Hetzner Promo Code & Cloud Deals

Hetzner doesn't issue public promo codes. The only legitimate way to get free credit is the referral link — new Hetzner Cloud accounts that sign up via an existing customer's link receive $20 in cloud credit on signup. Sites advertising "Hetzner coupon codes" or "30-65% off discount codes" are recycling fake codes that won't work in checkout; the referral credit is the real path.

A Hetzner referral link is a personal sign-up URL that any existing Hetzner Cloud customer can generate from the Referrals tab in their account. New customers who sign up via the link receive $20 in cloud credit; the referrer earns $10 once the new account spends $10. Hetzner doesn't publish a single shared promo code — every link is tied to a specific existing account.

No. Unlike AWS Free Tier or DigitalOcean's $200 credit, Hetzner doesn't offer a permanent free tier. The cheapest entry point is the CX23 cloud server at €3.99/month (~$4.99). Combined with the $20 credit from a referral signup, your first ~5 months on the cheapest plan are effectively free — the closest Hetzner gets to a free trial.

There's nothing to manually enter. The $20 credit is applied automatically when you sign up via a referral link — it appears on your invoices and is deducted from usage with no checkout step or code-entry field. Credit can't be applied retroactively to existing accounts, so make sure to click the referral link before creating the account.

The most common cause is signing up directly at hetzner.com instead of clicking the referral link first — Hetzner attributes credit based on the click path, not retroactively. Other reasons: the new account hasn't passed Hetzner's identity verification (KYC is required), the referrer's link has been disabled, or the email was previously registered. If credit doesn't appear within 24 hours of account activation, contact Hetzner support with your signup details.