DigitalOcean vs Vultr Comparison
Compare DigitalOcean vs Vultr features, pricing, and more.
Last updated: November 2026
DigitalOcean
7.1/10
DigitalOcean is a developer-focused cloud platform offering Droplet VMs, managed Kubernetes, databases, object storage, App Platform and GPU compute for startups and small businesses.
Vultr
6.6/10
Vultr is an unmanaged cloud infrastructure provider that offers virtual machines, bare metal, GPUs, Kubernetes, storage and managed databases, aimed at developers and businesses.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | | |
|---|---|---|
| Scores | ||
| Overall Rating | 7.1/10 | 6.6/10 |
| Integration | 7/10 | 6/10 |
| Analytics | 6/10 | 4/10 |
| Customization | 7/10 | 8/10 |
| Ease of Use | 9/10 | 7/10 |
| Support | 5/10 | 4/10 |
| Cost | 7/10 | 8/10 |
| Scalability | 7/10 | 7/10 |
| Security | 7/10 | 6/10 |
| Pricing | ||
| Free plan | No | No |
| Cheapest paid plan | $4/mo Basic Droplet 512 MiB | $3/mo Cloud Compute (entry) |
| Estimated cost for 10 users | $4/mo Basic Droplet 512 MiB | Free Kubernetes Engine |
| Features | ||
| API and CLI | ||
| Managed Databases | ||
| Multiple Regions | ||
| DDoS Protection | ||
| Object Storage | ||
| Uptime SLA | ||
| Serverless Functions | Not listed | |
| Managed Kubernetes | ||
| VPS Hosting | ||
| Git Deployments | Not listed | |
| Cloud Compute | ||
| Content Delivery Network | ||
| Automatic Backups | ||
| Dedicated Servers | Not listed | |
DigitalOcean vs Vultr cost by team size
Vultr costs less at every team size we checked.
| Team size | DigitalOcean | Vultr |
|---|---|---|
| 1 user | $4/moBasic Droplet 512 MiB | FreeKubernetes Engine |
| 5 users | $4/moBasic Droplet 512 MiB | FreeKubernetes Engine |
| 10 users | $4/moBasic Droplet 512 MiB | FreeKubernetes Engine |
| 25 users | $4/moBasic Droplet 512 MiB | FreeKubernetes Engine |
| 50 users | $4/moBasic Droplet 512 MiB | FreeKubernetes Engine |
The plan that fits each team size, billed monthly, before add-ons and usage charges. Each cost opens that tool's pricing calculator for the team size.
Which One Should You Choose?
Why choose DigitalOcean
- Higher Analytics score (6/10 vs 4/10)
- Higher Ease of Use score (9/10 vs 7/10)
- Better fit for small business (7/10 vs 5/10)
Why choose Vultr
- Lower estimated cost for 10 users: Free vs $4/mo
- Higher Customization score (8/10 vs 7/10)
- Higher Cost score (8/10 vs 7/10)
Pros & Cons
DigitalOcean
Pros
- Flat, published hourly and monthly rates with no promotional first-term pricing or renewal price jumps.
- A $4 per month entry Droplet and per-second billing make it cheap to test and run small workloads.
- One account covers a full set of managed services, including Kubernetes, databases, Spaces with CDN, load balancers, App Platform and Functions.
- Developers can automate everything through the API, the doctl CLI and a Terraform provider, and the tutorials are widely used.
Cons
- Free support is ticket-only with a target response under 24 hours, chat starts at $99 per month, and no plan includes phone support.
- Outbound SMTP ports 25, 465 and 587 are blocked on new Droplets, so you cannot self-host email.
- Raw compute costs noticeably more than budget providers such as Hetzner.
- No refunds, and Droplets on suspended accounts are deleted after a grace period.
Vultr
Pros
- Very low entry price: Cloud Compute starts around 2.50 USD per month, billed hourly.
- The managed Kubernetes control plane is free, so you pay only for worker nodes, load balancers and storage.
- A broad compute range, from shared VMs to bare metal and Cloud GPU, across more than 30 regions.
- Reviewers praise the simple interface, fast deployment and a well-regarded API.
Cons
- All services are unmanaged, so customers handle their own troubleshooting.
- Support is the most common complaint in Capterra and Software Advice reviews.
- Some users report repeated hardware incidents and trouble restoring from snapshots.
- DDoS protection and backups cost extra rather than coming bundled.
Not sold on either?
Frequently Asked Questions
DigitalOcean scores higher on our AI Software criteria: 7.1/10 against 6.6/10 for Vultr. The largest gap is in Analytics: 6/10 for DigitalOcean and 4/10 for Vultr.
Vultr costs less for 10 users: free on its Kubernetes Engine plan, against about $4/mo on its Basic Droplet 512 MiB plan for DigitalOcean, billed monthly.
No, neither DigitalOcean nor Vultr lists a free plan.
DigitalOcean is the better fit for small business: we rate it 7/10 for them, against 5/10 for Vultr.
