Skip to content

hetzner-k3s

hetzner-k3s logo

The easiest and fastest way to create
production-ready Kubernetes clusters on Hetzner Cloud

❤️ Support This Project

hetzner-k3s is maintained by a single developer. If it saves you time or money, please consider sponsoring its continued development.

Become a sponsor →

What is hetzner-k3s?

hetzner-k3s is a CLI tool that creates fully-configured Kubernetes clusters on Hetzner Cloud in minutes. It uses k3s, a lightweight Kubernetes distribution by Rancher, and automatically configures everything you need for production workloads.

Key Highlights

Metric Value
Time to create a 6-node HA cluster 2-3 minutes
Tested scale 500 nodes in under 11 minutes
Dependencies Just the CLI tool
Platform fees None — you only pay Hetzner

What Gets Installed Automatically

  • k3s — lightweight, certified Kubernetes
  • Hetzner Cloud Controller Manager — automatic load balancer provisioning
  • Hetzner CSI Driver — persistent volumes via Hetzner block storage
  • System Upgrade Controller — zero-downtime k3s upgrades
  • Cluster Autoscaler — automatic node scaling based on demand
  • Private networking and firewall — secure cluster communication

Getting Started
Installation Install hetzner-k3s on macOS, Linux, or Windows (via WSL)
Create Your First Cluster Configuration reference and cluster creation
Complete Tutorial Set up a cluster with ingress, TLS, and a sample application
Why hetzner-k3s? Compare to managed services and Terraform-based alternatives

Why Choose hetzner-k3s?

Speed Without Shortcuts

A 3-master, 3-worker highly available cluster takes just 2-3 minutes to create. This includes provisioning all infrastructure (instances, load balancer, private network, firewall) and deploying k3s with all essential components.

In stress testing, a 500-node cluster (3 masters, 497 workers) was created in under 11 minutes.

Simplicity That Scales

  • No Terraform or Packer — a single CLI tool handles everything
  • No management cluster — unlike Cluster API or Claudie, you don't need Kubernetes to create Kubernetes
  • Simple YAML configuration — human-readable and version-controllable
  • Idempotent operations — run create multiple times safely; it picks up where it left off

Complete Control

  • Your credentials stay local — the Hetzner API token never leaves your machine
  • No third-party access — unlike managed services, no external party can access your clusters
  • Open source (MIT License) — inspect, modify, and contribute to the code
  • No recurring fees — you only pay Hetzner for infrastructure

Production-Ready Defaults

  • High availability — distribute masters and workers across locations
  • Autoscaling — scale worker pools based on resource demands
  • Private networking — cluster traffic stays off the public internet
  • Automatic upgrades — the System Upgrade Controller handles rolling updates

Documentation Structure

Getting Started

Operations

Advanced Topics

Reference

Community

Why Hetzner Cloud?

Hetzner Cloud offers exceptional value for Kubernetes workloads:

  • Up to 80% lower costs than AWS, Google Cloud, and Azure
  • Transparent, all-inclusive pricing — traffic, IPv4/IPv6, DDoS protection, and firewalls included
  • Six global locations — Germany (Nuremberg, Falkenstein), Finland (Helsinki), USA (Ashburn, Hillsboro), Singapore
  • Flexible instance types — x86 and ARM architectures, including cost-effective ARM instances (CAX) for budget-friendly clusters
  • 25+ years of reliability — proven infrastructure trusted by companies worldwide

About the Author

I'm Vito Botta, Lead Platform Architect at Brella, an event management platform based in Finland. I handle infrastructure, coding, and supporting the development team.

I also spend time as a bug bounty hunter, finding and responsibly reporting security vulnerabilities.

Connect with me at vitobotta.com. I'm available for consultancies around hetzner-k3s and Kubernetes on Hetzner.

Why Sponsor?

This project is maintained by a single developer in my spare time. Sponsorship helps me:

  • Respond to issues faster
  • Ship new features regularly
  • Keep the project compatible with new Hetzner Cloud updates

If hetzner-k3s saves you time or money, please consider supporting its development.

Platinum Sponsors

SprintPulse

SprintPulse — the retrospective tool teams actually love. Run engaging retros with real-time collaboration, AI-powered insights, and actionable outcomes. Set up in 60 seconds, no training required.

A huge thank you to Alamos GmbH for sponsoring the development of awesome features!

Alamos

Backers

Also thanks to @deubert-it, @jonasbadstuebner, @ricristian , @QuentinFAIDIDE for their support!

Code of Conduct

Everyone interacting in the hetzner-k3s project's codebases, issue trackers, chat rooms and mailing lists is expected to follow the code of conduct.

License

This tool is available as open source under the terms of the MIT License.