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DigitalOcean vs FaunaDB

DigitalOcean logo

DigitalOcean

Software

The developer cloud

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
FaunaDB logo

FaunaDB

Software

The distributed serverless database for modern applications

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: DigitalOcean data transfer overage charged at $0.01 per GiB beyond included allowances; FaunaDB the Internet Archive's capture of FaunaDB's homepage on 5 January 2019 confirmed a free 'Try Cloud' tier alongside a self-hosted download, with a separate Pricing page linked but not itself retrievable from the archive within two attempts.
  • They diverge on capability: DigitalOcean covers Droplets (VPS), FaunaDB covers ACID Transactions.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which DigitalOcean and FaunaDB actually diverge.

Attributes where DigitalOcean and FaunaDB differ
AttributeDigitalOceanFaunaDB
Pricing modelusage-basedfreemium
PlatformsLinux, Cloud (AWS, GCP, Azure backend)Web
Founded20112012

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), 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 DigitalOcean

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

Only in FaunaDB

  • ACID Transactions
  • Document-relational Model
  • GraphQL API
  • Global Distribution
  • Temporal Queries
  • Multi-tenancy
  • Serverless
  • GraphQL

Both cover

  • Web support

What people use each for

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

DigitalOcean

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

FaunaDB

  • Serverless applicationsnot DigitalOcean
  • Rapid prototypingnot DigitalOcean
  • Mobile backendsnot DigitalOcean
  • JAMstacknot DigitalOcean
  • Microservicesnot DigitalOcean

Where each one falls short

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

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

FaunaDB

  • The Internet Archive's capture of FaunaDB's homepage on 5 January 2019 confirmed a free 'Try Cloud' tier alongside a self-hosted download, with a separate Pricing page linked but not itself retrievable from the archive within two attempts.

Pricing, plan by plan

DigitalOcean

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the DigitalOcean review.

FaunaDB

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 100K read ops
    • 50K write ops
    • 1GB storage
  • Pro$25/month
    • Pay per use
    • Priority support
    • Advanced features

Which should you pick?

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

Choose FaunaDB if

  • You need acid transactions.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want document-relational model.
FaunaDB review

Questions people ask

Is DigitalOcean or FaunaDB better?
Neither clearly leads. DigitalOcean starts at Free and FaunaDB at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, DigitalOcean or FaunaDB?
DigitalOcean starts at Free and FaunaDB at Free.
Does DigitalOcean or FaunaDB run on more platforms?
DigitalOcean runs on Linux, Cloud (AWS, GCP, Azure backend). FaunaDB runs on Web.
Can I use DigitalOcean for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is DigitalOcean best used for?
DigitalOcean is most often used for developers seeking affordable vps starting at $4/month for small applications, teams deploying containerised workloads with kubernetes starting at $12/month cluster cost, data scientists and ml engineers requiring nvidia gpu access at $1.91/gpu/hour (committed). Of those, developers seeking affordable vps starting at $4/month for small applications and teams deploying containerised workloads with kubernetes starting at $12/month cluster cost are not what FaunaDB is typically brought in for.
What can DigitalOcean do that FaunaDB cannot?
DigitalOcean covers Droplets (VPS), Managed Kubernetes, App Platform, Managed Databases. FaunaDB covers ACID Transactions, Document-relational Model, GraphQL API, Global Distribution. Both handle Web support.
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