> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://akua-1dce587a.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Compute

> Provision and manage cloud servers for your Kubernetes clusters

![Account configs — Akua-managed and your own cloud key (BYOM) — feed machines into one cluster, with each machine tagged by which account owns it](https://mintcdn.com/akua-1dce587a/KB6u5PJRNHAXrgro/images/heros/compute-overview-light.svg?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=KB6u5PJRNHAXrgro\&q=85\&s=0b62a12088c5ea14ec6fbb10522bb833)

Akua provisions and manages compute resources: the cloud servers that run your workloads. Managed compute and BYOM provisioning use the providers available in your dashboard; Hetzner Cloud is available today. You don't need a separate cloud provider account to get started, and you can still attach existing workers when that better fits your setup.

## How it works

Akua scales your compute automatically. When your workloads need more resources, Akua detects unschedulable pods and provisions a new server. When demand drops, idle servers are removed to save costs.

```
Pod needs resources → Akua provisions a server → Server joins the cluster → Pod scheduled
```

The entire flow takes about 2 minutes from pending pod to running workload.

Akua keeps the setup simple. Your workspace plan and cluster settings determine which regions, credentials, and instance types are available, so you only choose what you need.

## Three compute paths

### Akua-managed machines

Akua provisions servers for you in Hetzner Cloud. No cloud credentials are required. Machines are subject to [plan quotas](https://akua-1dce587a.mintlify.site/platform/quotas.md) and [billing](https://akua-1dce587a.mintlify.site/billing/overview.md).

See the [plan comparison](https://akua-1dce587a.mintlify.site/pricing.md#plan-comparison) for resource limits and trial hosting. The Free machine allowance is a **one-time trial**. Deleting it does not grant another. Pro's compute limits are safety ceilings, with machines billed separately. See [the one-time managed-VM trial](https://akua-1dce587a.mintlify.site/platform/quotas.md#the-one-time-managed-vm-trial).

### Bring your own cloud key

Add your own supported cloud provider key and Akua provisions machines in your account. You pay the provider directly, with no machine quotas, no lifetime limits, and access to any instance type your account supports.

**1. Add your API key**

Go to **Compute** in the dashboard and click **Add Credential**. Akua validates the token before saving it.

**2. Create a compute config**

Click **Create Config**, select your credential, choose a region, and name the configuration.

**3. Provision machines**

Akua uses your config to provision machines in your cloud account when your workloads need resources.

Akua stores the credential securely and re-validates it periodically. You'll get a dashboard notification if the credential becomes invalid.

### Manually attached workers

Attach an existing server to a managed cluster when you want to keep full ownership of the machine without using managed machine provisioning. Use the worker bootstrap command or the cloud-init path in [Add workers](https://akua-1dce587a.mintlify.site/clusters/add-workers.md). Imported clusters keep worker management with their provider or cluster administrator.

## Provisioning limits

Akua enforces limits at two levels to keep your infrastructure predictable:

* **Allocation quota**: how many machines your workspace can own. BYOM machines are exempt. See the [plan comparison](https://akua-1dce587a.mintlify.site/pricing.md#plan-comparison) and [one-time managed-VM trial](https://akua-1dce587a.mintlify.site/platform/quotas.md#the-one-time-managed-vm-trial).
* **Concurrency limit**: how many machines can be launching at once per cluster. This prevents runaway provisioning loops from multiplying in-progress requests. Read current concurrency limits from [Quotas](https://akua-1dce587a.mintlify.site/platform/quotas.md).

Both limits are enforced server-side and take effect immediately when your plan changes, with no cluster reconfiguration needed.

See [quotas](https://akua-1dce587a.mintlify.site/platform/quotas.md) for the full table of limits per plan.

## Supported providers

> **[Hetzner Cloud](https://akua-1dce587a.mintlify.site/compute/providers/hetzner.md)**
>
> Current managed compute and BYOM provider details.

> **More coming**
>
> AWS, GCP, Azure, DigitalOcean, Vultr (planned).

## What's next?

> **[Machines](https://akua-1dce587a.mintlify.site/compute/machines.md)**
>
> Lifecycle, provisioning, deletion, and auto-scaling controls.

> **[Hetzner Cloud](https://akua-1dce587a.mintlify.site/compute/providers/hetzner.md)**
>
> Regions, instance types, and pricing.

> **[Quotas](https://akua-1dce587a.mintlify.site/platform/quotas.md)**
>
> Understand resource limits per plan.

## Related topics

> **[Add workers manually](https://akua-1dce587a.mintlify.site/clusters/add-workers.md)**
>
> Use a bootstrap command to attach your own servers.

> **[Clusters](https://akua-1dce587a.mintlify.site/clusters.md)**
>
> Understand how clusters work and how compute fits in.

> **[Plans and pricing](https://akua-1dce587a.mintlify.site/pricing.md)**
>
> Compare plans and understand machine limits.

> **[Compute API](https://akua-1dce587a.mintlify.site/api-reference/machines/list-machines.md)**
>
> Manage machines programmatically.


This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.