kubernetes
Kubernetes Cluster Cost Calculator
Calculate the monthly cost of running a self-managed Kubernetes cluster on Hetzner Cloud, Vultr, or DigitalOcean. Choose server types for control planes, workers, and load balancers with HA mode.
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Kubernetes Cluster Architecture on Hetzner Cloud
Hetzner Cloud is one of the most cost-effective platforms for self-managed Kubernetes clusters. A full HA production setup typically costs 4–10× less than managed Kubernetes on AWS or GKE.
Recommended Production Architecture
- ›3× Control Plane nodes (cpx32: 4 vCPU, 8 GB RAM) — etcd + kube-apiserver + kube-scheduler
- ›3+ Worker nodes (cpx42: 8 vCPU, 16 GB RAM) — your actual workloads
- ›2× HAProxy load balancer nodes (cpx22) with Keepalived Floating IP — HA for K8s API + Ingress
- ›1 Private network (10.20.0.0/24) — internal cluster communication
Why 3 Control Planes?
etcd requires a quorum of (n/2)+1 nodes to elect a leader and accept writes. With 3 nodes, you tolerate 1 failure. With 5, you tolerate 2. Running 2 control planes gives you no fault tolerance — if one fails, etcd loses quorum and the entire cluster becomes read-only.
Server Type Guide (eu-central, verified 2026-05)
| Type | vCPU | RAM | Monthly | Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| cx23 | 2 shared | 4 GB | €5.49 | LB / bastion |
| cx33 | 4 shared | 8 GB | €8.49 | Control plane (budget) |
| cax21 | 4 ARM | 8 GB | €10.49 | Control plane (ARM) |
| cx43 | 8 shared | 16 GB | €15.99 | Worker (standard) |
| cax31 | 8 ARM | 16 GB | €20.99 | Worker (ARM) |
| cx53 | 16 shared | 32 GB | €29.49 | Worker (large) |
| ccx23 | 4 ded. | 16 GB | €85.99 | Worker (dedicated CPU) |
| ccx33 | 8 ded. | 32 GB | €138.49 | Worker (dedicated, heavy) |
Cost Optimization Tips
- ›Use shared x86 (cx) rather than ARM (cax) if pure cost is the priority — cax currently costs more per core on Hetzner. Pick ARM only where its performance-per-core actually beats cx for your workload.
- ›Enable Longhorn with S3 backup instead of using Hetzner Volumes (cheaper at scale)
- ›Use the node autoscaler to scale workers down during off-peak hours
Key Terms
Full glossary →kubeadm
A tool for bootstrapping Kubernetes clusters. It automates the setup of control plane components and joining worker nodes, following Kubernetes best practices.
etcd
A distributed key-value store used by Kubernetes to store all cluster state and configuration. etcd is the single source of truth for the entire cluster.
k3s
A lightweight Kubernetes distribution by Rancher. k3s packages the entire Kubernetes control plane into a single binary under 100MB, ideal for edge, IoT, and small VPS deployments.
Helm
A package manager for Kubernetes. Helm charts bundle Kubernetes manifests into reusable packages with configurable values, versioned and published to chart repositories.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a production Kubernetes cluster on Hetzner cost?
A typical production cluster with 3 control planes (cx33 — €8.49/mo each), 3 workers (cx43 — €15.99/mo each), and 2 HAProxy load balancers (cx23 — €5.49/mo each) costs approximately €84/month on Hetzner Cloud — significantly cheaper than AWS EKS or GKE for equivalent specs.
Should I use ARM (cax) or x86 (cpx/cx) servers for Kubernetes?
At current Hetzner pricing, ARM (cax) servers actually cost 10–30% more per core than the equivalent shared x86 (cx) tier — check the live prices before assuming ARM is cheaper. ARM is fully supported by Kubernetes and can still be worth it for better performance-per-core on multi-arch workloads. Use x86 if you have workloads with x86-only container images or dependencies. Most modern images are multi-arch.
How many control plane nodes do I need for HA?
3 control plane nodes is the standard for production HA. etcd requires an odd number of members for quorum (3 tolerates 1 failure, 5 tolerates 2 failures). Never use 2 or 4.
Do I need dedicated load balancer nodes?
For production, yes. Dedicated HAProxy VMs with Keepalived provide a stable Floating IP for the K8s API and Ingress, surviving control plane restarts. For dev clusters, you can skip this and use a single control plane with NodePort.
Related Tools
K8s Node Sizing
Calculate the right number and size of Kubernetes worker nodes for your workloads. Supports Hetzner Cloud and Vultr with verified pricing.
Longhorn Storage
Calculate the total storage required for Longhorn distributed block storage, including replica overhead, snapshot retention, and S3 backup sizing on Hetzner Object Storage.
Observability Sizing
Size your Prometheus, Grafana, Loki, and Alertmanager stack. Calculate RAM, disk, and CPU requirements based on your cluster size and retention period.
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