Hetzner vs DigitalOcean vs AWS for Self-Hosting (2026)

I am Manoj, and I lead infrastructure work for ERPNext and Frappe programmes at MithTech, a team of Frappe specialists in Bengaluru. I have run ERPNext and other open-source workloads on all three for clients, and I still pick a different one depending on the client. Most teams overrate the monthly price and underrate the operations work a cheaper provider hands back to them.

Which suits self-hosting: Hetzner, DigitalOcean or AWS?

It comes down to one trade: how much operations work you keep, and how much you pay the provider to take. Hetzner hands you a fast, cheap machine and little else. DigitalOcean adds a simple layer of managed services. AWS can take on almost everything, at a higher price and with real complexity.

The apps move freely between all three. ERPNext, for instance, is open source under GPL-3.0 with no licence fee, and its stack (Nginx, MariaDB, Redis and the Frappe application server) runs on a modest VM anywhere. The decision is about the machine around the app, not the app.

Skimmable summary: all three run the same open-source stack; the choice is how much operational work you keep — Hetzner most, AWS least, DigitalOcean in the middle.

How do Hetzner, DigitalOcean, and AWS differ on value?

Value separates them most. Hetzner's cost per core is among the lowest of the major providers, and its plans include a large monthly traffic allowance, which makes bandwidth-heavy workloads much cheaper to run. DigitalOcean sits in the middle. AWS charges the most for comparable raw compute and bills outbound traffic by usage.

Price is only half of value. Hetzner's low price assumes you supply backups, monitoring, patching and scaling yourself, work that costs something even when no invoice names it. AWS's higher bill buys managed services that do much of that work. So compare total cost of ownership, not the monthly line, and that total depends on your team.

For a bandwidth-heavy app (media, a busy API, a document store), Hetzner's included traffic changes the sums, because on a metered provider egress can become the largest line on the bill. Prices vary by plan and region, so check each vendor's pricing page on the day rather than trusting a figure in a blog post.

Skimmable summary: Hetzner is cheapest for raw compute and includes a lot of traffic; AWS costs most but takes on operations work; compare total cost of ownership.

Which is easiest to run day to day?

DigitalOcean, clearly. A clean control panel, one-click app images, simple managed databases and a large tutorial library mean a small team can run a self-hosted app without deep infrastructure skills. See DigitalOcean's droplet pricing for its plans.

Hetzner is at the other end: fast, cheap machines, a sparse console and little hand-holding; you are expected to know Linux, firewalls and backups. AWS is hard for a different reason: the platform is vast, pricing has many moving parts, and IAM, VPC networking and the number of services make a steep start even for capable engineers.

For a self-hosting team without a dedicated infrastructure person, DigitalOcean removes the most friction. For a team that already lives in the terminal, Hetzner's sparseness is not a problem. AWS rewards the investment only once you are operating at a scale or compliance level that justifies the complexity.

Skimmable summary: DigitalOcean is easiest; Hetzner assumes Linux skills; AWS is powerful but steep.

Whose ecosystem and managed services go furthest?

AWS, by a wide margin. With over 200 services (managed databases, Kubernetes, queues, serverless functions, monitoring and more), AWS can take on almost any operations task you would otherwise do by hand. For teams that want to hand off running infrastructure, that breadth is the point.

DigitalOcean covers what most self-hosting teams need: managed databases, managed Kubernetes, a container-based App Platform, functions and object storage, and stops short of hyperscaler sprawl. Hetzner is the most bare of the three: load balancers, block and object storage, firewalls and private networks, but its cloud has not offered a managed database or managed Kubernetes (check its product page for changes), so those stay with you.

If you want a managed database so you never touch replication or backups, AWS or DigitalOcean provide one and Hetzner does not. If you would rather run your own MariaDB on a cheap box and keep control, Hetzner suits that. Decide on the managed layer you need before the brand; the same logic applies when you weigh self-hosting against managed hosting.

Skimmable summary: AWS has the widest managed services; DigitalOcean covers the essentials; Hetzner leaves the database and Kubernetes to you.

What support and data residency does each provider give you?

They differ as much as pricing does. AWS sells tiered support plans with response-time commitments and has two India regions, Mumbai and Hyderabad, plus edge locations across India, so in-country hosting is a region choice away. That matters when a client contract, a regulator or your legal team asks for data stored in India.

DigitalOcean offers ticket support and a Bengaluru region: an India-hosted option with far less complexity than AWS, which suits smaller teams that want low latency for Indian users. Hetzner keeps support lean and has no India region; its locations are in Germany, Finland, the US and Singapore.

For India-only users, that gap is a real factor. I go deeper on residency and latency in my AWS vs Hetzner comparison, and on cost in the ERPNext hosting cost guide. Confirm current regions on each vendor's page before committing.

Skimmable summary: AWS has paid support tiers and two India regions; DigitalOcean has a Bengaluru region; Hetzner has lean support and no India region.

Which provider suits which kind of team?

The team predicts the right provider better than a feature list. A skilled, cost-sensitive team that is happy to own backups and monitoring saves most on Hetzner. A small team that wants to ship without becoming infrastructure specialists does well on DigitalOcean. A team facing scale, strict compliance or firm data-residency rules belongs on AWS.

The decision path I walk clients through:

Skimmable summary: settle residency first, then operations skill and workload: skilled, cost-sensitive teams pick Hetzner; simplicity-first teams pick DigitalOcean; compliance or scale points to AWS.

Should you run the server yourself, or have it run for you?

Run it yourself if someone on your team will patch the server, watch it, and test a restore on a schedule; any of the three is then a fair home, and Hetzner the cheapest. Have it run for you if nobody owns that work, because the provider rents you the machine but, outside its managed services, the upkeep stays with you.

Under managed hosting we run one named server in your cloud account or ours: nightly backups copied off it, one restored on a schedule, every upgrade tried on a copy first, and the keys stay yours. It is a monthly fee for running it plus the server, quoted in writing after a call. For ERPNext or another ERP, who runs ERPNext after go-live sets out who does each job on each path.

Frequently asked questions