What is the difference between Railway and Hetzner?

Railway is best for Developers wanting instant deployments from Git, while Hetzner is best for European developers wanting affordable, powerful servers. Railway starts at Free and Hetzner starts at €3.29/mo.

Is Railway or Hetzner cheaper?

Railway starts at Free with a free tier. Hetzner starts at €3.29/mo.

Is there a free alternative to Hetzner?

Yes, Railway offers a free tier ($5 free credits/month).

Railway vs Hetzner

Railway is infrastructure platform that makes deploying apps from GitHub as simple as pushing code, while Hetzner is german cloud provider with high-performance servers at unbeatable prices. The biggest difference up front: Railway is free, while Hetzner starts at €3.29/mo. Railway is built for developers wanting instant deployments from git, whereas Hetzner targets european developers wanting affordable, powerful servers.

At a glance

	Railway	Hetzner
Best for	Developers wanting instant deployments from Git	European developers wanting affordable, powerful servers
Starting price	Free	€3.29/mo
Free tier	✓	—
Open source	—	—
Free tier available	✓	—
Open source	—	—
Block Storage	—	✓
Cloud VMs	—	✓
Cron Jobs	✓	—
Databases	✓	—
Dedicated Servers	—	✓
Environments	✓	—
Git Deploy	✓	—
Load Balancers	—	✓

Railway

Strengths

Includes Git Deploy as a core feature, purpose-built for cloud hosting workflows
Databases turn notes into structured data with views, filters, and relations
$5 free credits/month — generous enough for most small teams to get real work done
Includes cron jobs alongside the core feature set — fewer separate tools needed

Weaknesses

Free plan exists but key features are locked behind the paid upgrade
Fewer built-in features means you may need additional tools to cover gaps
Costs can spike unexpectedly during traffic surges if limits aren't configured
Limited team/admin features if your organization eventually scales up

Try Railway → Full review

Hetzner

Strengths

Includes Dedicated Servers as a core feature, purpose-built for cloud hosting workflows
Includes Cloud VMs as a core feature, purpose-built for cloud hosting workflows
Affordable at €3.29/mo — one of the lower-priced options in the cloud hosting category
Established product with 29+ years on the market and a mature ecosystem

Weaknesses

No free plan — you need to pay €3.29/mo from day one to use it
Fewer built-in features means you may need additional tools to cover gaps
Costs can spike unexpectedly during traffic surges if limits aren't configured
Mobile experience lags behind the desktop version in features and polish

Try Hetzner → Full review

The bottom line

Pricing: Railway is completely free ($5 free credits/month), which makes it the obvious pick if budget is the top concern. Hetzner starts at €3.29/mo. That cost buys you a more polished or feature-rich experience, so it comes down to whether the extras justify the spend.

Feature gaps: Railway offers Cron Jobs, Databases and Environments that Hetzner lacks. Hetzner brings Block Storage, Cloud VMs and Dedicated Servers that Railway does not have.

Team fit: Railway is geared toward small teams teams, while Hetzner is aimed at any size teams. Pick the one that matches where your team is today and where it is headed — migrating tools later is always painful.

Where each tool shines: Railway's biggest strengths are: includes git deploy as a core feature, purpose-built for cloud hosting workflows. databases turn notes into structured data with views, filters, and relations. Hetzner's biggest strengths are: includes dedicated servers as a core feature, purpose-built for cloud hosting workflows. includes cloud vms as a core feature, purpose-built for cloud hosting workflows.

Watch out for: With Railway, users commonly note that free plan exists but key features are locked behind the paid upgrade. With Hetzner, the main complaint is that no free plan — you need to pay €3.29/mo from day one to use it.

Choose Railway if...

Your profile matches its sweet spot: developers wanting instant deployments from git
Budget is a hard constraint — Railway is free, Hetzner is not
You specifically need Cron Jobs and Databases
You care about databases turn notes into structured data with views, filters, and relations
Your team size fits the small teams profile Railway is designed for

Choose Hetzner if...

You need a tool built for european developers wanting affordable, powerful servers
You specifically need Block Storage and Cloud VMs
You care about includes cloud vms as a core feature, purpose-built for cloud hosting workflows
Your team size fits the any size profile Hetzner is designed for