Does your website receive huge volumes of traffic? Looking for a host offering large bandwidth?
Want to know more about the Hetzner bandwidth limit? If yes, you’re on the right page!
In this article, we’ll discuss in detail the bandwidth that Hetzner offers with its various servers. We’ll also talk about the bandwidth cost and ways to increase it.
We’ll answer the most common questions about Hetzner bandwidth by the end of this article.
But first, let’s get an answer to our main question.
Contents5
What is the Hetzner bandwidth limit?
Hetzner's dedicated root servers with the standard 1 Gbit uplink have no traffic limit, while its cloud servers and 10 Gbit root servers include a fixed monthly allowance. The 1 Gbit root servers used to have a monthly cap, with extra traffic charged above it.
Hetzner has removed this limit for its dedicated root servers with a 1 Gbit uplink.
On those servers, Hetzner does not bill outgoing traffic and states that there is no bandwidth limitation. But there is a catch.
Keep in mind that "unlimited" covers only the dedicated root servers with a 1 Gbit uplink. Hetzner Cloud servers include 20 TB of outgoing traffic a month in EU locations (20 to 60 TB on the dedicated-vCPU CCX plans) and much less in the US and Singapore, between 0.5 TB and 8 TB depending on the plan. Root servers with a 10 Gbit uplink include 20 TB.
So calling all Hetzner bandwidth unlimited is misleading. The word is accurate for one server type, not for the whole product range.
On the servers with an allowance, going past it does not switch your server off or throttle it. Hetzner bills the extra outgoing traffic at €1 ($1.20) per TB. Even on the unlimited servers, a 1 Gbit port can only move so much data in a month, and your usage still has to follow Hetzner's system policies.
How do I increase my Hetzner limit?
Only Hetzner's dedicated root servers with a 1 Gbit uplink come with unlimited traffic. Cloud servers and root servers with a 10 Gbit uplink include a set amount of traffic each month, and Hetzner bills the overage.
The table below shows the Hetzner traffic limits for different servers:
| Server | Hetzner Monthly Traffic Limit |
|---|---|
| Colocation Cage | 0 TB (Includes no traffic) |
| ⅓ Rack | 2 TB |
| Full Rack – Basic | 10 TB |
| Full Rack – Advanced | 10 TB |
| CX and CPX Cloud Servers | 20 TB in EU locations (CPX: 0.5 to 5 TB in the US and Singapore) |
| CCX Cloud Servers | 20 to 60 TB in EU locations, 1 to 8 TB in the US and Singapore (based on the plan) |
| Though the host has generous monthly traffic limits, you can still increase them further by upgrading to a different server type. And if you still cross the limit, Hetzner charges €1 ($1.20) per TB that exceeds the limits listed above. |
Hetzner bandwidth cost
Hetzner bills its customers only for outgoing traffic. They don’t charge you for internal and incoming traffic. To give you more clarity, this is what the host calls internal traffic:
- Traffic coming from the public IPs of other Hetzner Cloud servers in the same network zone.
- Traffic that comes in the form of private communications from other Hetzner Cloud servers using the Networks feature provided by the host.
- The traffic of dedicated root servers from Hetzner Online.
- Traffic from web hosting packages, services, and other servers of Hetzner Online.
So all traffic coming from the above-listed sources is completely free.
Hetzner bills only the outgoing traffic from your server. That includes traffic you send to:
- The public IPs of other Hetzner Cloud servers in a different network zone (eu-central, us-east, us-west and ap-southeast).
It is important to repeat that cloud servers, root servers with a 10 Gbit uplink and colocation racks include only a finite amount of traffic per calendar month. The host charges you for the traffic used over and above this limit.
For calculation purposes, Hetzner bills the over-usage in blocks of 100 MB (0.0001 TB) and rounds a fraction up to the next full 100 MB, not to a full TB. For instance, if your server includes 20 TB of traffic and you use 20.00008 TB, Hetzner charges for 100 MB of over-usage.
As mentioned earlier, the host charges €1 ($1.20) for each additional TB you use.
Hetzner offers two billing methods: a fixed monthly price cap or an hourly billing option. Every server has both, and at the end of the month, they charge you for the lesser amount between these two options.
Essentially, if the number of hours you use the server costs less than their fixed plan, they will only charge you for the hours you’ve used. However, this applies only if you’ve used the server for the full month.
If you use a Hetzner server for a few days only and delete your cloud server to stop the billing process, the host will charge you based on the hourly rate.
It is important to keep track of your server traffic to manage your monthly bandwidth costs well. Hetzner regularly notifies you about your traffic usage, including when you use 75% of your free plan traffic and also when you exhaust all of it.
It is also possible to check your traffic usage from Robot, the host’s server administration panel, where you can track daily, monthly, and even yearly traffic usage for your selected IPs.
Using Robot, you can check if you are very close to exhausting your Hetzner bandwidth limit.
You can also activate traffic warnings from the Robot panel by setting custom limits as you need in the IPs tab. It helps when your server gets irregular traffic peaks.
Hetzner routers determine the traffic usage only after disconnecting a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) connection. If a connection stays open for several hours, all of its traffic shows up as a single peak at the moment it closes.
Conclusion
Hetzner offers unlimited traffic only on its dedicated root servers with a 1 Gbit uplink. Its cloud servers include 20 TB a month in EU locations and less in the US and Singapore, and root servers with a 10 Gbit uplink include 20 TB.
Only outgoing traffic counts toward these allowances, so incoming and internal traffic is free. Whatever server you pick, your usage still has to follow Hetzner's system policies.
How fast you use up these bandwidth limits depends on the kind of website you will be running. If your site receives a lot of visitors and you exceed your plan limit repeatedly, you can either go for a higher plan or purchase additional traffic at € 1 per additional TB.
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
Does Hetzner charge hourly?
Hetzner has both monthly and hourly billing options. It bills you either for the hourly rate multiplied by the number of hours you use your server or the monthly price cap, whichever amount is lower.
For hourly billing, note that the host bills you for a full hour even if you use your server for only a few minutes.
How much bandwidth does a Hetzner server use?
Hetzner's dedicated root servers come with a dedicated 1 Gbit uplink and unlimited traffic. Its root servers with a 10 Gbit uplink include 20 TB of monthly traffic.
Full racks from Hetzner include 10 TB of traffic. Cloud servers include 20 TB in EU locations (20 to 60 TB on CCX plans) and 0.5 to 8 TB in the US and Singapore, depending on the plan.
Is there a data limit on Hetzner?
Yes, except on dedicated root servers with a 1 Gbit uplink. Hetzner sets a monthly data limit for outgoing traffic sent from your server. It varies by the server you choose and the plan you buy from the hosting provider.
However, it is possible to go beyond this limit by purchasing additional units for extra data transfer. The host charges €1 ($1.20) for each additional TB, billed in blocks of 100 MB.
