Hetzner's New Cloud Cost-Optimized Plans: Starting at €3.49/Month
Hetzner introduces new cost-optimized cloud plans with CX Gen3 and CAX ARM servers. Get 4 vCPU and 8GB RAM for just €5.49/month. Complete pricing and performance analysis.
Table of Contents
- What Changed: New Server Plan Structure
- Performance Testing: CX Gen3 Cloud Cost-Optimized
- Cost Comparison: Regular vs Cost-Optimized
- When to Choose Cost-Optimized Plans
- ARM vs x86: Choosing Between CAX and CX
- Pricing Breakdown: All Plans
- Real-World Example: Cost Savings Scenarios
- Migration Guide: Moving to Cost-Optimized Plans
- Comparing with Competitors
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Best Practices for Cost-Optimized Servers
- Conclusion: Exceptional Value for Budget-Conscious Users
Hetzner has restructured its cloud server offerings with a new plan categorization system for EU and Singapore locations. The biggest news is the introduction of Shared: Cloud Cost-Optimized plans, featuring both x86 and ARM-based servers at remarkably low prices starting at €3.49/month.
Get Started with Hetzner
New to Hetzner Cloud? Get €20 credit when you sign up and test these new cost-optimized plans risk-free.
What Changed: New Server Plan Structure
Hetzner has moved away from hardware-type categorization to a generation-based system in EU and Singapore datacenters. The new structure includes three main lines:
Always run on the most recent hardware generations with dedicated vCPUs.
- CCX13: 2 vCPU, 8GB RAM, 80GB SSD - €12.49/month
- CCX23: 4 vCPU, 16GB RAM, 160GB SSD - €24.49/month
- CCX33: 8 vCPU, 32GB RAM, 240GB SSD, 30TB bandwidth - €48.49/month
- CCX43: 16 vCPU, 64GB RAM, 360GB SSD, 40TB bandwidth - €96.49/month
- CCX53: 32 vCPU, 128GB RAM, 600GB SSD, 50TB bandwidth - €192.49/month
- CCX63: 48 vCPU, 192GB RAM, 960GB SSD, 60TB bandwidth - €288.49/month
Best for: High-traffic applications, databases, production servers
Existing Servers Not Affected
Existing CX Gen2 and CPX Gen1 servers continue to work normally. This change only affects new server deployments in EU and Singapore locations.
Performance Testing: CX Gen3 Cloud Cost-Optimized
I tested the new CX33 plan (4 vCPU, 8GB RAM, 80GB SSD) at €5.49/month in the Nuremberg datacenter. Here are the results:
System Specifications
- Processor: AMD EPYC-Rome
- CPU Cores: 4 @ 2445.404 MHz
- RAM: 7.6 GiB
- Disk: 75GB SSD (NVMe)
- Location: Nuremberg, Germany
- Bandwidth: 20TB included
Disk Performance (fio)
| Block Size | Read Speed | Write Speed | Total | IOPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4k | 115.01 MB/s | 115.32 MB/s | 230.34 MB/s | 57.5k |
| 64k | 988.49 MB/s | 993.69 MB/s | 1.98 GB/s | 30.9k |
| 512k | 1.78 GB/s | 1.88 GB/s | 3.66 GB/s | 7.1k |
| 1m | 2.16 GB/s | 2.30 GB/s | 4.46 GB/s | 4.3k |
Analysis: Excellent disk performance with peak speeds reaching 4.46 GB/s for large block operations. The NVMe drives deliver enterprise-grade performance at budget pricing.
