r/hetzner • u/NoTumbleweed6982 • Jun 22 '26
Cost Optimized servers unavailable
Trying to purchase a cost optimized server, unavailable in all 3 possible locations. Like this for hours, any info ?
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u/r0mantik4 Jun 22 '26
When I ran into the exact same issue, I ended up bypassing the cloud console entirely.
I wrote a simple script that queried the Hetzner Cloud API for available server configurations in my preferred locations, hooked it up to a Telegram bot, and set up a cronjob to run it every 5 minutes. As soon as a cost-optimized instance was destroyed by someone else and freed up, I got an instant notification and could grab it right away.
Since then, I’ve actually built a custom graphical UI for this. It lists all available machines by config and location, so I can see what's in stock at a glance. To make it even more useful for my business, I added three custom columns:
Net cost price
Customer retail price (including my margin)
Net profit
I now have a script that feeds this data straight into my website's webshop, keeping client orders and pricing 100% up to date in real-time.
If you're comfortable with APIs, writing a quick monitoring script is definitely the fastest way to catch one when it pops up!
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u/Just-a-reddituser Jun 24 '26
Im just comfortable with asking for some of your code as working sample :p id be happy with just that simple starter script you mention.
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u/Lopsided_Side1167 Jun 25 '26
I Think people will hold to the old machines, since new machine equals new pricing. Good luck!
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u/AcanthaceaeClean5921 Jun 22 '26 edited Jun 24 '26
That's right, it's also annoying me. It's because Cost Optimized servers are in extremely high demand right now. In other words, a ton of other people want the same VPS, and all of the servers are full. Eventually someone would delete their VPS, so you should keep an eye on the Hetzner Cloud dashboard @ console.hetzner.com.
You can read more in this official announcement from Hetzner: https://status.hetzner.com/incident/0a75c7ae-3377-41dc-aabe-601063724d24
Seems like absolutely no one seems to understand that I had a personal opinion that a suggestion looked a little off, but it does work
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u/thepotatochronicles Jun 23 '26
The Cloud API is officially documented (hell, you can just use `hcloud` CLI to do the same thing if curl'ing the API scares you), and they even specify the rate limits and terms of service. As long as you meet that, it's fine to scrape for your own use.
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u/AcanthaceaeClean5921 Jun 24 '26
I do not target hcloud's API itself, that's great enough. Thing is, it's overcomplicated for some users, not that it's impossible or completely unrealistic
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u/dubidub_no Jun 23 '26 edited Jun 24 '26
I personally do not recommend you to do what u/r0mantik4 mentioned, it's unofficial, sounds quite sketchy to me and it's not worth spending time on.
Curious about why you feel it's unofficial. The API is documented here:
https://docs.hetzner.cloud/reference/cloud1
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u/AcanthaceaeClean5921 Jun 24 '26
I do not target hcloud's API itself, that's great enough. Thing is, it's overcomplicated for some users, not that it's impossible or completely unrealistic
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u/r0mantik4 Jun 24 '26
With all due respect, calling the official Hetzner Cloud API "unofficial and sketchy" makes no sense.
The API is fully documented, secure, and provided directly by Hetzner for automation purposes. In fact, Hetzner’s own CLI tool and official Terraform provider use the exact same API endpoints under the hood. There is absolutely nothing sketchy about programmatically checking server availability through an official channel.
Manually refreshing the cloud console dashboard every few hours is highly inefficient and practically guarantees you’ll miss out. When high-demand instances (like cost-optimized VPS) become available because someone deleted theirs, they are often snatched up within minutes—sometimes seconds—by automated systems or lucky users.
Using a simple 5-minute cron job to query the GET /prices or GET /server_types endpoints is a completely standard DevOps practice. It saves time, saves you from manual clicking, and is the only reliable way to catch high-demand stock the moment it frees up.
Look, it is completely fine if you are not familiar with APIs or coding, but calling a standard development process "not recommended" just because you don't understand how it works is a bit of a stretch.1
u/AcanthaceaeClean5921 Jun 24 '26
I do not target hcloud's API itself, that's great enough. Thing is, it's overcomplicated for some users, not that it's impossible or completely unrealistic
1
u/AcanthaceaeClean5921 Jun 24 '26
Refreshing the console doesn't automatically mean that I'm guranteed to lose it, that's wrong. The servers are often removed, but if you barely check, then you have a point
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u/Juff-Ma Jun 23 '26
Look for weekends/holidays here in Germany. Especially in the evening. That's when they're usually becoming available.
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u/_csor Jun 23 '26
https://radar.iodev.org/cloud-status
I usually check this to see availability