Budget the server. Verify the sending route.

Understand what the €12 plan includes

Starter is €12 per month and includes one connected sending server, up to 10,000 active subscribers and 25,000 hosted emails per billing month. Actual own-server sends have no monthly platform email quota and do not consume hosted credits. Your VPS is billed separately. Warm-up, safety checks, fair use, server capacity and other plan limits still apply.

The VPS becomes a sending route inside SendMailOS; the whole application does not move onto your server. Campaigns, contacts, templates and reporting stay in the platform. Choose a higher plan for larger subscriber counts, more servers or other allowances. Projected volume alone cannot establish VPS capacity.

Check Hetzner’s SMTP policy before ordering

Hetzner’s Cloud FAQ states that ports 25 and 465 are blocked by default. After one month as a customer and payment of the first invoice, you can request unblocking for a valid use case; approval is case by case. Its FAQ also describes port 587 for external delivery services. That relay option is different from direct delivery from your own server’s IP.

Confirm outbound port 25 for your exact account, VPS product and location before relying on direct delivery. A website connection, public DNS check or approval on another account cannot establish access from this VPS. Keep the provider confirmation and check date in your setup record.

Build a complete monthly cost estimate

Use the current provider quote and enter the same currency and billing period for every line. Keep unconfirmed amounts marked pending instead of treating them as zero.

Add subscription, complete VPS-related costs and applicable extras. Record operations time separately. The calculator uses your VPS estimate, not live Hetzner prices. Keep unconfirmed charges pending. Included hosted allowance is a separate sending allowance, not cash credit against the VPS bill.

Give the setup an operating owner

1. Before pairing

   Check current installer requirements, server access, the provider’s outbound policy and the IP’s reverse DNS controls. Protect administrative access and decide who handles server patches, monitoring and recovery.

2. Pair from the dashboard

   Use the installation command and one-time pairing token shown in your SendMailOS workspace. Keep tokens and server credentials out of shared planning documents. Confirm connection, observed IP, last-seen time and agent version.

3. Verify the selected domain

   Complete domain verification, check the required authentication records and choose the intended route. Record the current warm-up allowance. Public DNS results alone cannot show whether outbound port 25 works from the VPS.

4. Run a controlled test

   Trace your test through the configured route and examine delivery status. Check what happens if the server is unavailable. Server-only messages wait for the server; a configured hybrid route may use hosted fallback and requires hosted credits.

Review cost and reliability together

Compare provider invoices and platform usage with your estimate. Review errors, bounces, connection health and management time. Increase volume within warm-up and safety limits. Recipient-server acceptance establishes a transport step, not inbox placement.

A German server location does not establish complete privacy compliance or EU-only processing. Review actual data flows and agreements separately. This worksheet plans costs and responsibilities; it does not certify the setup.