Hetzner

hetzner.com · Compute / VPS / Cloud Hosting modeIntegrated

Last probed 2026-08-16 17:31 UTC · Provisional

Hetzner — Self-serve budget VPS/dedicated servers (EU-based).

23 / 100triageInterrupt Score(range 0–42 · 7 properties unassessed)How much automated use this service interrupts — the badge-driving metric. Unassessed properties are provisionally scored at 50%; evidence-graded successes at 25%.

Custody / RiskNot applicable

ConfidenceProvisional

Verdict: Partially — an AI agent can use Hetzner, but activate is blocked — A CAPTCHA blocks automated signup.

DiscoverNot assessed
ActivateBlocked
OperateNot assessedgated by Activate
ManageNot assessedgated by Activate

Capability parity

Each stage answers one question about what an agent can do unattended. Stages are ordered by the credential-gateway dependency: Activate issues the keys that unlock Operate and Manage.

Discover

Can an agent find and read it, no account?

Not assessed

Be found by a retrieval agentNot assessed
Read what it does and how to use itNot assessed
Read pricing & limits without loginNot assessed

Activate

Can an agent sign up and walk away with the keys it needs?

Blocked

Create an account self-serveBlocked
A CAPTCHA blocks automated signup.
CAPTCHA / bot-challenge blocks this.
Evidence
Path tried
signup flow
Where it stalled
verification step
Evidence tier
Tier 1 (unauth probe)
Verification
Evidence-only — graded from passive signal, not live-verified.
- CAPTCHA / bot-challengeSignuphCaptcha widget detected on the account-signup form.
Obtain an API / MCP access credentialNot assessed
Obtain a management / admin keyNot assessed
Accept the terms without a bot-banEasy
No bot-prohibition signal found.
Evidence
Path tried
ToS / policy scan
Where it stalled
completed
Evidence tier
Tier 0 (passive scan)
Verification
Evidence-only — graded from passive signal, not live-verified.

Operate

Can an agent do the service's actual jobs — call, transact, pay?

Not assessed

Gated by Activate — the credential this stage needs isn't issued unattended, so these rows may be unreachable even where they read Easy.

Call the primary service over MCP / APINot assessed
Gated by Activate — the credential this needs isn't issued unattended.
Complete a transaction / checkoutNot applicable
Integrated tool — the API call is the transaction, no separate checkout.
Gated by Activate — the credential this needs isn't issued unattended.
Pay via an agent rail (x402 / ACP / AP2)Not assessed
Gated by Activate — the credential this needs isn't issued unattended.

Manage

Can an agent administer the account and provision resources?

Not assessed

Gated by Activate — the credential this stage needs isn't issued unattended, so these rows may be unreachable even where they read Easy.

Provision / scale / tear down a serviceNot assessed
Gated by Activate — the credential this needs isn't issued unattended.
Change account details / set budget / rotate keysNot assessed
Gated by Activate — the credential this needs isn't issued unattended.
View usage & billingNot assessed
Gated by Activate — the credential this needs isn't issued unattended.
Cancel / export / delete (offboard)Not assessed
Gated by Activate — the credential this needs isn't issued unattended.

Findings

How scoring works →

Interrupt tier: High-Interrupt — derived from 3 findings; interrupt score 23 / 100 — the badge-driving metric. (range 0–42 · 7 unassessed)

Every tool starts at 100. Each interrupt found subtracts a penalty of base weight × timing × hardness × evidence — the multiplier values below come from the same rubric tables the score is computed with. New snapshots also provisionally subtract 50% of the full worst-case tax for each unassessed property and 25% for evidence-graded successes not live-verified by Tier 2.

Property coverage

A check only counts as clean when a probe tier capable of detecting that interrupt actually ran and found nothing. Not tested ≠ clean.

