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Cloud · head to head

DigitalOcean vs SST

DigitalOcean logo

DigitalOcean

Cloud

The developer cloud

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
SST logo

SST

Cloud

Build full-stack apps on your own infrastructure

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; SST primarily optimized for AWS with Cloudflare support
  • They diverge on capability: DigitalOcean covers Droplets (VPS), SST covers Single config file.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which DigitalOcean and SST actually diverge.

Attributes where DigitalOcean and SST differ
AttributeDigitalOceanSST
Pricing modelusage-basedUnknown
PlatformsLinux, Cloud (AWS, GCP, Azure backend)AWS, Cloudflare, Node.js
Founded2011Unknown

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), 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 SST

  • Single config file
  • Resource linking
  • Local development
  • Multi-cloud support
  • Multiple deployment stages
  • VPC tunneling

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

SST

  • Deploying Next.js frontends with serverless backendsnot DigitalOcean
  • Managing databases and storage alongside application codenot DigitalOcean
  • Creating staging environments for feature testingnot 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

SST

  • Primarily optimized for AWS with Cloudflare support
  • Learning curve for developers unfamiliar with infrastructure concepts
  • Limited documentation for some advanced use cases

Pricing, plan by plan

DigitalOcean

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the DigitalOcean review.

SST

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the SST 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 SST if

  • You need single config file.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on AWS, Cloudflare, Node.js.
  • You also want resource linking.
SST review

Questions people ask

Is DigitalOcean or SST better?
Neither clearly leads. DigitalOcean starts at Free and SST at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, DigitalOcean or SST?
DigitalOcean starts at Free and SST at Free.
Does DigitalOcean or SST run on more platforms?
DigitalOcean runs on Linux, Cloud (AWS, GCP, Azure backend). SST runs on AWS, Cloudflare, Node.js.
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 SST is typically brought in for.
What can DigitalOcean do that SST cannot?
DigitalOcean covers Droplets (VPS), Managed Kubernetes, App Platform, Managed Databases. SST covers Single config file, Resource linking, Local development, Multi-cloud 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
SST: Is SST free?

Yes, SST is open source and free. You only pay for cloud resources from AWS and other providers.

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
SST: What cloud providers does SST support?

SST supports over 150 providers through built-in AWS and Cloudflare components, plus Pulumi and Terraform providers.

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
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