DigitalOcean
Developer cloud with Droplet virtual servers from $4 a month, plus managed Kubernetes, databases, storage and GPUs.
Founded 2012
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DigitalOcean is a cloud provider built around Droplets, its name for virtual private servers. A Basic Droplet with a shared CPU starts at $4 a month for 1 vCPU, 512 MiB of memory, a 10 GiB SSD and 500 GiB of outbound transfer; Droplets with dedicated CPUs start at $42 a month. Its bundled Droplet plans are billed per second, capped at the flat monthly price. Next to servers it sells managed Kubernetes with a free control plane, managed databases (PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, Valkey, Kafka and OpenSearch) from about $15 a month, Spaces object storage from $5 a month and GPU Droplets from $0.76 per GPU per hour. Its documentation lists 13 regions, six of them in the US. Weekly or daily backups cost 20% or 30% of the Droplet price, while network-level DDoS protection and cloud firewalls are free.
Best for
Developers and small teams that want simple virtual servers at low monthly prices, with managed Kubernetes, databases, object storage and GPUs available from the same provider.
Pros
- Low entry price: a Basic Droplet costs $4 a month, billed per second with usage capped at 672 hours a month
- Every Droplet plan includes outbound transfer (from 500 GiB a month, pooled across a team), with overage at $0.01 per GiB
- Managed Kubernetes (free control plane), managed databases, Spaces object storage and GPU Droplets from one provider
- Free network-level DDoS protection and free cloud firewalls
- Six US regions out of 13: New York, San Francisco, Atlanta, Richmond, Kansas City and Memphis
Cons
- Backups cost extra: 20% (weekly) or 30% (daily) of the Droplet price
- Powered-off Droplets are still billed; only destroying a Droplet stops the charge
- Faster support is paid: the free plan answers in under 24 hours, under 2 hours costs $99 a month
- The new-account credit is small: $5 that expires 90 days after signup
- DDoS protection covers layers 3 and 4 only, and an IP under an attack beyond capacity is blackholed
Pricing
| Plan | Monthly | Yearly (12-month total) |
|---|---|---|
| Basic DropletStarting price: shared CPU, 1 vCPU, 512 MiB, 10 GiB SSD, 500 GiB transfer; billed per second, capped at 672 hours a month; no annual price | $4/mo | no yearly price |
| CPU-Optimized DropletStarting price: 2 dedicated vCPUs, 4 GiB, 25 GiB SSD, 4,000 GiB transfer; billed per second, capped at 672 hours a month | $42/mo | no yearly price |
| General Purpose DropletStarting price: 2 dedicated vCPUs, 8 GiB, 25 GiB SSD, 4,000 GiB transfer; billed per second, capped at 672 hours a month | $63/mo | no yearly price |
| Memory-Optimized DropletStarting price: 2 vCPUs, 16 GiB (8 GiB per vCPU), 50 GiB NVMe SSD, 4,000 GiB transfer; billed per second, capped at 672 hours a month | $84/mo | no yearly price |
| Storage-Optimized DropletStarting price: 2 vCPUs, 16 GiB, 300 GiB NVMe SSD, 4,000 GiB transfer; billed per second, capped at 672 hours a month | $131/mo | no yearly price |
Prices checked on .
Features
In Cloud hosting
| Feature | DigitalOcean |
|---|---|
| Free trial | Yes · $5 signup credit, expires 90 days after signup; covers all products except SaaS add-ons; a payment method is needed first |
| Managed databases | Yes · PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, Valkey, Kafka, OpenSearch; from $15/month (Valkey; PostgreSQL and MySQL $15.15); free daily backups |
| Managed Kubernetes | Yes · DigitalOcean Kubernetes: free control plane (high availability $40/month); Basic nodes from $12/month each, with free transfer from 2,000 GiB per node, pooled |
| Object storage | Yes · Spaces (S3-compatible): $5/month incl. 250 GiB and 1 TiB outbound; then $0.02/GiB stored, $0.01/GiB transfer; 12 of 13 regions |
| GPU instances | Yes · GPU Droplets on demand from $0.76/GPU/hour (RTX 4000 Ada); also L40S, RTX 6000 Ada, H100, H200, AMD MI300X, MI325X; more on contract |
| Automatic backups | Add-on · Weekly 20% or daily 30% of the Droplet price; usage-based plans from $0.01/GiB/month, up to every 4 hours, 3 days to 6 months kept |
| DDoS protection | Yes · Free, on by default for Droplets, Kubernetes, databases, load balancers and reserved IPs; layers 3 and 4 only |
| Uptime SLA | Yes · 99.99% monthly uptime per Droplet; below that, a 100% credit on the affected Droplet's charges |
| Data center regions | Yes · 13 regions / 6 US (New York, San Francisco, Atlanta, Richmond, Kansas City, Memphis); newer US regions offer fewer Droplet plans |
| Included bandwidth | Yes · From 500 GiB/month on the $4 Droplet, more on larger plans; pooled across a team's Droplets; overage $0.01/GiB; inbound free |