overlap on 14 stacks. The table below shows the cheapest fitting plan on each for a typical startup workload (~50,000 visits/month) — list prices, no promos.
Hetzner Cloudvps
| CAX11 (Arm)(not orderable now) | $7.59/mo |
| CX23(not orderable now) | $7.09/mo |
| CX33(not orderable now) | $10.59/mo |
| CX43(not orderable now) | $19.09/mo |
| CPX22 (Regular Performance) | $23.59/mo |
| CPX32 (Regular Performance) | $42.59/mo |
| CPX42 (Regular Performance) | $82.59/mo |
DigitalOcean App Platformpaas
| Static site (free tier) | $0/mo |
| Shared 1 vCPU / 512MB | $5/mo |
| Shared 1 vCPU / 1GB (fixed) | $10/mo |
| Shared 1 vCPU / 1GB | $12/mo |
| Shared 1 vCPU / 2GB | $25/mo |
| Shared 2 vCPU / 4GB | $50/mo |
Cheapest fitting plan per stack (startup traffic)
| Stack | Hetzner Cloud | DigitalOcean App Platform | Cheaper |
|---|---|---|---|
| Next.js | $23.59 (CPX22 (Regular Performance)) | $5.48 (Shared 1 vCPU / 512MB) | DigitalOcean App Platform |
| Nuxt | $23.59 (CPX22 (Regular Performance)) | $5.48 (Shared 1 vCPU / 512MB) | DigitalOcean App Platform |
| Astro | $23.59 (CPX22 (Regular Performance)) | $5.48 (Shared 1 vCPU / 512MB) | DigitalOcean App Platform |
| SvelteKit | $23.59 (CPX22 (Regular Performance)) | $5.48 (Shared 1 vCPU / 512MB) | DigitalOcean App Platform |
| Remix / React Router | $23.59 (CPX22 (Regular Performance)) | $5.48 (Shared 1 vCPU / 512MB) | DigitalOcean App Platform |
| Node.js API | $23.59 (CPX22 (Regular Performance)) | $5.48 (Shared 1 vCPU / 512MB) | DigitalOcean App Platform |
| Django | $23.59 (CPX22 (Regular Performance)) | $10 (Shared 1 vCPU / 1GB (fixed)) | DigitalOcean App Platform |
| FastAPI | $23.59 (CPX22 (Regular Performance)) | $5.48 (Shared 1 vCPU / 512MB) | DigitalOcean App Platform |
| Laravel | $23.59 (CPX22 (Regular Performance)) | $10 (Shared 1 vCPU / 1GB (fixed)) | DigitalOcean App Platform |
| Ruby on Rails | $23.59 (CPX22 (Regular Performance)) | $25 (Shared 1 vCPU / 2GB) | Hetzner Cloud |
| Spring Boot | $23.59 (CPX22 (Regular Performance)) | $25 (Shared 1 vCPU / 2GB) | Hetzner Cloud |
| Ghost | $23.59 (CPX22 (Regular Performance)) | $10 (Shared 1 vCPU / 1GB (fixed)) | DigitalOcean App Platform |
| Strapi | $23.59 (CPX22 (Regular Performance)) | $10 (Shared 1 vCPU / 1GB (fixed)) | DigitalOcean App Platform |
| Static site | $23.59 (CPX22 (Regular Performance)) | $1.46 (Static site (free tier)) | DigitalOcean App Platform |
Next.js by traffic level
| Traffic | Hetzner Cloud | DigitalOcean App Platform |
|---|---|---|
| Hobby / side project (~5,000/mo) | $23.59 (CPX22 (Regular Performance)) | $5 (Shared 1 vCPU / 512MB) |
| Startup / small business (~50,000/mo) | $23.59 (CPX22 (Regular Performance)) | $5.48 (Shared 1 vCPU / 512MB) |
| E-commerce (~200,000/mo) | $23.59 (CPX22 (Regular Performance)) | $19.64 (Shared 1 vCPU / 512MB) |
| High traffic (~1,000,000/mo) | $23.59 (CPX22 (Regular Performance)) | $33.3 (Shared 1 vCPU / 512MB) |
"+" = even the largest plan may not cover that traffic. Full breakdowns: Next.js on Hetzner Cloud · Next.js on DigitalOcean App Platform
FAQ
Is Hetzner Cloud or DigitalOcean App Platform cheaper?
DigitalOcean App Platform is cheaper more often: at startup traffic (~50,000 visits/month) Hetzner Cloud wins on 2 of 14 shared stacks, DigitalOcean App Platform on 12. Price alone ignores ops work: Hetzner Cloud is a VPS, DigitalOcean App Platform is a PaaS.
What does a Next.js app cost on Hetzner Cloud vs DigitalOcean App Platform?
Cheapest fitting plan by traffic level — hobby / side project: Hetzner Cloud $23.59/month (CPX22 (Regular Performance)) vs DigitalOcean App Platform $5/month (Shared 1 vCPU / 512MB); startup / small business: Hetzner Cloud $23.59/month (CPX22 (Regular Performance)) vs DigitalOcean App Platform $5.48/month (Shared 1 vCPU / 512MB); e-commerce: Hetzner Cloud $23.59/month (CPX22 (Regular Performance)) vs DigitalOcean App Platform $19.64/month (Shared 1 vCPU / 512MB); high traffic: Hetzner Cloud $23.59/month (CPX22 (Regular Performance)) vs DigitalOcean App Platform $33.30/month (Shared 1 vCPU / 512MB).
What is included with Hetzner Cloud and DigitalOcean App Platform?
Hetzner Cloud is a VPS with nothing bundled — CDN, TLS automation, previews and deploys are yours to set up. DigitalOcean App Platform bundles CDN, SSL, Auto-deploy; not included: Image opt, Edge, Previews.
How current are these prices?
They are official list prices as of 2026-10-12, re-checked against each provider's pricing page on a weekly cycle. Intro promos and coupons are not used in totals; taxes are not included unless a plan note says so.