Create a Hetzner account and project without losing track of the bill

Create a dedicated Hetzner Cloud project before buying a server, and record the resources you expect to pay for. A project makes the tutorial easier to find and clean up, but it does not impose a hard spending cap.

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Part 1: Create a Hetzner account and project without losing track of the bill

Video draft: Narrated explanation of account, project and billing choices. A new account signup was not recorded. Audio, captions and editing should receive a full review before publication.

Complete account setup privately

1. Open Hetzner from its official website and choose Cloud. Follow the current registration route rather than a lookalike sign-in link.
2. Enter your email and complete the account checks presented to you. Hetzner may require additional verification. Continue only after your account is approved.
3. Provide any identity or payment information privately. Exclude those screens, authentication codes, passwords, and recovery codes from recordings.
4. Enable available account two-factor authentication and save its recovery codes in your password manager.
5. Open the Cloud Console and create a dedicated project named VPS Tutorial. Check that you are inside that project before creating resources.

This series used an existing approved account. It did not record a fresh signup or claim that every applicant sees the same checks. The practical completion check is access to the intended Cloud project, not submission of a registration form.

Read the current quote

Before the final server-creation button, check the location, server type, architecture, RAM, disk, currency, hourly rate, and monthly cap shown for your account. Include primary IPv4, backups, storage, and any other selected extras. Prices and tax treatment depend on the current quote. Hetzner: Creating a server explains the creation flow.

For example, a tutorial that only needs a static test app can start with the server and the networking it needs. Adding provider backups creates another charge and still leaves application-specific restore work. Record the chosen options so cleanup does not rely on memory.

Know what stops the charge

According to Hetzner: Billing FAQ, a cloud server continues to be charged until deletion, including while powered off. Primary IPv4 addresses and snapshots can remain separately billable. Deleting a server is therefore one cleanup action, not proof that the entire project has no charges.

1. Record a review or deletion date in your own reminder system.
2. Configure a cost alert if the account supports it. Treat an alert as a notification, not an automatic spending stop.
3. Keep a short resource list: project, server, primary IP, backups or snapshots, and any added storage.
4. Before leaving a tutorial server running, check that the retention period and current charge are intentional.

If signup or access fails

Use the provider’s legitimate verification or support route. Do not automate around an account security check, reuse someone else’s account, or treat a submitted payment method as proof of server access. When switching between accounts or projects, read the project name again before creating or deleting a resource.

Finish this lesson

You are ready for key creation when your approved account can open the dedicated project, account recovery is saved, and you understand the current quote and cleanup date. The next lesson does not require a server purchase.

Return to the Hetzner and Coolify series

When the checks in this lesson pass, continue with part 2.