Softwr

Software · head to head

DigitalOcean vs MySQL

DigitalOcean logo

DigitalOcean

Software

The developer cloud

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
MySQL logo

MySQL

Software

The world's most popular open source database

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; MySQL hot online backup is not in the free Community Server; MySQL Enterprise Backup is a paid Enterprise Edition component
  • They diverge on capability: DigitalOcean covers Droplets (VPS), MySQL covers ACID compliance.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which DigitalOcean and MySQL actually diverge.

Attributes where DigitalOcean and MySQL differ
AttributeDigitalOceanMySQL
Pricing modelusage-basedfreemium
PlatformsLinux, Cloud (AWS, GCP, Azure backend)Windows, Macos, Linux, Unix
Founded20111995

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 MySQL

  • ACID compliance
  • SQL support
  • Multi-version concurrency control
  • Replication
  • Partitioning
  • Stored procedures
  • Triggers
  • Views

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 MySQL
  • Teams deploying containerised workloads with Kubernetes starting at $12/month cluster costnot MySQL
  • Data scientists and ML engineers requiring NVIDIA GPU access at $1.91/GPU/hour (committed)not MySQL

MySQL

  • Web application backendnot DigitalOcean
  • E-commerce platformsnot DigitalOcean
  • Content management systemsnot DigitalOcean
  • Data warehousingnot DigitalOcean
  • Business applicationsnot 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

MySQL

  • Hot online backup is not in the free Community Server; MySQL Enterprise Backup is a paid Enterprise Edition component
  • Transparent Data Encryption, data masking and de-identification are Enterprise Edition only
  • MySQL Enterprise Firewall, which guards against SQL injection, and MySQL Enterprise Audit are both paid components
  • External authentication against PAM or Windows Active Directory requires MySQL Enterprise Authentication
  • The thread pool ships as MySQL Enterprise Scalability rather than in the community build

Pricing, plan by plan

DigitalOcean

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the DigitalOcean review.

MySQL

Free
  • Community EditionFree
    • Open source license
    • Full SQL support
    • InnoDB storage engine
  • Standard Edition$2000/year
    • Commercial license
    • Oracle Premier Support
    • MySQL Enterprise backup
  • Enterprise Edition$5000/year
    • Advanced security
    • MySQL Enterprise Monitor
    • High Availability

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 MySQL if

  • You need acid compliance.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Windows, Macos, Linux, Unix.
  • You also want sql support.
MySQL review

Questions people ask

Is DigitalOcean or MySQL better?
Neither clearly leads. DigitalOcean starts at Free and MySQL at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, DigitalOcean or MySQL?
DigitalOcean starts at Free and MySQL at Free.
Does DigitalOcean or MySQL run on more platforms?
DigitalOcean runs on Linux, Cloud (AWS, GCP, Azure backend). MySQL runs on Windows, Macos, Linux, Unix.
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 MySQL is typically brought in for.
What can DigitalOcean do that MySQL cannot?
DigitalOcean covers Droplets (VPS), Managed Kubernetes, App Platform, Managed Databases. MySQL covers ACID compliance, SQL support, Multi-version concurrency control, Replication.
ShareXLinkedInRedditWhatsAppEmail

Related pages

More on DigitalOcean

More on MySQL

Keep looking

Other head to heads