kubernetes
Kubernetes Cluster Cost Calculator
Calculate the monthly cost of running a Kubernetes cluster on Hetzner Cloud. Choose server types for control planes, workers, and load balancers with HA mode.
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 (cpx31: 4 vCPU, 8 GB RAM) — etcd + kube-apiserver + kube-scheduler
- ›3+ Worker nodes (cpx41: 8 vCPU, 16 GB RAM) — your actual workloads
- ›2× HAProxy load balancer nodes (cpx21) 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 | €3.99 | LB / bastion |
| cx33 | 4 shared | 8 GB | €6.49 | Control plane (budget) |
| cax21 | 4 ARM | 8 GB | €7.99 | Control plane (ARM) |
| cx43 | 8 shared | 16 GB | €11.99 | Worker (standard) |
| cax31 | 8 ARM | 16 GB | €15.99 | Worker (ARM) |
| cx53 | 16 shared | 32 GB | €22.49 | Worker (large) |
| ccx23 | 4 ded. | 16 GB | €31.49 | Worker (dedicated CPU) |
| ccx33 | 8 ded. | 32 GB | €62.49 | Worker (dedicated, heavy) |
Cost Optimization Tips
- ›Use ARM (cax) servers for control planes if all your workloads are multi-arch
- ›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
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a production Kubernetes cluster on Hetzner cost?
A typical production cluster with 3 control planes (cx33 — €6.49/mo each), 3 workers (cx43 — €11.99/mo each), and 2 HAProxy load balancers (cx23 — €3.99/mo each) costs approximately €63/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?
ARM servers (cax) are 30–40% cheaper and fully supported by Kubernetes. 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.
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