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Cloud & Infrastructure · head to head

DigitalOcean vs pCloud

DigitalOcean logo

DigitalOcean

Cloud & Infrastructure

The developer cloud

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
pCloud logo

pCloud

File Storage & Backup

Prices are final. No setup fees or other hidden charges

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only DigitalOcean has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: DigitalOcean data transfer overage charged at $0.01 per GiB beyond included allowances; pCloud headline lifetime prices are discounted promotional prices; the Premium 500GB lifetime plan is listed at $299 struck through down to $199, and Ultra 10TB at $1,890 down to $1,190, so the full non-promotional price is materially higher

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which DigitalOcean and pCloud actually diverge.

Attributes where DigitalOcean and pCloud differ
AttributeDigitalOceanpCloud
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelusage-basedone-time
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsLinux, Cloud (AWS, GCP, Azure backend)Web
CategoryCloud & InfrastructureFile Storage & Backup
Founded2011Unknown

Identical on both: 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 pCloud

Nothing recorded that DigitalOcean does not also cover.

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

pCloud

No use cases recorded yet. See the pCloud review.

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

pCloud

  • Headline lifetime prices are discounted promotional prices; the Premium 500GB lifetime plan is listed at $299 struck through down to $199, and Ultra 10TB at $1,890 down to $1,190, so the full non-promotional price is materially higher
  • Ultra 10TB plan's download link traffic is capped at 2TB, the same limit as the much smaller Premium Plus 2TB plan, despite the 5x storage difference

Pricing, plan by plan

DigitalOcean

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the DigitalOcean review.

pCloud

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the pCloud 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 pCloud if

Nothing in the data separates pCloud from DigitalOcean on the points above - pick on price and on how each one feels to use.

pCloud review

Questions people ask

Is DigitalOcean or pCloud better?
Neither clearly leads. DigitalOcean starts at Free and pCloud at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, DigitalOcean or pCloud?
DigitalOcean has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for DigitalOcean and On request for pCloud.
Does DigitalOcean or pCloud run on more platforms?
DigitalOcean runs on Linux, Cloud (AWS, GCP, Azure backend). pCloud runs on Web.
Can I use DigitalOcean for free?
Yes. DigitalOcean has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. pCloud starts at On request.
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 pCloud is typically brought in for.
What can DigitalOcean do that pCloud cannot?
DigitalOcean covers Droplets (VPS), Managed Kubernetes, App Platform, Managed Databases.
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Related pages

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