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Cloud · head to head

Beam Cloud vs DigitalOcean

Beam Cloud logo

Beam Cloud

Cloud

Serverless GPU computing with sub-second cold starts and multi-cloud support

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
DigitalOcean logo

DigitalOcean

Cloud

The developer cloud

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Beam Cloud free tier limited to $30 monthly credits with 5 GPU containers; DigitalOcean data transfer overage charged at $0.01 per GiB beyond included allowances
  • They diverge on capability: Beam Cloud covers Sub-second cold starts, DigitalOcean covers Droplets (VPS).

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Beam Cloud and DigitalOcean actually diverge.

Attributes where Beam Cloud and DigitalOcean differ
AttributeBeam CloudDigitalOcean
Pricing modelFreemium with pay-per-millisecond usage chargesusage-based
PlatformsCloud, PythonLinux, Cloud (AWS, GCP, Azure backend)
FoundedUnknown2011

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Cloud).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Beam Cloud

  • Sub-second cold starts
  • Inference endpoints
  • Task queues
  • Sandboxes
  • Multi-cloud support
  • Python SDK
  • Global distribution
  • Massive parallelization

Only in DigitalOcean

  • Droplets (VPS)
  • Managed Kubernetes
  • App Platform
  • Managed Databases
  • Spaces (Object Storage)
  • Floating IPs
  • Load Balancers
  • Firewalls

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Beam Cloud

  • Deploying ML models with minimal latency and setup timenot DigitalOcean
  • Large-scale batch processing across thousands of concurrent tasksnot DigitalOcean
  • Cost-effective inference serving with bursty workloadsnot DigitalOcean
  • Multi-cloud AI deployments with global low-latency accessnot DigitalOcean
  • Serverless AI development for rapid experimentationnot DigitalOcean

DigitalOcean

  • Developers seeking affordable VPS starting at $4/month for small applicationsnot Beam Cloud
  • Teams deploying containerised workloads with Kubernetes starting at $12/month cluster costnot Beam Cloud
  • Data scientists and ML engineers requiring NVIDIA GPU access at $1.91/GPU/hour (committed)not Beam Cloud

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Beam Cloud

  • Free tier limited to $30 monthly credits with 5 GPU containers
  • Massive parallelization complexity may require DevOps expertise
  • Per-millisecond pricing model requires careful cost monitoring
  • Smaller team relative to established cloud providers

DigitalOcean

  • Data transfer overage charged at $0.01 per GiB beyond included allowances
  • Free tier includes only 3 static sites; additional static sites require paid upgrade
  • Container registry free tier capped at 500 MiB storage; exceeding requires paid tier
  • Functions free tier allows 90,000 GiB-seconds monthly; overages billed on usage basis
  • GPU Droplets require minimum monthly commitment for lower hourly rates; on-demand significantly more expensive

Pricing, plan by plan

Beam Cloud

Free
  • DeveloperFree
    • $30 monthly free credits
    • 5 GPU containers, 30 CPU containers
    • Community support
  • Team$89/month
    • $30 monthly free credits included
    • 50 GPU containers, 1,000 CPU containers
    • 3 seats included, $25 per additional
  • Growth$undefined/custom
    • 1,000+ GPU containers
    • Unlimited CPU containers
    • Unlimited seats
  • Serverless GPUs$undefined/per-millisecond
    • RTX 4090: $0.00019/sec

DigitalOcean

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the DigitalOcean review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Beam Cloud if

  • You need sub-second cold starts.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Cloud, Python.
  • You also want inference endpoints.
Beam Cloud review

Choose DigitalOcean if

  • You need droplets (vps).
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Cloud (AWS, GCP, Azure backend).
  • You also want managed kubernetes.
DigitalOcean review

Questions people ask

Is Beam Cloud or DigitalOcean better?
Neither clearly leads. Beam Cloud starts at Free and DigitalOcean at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Beam Cloud or DigitalOcean?
Beam Cloud starts at Free and DigitalOcean at Free.
Does Beam Cloud or DigitalOcean run on more platforms?
Beam Cloud runs on Cloud, Python. DigitalOcean runs on Linux, Cloud (AWS, GCP, Azure backend).
Can I use Beam Cloud for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Beam Cloud best used for?
Beam Cloud is most often used for deploying ml models with minimal latency and setup time, large-scale batch processing across thousands of concurrent tasks, cost-effective inference serving with bursty workloads, multi-cloud ai deployments with global low-latency access. Of those, deploying ml models with minimal latency and setup time and large-scale batch processing across thousands of concurrent tasks are not what DigitalOcean is typically brought in for.
What can Beam Cloud do that DigitalOcean cannot?
Beam Cloud covers Sub-second cold starts, Inference endpoints, Task queues, Sandboxes. DigitalOcean covers Droplets (VPS), Managed Kubernetes, App Platform, Managed Databases.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Beam Cloud: What is included in the Developer plan?

The Developer plan includes $30 monthly free credits, 5 GPU containers, 30 CPU containers, and community support. No upfront commitment is required.

Source
DigitalOcean: How much does a DigitalOcean Droplet cost?

The cheapest Basic Droplet is $4.00 per month, or $0.00595 per hour, and includes 1 vCPU, 512 MiB of memory, 10 GiB of SSD and 500 GiB of transfer. The next step up is $6.00 per month with 1 GiB of memory, 25 GiB of SSD and 1,000 GiB of transfer.

Source
Beam Cloud: How fast are the cold starts?

Beam Cloud achieves sub-second cold starts through memory snapshots that restore GPU containers 35x faster than traditional cold boots.

Source
DigitalOcean: How is DigitalOcean billed?

Droplets are billed hourly as well as monthly, and DigitalOcean states that Bundled Plan and v5 Droplets are billed on a per second basis with a 60 second minimum charge.

Source
Beam Cloud: Can I deploy across multiple cloud providers?

Yes, Beam Cloud supports multi-cloud deployment across AWS, GCP, Azure, Hetzner, and other providers with 30+ global regions available.

Source
DigitalOcean: What does the cheapest DigitalOcean plan include?

At $4.00 per month you get a single vCPU, 512 MiB of memory, 10 GiB of SSD storage and 500 GiB of outbound transfer. That is the smallest Basic Droplet DigitalOcean sells.

Source
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