Hetzner Cloud is the first compute provider supported by Akua. Hetzner offers high-performance cloud servers at significantly lower prices than hyperscalers, with data centers in Europe and the United States.Documentation Index
Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.akua.dev/llms.txt
Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
Regions
| Region | Location | ID |
|---|---|---|
| Falkenstein | Germany (Bavaria) | fsn1 |
| Nuremberg | Germany (Bavaria) | nbg1 |
| Helsinki | Finland | hel1 |
| Ashburn | US East (Virginia) | ash |
| Hillsboro | US West (Oregon) | hil |
Instance types
Akua filters available instance types based on your plan. Available types in each region are verified against Hetzner’s datacenter availability (not just pricing data), so the types shown are guaranteed to be provisionable.Free tier
| Type | CPU | Memory | Disk | Architecture | Price per hour |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
cax11 | 2 vCPU | 4 GB | 40 GB | ARM64 | €0.004 |
cx23 | 2 vCPU | 4 GB | 40 GB | x86 | €0.006 |
cpx22 | 3 vCPU | 4 GB | 80 GB | x86 (dedicated) | €0.008 |
Pro tier
All Hetzner Cloud server types are available, including:| Type | CPU | Memory | Disk | Architecture | Price per hour |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
cax21 | 4 vCPU | 8 GB | 80 GB | ARM64 | €0.007 |
cax31 | 8 vCPU | 16 GB | 160 GB | ARM64 | €0.013 |
cx33 | 4 vCPU | 8 GB | 80 GB | x86 | €0.011 |
cx43 | 8 vCPU | 16 GB | 160 GB | x86 | €0.021 |
cpx32 | 4 vCPU | 8 GB | 160 GB | x86 (dedicated) | €0.016 |
ARM64 types (
cax*) offer the best price-to-performance ratio. Use them unless your workloads require x86.BYOM (bring your own key)
All instance types available in your Hetzner Cloud account, with no restrictions.Billing model
Hetzner bills per hour, rounded up. Servers are billed as long as they exist, even when powered off. This is why Akua’s suspend feature snapshots and deletes the server rather than just stopping it.| State | Cost (cx23, 40 GB) |
|---|---|
| Running | ~€4.11/month |
| Powered off | ~€4.11/month (Hetzner bills for the server object) |
| Suspended (snapshot) | ~€0.40/month (snapshot storage at €0.01/GB) |
| Deleted | €0/month |
Snapshot pricing
Hetzner charges €0.01 per GB per month for snapshots. Snapshots are compressed; you pay for actual used space, not total disk capacity.| Disk size | Snapshot cost per month |
|---|---|
| 40 GB | ~€0.40 |
| 80 GB | ~€0.80 |
| 160 GB | ~€1.60 |
How Akua provisions machines on Hetzner
- Akua creates a server via the Hetzner Cloud API with a cloud-init script.
- The cloud-init script installs Kubernetes, configures the worker, and joins your cluster.
- The machine appears in your dashboard within approximately 2 minutes.
- Akua monitors the machine and handles its full lifecycle: scaling, suspend, and deletion.
Add your own Hetzner account (BYOM)
Create an API token
In the Hetzner Cloud Console, create an API token with Read and Write permissions.
Add the credential in Akua
Go to Compute in the Akua dashboard, click Add Credential, and paste your token. Akua validates it immediately.
Your API token is stored securely in an external secrets manager. Akua re-validates all tokens hourly and notifies you if a token becomes invalid (for example, if it was revoked or expired in the Hetzner Console).
Suspend and IP volatility
When you suspend a machine on Hetzner, Akua snapshots the disk and deletes the cloud server. On resume, a brand-new server is provisioned from the snapshot. This means the public IP address changes on every resume. Hetzner has no stop state that preserves the IP and instance. If you need a stable public IP across suspend and resume cycles, see the mitigation options in Suspend and resume: public IP changes on resume.Limitations
- No Hetzner Volume attachment on suspend and resume: Hetzner Volumes use server IDs for attachment. If you use Hetzner CSI Volumes (not local storage or LINSTOR), additional steps may be needed on resume. Local storage and LINSTOR volumes work without issues.
- Powered-off servers still bill: Unlike AWS and GCP, stopping a Hetzner server does not reduce costs. Use Akua’s suspend feature instead.
- IPv6 only on some instances: The most affordable Hetzner plans may include IPv6 only. Akua handles this through the cluster’s internal networking.
Related topics
Suspend and resume
How suspend and resume works and what changes on resume.
Machines
Full machine lifecycle including provisioning and deletion.
Compute overview
Managed and BYOM compute modes.
Plans and pricing
Compare plans and understand instance type access.