# Hetzner alternative for PHP hosting

> 

## Hetzner alternative for PHP at a glance

**fortrabbit is a managed PaaS built exclusively for PHP.** Hetzner is excellent value for raw infrastructure — German-based, reasonably priced VPS, dedicated servers, and cloud compute. But Hetzner gives you a bare Linux server and root access; everything above the OS is your responsibility: web server, PHP-FPM, MySQL, SSL, patches, monitoring, backups.

If you want German / EU hosting without the sysadmin work, fortrabbit gives you a tuned PHP environment on top — git push deploys, integrated MySQL, atomic releases, persistent storage, SSL by default, and human support. You trade some control for far less operational overhead. Plans start at €2.50 per month; the trial doesn't require a credit card.

## Hetzner vs fortrabbit — feature comparison

<table>
<thead>
  <tr>
    <th>
      Feature
    </th>
    
    <th>
      Hetzner Cloud
    </th>
    
    <th>
      fortrabbit
    </th>
  </tr>
</thead>

<tbody>
  <tr>
    <td>
      Abstraction
    </td>
    
    <td>
      VPS, root access
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Managed PaaS
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      PHP runtime
    </td>
    
    <td>
      DIY
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Pre-tuned, version-pinned
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      Web server
    </td>
    
    <td>
      DIY
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Managed
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      Managed MySQL
    </td>
    
    <td>
      —
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Native
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      Deployment
    </td>
    
    <td>
      SSH, own scripts
    </td>
    
    <td>
      git push
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      SSL certificates
    </td>
    
    <td>
      DIY
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Automatic Let's Encrypt
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      Patching / updates
    </td>
    
    <td>
      DIY
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Managed
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      Backups
    </td>
    
    <td>
      DIY
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Built-in
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      Region
    </td>
    
    <td>
      EU + US
    </td>
    
    <td>
      EU (Germany)
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      Support
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Email / docs
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Human chat, all plans
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      Pricing model
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Per-VPS, hourly
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Per-app, monthly
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      Time-to-first-deploy
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Hours
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Minutes
    </td>
  </tr>
</tbody>
</table>

## Pricing comparison

<table>
<thead>
  <tr>
    <th>
      Use case
    </th>
    
    <th>
      Hetzner Cloud (DIY)
    </th>
    
    <th>
      fortrabbit
    </th>
  </tr>
</thead>

<tbody>
  <tr>
    <td>
      Small site / dev
    </td>
    
    <td>
      CX11 €4 + your time setting it up
    </td>
    
    <td>
      <strong>
        €5 / mo
      </strong>
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      Production app
    </td>
    
    <td>
      CX21 €6 + your time maintaining it
    </td>
    
    <td>
      <strong>
        €30 / mo
      </strong>
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      Scaled app
    </td>
    
    <td>
      CCX or dedicated + sysadmin hours
    </td>
    
    <td>
      <strong>
        €60–€120 / mo
      </strong>
      
       depending on tier
    </td>
  </tr>
</tbody>
</table>

Hetzner's monthly fee looks lower — until you count the engineering hours spent on stack setup, patching, monitoring, backups, and incident response. See <content-link href="/pricing" text="fortrabbit pricing">



</content-link>

 for the current matrix.

## Migrating from Hetzner to fortrabbit

1. **Provision the app on fortrabbit.** Pick a region (EU) and a plan. The free trial is enough to validate the move.
2. **Add the MySQL component.** From your Hetzner server, `mysqldump` and import via fortrabbit's SSH tunnel — see <content-link href="/guides/general/mysql-import" text="MySQL import guide" prefix="docs">



</content-link>

.
3. **Connect your git provider.** Install the fortrabbit GitHub App (or connect GitLab / Bitbucket) and link your existing repo to the new fortrabbit app — see <content-link href="/platform/deployment/intro" text="deployment intro" prefix="docs">



</content-link>

. Pushes to your branch trigger an automatic deploy; Composer install runs as part of it.
4. **Move environment variables and secrets.** Set them in the fortrabbit dashboard.
5. **Move uploads and assets.** rsync from your Hetzner server into your fortrabbit app's persistent storage via SFTP / SSH.
6. **Cut over DNS.** Add the domain in the fortrabbit dashboard, update the DNS record, and watch the certificate issue automatically via Let's Encrypt.
7. **Decommission the VPS.** Once cutover is verified, retire the Hetzner server.

## Why teams switch

- **No server maintenance.** No patches, no firewall rules, no NGINX configs to debug at 11pm.
- **PHP-first ergonomics.** Composer, OPcache, PHP version pinning, integrated MySQL.
- **Human support.** You talk to engineers, not a ticket queue.
- **Predictable bills.** Per-app monthly pricing, no per-hour math.

For background on Hetzner itself, see our <content-link href="/hosting-guide/providers/vps/hetzner" text="hosting guide entry">



</content-link>

.

<content-button property="dashboard" route="/signup" text="Start a free trial — no credit card">
<content-button property="www" route="/pricing" text="See pricing" variant="secondary">



</content-button>
</content-button>