Compare / Laravel Cloud vs Hetzner Cloud
Laravel Cloud vs Hetzner Cloud
Pre-calculated from hand-checked data — Laravel Cloud checked 2026-08-06, Hetzner Cloud checked 2026-08-06.
The short version
Laravel Cloud wins more of our comparison points, but Hetzner Cloud still fits if european projects that need serious compute or move a lot of traffic describes you.
Price Tie
Laravel Cloud costs less while you're starting out, but Hetzner Cloud works out cheaper once traffic grows.
Ease Laravel Cloud
Laravel Cloud is easier to get running: connect a Git repository or run cloud ship; Laravel Cloud builds the supported runtime and deploys every push with zero downtime.
Control Hetzner Cloud
Hetzner Cloud gives you more control over the stack — the flip side of the convenience trade.
Free tier Laravel Cloud
Laravel Cloud has a free tier; Hetzner Cloud doesn't.
Features Laravel Cloud
Laravel Cloud comes out ahead on 6 of the 15 features we track, versus 2.
What developers say about this matchup
We couldn't find a substantive first-person discussion comparing this exact pair. We leave the section empty instead of filling it with vendor marketing or generic SEO comparisons.
At a glance
| Laravel Cloud | Hetzner Cloud | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Laravel teams that want the framework, database, queues, scheduler, cache, and deploy workflow managed as one platform. | European projects that need serious compute or move a lot of traffic. |
| How deploys work | Connect a Git repository or run cloud ship; Laravel Cloud builds the supported runtime and deploys every push with zero downtime. | You get root on a bare server: bring your own setup, or use one-click apps like Docker and WordPress. |
| The tradeoff | The excellent Laravel experience comes from an opinionated runtime, so arbitrary containers and server-level access are out. | Self-managed like any VPS, and the bandwidth advantage mostly applies to EU locations. |
| Free tier | New Starter subscriptions get their first month free; after that, Starter costs $5/month and includes $5 in monthly usage credit. | None |
What you'd realistically pay
Laravel Cloud Hetzner Cloud
| Project stage | Laravel Cloud | Hetzner Cloud | Cheaper |
|---|---|---|---|
| Just starting | ≈$5/mo Starter — The $5 subscription includes $5 of monthly usage credit; a small app and database that scale to zero can stay inside it. | ≈€5.99/mo CX23 (EU) — €5.49 + €0.50 IPv4. 2 shared vCPU, 4 GB RAM, 40 GB SSD, 20 TB traffic. Germany and Finland only. | Laravel Cloud |
| Steady traffic | ≈$12/mo Starter + always-on Flex 1GB — One always-on Flex 1GB app instance reaches a $12 monthly compute cap; the $5 usage credit offsets the $5 Starter fee. | ≈€8.99/mo CX33 (EU) — €8.49 + €0.50 IPv4. 4 shared vCPU, 8 GB RAM, 80 GB SSD, 20 TB traffic. | Hetzner Cloud |
| Growing | ≈$68.90/mo Growth + medium SaaS resources — The official medium-SaaS example is about $53.90 in usage; add the $20 Growth fee and subtract its $5 usage credit. | ≈€43.49/mo CCX13 (EU) — €42.99 + €0.50 IPv4. 2 dedicated vCPU, 8 GB RAM, 80 GB NVMe — move to dedicated CPUs when shared bursting stops being enough. | Hetzner Cloud |
Laravel Cloud pricing notes
- Every paid plan includes $5 in monthly usage credits, which reset each billing cycle.
- Flex compute bills per second while awake, scales to zero when idle, and is capped at 28 days of runtime per billing cycle.
- Each compute size earns a data-transfer allowance; overage is $0.10/GB.
- Managed databases, caches, queues, object storage, and WebSockets have separate usage charges.
Hetzner Cloud pricing notes
- Traffic overage costs €1/TB in the EU — most providers charge 10–100x that per GB.
- Billed hourly up to a monthly cap.
