Hetzner Cloud

EU and US cloud servers with exceptional value — the first supported compute provider

Hetzner Cloud is the first compute provider supported by CNAP. Hetzner offers high-performance cloud servers at significantly lower prices than hyperscalers, with data centers in Europe and the US.

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

The default region for CNAP-managed machines is Falkenstein (fsn1).

Instance types

CNAP filters available instance types based on your plan:

Free tier

Type	CPU	Memory	Disk	Arch	Price/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	Arch	Price/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 CNAP’s suspend feature snapshots and deletes the server instead of just stopping it.

State	Cost (cx23, 40 GB)
Running	~€4.11/month
Powered off	~€4.11/month (same — 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/month
40 GB	~€0.40
80 GB	~€0.80
160 GB	~€1.60

How CNAP uses Hetzner

When CNAP provisions a machine on Hetzner:

1. Creates a server via the Hetzner Cloud API with a cloud-init script
2. Cloud-init installs Kubernetes, configures the worker, and joins your cluster
3. The machine appears in your dashboard within ~2 minutes
4. CNAP monitors the machine and handles its lifecycle (scaling, suspend, delete)

CNAP uses its own Hetzner Cloud API token for managed machines. For BYOM, your token is used instead.

Hetzner Cloud API key (BYOM)

To use your own Hetzner account:

1. Create an API token in the Hetzner Cloud Console with Read & Write permissions
2. Go to Compute in the CNAP dashboard
3. Click Add Credential and paste your token — CNAP validates it immediately
4. Click Create Config, select your credential, and choose a region
5. Machines provisioned with this config appear in your Hetzner Console and bill to your account

CNAP manages the Kubernetes lifecycle — you manage the Hetzner billing. No machine quotas or TTL limits apply to BYOM machines.

Your API token is stored securely in an external secrets manager. CNAP 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).

Limitations

• No volume attachment on suspend/resume: Hetzner Volumes use server IDs for attachment. If you use Hetzner CSI Volumes (not local storage), additional handling may be needed on resume. Local storage and LINSTOR volumes work without issues.
• Powered-off servers still bill: Unlike AWS/GCP, stopping a Hetzner server doesn’t reduce costs. Use CNAP’s suspend feature instead.
• IPv6 only on some VMs: Cheapest Hetzner plans may only include IPv6. CNAP handles this via the cluster’s internal networking.