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

The nightly price scraper found 273 VPS plans with unchanged prices but identified six providers that raised prices in 2026, including netcup, Hetzner, OVHcloud, IONOS, Hostinger, and Contabo. The initial query missed a 40% price increase from netcup due to a generation swap.

Problem

The initial automated price‑tracking query incorrectly reported that netcup had not changed any VPS prices in September, missing a 40% price increase on new plan generations.

Outcome

The scraper accurately identified 273 plans that never changed price, while correctly capturing 6 providers that raised prices in 2026. The initial query’s false negative was due to treating generation swaps as new rows, not price changes on existing rows.

Workflow

• 1. Run nightly price scraper for all providers.
• 2. Store nightly readings per plan.
• 3. Compare current price to previous night’s price per plan.
• 4. Flag any changes and log provider, plan, date, before/after values.
• 5. Cross‑check flagged changes against provider announcements or price‑adjustment pages.
• 6. Update the first query logic to detect generation swaps as new rows rather than price changes on existing rows.

Evidence

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

netcup now pays about 5x what it paid a year earlier for DDR4 and DDR5 memory. The new G12.5 generation, which replaces G12, costs up to 40% more for x86 VPS...

Source

Hetzner's price adjustment of 15 June 2026 took effect at 08:00 CEST for new orders and for rescales of existing cloud servers.

Source