I was using Hetzner in the past and it was quite cheap. $5, then they bumped it to $7. Not a big deal. This was the server, now unavailable:
So the next “cheaper option” is “just” $5 more, for something that seems (to my basic knowledge), an inferior server?
To match the same type I had in terms of VCPU and RAM I would have to go to this one:
$13 more than I was paying!
Am I missing something? Can someone point out other options?
Thanks
You’re looking at the CPX servers: https://www.hetzner.com/cloud/regular-performance/
CX/CAX servers are here, starting from 7.19€/month: https://www.hetzner.com/cloud/cost-optimized/
Oh I see, those have indeed limited availability, I didn’t notice at first (the choice of color doesn’t help). I thought you looked at the wrong page. They’re probably sold out because of major price increases 
lots of people scoop the cheaper servers up for testing or whatever when they come available, since they can be rented by the hour (i do this myself), but they do come available at times. just have to jump in and get them fast.
if you want i have a script that periodically searches for available hetzner servers (at an interval and a configuration of your choice) and automatically posts a Discourse topic to alert you when one becomes available. you can set it to watching and get email notification.
I use Netcup and am very satisfied. The price is also okay.
personally, i would not run a dual container configuration on anything less than an 8GB RAM 4CPU 80GB disk, but your mileage and situation may differ. i’m running a relatively busy forum on this hetzner setup with around 300 active users, and anywhere from 70-100 DEU.
ok, this might help you and others who read this. it is specific to hetzner but can probably be adapted for other vps vendors, (don’t ask me to do it for you though).
this is a simple bash script that will check every 5 minutes for a hetzner server CAX21 or CX33 and post it as a topic to a category on your current Discourse instance (you can alter the script for the configuration of your choice though). it works similarly to an RSS feed category.
you will need a hetzner token and a Discourse api key, and the category id of your desired Discourse category for it to post topics to. the script can be altered to include a filter to specify location too (this one searches for all their locations).
jqssh into your current hetzner server and install the jq json parser (it only takes a few seconds):
apt-get update
apt-get install jq -y
on your current hetzner server, create the following bash script:
nano /root/hetzner_tracker.sh
paste this code inside (you will need to insert in your actual api keys, your forum URL, and the category ID where you want it to post).
#!/bin/bash
HETZNER_TOKEN="put_your_new_hetzner_token_here"
DISCOURSE_URL="https://your-forum.com"
DISCOURSE_USER="system"
DISCOURSE_API_KEY="put_your_new_discourse_api_key_here"
CATEGORY_ID=XX # your Discourse forum category ID
# 1. Ask Hetzner for the server models, and ONLY get the IDs for the cheap 8GB models (CAX21 or CX33)
TYPES_JSON=$(curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $HETZNER_TOKEN" "https://api.hetzner.cloud/v1/server_types")
TARGET_IDS=$(echo "$TYPES_JSON" | jq -c '[.server_types[] | select(.name == "cax21" or .name == "cx33") | .id]')
# 2. Ask Hetzner for the real-time stock levels of all datacenters.
DC_JSON=$(curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $HETZNER_TOKEN" "https://api.hetzner.cloud/v1/datacenters")
# 3. Check ALL locations to see if our specific models are in the "available" list.
MATCHES=$(echo "$DC_JSON" | jq -r --argjson targets "$TARGET_IDS" '
.datacenters[] |
.location.name as $loc |
.name as $dc |
.server_types.available[] |
select(. as $avail | $targets | index($avail)) |
"- Location: \($loc | ascii_upcase) (\($dc)) - Server Model ID: \(.)"
')
# 4. If we found a match, build the Discourse post and fire it!
if [ -n "$MATCHES" ]; then
RAW_TEXT="A budget 8GB server (CAX21 or CX33) is now available!
**Matches found:**
$MATCHES
[Go to the Hetzner console now!](https://console.hetzner.cloud/)"
PAYLOAD=$(jq -n --arg title "🚨 HETZNER ALERT: 8GB Server in Stock!" \
--arg raw "$RAW_TEXT" \
--argjson cat "$CATEGORY_ID" \
'{title: $title, raw: $raw, category: $cat}')
curl -s -X POST "$DISCOURSE_URL/posts.json" \
-H "Api-Key: $DISCOURSE_API_KEY" \
-H "Api-Username: $DISCOURSE_USER" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d "$PAYLOAD"
# Disable script after firing so it doesn't spam your forum
chmod -x "$0"
fi
save the file (ctrl+o, enter, ctrl+x), and then make it executable:
chmod +x /root/hetzner_tracker.sh
open a cron task schedule file:
crontab -e
Add this line to the very bottom of the existing code:
*/5 * * * * /root/hetzner_tracker.sh
every 5 minutes, your server will quietly ask hetzner, “do you have any available servers today?”
if hetzner says yes, the script immediately uses your Discourse api to create a brand new topic in your specified category, and if you have Discourse set up to notify you of new topics, your email and/or phone should buzz you.
here is an example topic post from when i was looking for an specific 8GB CPX31 server in US area.
once it successfully posts, the script disables its own execution permissions (chmod -x) so it doesn’t spam your forum with 100’s of posts while the server is in stock.
don’t worry, i’ve used this many times and it will not rate limit you. and you can change the timing interval to something like 10 or 15 minutes if you wish.
Unfortunately, Hetzner is pretty much without alternative when it comes to price; for VMs, Netcup works, but as soon as it’s about larger servers, I’ve never found anything that’s similar in price.
I’d also like to know what the alternatives are, especially European ones.
I’m using advinservers.com from 1 year now and i really like it
You’re on fire with the detailed replies. Really appreciate it! 
Since I’m not an experienced developer, would I be able to build a small app deployed to Railway (which is what I use) and set it so I could have Brevo to trigger those email notifications?
Just wondering if that would be possible, not asking you to customize your script. I’m curious, because since I’m not installing Discourse just yet, your script wouldn’t help for now.
I just checked their page and it seems pretty similar to what Hetzner has to offer. Thanks for sharing!
As @David_Ghost suggested, advinservers.com seem to have some good setups and prices. Have you ever heard of them? Some reviews I was reading online and Trustpilot seem positive, but these days, anything online can be fake, so…
I’m using an config with ryzen, 4vcpu, 8gb ram and 256gb nvme for $10 a month. It’s no longer available right now, but it’s works very well. You can join their discord too. Its very active.
No, that’s the first I’m hearing of them, although I don’t exactly have standard server requirements. My current machine at Hetzner:
36 x Intel(R) Xeon(R) W-2295 CPU
512 GB RAM
4 TB SSD
12 TB HDD
Including an additional server for backups, that comes to €347.91 per month.
Thanks! This one looks very promising as well
