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DigitalOcean vs NAKIVO Backup & Replication

DigitalOcean logo

DigitalOcean

Cloud

The developer cloud

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
NAKIVO Backup & Replication logo

NAKIVO Backup & Replication

Backup

Fast and affordable VM backup solution

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; NAKIVO Backup & Replication no macOS support and limited Linux support due to absence of native Linux agent
  • They diverge on capability: DigitalOcean covers Droplets (VPS), NAKIVO Backup & Replication covers Instant VM recovery.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which DigitalOcean and NAKIVO Backup & Replication actually diverge.

Attributes where DigitalOcean and NAKIVO Backup & Replication differ
AttributeDigitalOceanNAKIVO Backup & Replication
Pricing modelusage-basedUnknown
PlatformsLinux, Cloud (AWS, GCP, Azure backend)Windows, Linux, Cloud, On-premise
CategoryCloudBackup
Founded20112012

Identical on both: starting price (Free), 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 NAKIVO Backup & Replication

  • Instant VM recovery
  • Site recovery
  • Global deduplication
  • Network acceleration
  • Multi-tenancy
  • Self-service portal
  • VMware
  • Hyper-V

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

NAKIVO Backup & Replication

  • Data protectionnot DigitalOcean
  • Disaster recoverynot DigitalOcean
  • Business continuitynot DigitalOcean
  • Ransomware protectionnot DigitalOcean
  • Compliancenot 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

NAKIVO Backup & Replication

  • No macOS support and limited Linux support due to absence of native Linux agent
  • Limited SQL Server transaction log backup options restricting database protection granularity
  • Weak ITSM platform integrations - lacks tight integration with ServiceNow or Jira Service Desk
  • Encrypted VMware VMs only support crash-consistent backups in application-aware mode, limiting granular app-level recovery

Pricing, plan by plan

DigitalOcean

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the DigitalOcean review.

NAKIVO Backup & Replication

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the NAKIVO Backup & Replication review.

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 NAKIVO Backup & Replication if

  • You need instant vm recovery.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Windows, Linux, Cloud, On-premise.
  • You also want site recovery.
NAKIVO Backup & Replication review

Questions people ask

Is DigitalOcean or NAKIVO Backup & Replication better?
Neither clearly leads. DigitalOcean starts at Free and NAKIVO Backup & Replication at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, DigitalOcean or NAKIVO Backup & Replication?
DigitalOcean starts at Free and NAKIVO Backup & Replication at Free.
Does DigitalOcean or NAKIVO Backup & Replication run on more platforms?
DigitalOcean runs on Linux, Cloud (AWS, GCP, Azure backend). NAKIVO Backup & Replication runs on Windows, Linux, Cloud, On-premise.
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 NAKIVO Backup & Replication is typically brought in for.
What can DigitalOcean do that NAKIVO Backup & Replication cannot?
DigitalOcean covers Droplets (VPS), Managed Kubernetes, App Platform, Managed Databases. NAKIVO Backup & Replication covers Instant VM recovery, Site recovery, Global deduplication, Network acceleration. Both handle Web support.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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
NAKIVO Backup & Replication: What does NAKIVO backup?

NAKIVO backs up virtual machines from VMware vSphere, Hyper-V, Nutanix AHV, and Proxmox VE, plus physical Windows and Linux servers, Amazon EC2 instances, Microsoft 365 data, databases, and NAS file shares.

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
NAKIVO Backup & Replication: What is NAKIVO's pricing structure?

NAKIVO offers subscription pricing starting at $2.45 per workload per month or perpetual licensing starting at $19 per workstation. Additional tiers include $229 per CPU socket for larger deployments. Both on-premise and SaaS deployment options are 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
NAKIVO Backup & Replication: Does NAKIVO include ransomware protection?

Yes. NAKIVO includes AES-256 encryption, role-based access control, two-factor authentication, and built-in ransomware protection through immutable storage options.

Source
NAKIVO Backup & Replication: Can NAKIVO replicate virtual machines?

Yes. NAKIVO Backup & Replication includes VM replication capabilities, disaster recovery orchestration, and automated failover for business continuity planning.

Source
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