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Cloud · head to head

DigitalOcean vs Poolside

DigitalOcean logo

DigitalOcean

Cloud

The developer cloud

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
Poolside logo

Poolside

AI

Open-weight foundation models built for agentic software engineering

From
$0.06/month
Free plan
No
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; Poolside no self-serve public application; access is largely through enterprise sales or third-party model gateways
  • They diverge on capability: DigitalOcean covers Droplets (VPS), Poolside covers Laguna S 2.1.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which DigitalOcean and Poolside actually diverge.

Attributes where DigitalOcean and Poolside differ
AttributeDigitalOceanPoolside
Starting priceFree$0.06/month
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsLinux, Cloud (AWS, GCP, Azure backend)web, api, mac, windows, linux
CategoryCloudAI
Founded20112023

Identical on both: pricing model (usage-based), 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 Poolside

  • Laguna S 2.1
  • Laguna XS 2.1
  • Desktop and CLI tools
  • Open-weight models
  • Third-party gateway access

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

Poolside

  • Enterprises deploying AI coding assistance across large developer organizationsnot DigitalOcean
  • Government and defense agencies needing on-premise or sovereign coding modelsnot DigitalOcean
  • Teams building custom coding agents on open-weight foundation modelsnot DigitalOcean
  • Organizations wanting on-device lightweight coding modelsnot 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

Poolside

  • No self-serve public application; access is largely through enterprise sales or third-party model gateways
  • Pricing for the flagship enterprise and government offering is not public and requires a sales conversation
  • Targets organizations with large (5,000+) developer headcounts, making it a poor fit for individuals or small teams
  • Documentation and product surface area are thin compared to consumer-facing coding assistants

Pricing, plan by plan

DigitalOcean

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the DigitalOcean review.

Poolside

$0.06/month
  • Laguna XS 2.1$undefined/month
    • $0.06 per 1M input tokens
    • $0.12 per 1M output tokens
    • Available via OpenRouter and Vercel AI Gateway
  • Laguna S 2.1$undefined/month
    • $0.10 per 1M input tokens
    • $0.20 per 1M output tokens
    • 1M token context window
  • Enterprise / Government$undefined/month
    • Custom contracts for large engineering organizations
    • Sales-quoted pricing
    • On-premise or dedicated deployment options

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 Poolside if

  • You need laguna s 2.1.
  • You work on web, api, mac, windows, linux.
  • You also want laguna xs 2.1.
Poolside review

Questions people ask

Is DigitalOcean or Poolside better?
Neither clearly leads. DigitalOcean starts at Free and Poolside at $0.06/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, DigitalOcean or Poolside?
DigitalOcean has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for DigitalOcean and $0.06/month for Poolside.
Does DigitalOcean or Poolside run on more platforms?
DigitalOcean runs on Linux, Cloud (AWS, GCP, Azure backend). Poolside runs on web, api, mac, windows, linux.
Can I use DigitalOcean for free?
Yes. DigitalOcean has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Poolside starts at $0.06/month.
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 Poolside is typically brought in for.
What can DigitalOcean do that Poolside cannot?
DigitalOcean covers Droplets (VPS), Managed Kubernetes, App Platform, Managed Databases. Poolside covers Laguna S 2.1, Laguna XS 2.1, Desktop and CLI tools, Open-weight models.

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
Poolside: How is Poolside's Laguna model usage priced?

Laguna XS 2.1 is priced at $0.06 per 1M input tokens and $0.12 per 1M output tokens; Laguna S 2.1 is $0.10 per 1M input tokens and $0.20 per 1M output tokens.

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
Poolside: Where can I access Poolside's models?

Laguna models are available through third-party gateways OpenRouter and Vercel AI Gateway, as well as via Poolside's own desktop and CLI tools.

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
Poolside: Does Poolside offer enterprise or government pricing?

Yes, Poolside offers custom, sales-quoted contracts for large enterprises and government/defense customers, including on-premise or dedicated deployment options.

Source
Poolside: How do I get started building with Poolside's models?

Poolside's documentation provides a quickstart guide for installing the `pool` CLI and running an agent task, alongside API documentation for custom integrations.

Source
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