How to Cancel Hetzner: Complete Guide

What is Hetzner

Hetzner is a European hosting and cloud service provider offering cloud servers, dedicated servers, managed hosting, storage and ancillary services. The company publishes hourly and monthly billing for cloud instances and distinguishes shared vCPU plans and dedicated offerings, with traffic allowances and per-resource pricing caps. Hetzner’s documentation explains different billing behaviours for its cloud products versus konsoleH/Robot products, and it sets out contractual notice conventions that affect when cancellations become effective.

Key product tiers include cost-optimised shared cloud instances and higher-performance dedicated instances, and prices are published in euros on the official site. For Australian readers I convert representative monthly amounts to AUD as approximate references below.

Conversions above use the public published euro prices and a EUR-AUD mid-market reference rate; these are approximate and provided to help AU consumers compare relative plan cost.

How Hetzner subscriptions and cancellations work

Framework: Hetzner operates a mix of hourly and capped monthly billing for cloud servers and traditional minimum-notice contracts for some other products. The company documents a "30 days to the end of the month" rule that applies to specific product lines and explains immediate deletion/proration rules for Hetzner Cloud servers.

Notice periods and effective dates: For products covered by the 30-day rule the effective cancellation date can be the end of the next month following a 30-day extension. For Hetzner Cloud instances, deletion may be effective immediately and billing may be on an hourly basis up to the monthly cap. These differences determine whether you incur further charges after the date you indicate you want to stop a service.

Auto-renewal and charge timing: Many Hetzner products renew automatically. Consequently timing your action relative to the billing cycle affects whether you receive a prorated adjustment or a full subsequent-period charge. The provider’s terms state that active resources will continue to be invoiced until they have been terminated under the applicable contract conditions.

What users report

Customer feedback across review platforms highlights strengths and friction points. Users commonly praise Hetzner for low cost and reliable hardware, but report mixed experiences with account management, billing notifications and account restrictions where payment problems exist. Trustpilot shows a mix of positive performance reports and complaints about account restrictions or perceived inflexibility.

Forum and community reports indicate that billing locks, verification processes and automated fraud measures (for example card lockouts) can complicate account changes or access to billing credit. Some users describe good support responses; others describe delays and the need for persistence.

Recurring issues and practical takeaways

1. Timing matters: choose cancellation timing with the product’s specific cancellation rules in mind to avoid an extra monthly charge.

2. Credit and outstanding invoices: accounts with unpaid invoices are frequently subject to access restrictions which can affect service termination and transfer of assets. Keep detailed records of invoices and credits.

3. Verification and payment failures: card declines and automated fraud measures are commonly reported causes of account disruption. Maintain alternate payment records and evidence of attempted payment where practical.

Contractual rights and Australian consumer law for Hetzner services

In accordance with the Australian Consumer Law (ACL), digital services and subscriptions are covered by consumer guarantees that may entitle a consumer to remedies where services are not supplied with due care and skill or are not as described. These remedies can include a refund, repair or contract cancellation in the case of a major failure. If Hetzner’s service fails to meet its contractual promises then the ACL may supply an independent remedy.

Contract terms cannot oust statutory guarantees: a supplier term purporting to deny all refunds or limit remedies contrary to the ACL is unenforceable to that extent. Nevertheless contractual notice provisions and agreed billing mechanics will affect the mechanics of a refund or the timing of a termination. Always identify the clause in Hetzner’s terms that governs cancellation and billing when assessing rights and remedies.

Refunds, proration and credits for Hetzner

Refund entitlement depends on the product type, timing and whether there is a major failure under the ACL. Hetzner’s published approach shows hourly billing up to a monthly cap for many cloud products and indicates proration where resources are deleted before the end of a billing month. For other product lines the 30-day-to-end-of-month rule can produce a longer billing window.