Network Performance (iperf3 IPv4)
| Provider | Location | Upload | Download | Latency |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eranium | Amsterdam | 12.3 Gbits/sec | 12.8 Gbits/sec | 9.27 ms |
| Clouvider | London | 5.16 Gbits/sec | 5.60 Gbits/sec | 17.8 ms |
| Leaseweb | NYC | 1.88 Gbits/sec | 2.53 Gbits/sec | 97.7 ms |
| Uztelecom | Tashkent | 1.96 Gbits/sec | 2.24 Gbits/sec | 94.6 ms |
| Clouvider | Los Angeles | 1.03 Gbits/sec | 1.21 Gbits/sec | 158 ms |
| Leaseweb | Singapore | 665 Mbits/sec | 841 Mbits/sec | 166 ms |
Analysis: Outstanding European network performance with 12+ Gbits/sec to Amsterdam. Strong transatlantic connectivity and decent Asia-Pacific speeds for a European server.
CPU Performance (Geekbench 6)
| Test | Score |
|---|---|
| Single Core | 1508 |
| Multi Core | 4919 |
Analysis: Solid CPU performance for a cost-optimized plan. The multi-core score of 4919 is impressive for the €5.49/month price point.
Cost Comparison: Regular vs Cost-Optimized
Let’s compare the pricing difference between Regular Performance and Cost-Optimized plans:
| Specs | Regular (CPX) | Cost-Optimized (CX) | Savings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 vCPU, 4GB | €6.49 (CPX22, 80GB) | €3.49 (CX23, 40GB) | 46% |
| 4 vCPU, 8GB | €10.99 (CPX32, 160GB) | €5.49 (CX33, 80GB) | 50% |
| 8 vCPU, 16GB | €19.99 (CPX42, 320GB) | €9.49 (CX43, 160GB) | 53% |
| 16 vCPU, 32GB | €38.99 (CPX62, 640GB) | €17.49 (CX53, 320GB) | 55% |
Key Insight: Cost-Optimized plans offer approximately 50% savings while providing similar RAM specs with reduced storage. For most workloads, the performance difference is minimal.
Try Hetzner Cloud NowWhen to Choose Cost-Optimized Plans
- Development environments - Full-featured dev servers at minimal cost
- Testing servers - Spin up test environments without breaking the budget
- Small WordPress sites - Handle moderate traffic efficiently
- Staging environments - Match production specs for less
- Personal projects - Host hobby projects affordably
- Learning platforms - Practice DevOps without high costs
- CI/CD runners - Cost-effective build and deployment pipelines
- Monitoring tools - Run Grafana, Prometheus, Uptime Kuma cheaply
- Production applications with consistent traffic
- Database servers requiring reliable performance
- High-traffic WordPress sites (1000+ daily visitors)
- E-commerce platforms where performance impacts revenue
- Real-time applications needing consistent latency
- Video processing or CPU-intensive tasks
- Enterprise workloads with SLA requirements
ARM vs x86: Choosing Between CAX and CX
The Cost-Optimized line offers both ARM (CAX) and x86 (CX Gen3) servers. Here’s how to choose:
- Better performance per euro for cloud-native apps
- Excellent multi-core performance with Ampere processors
- Energy efficient for environmentally conscious deployments
- Native support for ARM-compiled software
- Future-proof architecture gaining wider adoption
- Perfect for containers and microservices
Pricing: €3.79 to €24.49/month
- Universal compatibility with all software
- Proven technology with mature ecosystem
- Legacy application support without recompilation
- Wider OS selection including older distributions
- Standard tooling works out of the box
- No architecture considerations needed
Pricing: €3.49 to €17.49/month
ARM Compatibility
Before choosing CAX ARM servers, verify your application stack supports ARM64. Modern frameworks like Node.js, Python, Docker, and Go work perfectly, but some legacy software may require x86.
