DigitalOcean vs Yandex Cloud Comparison
Compare DigitalOcean vs Yandex Cloud 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.
Yandex Cloud
6.3/10
Public cloud platform from Yandex offering virtual machines, managed Kubernetes, managed databases, serverless and ML services, mainly for businesses in Russia and Kazakhstan.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | | |
|---|---|---|
| Scores | ||
| Overall Rating | 7.1/10 | 6.3/10 |
| Analytics | 6/10 | 6/10 |
| Cost | 7/10 | 7/10 |
| Customization | 7/10 | 7/10 |
| Ease of Use | 9/10 | 6/10 |
| Integration | 7/10 | 5/10 |
| Scalability | 7/10 | 7/10 |
| Security | 7/10 | 7/10 |
| Support | 5/10 | 5/10 |
| Pricing | ||
| Free plan | No | Yes |
| Cheapest paid plan | $4/mo Basic Droplet 512 MiB | $3/mo Pay-as-you-go |
| Estimated cost for 10 users | $4/mo Basic Droplet 512 MiB | Free Serverless free tier |
| Features | ||
| Automatic Backups | ||
| Cloud Compute | ||
| Content Delivery Network | ||
| DDoS Protection | ||
| Git Deployments | Not listed | |
| API and CLI | Not listed | |
| Managed Databases | ||
| Managed Kubernetes | ||
| Multiple Regions | ||
| Object Storage | ||
| Serverless Functions | ||
| Uptime SLA | Not listed | |
| VPS Hosting | ||
| Managed WordPress | Not listed | |
| Shared Hosting | Not listed | |
DigitalOcean vs Yandex Cloud cost by team size
Yandex Cloud costs less at every team size we checked.
| Team size | DigitalOcean | Yandex Cloud |
|---|---|---|
| 1 user | $4/moBasic Droplet 512 MiB | FreeServerless free tier |
| 5 users | $4/moBasic Droplet 512 MiB | FreeServerless free tier |
| 10 users | $4/moBasic Droplet 512 MiB | FreeServerless free tier |
| 25 users | $4/moBasic Droplet 512 MiB | FreeServerless free tier |
| 50 users | $4/moBasic Droplet 512 MiB | FreeServerless free tier |
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 Ease of Use score (9/10 vs 6/10)
- Higher Integration score (7/10 vs 5/10)
- Better fit for startups (9/10 vs 6/10)
Why choose Yandex Cloud
- Has a free plan (DigitalOcean does not)
- Lower estimated cost for 10 users: Free vs $4/mo
- Better fit for enterprise (7/10 vs 5/10)
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.
Yandex Cloud
Pros
- The service catalogue is broad: VMs, Kubernetes, serverless, more than six managed database engines including ClickHouse and YDB, CDN, and backup.
- The Russia region has five availability zones, and data stays in the region where it was created.
- Native ML services such as YandexGPT and SpeechKit sit alongside the infrastructure services.
- Compliance credentials include ISO/IEC 27017 and PCI DSS across service categories.
- Entry pricing is low, with VMs from $2.85 per month and a serverless free tier.
Cons
- Only two regions, Russia and Kazakhstan, with no presence in Europe, the Americas or Asia beyond them.
- Some services, including Cloud Functions and Smart Web Security, are not available in the Kazakhstan region.
- Western companies face sanctions exposure.
- English documentation is weaker and the third-party ecosystem is smaller than on AWS, Azure or Google Cloud.
- Independent English-language reviews are scarce; TrustRadius shows only a single review.
Not sold on either?
Frequently Asked Questions
DigitalOcean scores higher on our AI Software criteria: 7.1/10 against 6.3/10 for Yandex Cloud. The largest gap is in Ease of Use: 9/10 for DigitalOcean and 6/10 for Yandex Cloud.
Yandex Cloud costs less for 10 users: free on its Serverless free tier plan, against about $4/mo on its Basic Droplet 512 MiB plan for DigitalOcean, billed monthly.
Yandex Cloud has a free plan; DigitalOcean does not list one.
DigitalOcean is the better fit for startups: we rate it 9/10 for them, against 6/10 for Yandex Cloud.
