We scraped VPS prices nightly for up to 196 nights. 273 plans never moved, and our first query missed a 40% increase

Description and use

A nightly VPS price scraper tracked 273 plans, finding most unchanged while netcup and others introduced significant price hikes, including a 40% increase.

Problem

Initial automated price‑tracking query reported no changes for netcup in September, but a 40% price increase actually occurred.

Outcome

The nightly scraper accurately tracked 273 VPS plans, revealing that most remained price‑stable while netcup, Hetzner, OVHcloud, IONOS, Hostinger and Contabo introduced significant price changes. The initial query’s false negative was due to plan generation swaps that did not alter existing rows.

Workflow

• 1. Deploy nightly scraper to collect VPS prices from provider sites.
• 2. Store raw price data with timestamps and billing terms.
• 3. Run automated query to detect price changes per plan.
• 4. Flag anomalies where a provider replaces a plan generation without changing existing rows.
• 5. Cross‑check flagged changes against provider announcements and price‑adjustment pages.
• 6. Update documentation and alert stakeholders to detected price shifts.

Evidence

Our first query said netcup changed no prices in September. That was wrong.

Source

On 22 September netcup replaced its G12 plans with a G12.5 generation that costs 40% more on the x86 VPS line and has half the disk, and no existing plan's price moved.

Source

The table shows one example plan from each, with its billing term.

Source