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Software · head to head

DigitalOcean vs Nomad

DigitalOcean logo

DigitalOcean

Software

The developer cloud

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Nomad logo

Nomad

Software

Flexible workload orchestration

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; Nomad nomad 1.7.0 and later is licensed under the Business Source License 1.1 with IBM Corporation as licensor, not an OSI open source licence
  • They diverge on capability: DigitalOcean covers Droplets (VPS), Nomad covers Container orchestration.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which DigitalOcean and Nomad actually diverge.

Attributes where DigitalOcean and Nomad differ
AttributeDigitalOceanNomad
Pricing modelusage-basedopen-source
PlatformsLinux, Cloud (AWS, GCP, Azure backend)Linux, Windows, Mac, Cloud
Founded20112015

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 Nomad

  • Container orchestration
  • Job scheduling
  • Multi-cloud support
  • Auto-scaling
  • Service discovery
  • Rolling deployments
  • Monitoring integration
  • High availability

Both cover

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

Nomad

  • Scheduling containers, binaries, Java and VM workloads on the same clusternot DigitalOcean
  • Running an orchestrator with a single binary and no external dependenciesnot DigitalOcean
  • Batch and edge workload scheduling across multiple datacentresnot 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

Nomad

  • Nomad 1.7.0 and later is licensed under the Business Source License 1.1 with IBM Corporation as licensor, not an OSI open source licence
  • The Additional Use Grant forbids offering Nomad to third parties on a hosted or embedded basis in a paid product that competes with IBM's paid versions
  • Each version converts to MPL 2.0 only four years after that version is published
  • Resource quotas, Sentinel policies and audit logging sit in a Governance and Policy add-on module that is separate from the Enterprise base platform package
  • Multi-region deployments, multiple Vault namespaces and Nomad Autopilot advanced server management require Nomad Enterprise

Pricing, plan by plan

DigitalOcean

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the DigitalOcean review.

Nomad

Free
  • Open SourceFree
    • Workload orchestration
    • Multi-cloud
    • Flexible scheduling

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 Nomad if

  • You need container orchestration.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Windows, Mac, Cloud.
  • You also want job scheduling.
Nomad review

Questions people ask

Is DigitalOcean or Nomad better?
Neither clearly leads. DigitalOcean starts at Free and Nomad at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, DigitalOcean or Nomad?
DigitalOcean starts at Free and Nomad at Free.
Does DigitalOcean or Nomad run on more platforms?
DigitalOcean runs on Linux, Cloud (AWS, GCP, Azure backend). Nomad runs on Linux, Windows, Mac, Cloud.
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 Nomad is typically brought in for.
What can DigitalOcean do that Nomad cannot?
DigitalOcean covers Droplets (VPS), Managed Kubernetes, App Platform, Managed Databases. Nomad covers Container orchestration, Job scheduling, Multi-cloud support, Auto-scaling. Both handle Terraform, Docker, Kubernetes, Encryption.
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