Hetzner's Server Lines Explained
Hetzner offers several cloud server lines. The two most relevant for VPS hosting are:
- CX — Intel or Arm (Ampere) shared vCPU
- CPX — AMD EPYC shared vCPU
There are also dedicated CPU lines (CCX), but for most workloads, shared vCPU is more than sufficient.
Pricing Comparison
| Server | vCPUs | RAM | Storage | Transfer | Price/mo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CX22 | 2 Intel | 4 GB | 40 GB | 20 TB | $4.59 |
| CPX21 | 3 AMD | 4 GB | 80 GB | 20 TB | $7.49 |
| CX32 | 4 Intel | 8 GB | 80 GB | 20 TB | $8.09 |
| CPX31 | 4 AMD | 8 GB | 160 GB | 20 TB | $14.49 |
| CX42 | 8 Intel | 16 GB | 160 GB | 20 TB | $16.19 |
| **CPX42** | **8 AMD** | **16 GB** | **240 GB** | **20 TB** | **$21.99** |
| CAX21 | 4 Arm | 8 GB | 80 GB | 20 TB | $5.39 |
| CAX31 | 8 Arm | 16 GB | 160 GB | 20 TB | $10.79 |
CPX (AMD EPYC) Advantages
- Higher single-core performance: AMD EPYC consistently benchmarks 10-20% faster per core
- More storage per tier: 240GB vs 160GB at the 8 vCPU level
- Better for CPU-intensive tasks: Builds, compilation, data processing
CX (Intel/Arm) Advantages
- Lower starting price: CX22 at $4.59 is the cheapest option
- Arm option (CAX): Excellent price-performance for compatible workloads
- Sufficient for most web apps: If your app is I/O bound (typical web server), Intel is fine
When to Choose CPX
- Running Docker builds (CPU-intensive)
- Hosting multiple apps on one server
- Running Coolify + Mailcow together
- Any workload that benefits from faster single-core speed
- When you need more storage
When to Choose CX/CAX
- Budget-constrained personal projects
- Simple web servers with low traffic
- Applications with Arm support (most Docker images now support arm64)
- Testing and development environments
Our Recommendation
For a production self-hosted stack (Coolify + Mailcow + web apps):
CPX42 ($21.99/mo) is the sweet spot.
- 8 AMD vCPUs handle Docker builds without breaking a sweat
- 16 GB RAM comfortably runs Mailcow (~4GB) + Coolify (~1GB) + multiple apps
- 240 GB NVMe is plenty for email storage, Docker images, and application data
- 20 TB transfer is more than enough for all but the highest-traffic sites
For a lightweight project or testing:
CAX21 ($5.39/mo) offers incredible value if your stack supports Arm.
Our setup guide is optimized for the CPX42 — all resource recommendations and configurations are tested on this specific server type.
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