Cloud & Infrastructure · head to head
DigitalOcean vs Google Cloud Platform
Google Cloud Platform
Cloud & Infrastructure
Trusted by millions of enterprises
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: DigitalOcean data transfer overage charged at $0.01 per GiB beyond included allowances; Google Cloud Platform the $300 Free Trial credit expires 90 days from signup, whichever comes first with spending it
- They diverge on capability: DigitalOcean covers Droplets (VPS), Google Cloud Platform covers Compute Engine.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which DigitalOcean and Google Cloud Platform actually diverge.
| Attribute | DigitalOcean | Google Cloud Platform |
|---|---|---|
| Platforms | Linux, Cloud (AWS, GCP, Azure backend) | Web, Api, Cli |
| Category | Cloud & Infrastructure | Unknown |
| Founded | 2011 | 2008 |
Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (usage-based), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated).
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 Google Cloud Platform
- Compute Engine
- App Engine
- Cloud Run
- Cloud Storage
- Cloud SQL
- BigQuery
- Dataflow
- Cloud Pub/Sub
Both cover
- Terraform
- Docker
- Kubernetes
- Git
- SOC2
- ISO27001
- Encryption
- Cloud deployment
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 Google Cloud Platform
- Teams deploying containerised workloads with Kubernetes starting at $12/month cluster costnot Google Cloud Platform
- Data scientists and ML engineers requiring NVIDIA GPU access at $1.91/GPU/hour (committed)not Google Cloud Platform
Google Cloud Platform
- Running compute, storage and managed data services on Google's cloudnot DigitalOcean
- Hosting Kubernetes workloads on GKE alongside BigQuery analyticsnot 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
Google Cloud Platform
- The $300 Free Trial credit expires 90 days from signup, whichever comes first with spending it
- Free Tier Compute Engine is limited to one non-preemptible e2-micro instance per month and only in the us-west1, us-central1 or us-east1 regions
- Free Tier Compute Engine includes only 30 GB-months of standard persistent disk and 1 GB of outbound North America data transfer per month
- Free Tier Cloud Storage covers 5 GB-months of regional storage in US regions only, 5,000 Class A and 50,000 Class B operations per month
- Free Tier outbound data transfer allowances exclude destinations in China and Australia
- Compute Engine resources are governed by allocation quotas that require a quota increase request to exceed
Pricing, plan by plan
DigitalOcean
FreeNo published plan breakdown. See the DigitalOcean review.
Google Cloud Platform
Free- Free TierFree
- Compute Engine 744 hours/month
- Cloud Storage 5GB
- Cloud SQL 250MB storage
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.
Choose Google Cloud Platform if
- You need compute engine.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Api, Cli.
- You also want app engine.
Questions people ask
- Is DigitalOcean or Google Cloud Platform better?
- Neither clearly leads. DigitalOcean starts at Free and Google Cloud Platform at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, DigitalOcean or Google Cloud Platform?
- DigitalOcean starts at Free and Google Cloud Platform at Free.
- Does DigitalOcean or Google Cloud Platform run on more platforms?
- DigitalOcean runs on Linux, Cloud (AWS, GCP, Azure backend). Google Cloud Platform runs on Web, Api, Cli.
- 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 Google Cloud Platform is typically brought in for.
- What can DigitalOcean do that Google Cloud Platform cannot?
- DigitalOcean covers Droplets (VPS), Managed Kubernetes, App Platform, Managed Databases. Google Cloud Platform covers Compute Engine, App Engine, Cloud Run, Cloud Storage. Both handle Terraform, Docker, Kubernetes, Git.