How Makers Build
Check my stackPlan my stack
Menu

Fly.io vs Hetzner Cloud

Two sides of the hosting decision: container platform and your own server. When each fits, what it costs, who moves from one to the other, and what makers who chose it say.

Fly.ioContainer platformllms.txt
Hetzner CloudYour own server
Ask your AI about this, with this page as the source:ChatGPT ↗Claude ↗Perplexity ↗

Which fits you

Choose Fly.io if
  • Your users are spread across continents and the app runs in Docker

Use it whenYour app runs in Docker and should serve users in several regions.

Trade-offMore operations work than a PaaS.

Choose Hetzner Cloud if
  • You want a flat monthly bill and full control, and don't mind running one server

Use it whenCost per CPU and RAM matters more than a long list of managed services.

Trade-offFewer managed services than big clouds, and account verification can be strict.

At a glance

Fly.ioHetzner Cloud
Used by66 makers' products · 52 open-source projects100 makers' products
Cost at default usagerequests 5 million requests, data transfer out 100 GB, serverless function compute 100 GB-hours$15/mo Pay As You Go$13/mo CPX12
Downloads
PricingUsage-based. · paid from $1.94/mo (shared-cpu-1x)Pay-as-you-go hourly or monthly billing per server; no free tier.
Free tierNoNo
Open sourceNoNo
Incidents, 90 daysfrom its status page25+ (11 major)no public status feed

Cost as you grow

At 100k requests Fly.io costs less ($13 vs $13); from about 5M requests Hetzner Cloud does ($13 vs $15). They're different kinds of tool — container platform and your own server — so the prices don't buy the same thing.

$0$5.00$20$50$100$2000.10.5151050100500
Hetzner CloudFly.iox: requests per month (million requests), other usage scaled with it; held at 1 server (always-on app servers) · cheapest usable plan at each point, list prices · try your own numbers
The numbers, plan by plan
Requests per monthFly.ioHetzner Cloud
0.1$13 Pay As You Go$13 CPX12
0.5$13 Pay As You Go$13 CPX12
1$13 Pay As You Go$13 CPX12
5$15 Pay As You Go$13 CPX12
10$17 Pay As You Go$13 CPX12
50$33 Pay As You Go$13 CPX12
100$53 Pay As You Go$13 CPX12
500$213 Pay As You Go$13 CPX12

From each vendor's pricing page: Fly.io, Hetzner Cloud.

What makers say

Makers on using it for hosting, from Product Hunt and Starter Story interviews, each linked to the source. Products with a page of their own and fuller notes first.

On Fly.io
Machines on Fly made it easy to build SSL-secured proxies and backends for keeping cross-internet Pig automations safe and encrypted.
Pig, the makerSep 2026 ↗
Shoutout to @flyDev - Deploying Mascotly globally was seamless thanks to Fly.io. It made it super easy to get our backend up and running close to users with minimal config. Fast, reliable, and developer-friendly - couldn’t ask for more! 🚀🌍
Mascotly, the makerSep 2026 ↗
Fly’s setup process was smooth and intuitive. Hosting APIs globally with minimal configuration was a huge time-saver.
Cure AI, the makerSep 2026 ↗
18 more on the Fly.io page →
On Hetzner Cloud
"mb-3">· Brooce I procure servers from: · Servers.com · SoYouStart · Gorilla Servers · Hetzner What have been the most influential books, podcasts, or other resources? If you want to l…
Indifferent Broccoli, the makerAug 2021 ↗
Tech Stack - Bunny, Hertzner , TinyBird , Vercel , SupaBase , Business messaging platform - Crisp Affiliate
Beam Analytics, the makerFeb 2023 ↗
Shout out for being cheap and reliable! My classic setup with a Caddy reverse proxy and Docker worked perfectly.
Jukebox, the makerSep 2026 ↗
1 more on the Hetzner Cloud page →

Loved and watch-outs

Themes that recur in makers' words and Hacker News comments, each linked to what it summarises.

Fly.io
Most loved
  • Apps deploy close to users around the world with minimal configuration. PH
  • The CLI makes deploys and scaling a single command. PH
  • Pricing is simple and predictable, with small containers costing very little. HNHN 2PH
Watch-outs
  • Its unmanaged Postgres needs manual recovery when nodes fail or run out of memory. HNHN 2
  • Repeated major outages undermine confidence in its stability. HN
On Product Hunt: 5.0★, 27 reviews · mentioned most: easy deployment, developer friendly, CLI
Hetzner Cloud
Most loved
  • Servers cost a fraction of hyperscaler prices for strong price-to-performance. HNHN 2PH
  • Storage Boxes are a cheap offsite target for backups. HNHN 2HN 3HN 4
  • As an EU company, it appeals to teams avoiding US hosting. HNHN 2HN 3HN 4
Watch-outs
On Product Hunt: 5.0★, 11 reviews · mentioned most: affordable pricing

Who uses each

Fly.io66 makers' products
Cure AIFlight FollowerFormcraftsGitHub Wrapped 2025InfiniDeskMascotlyOboeOpenchangelogPigPinchRemySailhouse+54 more
Hetzner Cloud100 makers' products
Beam AnalyticsIndifferent BroccoliSwipeartviral.appAI Santa ClausBrand.devBubbl WidgetbuilderBuilder's Bid BookCotypistCraftUICreavit Studio+88 more
Used by both — often one replacing the other, or each for a different part of the product
Openchangelog

What makers pair each with

With Fly.io
Frontend Framework
Database
Transactional Email
Web Analytics
With Hetzner Cloud
Transactional Email
Frontend Framework
Payments
Database

Neither quite right?

See the whole hosting decision →
VercelFrontend cloudNext.js apps — zero-config deploys and preview URLs.vs Fly.io →
NetlifyFrontend cloudStatic sites and JAMstack apps on any framework.
CloudflareEdge platformCheap global hosting with Workers, plus database (D1) and storage (R2) on the same platform.
RailwayPaaSServers, workers and databases deployed together, with almost no configuration.vs Fly.io →vs Hetzner Cloud →
RenderPaaSA Heroku-style platform for web services, cron jobs and Postgres.vs Fly.io →
Amazon Web ServicesHyperscaler cloudThe widest catalog of building blocks — Lambda, containers, managed databases, queues — to assemble your own infrastructure.vs Fly.io →vs Hetzner Cloud →
CoolifyYour own serverA Heroku- or Vercel-style dashboard on your own server, with many one-click services.