Features
- Droplets (VPS) with predictable pricing
- App Platform for PaaS-style deployments
- Managed Kubernetes and databases
- Spaces (S3-compatible object storage)
Pros
- Simple, transparent pricing with no surprises
- Excellent documentation and community tutorials
- Good balance of simplicity and control
Cons
- Fewer services and regions than AWS/GCP/Azure
- Less suitable for enterprise-scale workloads
- App Platform has limited framework support
Overview
DigitalOcean is a cloud infrastructure provider designed for developers and small-to-medium businesses. It is known for its simplicity, predictable pricing, and outstanding documentation. Unlike AWS’s overwhelming service catalog, DigitalOcean offers a focused set of cloud services that cover the most common deployment needs.
DigitalOcean’s core offering is Droplets: virtual private servers with fixed monthly pricing. Beyond Droplets, it provides App Platform (a PaaS for auto-deploying from Git), managed Kubernetes, managed databases (PostgreSQL, MySQL, Redis, MongoDB), and Spaces (S3-compatible object storage).
The platform’s extensive library of community tutorials has made it a favorite among developers learning cloud infrastructure for the first time.
When to Use
Choose DigitalOcean when you want straightforward cloud infrastructure with predictable pricing. It is excellent for startups, side projects, and teams that want more control than a PaaS but less complexity than AWS.
Getting Started
# Install doctl CLI
brew install doctl # or snap install doctl
doctl auth init
doctl apps create --spec .do/app.yaml