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Cloud · head to head

DigitalOcean vs Portworx

DigitalOcean logo

DigitalOcean

Cloud

The developer cloud

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Portworx logo

Portworx

Cloud

Kubernetes-native storage and data services, priced by the node hour

From
$0.33/node hour
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; Portworx bare metal nodes are charged at 1.11 USD per node hour against 0.33 for virtual nodes, so a bare metal cluster costs more than three times a virtualised one for identical capability.
  • They diverge on capability: DigitalOcean covers Droplets (VPS), Portworx covers Container-native volumes.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which DigitalOcean and Portworx actually diverge.

Attributes where DigitalOcean and Portworx differ
AttributeDigitalOceanPortworx
Starting priceFree$0.33/node hour
Pricing modelusage-basedPer node hour
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsLinux, Cloud (AWS, GCP, Azure backend)Linux
Founded2011Unknown

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Cloud).

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 Portworx

  • Container-native volumes
  • Failure domain placement
  • Volume encryption
  • Database automation
  • Disaster recovery
  • Autopilot capacity management
  • Hardware independence

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

Portworx

  • Running a production PostgreSQL or Cassandra cluster on Kubernetes and needing the data to survive node lossnot DigitalOcean
  • A platform team offering self-service databases to developers on an internal Kubernetes platformnot DigitalOcean
  • Failing over stateful applications between clusters in different regions as a disaster recovery positionnot DigitalOcean
  • An OpenShift estate where the built-in storage option does not meet the availability requirement for stateful setsnot 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

Portworx

  • Bare metal nodes are charged at 1.11 USD per node hour against 0.33 for virtual nodes, so a bare metal cluster costs more than three times a virtualised one for identical capability.
  • A 1,000 node hour monthly minimum applies, which means small or intermittent clusters pay for capacity they do not consume.
  • Replicating volumes across nodes consumes real capacity and network bandwidth, so the underlying infrastructure cost rises alongside the licence in a way the node hour rate does not show.
  • Pure Storage ownership means roadmap priorities are set by an array vendor, and buyers should confirm that hardware independence remains contractual rather than assumed.
  • Operating it well requires Kubernetes storage expertise, and teams that adopted Kubernetes to simplify operations often find they have added a distributed storage system to run.

Pricing, plan by plan

DigitalOcean

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the DigitalOcean review.

Portworx

$0.33/node hour
  • Portworx Enterprise on virtual machine nodes$0.33/node hour
    • Minimum 1,000 node hours per month
    • Replicated persistent volumes
    • Encryption and disaster recovery
  • Portworx Enterprise on bare metal nodes$1.11/node hour
    • Minimum 1,000 node hours per month
    • Same capabilities on bare metal clusters
    • Higher rate reflects node density

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 Portworx if

  • You need container-native volumes.
  • You work on Linux.
  • You also want failure domain placement.
Portworx review

Questions people ask

Is DigitalOcean or Portworx better?
Neither clearly leads. DigitalOcean starts at Free and Portworx at $0.33/node hour, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, DigitalOcean or Portworx?
DigitalOcean has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for DigitalOcean and $0.33/node hour for Portworx.
Does DigitalOcean or Portworx run on more platforms?
DigitalOcean runs on Linux, Cloud (AWS, GCP, Azure backend). Portworx runs on Linux.
Can I use DigitalOcean for free?
Yes. DigitalOcean has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Portworx starts at $0.33/node hour.
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 Portworx is typically brought in for.
What can DigitalOcean do that Portworx cannot?
DigitalOcean covers Droplets (VPS), Managed Kubernetes, App Platform, Managed Databases. Portworx covers Container-native volumes, Failure domain placement, Volume encryption, Database automation.

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
Portworx: Is Portworx tied to Pure Storage hardware?

No. It runs on any Kubernetes distribution over any underlying storage, though Pure has owned it since 2020 and sets the roadmap.

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
Portworx: What does a real cluster cost?

At 0.33 USD per virtual node hour, twenty nodes running continuously is roughly 4,800 USD a month. Bare metal at 1.11 USD per node hour is around 16,000 USD for the same node count.

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
Portworx: Is backup included?

No. Portworx Backup is a separately priced product covering Kubernetes application backup.

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