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Cloud · head to head

DigitalOcean vs Vultr

DigitalOcean logo

DigitalOcean

Cloud

The developer cloud

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Vultr logo

Vultr

Cloud

High performance cloud compute

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; Vultr vultr Cloud Compute pricing as captured 31 December 2022 started at $5/month (1 vCPU, 1GB RAM, 25GB storage, 1TB transfer), scaling to $10/month and $20/month with more vCPU/RAM/storage; bandwidth overage billed at $0.01 to $0.05 per GB depending on plan
  • They diverge on capability: DigitalOcean covers Droplets (VPS), Vultr covers Cloud servers.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which DigitalOcean and Vultr actually diverge.

Attributes where DigitalOcean and Vultr differ
AttributeDigitalOceanVultr
PlatformsLinux, Cloud (AWS, GCP, Azure backend)Web, Api, Cli
Founded20112014

Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (usage-based), 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
  • Docker

Only in Vultr

  • Cloud servers
  • Bare metal servers
  • Block storage
  • Object storage
  • Load balancers
  • Private networks
  • Ansible
  • API

Both cover

  • Firewalls
  • Terraform
  • Kubernetes
  • Cloud deployment
  • Web support

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

Vultr

  • High performance computingnot DigitalOcean
  • Game serversnot DigitalOcean
  • Streamingnot DigitalOcean
  • Database hostingnot DigitalOcean
  • Application serversnot 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

Vultr

  • Vultr Cloud Compute pricing as captured 31 December 2022 started at $5/month (1 vCPU, 1GB RAM, 25GB storage, 1TB transfer), scaling to $10/month and $20/month with more vCPU/RAM/storage; bandwidth overage billed at $0.01 to $0.05 per GB depending on plan

Pricing, plan by plan

DigitalOcean

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the DigitalOcean review.

Vultr

Free
  • Cloud Compute$2.5/month
    • 512MB RAM
    • 10GB SSD
    • 500GB bandwidth
  • Bare Metal$32/month
    • Dedicated hardware
    • High performance
    • Full root access

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 Vultr if

  • You need cloud servers.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Api, Cli.
  • You also want bare metal servers.
Vultr review

Questions people ask

Is DigitalOcean or Vultr better?
Neither clearly leads. DigitalOcean starts at Free and Vultr at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, DigitalOcean or Vultr?
DigitalOcean starts at Free and Vultr at Free.
Does DigitalOcean or Vultr run on more platforms?
DigitalOcean runs on Linux, Cloud (AWS, GCP, Azure backend). Vultr runs on Web, Api, Cli.
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 Vultr is typically brought in for.
What can DigitalOcean do that Vultr cannot?
DigitalOcean covers Droplets (VPS), Managed Kubernetes, App Platform, Managed Databases. Vultr covers Cloud servers, Bare metal servers, Block storage, Object storage. Both handle Firewalls, Terraform, Kubernetes, Cloud deployment.

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
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
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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