Pricing Breakdown: All Plans
Shared: Cloud Cost-Optimized (EU & SIN)
CX Gen3 (x86 - Intel/AMD):
| Plan | vCPU | RAM | Storage | Bandwidth | Hourly | Monthly |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CX23 | 2 | 4GB | 40GB | 20TB | €0.0056 | €3.49 |
| CX33 | 4 | 8GB | 80GB | 20TB | €0.0088 | €5.49 |
| CX43 | 8 | 16GB | 160GB | 20TB | €0.0152 | €9.49 |
| CX53 | 16 | 32GB | 320GB | 20TB | €0.028 | €17.49 |
CAX (ARM - Ampere):
| Plan | vCPU | RAM | Storage | Bandwidth | Hourly | Monthly |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CAX11 | 2 | 4GB | 40GB | 20TB | €0.0061 | €3.79 |
| CAX21 | 4 | 8GB | 80GB | 20TB | €0.0104 | €6.49 |
| CAX31 | 8 | 16GB | 160GB | 20TB | €0.02 | €12.49 |
| CAX41 | 16 | 32GB | 320GB | 20TB | €0.0392 | €24.49 |
Shared: Cloud Regular Performance
| Plan | vCPU | RAM | Storage | Bandwidth | Hourly | Monthly |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPX22 | 2 | 4GB | 80GB | 20TB | €0.0104 | €6.49 |
| CPX32 | 4 | 8GB | 160GB | 20TB | €0.0176 | €10.99 |
| CPX42 | 8 | 16GB | 320GB | 20TB | €0.032 | €19.99 |
| CPX52 | 12 | 24GB | 480GB | 20TB | €0.0457 | €28.49 |
| CPX62 | 16 | 32GB | 640GB | 20TB | €0.0625 | €38.99 |
Dedicated: Cloud General Purpose
| Plan | vCPU | RAM | Storage | Bandwidth | Hourly | Monthly |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CCX13 | 2 | 8GB | 80GB | 20TB | €0.02 | €12.49 |
| CCX23 | 4 | 16GB | 160GB | 20TB | €0.0392 | €24.49 |
| CCX33 | 8 | 32GB | 240GB | 30TB | €0.0777 | €48.49 |
| CCX43 | 16 | 64GB | 360GB | 40TB | €0.1546 | €96.49 |
| CCX53 | 32 | 128GB | 600GB | 50TB | €0.3085 | €192.49 |
| CCX63 | 48 | 192GB | 960GB | 60TB | €0.4623 | €288.49 |
Real-World Example: Cost Savings Scenarios
Scenario 1: Small WordPress Site
Before: CPX21 (3 vCPU, 4GB, 80GB) - €7.90/month Now: CX23 (2 vCPU, 4GB, 40GB) - €3.49/month Savings: €4.41/month (€52.92/year) - 56% reduction
Scenario 2: Development Environment
Before: CPX31 (4 vCPU, 8GB, 160GB) - €15.90/month Now: CX33 (4 vCPU, 8GB, 80GB) - €5.49/month Savings: €10.41/month (€124.92/year) - 65% reduction
Scenario 3: Multi-Server Setup (3 servers)
Before: 3x CPX11 (2 vCPU, 2GB) - 3 × €4.90 = €14.70/month Now: 3x CX23 (2 vCPU, 4GB) - 3 × €3.49 = €10.47/month Savings: €4.23/month (€50.76/year) + double the RAM
Migration Guide: Moving to Cost-Optimized Plans
Try Hetzner Cloud Now- Review CPU utilization over the past 30 days
- Check average RAM usage patterns
- Analyze disk space requirements
- Monitor network bandwidth consumption
- Identify peak traffic periods
Decision matrix:
- Under 50% average CPU: Cost-Optimized is perfect
- 50-80% average CPU: Consider Regular Performance
- Over 80% average CPU: Stay with Dedicated or Regular
- Storage needs < 100GB: Cost-Optimized works well
- Cloud-native stack: Consider CAX ARM for better value
- Create new Cost-Optimized server
- Deploy application to test environment
- Run performance benchmarks
- Test under load with realistic traffic
- Verify all services function correctly
- Compare response times with current server
- Create snapshot of current server
- Deploy to new Cost-Optimized server
- Update DNS with low TTL (300 seconds)
- Monitor logs and metrics closely
- Keep old server running for 24-48 hours
- Delete old server once stable
Comparing with Competitors
How do these Cost-Optimized plans stack up against other providers?
