Independent guide · English and German
Run your app without running servers. Or run it in Europe.
Hosted app platforms, self-hosted PaaS and European cloud providers, compared on what they do, where they run and what they cost. Dated facts, plain language, no invented benchmarks.
| Layer | IaaS | PaaS | Serverless |
|---|---|---|---|
| Your code | You | You | You |
| Scaling | You | Shared | Provider |
| Runtime and deploys | You | Provider | Provider |
| OS and servers | You | Provider | Provider |
| Hardware and data centre | Provider | Provider | Provider |
Sections
Sections
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01 8 pages
App platforms (PaaS)
What a platform as a service does, how Railway, Render, DigitalOcean App Platform and self-hosted options like Coolify compare, and what running your app really costs.
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02 7 pages
European cloud
Hetzner, STACKIT, IONOS, OVHcloud, Scaleway and others compared, plus what sovereign cloud and GDPR-compliant hosting actually require and how to move off AWS or Azure.
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03 4 pages
Cloud-native basics
What cloud-native really means, when microservices beat a monolith, how small teams ship containers without a platform team, and which managed Kubernetes services run in Europe.
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04 3 pages
Edge computing
What edge computing is, when moving compute closer to users really cuts latency, and what private 5G campus networks offer businesses.
Comparisons
Where most readers start
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Heroku Alternatives 2026: 8 Platforms Compared
Heroku alternatives compared by pricing model, EU regions and company seat: Railway, Render, DigitalOcean, Fly.io, Northflank and three French platforms.
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European Cloud Providers 2026: 8 Alternatives Compared
European cloud providers compared: Hetzner, STACKIT, IONOS, OVHcloud, Scaleway, UpCloud, Exoscale and Open Telekom Cloud by seat, locations and focus.
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Railway vs. Render: Pricing, Regions and Fit Compared
Railway vs. Render compared: usage-based against instance-based pricing, EU regions in Amsterdam and Frankfurt, free tiers, databases and which suits your app.
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Self-Hosted PaaS: Coolify vs. Dokku vs. CapRover
Coolify, Dokku and CapRover compared: how each self-hosted PaaS deploys apps, what it needs, what you still maintain and which suits your team and server.
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Hetzner vs. DigitalOcean: Which Cloud Fits Your App?
Hetzner vs. DigitalOcean compared on pricing model, EU locations, included traffic, managed services and company seat, so you can pick the right cloud.
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Managed Kubernetes in Europe: 7 Services Compared
Managed Kubernetes in Europe compared: STACKIT, IONOS, OVHcloud, Scaleway, UpCloud, Exoscale and DigitalOcean on control plane, SLA, regions and company seat.
Calculator
Hosted platform or your own server?
Enter what a platform charges per service and what a server costs you, including your own admin time. The calculator shows the monthly and yearly difference.
If all you need is a simple website without an app of your own, a website builder comparison (in German) is often the faster and cheaper route.
Basics
The terms, explained once
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What Is PaaS? Platform as a Service Explained
Platform as a service explained: what a PaaS runs for you, what you still own, typical costs and limits, and when it beats a plain server or Kubernetes.
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PaaS vs. IaaS vs. Serverless: Which Model Fits?
PaaS, IaaS and serverless compared: who runs which layer, how each is billed, typical use cases and a simple decision guide for small teams and SMEs.
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Sovereign Cloud Explained: Residency, Control, Law
What sovereign cloud means: data residency, operational control and legal jurisdiction explained, how the EU assesses it and how to check a provider's claims.
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What Is Edge Computing? Definition and Examples
Edge computing explained: processing data close to where it is created, the main edge layers, typical use cases and when the cloud is the better fit.
Tools and providers
This is where we list tools and providers we have tested ourselves. Nothing goes here before the test is done.
Partner links are marked as such.
Method
How we compare
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Every price has a date
Plans change quickly. Each comparison says when it was checked.
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Documentation, not hype
We work from providers' own documentation, price lists and terms, not from press releases.
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No invented benchmarks
Assessments are editorial. Where we have not measured something, we do not pretend to.
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Where the data lives
For every provider we note its origin and the regions it offers, because that decides which law applies.
Auf Deutsch
Alle Ratgeber und Vergleiche gibt es auch auf Deutsch, mit Blick auf DSGVO, deutsche Rechenzentren und Anbieter aus der DACH-Region.
Zum deutschen Bereich