"Just use AWS" is not useful advice. AWS is the right answer for some teams and catastrophically expensive or complex for others. Here's a practical breakdown.
The Hosting Landscape in 2026
Five categories of providers:
- Hyperscalers: AWS, Google Cloud, Azure - massive ecosystem, enterprise-grade, complex pricing
- Developer platforms: Vercel, Railway, Render, Fly.io - DX-focused, simple pricing, managed infrastructure
- VPS providers: Hetzner, DigitalOcean, Linode - raw compute, predictable pricing, more setup required
- Serverless-first: Cloudflare Workers, AWS Lambda + API Gateway - pay-per-request, edge-first
- Regional providers: Yandex Cloud, Selectel (Russia), Alibaba Cloud (China) - compliance-driven
Real Pricing Comparison
Scenario: Web app + API server + PostgreSQL + basic CDN
| Provider | Setup | Monthly Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vercel (Pro) + Railway | 20 min | $40-80 | Zero-config, limited compute |
| DigitalOcean | 1-2 hrs | $50-100 | Droplets + managed DB |
| Hetzner (CPX21 + managed DB) | 1-2 hrs | $30-60 | Best price/performance ratio |
| AWS (EC2 + RDS) | 3-5 hrs | $100-250 | Full control, complex |
| Google Cloud Run + Cloud SQL | 2-3 hrs | $80-200 | Serverless-friendly |
| Railway | 15 min | $20-50 | Simplest, limited regions |
Hetzner is consistently the best value for predictable workloads. AWS charges premiums for its ecosystem, not raw compute.
Provider Deep Dives
Vercel
Best for: Next.js apps, static sites, frontend teams
Strengths: Zero-config deployment, global CDN, preview deployments per PR, excellent DX
Limitations: No persistent servers, expensive for high compute/bandwidth, vendor lock-in on Next.js optimizations
Pricing trap: Free tier is generous but bandwidth overages can spike costs unexpectedly
Verdict: Use it for frontend. Don't run your API or database here.
Railway
Best for: Early-stage apps, teams who want Heroku simplicity
Strengths: One-click deploys, built-in PostgreSQL/Redis, simple pricing ($5/GB RAM)
Limitations: Fewer regions, limited compliance certifications
Verdict: Excellent for MVPs. Move to dedicated infrastructure when you hit limits.
Hetzner
Best for: European startups, cost-conscious teams, self-managed infrastructure
Strengths: Best price/performance in the market (CPX31: 4vCPU, 8GB RAM = ~$15/month), Managed databases available, excellent network performance
Limitations: Fewer regions (EU + US East/West + Singapore), less managed services than AWS
Verdict: Default choice for European-hosted apps where you don't need AWS-specific services.
AWS
Best for: Enterprise, regulated industries, teams heavily using AWS-native services
Strengths: Most services (RDS, SQS, Lambda, S3, CloudFront, etc.), enterprise SLAs, global regions
Limitations: Complex pricing, easy to over-provision, steep learning curve
Pricing traps: Data transfer costs, NAT Gateway charges, multi-AZ database replication fees
Verdict: Worth the complexity if you need AWS-native services (Cognito, Rekognition, SageMaker). Overkill for simple web apps.
Cloudflare Workers + R2
Best for: Edge computing, globally distributed apps, APIs with low compute requirements
Strengths: 300 edge locations, free tier is generous (100k requests/day), R2 storage is zero egress cost
Limitations: Workers has CPU time limits, no persistent connections (no WebSocket without Durable Objects)
Verdict: Excellent for CDN, edge APIs, and storage. Not for stateful applications.
The Stack That Works at Each Stage
Stage 1: MVP / Under 1,000 users
Frontend: Vercel (free tier)
Backend: Railway or Render ($5-20/month)
Database: Railway PostgreSQL or Supabase (free tier)
Storage: Cloudflare R2 (free tier)
Total: $0-30/month
Stage 2: Growing / 1,000-50,000 users
Frontend: Vercel Pro ($20/month)
Backend: Hetzner CPX21 ($6/month) + Coolify or Docker
Database: Hetzner Managed PostgreSQL ($15-30/month)
CDN: Cloudflare free tier
Total: $40-80/month
Stage 3: Scale / 50,000+ users
Frontend: Vercel Pro or Cloudflare Pages
Backend: Hetzner dedicated or AWS EC2 (depending on region needs)
Database: AWS RDS (if you need Multi-AZ) or Hetzner Managed DB
CDN: Cloudflare Pro ($20/month)
Total: $200-1,000+/month (varies by load)
Database Hosting Specifically
Managed database services worth using:
- Supabase: PostgreSQL with Auth, Storage, Realtime. Generous free tier. Best for early-stage.
- Neon: Serverless PostgreSQL, branching per PR, scales to zero. Excellent for development.
- PlanetScale (MySQL): Branching workflow, auto-scaling. Good for read-heavy apps.
- Hetzner Managed Databases: Simple, predictable, affordable in EU.
- AWS RDS: Expensive but battle-tested. Use when you need Multi-AZ, automated backups, and compliance.
Don't: Self-manage PostgreSQL on a bare VPS unless you have DBA experience. Backups, replication, and failover are hard to do correctly.
Regions: Where to Host
| Your Users | Primary Region | Secondary |
|---|---|---|
| Global | US East + EU (Frankfurt or Amsterdam) | Asia-Pacific |
| US-focused | AWS us-east-1 or Hetzner Ashburn | - |
| European | Hetzner Nuremberg or AWS eu-central-1 | - |
| CIS (KG, KZ, RU) | Yandex Cloud Moscow or Hetzner Helsinki | - |
| Southeast Asia | Singapore (AWS ap-southeast-1) | - |
Latency to your users matters more than provider prestige. A Hetzner server in Helsinki is faster for a Kyrgyz user than an AWS server in Virginia.
The Compliance Factor
If you handle sensitive data:
- EU/GDPR: Any of the major providers with EU data residency
- Russia (ФЗ-152): Yandex Cloud, Selectel, Timeweb - Russian data centers required for Russian user PII
- Kazakhstan: Data residency requirements exist for Kazakh citizens' personal data
- Healthcare/Finance: AWS GovCloud, Azure Government for US regulated data