This guide covers what a Hetzner account gives you, how the platform charges, the constraints worth knowing before you commit, and how to pick between the configurations available.
What Hetzner is good at
Cloud servers, dedicated servers, storage boxes and load balancers. No managed database or analytics layer.
In short, Hetzner is chosen for price to performance that the hyperscalers cannot approach, on EU hardware. The trade is that you manage almost everything yourself; there is no managed service safety net.
How the pricing works
Among the lowest price-to-performance ratios available anywhere, particularly on dedicated hardware.
Network. A very large transfer allowance is included with each server, well beyond what most providers bundle.
Egress is worth modelling before you commit, particularly for anything serving media or large downloads. This guide explains how it is charged across providers.
The console and getting started
A simple, fast console that does exactly what it needs to and nothing more.
Where it runs. Datacentres in Germany and Finland, with US locations added more recently. GDPR compliance is a core selling point.
AI and accelerated compute
Dedicated GPU servers are available, but there is no managed AI tooling.
Outbound email
Outbound mail is permitted subject to the acceptable use policy, which makes it viable for mail servers.
If sending mail is part of the plan, read the guide to port 25 and outbound SMTP first. It determines which providers are viable at all, rather than merely cheaper.
Choosing a configuration
Configurations on this platform differ by capacity and, on some, by whether credits or specific capabilities are included. The current list with prices is below and is read live from the catalog.
| Configuration | Price |
|---|---|
| Hetzner 5 Server Account | $50.00 |
| Hetzner 10 Server Account | $90.00 |
| Hetzner Open 25 Port Account | $250.00 |
Size for the workload you have rather than the one you hope for. Quotas can be raised later, and an oversized account costs money now for capacity you are not using.
After you receive the account
The handover is the start of the work, not the end. Change the password, enable multi-factor authentication, audit any existing users or keys, and move the contact and billing details to your own.
The day-one security checklist walks through the whole sequence, and it takes under an hour.
Where Hetzner fits against the alternatives
Pick Hetzner when cost per unit of compute is the deciding factor and you are comfortable running your own stack.
The comparison table puts every provider side by side on price and configuration count, and there are head-to-head write-ups for the pairings people weigh most often.
Related cloud accounts
Accounts on the platform discussed here, with every configuration and price published up front:
- Buy Hetzner Accounts — from $50.00. German infrastructure, GDPR compliance, strong price to performance.
Further reading
- Hardening SSH on a New Cloud Server
- Hetzner vs UpCloud: Which Cloud Account Should You Buy?
- Linode vs Hetzner: Which Cloud Account Should You Buy?
- Oracle Cloud vs Hetzner: Which Cloud Account Should You Buy?
Official documentation
Provider behaviour, quotas and pricing are defined by the platform itself. These are the first-party references for the services discussed above:
Frequently asked questions
Price to performance that the hyperscalers cannot approach, on eu hardware. In practice, cost per unit of compute is the deciding factor and you are comfortable running your own stack.
Outbound mail is permitted subject to the acceptable use policy, which makes it viable for mail servers.
Change the password, enable multi-factor authentication, then audit existing users and access keys before deploying anything.
