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DigitalOcean vs Diploi
DigitalOcean
Diploi
Side-by-side comparison of features, pricing, and performance to help you choose the right hosting provider.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | DigitalOcean | Diploi |
|---|---|---|
| Rating | N/A | 5.0/5 (1) |
| Price | Not offered | Not offered |
| Storage | 10 GiB NVMe SSD | 5 GB SSD |
| Bandwidth | 500 GiB | Unlimited |
| Websites | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| CPU | 1 vCPU | 2 vCPU |
| RAM | 512 MiB | 2 GB |
| Free Domain | ||
| Free SSL | ||
| Server Locations | ||
| Regions | 7 ★ | 1 |
| Locations | US East, New York, Toronto US West, San Francisco Western Europe, London, Amsterdam Central Europe, Frankfurt Southeast Asia, Singapore India, Bangalore Australia & Oceania, Sydney | Central Europe, Frankfurt |
Features | ||
CMS & Platforms (7) | ||
Languages & Frameworks (9) | ||
Databases (4) | ||
Developer Tools (8) | ||
Performance & CDN (4) | ||
| Caching | ||
| CDN | ||
| LiteSpeed | ||
| SSD Storage | ||
Security (6) | ||
| 2FA | ||
| Backups | ||
| DDoS Protection | ||
| Malware Scan | ||
| SSL | ||
| WAF | ||
Support (4) | ||
Extras & Guarantees (5) | ||
| Slight discrepancies are possible. We recommend verifying details on the provider's website. | ||
| Visit DigitalOcean | Visit Diploi | |
Pricing & Plans
DigitalOcean Plans
Diploi Plans
Pros & Cons
DigitalOcean
Pros
- Transparent per-second billing with monthly cap — no hidden fees
- No price increase on renewal
- Developer-friendly interface with full REST API and CLI (doctl)
- 99.99% SLA uptime guarantee
- Free cloud firewall and VPC networking
- 15+ global datacenter regions
- App Platform PaaS for zero-ops deployment
- Extensive community with 5000+ tutorials
- One-click Marketplace apps for quick deployment
- Free monitoring and alerting included
Cons
- No managed shared hosting — IaaS only, requires self-management
- No phone or live chat support for standard plans — tickets only
- Backups cost extra (20–30% of Droplet price)
- No free domain registration
- Linux only — no Windows support
- No cPanel/WHM — command-line or custom panel required
Diploi
Pros
- Usage-based pricing — pay only for running hours
- Built-in cloud IDE (VS Code, Cursor support)
- Zero-config Kubernetes deployments
- Automatic CI/CD, SSL, and Git integration
- Wide framework support (Next.js, SvelteKit, Django, Laravel, etc.)
- Free €50 trial credits without credit card
Cons
- Prices in EUR only — no USD option
- No traditional shared hosting or cPanel
- Relatively new platform with smaller community
- No phone or live chat support
- No free tier after 14-day trial
Frequently Asked Questions
DigitalOcean
What is a DigitalOcean Droplet?
A DigitalOcean Droplet is a Linux-based virtual machine (VM) that runs on top of virtualized hardware. Each Droplet is a new server you can use, either as a standalone server or as part of a larger cloud infrastructure. They are designed to be simple, scalable, and developer-friendly.
What is the difference between a Droplet and a VPS?
A Droplet is DigitalOcean's brand name for a virtual private server (VPS). Essentially, they are the same thing. A VPS is a virtualized server that mimics a dedicated physical server, providing you with your own set of resources and a dedicated operating system.
Is a Droplet a form of IaaS or PaaS?
DigitalOcean Droplets are a form of Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS). This means you are provided with the virtualized hardware (computing, storage, and networking) and you are responsible for managing the operating system, applications, and data.
What operating systems can I run on a Droplet?
You can choose from a variety of popular Linux distributions such as Ubuntu, CentOS, Debian, Fedora, and CoreOS. You can also use pre-configured 1-Click Apps for LAMP, Docker, WordPress, and more.
Do Droplets come with a dedicated IP address?
By default, each Droplet you create comes with its own public IPv4 address. You can also assign Floating IPs to your Droplets for high availability. For Bundled Plans, a public IPv4 is included at no extra cost. Public IPv4 addresses for Droplets with v5 configurations are billed separately from the v5 configuration and appear as their own line item on your invoice. The introductory line-item price is currently $0.00/hour, but is subject to change in accordance with the DigitalOcean Terms of Ser
What kind of storage do Droplets use?
All Droplets use high-performance Solid State Drives (SSDs) for storage. This ensures fast disk I/O, which is crucial for the performance of your applications. For additional storage, you can use DigitalOcean Volumes Block Storage.
