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Contabo vs DigitalOcean

Contabo logo

Contabo

Software

Affordable high-performance VPS hosting

From
€4.5/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
DigitalOcean logo

DigitalOcean

Software

The developer cloud

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only DigitalOcean has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Contabo fully unmanaged infrastructure requires all setup and maintenance by customer; DigitalOcean data transfer overage charged at $0.01 per GiB beyond included allowances
  • They diverge on capability: Contabo covers VPS Hosting, DigitalOcean covers Droplets (VPS).

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Contabo and DigitalOcean actually diverge.

Attributes where Contabo and DigitalOcean differ
AttributeContaboDigitalOcean
Starting price€4.5/monthFree
Pricing modelUnknownusage-based
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsLinux, WindowsLinux, Cloud (AWS, GCP, Azure backend)
Founded20032011

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown).

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 Contabo

  • VPS Hosting
  • Dedicated Servers
  • Object Storage
  • Snapshots
  • Custom ISO
  • Multiple Locations
  • SSD Storage
  • cPanel

Only in DigitalOcean

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

Both cover

  • DDoS Protection
  • Docker
  • Kubernetes
  • DDoS Protection
  • Encryption
  • Cloud deployment
  • Web support

What people use each for

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

Contabo

  • Web hostingnot DigitalOcean
  • Game serversnot DigitalOcean
  • Development environmentsnot DigitalOcean
  • VPN serversnot DigitalOcean

DigitalOcean

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

Where each one falls short

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

Contabo

  • Fully unmanaged infrastructure requires all setup and maintenance by customer
  • No formal SLA with financial compensation for downtime violations

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

Contabo

€4.5/month
  • Cloud VPS$4.5/month
    • 4 vCPU
    • 8 GB RAM
    • 100 GB SSD
  • Cloud VDS$39/month
    • Dedicated cores
    • 24 GB RAM
    • 180 GB NVMe
  • Dedicated Server$149/month
    • AMD CPU
    • 64 GB RAM
    • 1 TB NVMe

DigitalOcean

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the DigitalOcean review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Contabo if

  • You need vps hosting.
  • You work on Linux, Windows.
  • You also want dedicated servers.
Contabo 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 Contabo or DigitalOcean better?
Neither clearly leads. Contabo starts at €4.5/month and DigitalOcean at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Contabo or DigitalOcean?
DigitalOcean has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at €4.5/month for Contabo and Free for DigitalOcean.
Does Contabo or DigitalOcean run on more platforms?
Contabo runs on Linux, Windows. DigitalOcean runs on Linux, Cloud (AWS, GCP, Azure backend).
Can I use DigitalOcean for free?
Yes. DigitalOcean has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Contabo starts at €4.5/month.
What is Contabo best used for?
Contabo is most often used for web hosting, game servers, development environments, vpn servers. Of those, web hosting and game servers are not what DigitalOcean is typically brought in for.
What can Contabo do that DigitalOcean cannot?
Contabo covers VPS Hosting, Dedicated Servers, Object Storage, Snapshots. DigitalOcean covers Droplets (VPS), Managed Kubernetes, App Platform, Managed Databases. Both handle DDoS Protection, Docker, Kubernetes, DDoS Protection.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Contabo: What is the base pricing for Contabo VPS?

Contabo Cloud VPS starts at EUR 4.50 per month (approximately $4.95 USD) with 4 vCPU cores and 8 GB RAM. Prices scale up to EUR 39+ per month for dedicated performance VPS with higher specs.

Source
Contabo: Does Contabo raise prices at renewal?

No. Unlike many hosting providers, Contabo does not increase renewal prices. The promotional price you get at sign-up is locked in for future renewals.

Source
Contabo: What data center locations does Contabo offer?

Contabo operates 9 global data center regions including multiple EU locations, US East/Central/West Coast, United Kingdom, India, Singapore, Japan, and Australia.

Source
Contabo: Does Contabo provide managed services?

No. Contabo VPS is fully unmanaged. You handle all setup, security patching, and system maintenance. Managed hosting adds 2 hours per month of dedicated support for a fee.

Source
Contabo: What is Contabo's uptime guarantee?

Contabo maintains a 99.996% uptime guarantee across all plans. The platform includes unlimited traffic and free DDoS protection.

Source
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