- The Arm-based CAX plans match CX specs at similar prices if the Intel CX line is out of stock.
Our ratings
Ease of use Laravel Cloud
Pricing clarity Hetzner Cloud
Free tier Laravel Cloud
Scaling Laravel Cloud
Control Hetzner Cloud
Feature by feature
Laravel Cloud wins 6, Hetzner Cloud wins 2, with 7 even.
Deploy workflow
| Laravel Cloud | Hetzner Cloud | |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy from Git push | Yes Connect a Git repository and every push to the configured branch deploys automatically. | No No deploy pipeline — bring your own CI or scripts. |
| Preview deploys | Partial Starter includes one preview environment; broader preview workflows are available on higher plans. | No Nothing built in. |
| Official CLI | Yes The cloud CLI deploys apps and manages environments, resources, logs, and commands. | Yes hcloud CLI manages servers, networks, and snapshots. |
| Instant rollbacks | Partial You can redeploy an older Git commit, but there is no documented one-click rollback workflow. | Partial Snapshots and paid backups restore machines; no deploy-level rollback. |
Platform
| Laravel Cloud | Hetzner Cloud | |
|---|---|---|
| Custom domains + HTTPS | Yes Custom domains and automatically renewed TLS certificates are included on every plan. | Yes Point DNS at the server; TLS is yours via certbot or a proxy. |
| Built-in CDN / edge network | Yes A Cloudflare-powered global edge network caches static assets and cacheable responses automatically. | No No CDN product — put Cloudflare in front if needed. |
| Serverless functions | No Laravel Cloud runs server-based application compute rather than serverless functions. | No Not a VPS feature. |
| Docker containers | No The platform builds its own optimized images and does not accept arbitrary Docker images. | Yes Docker CE one-click app or install it yourself. |
| SSH / shell access | No There is no SSH shell; use one-off commands, Tinker, logs, or the CLI instead. | Yes Full root SSH. |
| EU hosting region | Yes Frankfurt, Ireland, and London regions are available alongside North America and Asia Pacific. | Yes Germany and Finland are the home turf — this is where the value is. |
Runtime & operations
| Laravel Cloud | Hetzner Cloud | |
|---|---|---|
| Automatic scaling | Partial Growth can autoscale up to 10 replicas; unlimited scaling requires Business or higher. | No Manual resizing or manual fleet management. |
| Scale to zero | Yes Flex app compute scales to zero when idle and wakes in under 500 milliseconds. | No Servers bill until deleted, even powered off. |
| Scheduled jobs | Yes Laravel scheduled tasks are supported and automatically wake sleeping environments. | Yes Classic cron on the box. |
| Managed database | Yes Managed Laravel MySQL and serverless Postgres are provisioned directly from the platform. | No No managed database product — self-host or go external. |
| Logs & metrics built in | Partial Application logs and CPU and memory metrics are built in, with retention tied to the plan. | Partial Basic server graphs in the console; app-level monitoring is yours. |
Watch out for
Laravel Cloud
- Starter costs $5/month plus usage, although its $5 monthly usage credit can cover a tiny app that frequently scales to zero.
- Autoscaling and dedicated worker clusters require the $20/month Growth plan or higher.
- The platform supports a defined set of frameworks and runtimes; it is not a general-purpose Docker host.
- Databases, caches, object storage, and WebSockets bill separately from app compute.
Hetzner Cloud
- Hetzner raised prices on 15 June 2026: dedicated CCX and shared CPX plans roughly tripled, while the budget CX line rose about 35%.
- The cheap CX plans are sold in Germany and Finland only, in limited capacity — Hetzner sometimes pauses sales when stock runs out.
- US locations include only 1–2 TB of traffic versus 20 TB in the EU — the famous value is a European value.
- A public IPv4 address costs €0.50/month extra; only IPv6 is free.
- Servers bill until deleted, even while powered off.
Read the full reviews: Laravel Cloud and Hetzner Cloud. Or answer four questions to see what fits your project.