| Provider | vCPU | RAM | Storage | Price | vs Hetzner |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hetzner CX33 | 4 | 8GB | 80GB | €5.49 | Baseline |
| DigitalOcean | 2 | 4GB | 80GB | $18/€17 | 3x more expensive |
| Linode | 2 | 4GB | 80GB | $18/€17 | 3x more expensive |
| Vultr | 2 | 4GB | 80GB | $18/€17 | 3x more expensive |
| AWS Lightsail | 2 | 4GB | 80GB | $24/€23 | 4x more expensive |
| Azure B2s | 2 | 4GB | 30GB | $38/€36 | 6.5x more expensive |
Verdict: Hetzner’s Cost-Optimized plans offer unmatched value, providing 2-4x the resources at a fraction of the cost.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, you can easily scale up to Regular Performance or Dedicated plans. Hetzner allows vertical scaling with minimal downtime. However, you cannot downgrade from Regular to Cost-Optimized without creating a new server.
CX Gen3 runs on older hardware generations (formerly CX Gen1/Gen2 and CPX Gen1), while CPX Gen2 uses the latest AMD hardware. In practice, for most web applications, the performance difference is minimal (5-15%). CPU-intensive workloads may see more noticeable differences.
Yes, for many production workloads. If your application runs at moderate CPU utilization (under 60%), Cost-Optimized plans work excellently. High-traffic or CPU-intensive production apps should consider Regular Performance or Dedicated plans.
Cost-Optimized plans are available in:
- EU: Nuremberg (Germany), Falkenstein (Germany), Helsinki (Finland)
- Asia: Singapore
US datacenters (Ashburn, Hillsboro) maintain the previous plan structure.
Yes, CX Gen3 plans can run on either Intel or AMD hardware depending on availability at provisioning time. You cannot choose the specific CPU type, but both deliver similar performance for the price point.
For modern Docker containers with multi-architecture images, CAX ARM servers often provide better performance per euro. Most official Docker images support ARM64. Check your specific images at Docker Hub before committing.
Best Practices for Cost-Optimized Servers
- Monitor resources actively - Set up alerts for CPU/RAM/disk usage
- Implement caching - Use Redis or Memcached to reduce compute load
- Optimize databases - Proper indexing and query optimization matter more
- Use CDN - Offload static assets to reduce server load
- Schedule intensive tasks - Run backups and processing during low-traffic hours
- Right-size your plan - Don’t over-provision; start small and scale up if needed
- Leverage hourly billing - Test different plans without long-term commitment
- Enable backups - 20% server cost for automated daily backups is worth it
Conclusion: Exceptional Value for Budget-Conscious Users
Hetzner’s new Cost-Optimized plans represent the best value proposition in the VPS market for 2025. At €5.49/month for 4 vCPU and 8GB RAM, you’re getting enterprise-grade infrastructure at hobby project prices.
Key Takeaways:
- 50% cheaper than Regular Performance plans
- 3-6x cheaper than DigitalOcean, Linode, and Vultr
- Excellent performance for development, testing, and moderate production workloads
- ARM option (CAX) offers even better performance per euro for cloud-native apps
- 20TB bandwidth included in European datacenters
- Hourly billing for maximum flexibility
Who Should Use Cost-Optimized Plans?
Perfect for:
- Developers and startups watching costs
- Side projects and personal websites
- Development and staging environments
- Learning and experimentation
- Small to medium WordPress sites
- Microservices and containerized workloads
Who Should Consider Regular or Dedicated?
Better options for:
- High-traffic production applications
- Database servers with heavy queries
- CPU-intensive processing tasks
- Enterprise applications with SLA requirements
- Applications needing consistent performance guarantees
€20 Free Credit
Sign up for Hetzner Cloud and receive €20 credit to test these new Cost-Optimized plans. That’s enough to run a CX33 server (4 vCPU, 8GB RAM) for almost 4 months free!
For modern workloads: Try CAX21 (€6.49/month) if your stack supports ARM.
For more detailed benchmarking and comparisons, check out our comprehensive Hetzner Cloud Review 2025.
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