Implication: if you are seeking a refund for unused time, your eligibility will turn on the product’s billing model, the effective cancellation date under the contract, and whether the service quality amounts to a major failure under the ACL. Document service outages or failures carefully to support any disputed refund claim.

Documentation checklist

• Contract and T&Cs: copy the specific Hetzner terms that reference cancellation, billing and refunds.
• Invoices: preserve the last 6 months of invoices and any prepayments or account credit records.
• Service evidence: keep uptime logs, support tickets and timestamps showing service disruption or termination dates.
• Payment records: keep bank or card statements that show payments and attempted payments.
• Communication log: maintain a dated log of all communications and reference numbers where available.

Disputes, chargebacks and escalation

When a refund or remedy is disputed, document the contractual clause relied upon and the factual basis for the claim. If a consumer remedy under the ACL is asserted, the next steps typically include raising the issue through the supplier’s complaint channels, then escalating to a relevant Australian jurisdiction or regulator if unresolved.

Chargebacks and payment reversals are a financial remedy but carry risk: they may trigger account restrictions and are assessed against payment-provider rules. Keep evidence showing the timeline of service provision, invoices and any direct attempts to resolve the issue before contesting a charge.

Common pitfalls when cancelling Hetzner subscriptions

• 1. Misreading the applicable cancellation rule - cloud versus konsoleH/Robot differences can lead to unexpected charges.
• 2. Overlooking auto-renewal dates and billing cycles which determine liability for the next period.
• 3. Not securing evidence of account credits or outstanding invoices before terminating services; disputes often centre on residual credit or debt.
• 4. Assuming a provider policy can override statutory consumer guarantees; this is legally incorrect.

Address

• Address: 25, 91710 Gunzenhausen, tel.: +49 9831505-0, fax: +49 9831 505-3, email: info@hetzner.com

Recordkeeping and evidence preservation for Hetzner matters

Retain all transaction receipts, invoices, support reference numbers and time-stamped logs for at least 24 months. These records are critical for contesting invoices, seeking consumer law remedies, or demonstrating compliance with notice provisions. Store backups of any data you may need to retrieve after service termination.

Where multiple products are active, maintain a ledger tying each invoice to the specific resource. This reduces ambiguity in disputes over credits, refunds or residual charges.

What to expect after cancelling Hetzner

Expect a billing reconciliation process that may include final invoices for consumed hours, outstanding charges and potential refunds for remaining credit. For products subject to the 30-day rule, access may continue until the effective end-of-month termination date. For some cloud instances deletion may be effective immediately and billed hourly up to the cap.

Practical next steps: keep documentary proof showing the service stop date, monitor bank statements for final postings and preserve access logs for a reasonable period to support any follow-up claim. If you believe statutory consumer guarantees apply, reference the ACCC guidance on consumer guarantees when preparing your complaint.

Dispute resolution and escalation paths relevant to Hetzner

If contractual resolution fails, options include lodging a complaint with an Australian state consumer affairs office or reporting a breach of consumer law to the ACCC. Legal remedies may be pursued through small claims or higher courts depending on the dispute value and legal basis. Keep legal advice in mind for substantial claims.

International jurisdiction considerations: Hetzner is an overseas supplier for many Australian customers and its terms may specify a foreign governing law. Nevertheless ACL protections can still apply to consumers in Australia for local consumer transactions. Assess jurisdictional clauses carefully when considering litigation or formal dispute steps.

Template expectations and what not to do

Avoid using non-evidenced or informal notifications that leave no trace. Provide clear facts, dates, invoices and expectations in any communication. Preserve contemporaneous evidence of payment attempts and service failures. Keep language precise and contractual in tone.

Further actions and legal remedies for unresolved Hetzner disputes

If a statutory remedy is appropriate, consider lodging an official complaint with the ACCC or with a state consumer protection office. For contractual breaches, examine the governing law clause and consider alternate dispute resolution or litigation depending on the claim size and legal basis. Obtain tailored legal advice where complex jurisdictional or technical issues arise.