Rails hosting on Hetzner
Rails hosting on Hetzner Cloud
Hatchbox creates servers in your Hetzner Cloud project and turns them into production Rails servers — Ruby, Postgres, Redis, SSL, private networking, and git-push deploys with zero downtime.
Includes a 7 day free trial. $15 per server per month after that — unlimited apps.
Hetzner built its reputation on generous servers for the money, with 20TB of traffic included on every server in Europe. What a Hetzner server doesn't come with is a Rails stack, a deploy pipeline, or anyone to keep it patched. That's the part Hatchbox does.
Create an API token in your Hetzner Cloud project and add it to Hatchbox. Pick a location and a server type — Hatchbox shows each one's current monthly price, IPv4 address included — and Hatchbox provisions it: Ubuntu 26.04 LTS, the Ruby version from your repo, your database, Caddy for SSL, and deploys on every push. Hetzner bills you for the server directly. Hatchbox is $15 a month per server, no matter how many apps you run on it.
What Hatchbox sets up on Hetzner
Servers from the dashboard
Hatchbox lists only the server types each location can actually provide, with current prices. New servers get IPv4 and IPv6, your SSH keys, and a ufw firewall that Hatchbox keeps up to date as you add apps and roles.
Private networking, automatically
Hatchbox creates a private network in your Hetzner project and attaches every server it builds, so your web servers and database servers talk to each other off the public internet. Private networks are free on Hetzner.
x86 or Arm
Hetzner's Ampere-based CAX servers are supported alongside the Intel and AMD lines. Hatchbox's server setup handles arm64 packages for you, so your app deploys the same way on either.
Databases on your servers
Hetzner Cloud has no managed database product, so Hatchbox installs and runs Postgres, MySQL, Redis, or SQLite for you — on the same server as your app, or on a dedicated database server in the same private network.
Backups off the server
Schedule database backups from the dashboard and upload them to Hetzner's S3-compatible Object Storage, Amazon S3, Cloudflare R2, or anywhere else that speaks S3 — so losing a server doesn't mean losing your data.
Root access, always
It's a normal Ubuntu server. SSH in, run a Rails console, tail logs, install anything. If you cancel Hatchbox, the servers keep running in your Hetzner project exactly as they are.
Hatchbox detects Rails from your Gemfile and handles the rest — see how a Rails deploy works.
What Rails hosting on Hetzner costs
Your total is the server, billed by Hetzner, plus $15 for Hatchbox. Hetzner's June 2026 prices for its Germany and Finland locations, in US dollars, excluding VAT, with the $0.60 IPv4 address included.
| Server type | vCPU / RAM / disk | Hetzner | Total with Hatchbox |
|---|---|---|---|
| CX23 | 2 / 4GB / 40GB | $7.09 | $22.09 |
| CAX11 (Arm) | 2 / 4GB / 40GB | $7.59 | $22.59 |
| CX33 | 4 / 8GB / 80GB | $10.59 | $25.59 |
| CPX22 | 2 / 4GB / 80GB | $23.59 | $38.59 |
| CCX13 (dedicated vCPU) | 2 / 8GB / 80GB | $51.09 | $66.09 |
The cost-optimized CX and CAX servers are the cheapest way to run Rails anywhere: a 2 vCPU / 4GB server with Postgres and a worker on it comes to about $22 a month, Hatchbox included. At the prices Hetzner set in June 2026, its regular-performance CPX line costs about the same as a DigitalOcean Droplet.
In the US locations (Ashburn and Hillsboro), Hetzner offers the older CPX line and dedicated CCX servers, with 1–8TB of traffic per server instead of Europe's 20TB. Prices change, so Hatchbox always shows the current price for each server type and location when you create a server.
Things to know before you pick Hetzner
Sign-up takes a little longer
Hetzner may ask new customers for an ID document or a prepayment, asks that you don't sign up over a VPN, and starts new accounts with a server limit you can ask to raise. Sort that out before a launch, not during one.
No managed databases
Hetzner Cloud doesn't sell managed Postgres or MySQL. Hatchbox runs the database on your servers and schedules backups, but failover and point-in-time recovery are yours to plan for.
Europe gets the best deal
Hetzner's German and Finnish locations offer every server line and 20TB of traffic per server. Ashburn, Hillsboro, and Singapore have fewer server types, less included traffic, and higher prices.
Prices moved twice in 2026
Hetzner raised prices in April and again in June 2026. Existing servers kept their price through the June change, but resizing a server moves it to the current price.
What customers say
I run 15+ Rails apps and static sites with Hatchbox. My bill went from $400/month on Heroku to $28/mo with Hatchbox & DigitalOcean combined.
Donn Felker
Software Professional
If you want the most bang for your buck, Hatchbox / Hetzner / DigitalOcean is the killer combo. You can throw sooo much at this and it's crazy how inexpensive it is.
Josh Pigford
Serial Entrepreneur
- Applications deployed
- 24,000+
- Deployments run
- 2 million+
- Deploying since
- 2016
Rails on Hetzner questions
Still stuck? Ask us directly — a real person who has deployed a lot of Rails apps to Hetzner will answer.
Which Hetzner server should I use for a Rails app?
How does Hatchbox connect to my Hetzner account?
Can I use a Hetzner dedicated server?
What if Hetzner won't let me create a server?
What happens to my servers if I cancel Hatchbox?
Is Hetzner cheaper than DigitalOcean for Rails?
Simple, predictable pricing.
We charge per server, not per app. Run one application or twenty on the same box — the bill doesn't change.
$15
- Unlimited applications
- Deploy anywhere
- Zero downtime deployments
- Custom domains & free SSL
- Databases, cron jobs & background workers
- Full SSH access to your servers
- Real, human support
- 7 day free trial
Ready to deploy your Rails app?
Hatchbox has run more than 2 million deploys across 24,000+ applications since 2016. Start a 7 day free trial and put yours on a server you own.