Property	Stage	State	Evidence	Required
CAPTCHA / bot-challenge	activate	failed	Active finding — itemized in the penalty matrix below. Tier 0 assesses this property.	no
SMS / phone OTP verification	activate	failed	Active finding — itemized in the penalty matrix below. Tier 1 assesses this property.	no
Manual approval queue	activate	failed	Active finding — itemized in the penalty matrix below. Tier 2 assesses this property.	no
Mandatory phone verification call	activate	unassessed	No probe tier that can detect this has run yet — unknown, not clean. Tier 2 assesses this property.	no
Mailed physical code (postal)	activate	unassessed	No probe tier that can detect this has run yet — unknown, not clean. Tier 2 assesses this property.	no
“Contact sales” wall (no self-serve path)	activate	unassessed	No probe tier that can detect this has run yet — unknown, not clean. Tier 2 assesses this property.	no
Rate-limit-triggered manual review	manage	unassessed	No probe tier that can detect this has run yet — unknown, not clean. Tier 2 assesses this property.	no
One-time account / payment-method provisioning	manage	unassessed	No probe tier that can detect this has run yet — unknown, not clean. Tier 2 assesses this property.	no
Identity / KYC verification	activate	unassessed	No probe tier that can detect this has run yet — unknown, not clean. Tier 2 assesses this property.	no
Crypto wallet / key-custody setup	operate	unassessed	No probe tier that can detect this has run yet — unknown, not clean. Tier 2 assesses this property.	no
Email OTP verification	activate	success	None found — checked at Tier 1 (unauth probe) (evidence-graded; not yet live-verified by a Tier 2 probe) Tier 1 assesses this property.	no
ToS clause banning automated/bot access	discover	success	None found — checked at Tier 0 (passive scan) (evidence-graded; not yet live-verified by a Tier 2 probe) Tier 0 assesses this property.	no
Mandatory redirect to vendor’s own site	operate	success	None found — checked at Tier 1 (unauth probe) (evidence-graded; not yet live-verified by a Tier 2 probe) Tier 1 assesses this property.	no
SSO-only signup, no API-key issuance	activate	success	None found — checked at Tier 1 (unauth probe) (evidence-graded; not yet live-verified by a Tier 2 probe) Tier 1 assesses this property.	no
No Machine Interface	operate	success	None found — checked at Tier 1 (unauth probe) (evidence-graded; not yet live-verified by a Tier 2 probe) Tier 1 assesses this property.	yes

Interrupt found	Base weight	× Timing	× Hardness	× Evidence	= Penalty
Starting score					100
Manual approval queueRate-limit / manual review escalationFirst-time / low-history accounts are held in a manual fraud-review queue before larger instance types or additional servers can be provisioned.	6	×3ongoing	×2.5hard	×0.8Tier 1 (unauth probe)	−36
CAPTCHA / bot-challengeSignuphCaptcha widget detected on the account-signup form.	6	×1one-time setup	×2.5hard	×0.8Tier 1 (unauth probe)	−12
SMS / phone OTP verificationAccount verification (KYC / OTP)New account signup requires SMS/phone OTP verification before provisioning any server.	5	×1one-time setup	×2.5hard	×0.8Tier 1 (unauth probe)	−10
Total penalty					−58
Full unknown tax 89 — capped at 25 (point score uses 50% of the capped value)					−89
Evidence-graded tax (successes not live-verified by a Tier 2 probe) 142.4 — capped at 25 (point score uses 25% of the capped value)					−142.4
Raw score = 100 − 58 = 42 Point score = 42 − 50% × 25 − 25% × 25 = 23.3 → 23					23

What would make this Easy

One concrete change per blocker found. These are the diffs between this listing's current parity and an unattended agent path.

Activate — CAPTCHA / bot-challengeDrop the CAPTCHA, or gate it behind a documented bot-detection signal a well-behaved agent can pass.
Activate — Manual approval queueOffer an instant self-serve tier, even a rate-limited one.
Activate — SMS / phone OTP verificationAllow email-only verification, or offer SSO alongside an API-key path.

How we scored this

Confidence: Provisional (0.55) — Based on Tier 0/1 evidence only (passive checks, no live transaction attempt) — treat the number as a triage signal, not a verified outcome.
Machine-Readability sub-score: 65 / 100 (a separate integration-ease signal — it never enters the Interrupt Score or badge).
Some capability stages are not yet assessed — shown plainly in the spine above, never as a pass.
Rubric, tiers, confidence model, and badge thresholds →

Machine-readability checks not yet recorded

Four check groups, equal weight: machine interfaces, browsing efficiency, element discoverability, and discovery/agent access. Each check carries an evidence grade (proven / plausible / emerging) — an honesty label that never weights the score. What these mean →

No per-check breakdown recorded for this listing.

Evidence & history

Last probed 2026-08-16 17:31 UTC. The raw JSON is the archival record.

This is the first assessment on record.

Date	Score	Badge	Rubric version
2026-08-16 17:31 UTC	23	High-Interrupt (current)	[email protected]

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