How much bandwidth is included with each Droplet?
Each Droplet includes a generous amount of free outbound data transfer. The specific amount depends on the Droplet plan you choose, starting from 500 GiB/month. Inbound bandwidth is always free.
How much does a DigitalOcean Droplet cost?
DigitalOcean Droplets are available at a variety of price points. Bundled Plans start from as low as $4 per month, with pricing based on the amount of RAM, CPU, SSD storage, and bandwidth included in your plan. v5 Droplets are priced hourly based on the resources you configure.
How am I billed for Droplets?
Bundled Plan and v5 Droplets are both billed on a per-second basis, with a 60-second minimum. Bundled Plans have a monthly cap, so you'll never pay more than the flat monthly price for that plan. v5 Droplets are billed on actual hours used each month and are not capped at 672 hours. Learn more about v5 Droplet pricing.
Is there a free trial for DigitalOcean Droplets?
DigitalOcean often provides promotional credits for new users, which can be used to try out Droplets and other services for free. Check the DigitalOcean website for the latest offers.
What can I use a DigitalOcean Droplet for?
Droplets are incredibly versatile and can be used for a wide range of applications, including:Hosting websites and web applications (e.g., WordPress, Node.js, Python)Development and testing environmentsDatabases (e.g., MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB)CI/CD pipelinesVPN and proxy serversGame serversMachine Learning and AI applications (with GPU-optimized Droplets)
Are Droplets suitable for e-commerce websites?
Yes, Droplets are a popular choice for hosting e-commerce websites. They provide the performance, scalability, and security needed to run online stores of all sizes.
How does DigitalOcean Droplets compare to AWS EC2?
DigitalOcean Droplets are often praised for their simplicity and developer-friendly interface, making them a great choice for individuals and small to medium-sized businesses. AWS EC2 offers a wider range of instance types and services, which can be more suitable for large enterprises with complex requirements. In terms of pricing, DigitalOcean is generally more affordable for comparable resources.
What is the difference between DigitalOcean Droplets and Google Compute Engine?
Similar to the comparison with AWS, Google Compute Engine (GCE) is a more enterprise-focused platform with a vast array of services. DigitalOcean Droplets are known for their straightforward pricing and ease of use, which makes them a popular choice for developers and startups.
How do I create a Droplet?
Creating a Droplet is a quick and easy process. You can create a new Droplet from the DigitalOcean control panel in just a few clicks. Simply choose your operating system, Droplet plan, and datacenter region, and your new server will be up and running in under a minute.
How do I connect to my Droplet?
You can connect to your Droplet using SSH (Secure Shell). You will need to use an SSH client and the root password or an SSH key to log in to your server.
Does DigitalOcean offer managed Droplets?
DigitalOcean's core Droplet offering is unmanaged, which means you are responsible for managing the server. However, DigitalOcean offers a Managed Kubernetes service for containerized applications, and you can find managed hosting providers that specialize in managing DigitalOcean infrastructure.
Where are DigitalOcean's datacenters located?
DigitalOcean has data centers in multiple locations around the world, including San Francisco, Richmond, NYC, Kansas City, Atlanta, Toronto, Amsterdam, London, Frankfurt, Bangalore, Singapore, and Sydney. This allows you to choose a datacenter that is closest to your target audience for lower latency.
Can I get a Droplet with a server in the UK?
Yes, you can create a Droplet in the London (UK) datacenter. This is an excellent choice for businesses and developers who need to serve customers in the United Kingdom and Europe.
Are there any datacenter options in India?
Yes, DigitalOcean has a datacenter in Bangalore, India. This is ideal for serving the rapidly growing Indian market and the surrounding regions.
What is the difference between a v5 Droplet and Bundled Plan Droplet?
v5 Droplets run on 5th Gen AMD EPYC™ processors with up to 30% higher per-core performance vs. prior-generation DigitalOcean Droplets (based on DigitalOcean internal testing). Configure vCPU, memory, and storage independently to match your workload, so you only pay for the resources you need. Bundled Plan Droplets offer fixed vCPU, memory, and storage ratios pre-configured for common workloads, like Basic, CPU-Optimized, or Memory-Optimized. Learn more about Droplet types.
How are v5 Droplets shown on my billing statement?
As you configure a v5 Droplet, the Control Panel shows the per-increment price of vCPU, RAM, and boot disk for greater cost transparency. The resources still combine into a single line on your invoice for simplicity. Learn more about v5 Droplet pricing.
What forms of payment do you accept?
We accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, PayPal, Google Pay, and Apple Pay. Apple pay requires a Safari browser. For additional payment options, including wire transfer, purchase orders, and ACH, please contact us. Note that when you add a card, we may send a temporary pre-authorization request to the issuing bank. This pre-authorization charge is immediately released by DigitalOcean but may take a few days to clear from your card depending on the bank.
When will my card be charged?
DigitalOcean billing cycles are monthly. Typically, on the first day of each month we invoice and automatically charge your account's primary payment method for the previous month's usage. In some cases, we might charge if your usage exceeds a threshold. You can also login and self pay the balance at any time.
Am I charged when I enter my credit card?
No. Your card is only charged at the end of the billing cycle or upon exceeding a usage threshold. Pre-authorization charge: When you add a card, we may send a preauthorization request to the issuing bank. This is to verify that the card being added has been issued by the bank and that they will authorize any charges in future. These temporary pre-authorizations are typically $1 but can vary in range and are immediately canceled by us. Depending on your bank, it might take a few days for the cha
Diploi
What is the pricing model of Diploi?
Diploi uses a prepaid, usage-based pricing model. You top up a balance, and that balance pays for everything: the hours your deployments are running, the storage they use, and your AI usage. This applies to development, testing, and production environments alike. There is no bill at the end of the month, you only ever spend the balance you have topped up.
How does topping up my balance work?
You can top up your balance manually at any time, or enable auto top-up so your balance is refilled automatically when it runs low. The Pro and Ultra plans additionally add a fixed amount to your balance every month, and come with increased limits and extra features.
What is the difference between Pay as you go, Pro, and Ultra?
All plans use the same balance and the same usage-based rates. Pay as you go has no monthly charge, you top up whenever you like. Pro and Ultra automatically credit their full monthly price to your balance.
How is AI usage billed?
AI usage is metered and drawn from the same balance as your deployments, there is no separate AI subscription. This covers all the ways you can use AI on Diploi: the Prompt view, the preinstalled Opencode CLI, and the custom AI model endpoint for your own tools.
Can I use Diploi for free?
Yes, you can use Diploi free for 14 days when you register for the first time, with 50 € of free credits and no credit card required.
Are there enterprise plans?
Yes, we offer an Enterprise tier with tailored pricing and custom services. Enterprise customers get priority support, migration services, integration assistance, and the ability to add custom components to the platform. If you are interested, message us at [email protected] or book a call with our team here https://calendly.com/hello-diploi/30min.
Are taxes or VAT included in these prices?
No, listed prices do not include taxes or VAT. Taxes will be added according to your location.
What is Diploi?
Diploi is a platform that combines cloud development environments and app hosting in a single place, and is meant to be an all-in-one solution where developers can scaffold applications from zero, start developing applications without a local setup using cloud development environments, which do not require any configuration work, and deploy staging and production environments instantly. All applications launched and hosted on Diploi come with a CI/CD pipeline setup by default, automatic SSL cert
Where is my code stored, and how does Git integration work?
Your code lives in your own GitHub repository. Diploi configures a GitHub Action that triggers a CI/CD workflow that updates your staging and production environments, and is triggered when new updates are pushed to the repository linked to a project hosted in Diploi.
Is there a limit to how many components or add-ons a project can have in Diploi?
There is no limit, so you can have all supported frameworks and databases supported by Diploi, the only limitation is the computing power required by a deployment to handle a large stack of components and add-ons.
Is Diploi a VPS provider?
No, Diploi is a fully managed development and deployment platform. You cannot choose the OS where your application is deployed, and you do not have configuration access to the server's settings.
Do I get SSH access to the servers where my project is hosted in Diploi?
Yes, Diploi uses Kubernetes to host your application's cloud development environment, components, and add-ons as individual pods, which you can access via SSH.
Can I share my application with others for testing?
Yes, each environment has a unique URL you can share, so others can access and test your app instantly.
How do I monitor logs or production status?
Diploi provides real-time logging for each component and add-on that is part of your application. Additionally, from the deployment's dashboard, you have access to graphs showing the resource usage of your app's cluster and its current health status. Additionally, all development deployments on Diploi come with a Diploi CLI, which gives you access to logs in real-time and can be used for programmatic log data tracking.
What if I want to move off Diploi later?
You can move your project out of Diploi at any point. All Diploi projects can be run on any VPS or managed hosting service, either by running each component and add-on as you usually would do via terminal commands (eg. npm run start), or by using the Dockerfiles that Diploi generates for your app's components.
Ready to Choose?
Both providers offer great features. Visit their websites to see the latest deals and pricing.
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US East, New York, Toronto
Western Europe, London, Amsterdam
Central Europe, Frankfurt
Southeast Asia, Singapore
India, Bangalore
Australia & Oceania, Sydney