# DigitalOcean Software Pricing, Alternatives & More 2026 | Capterra

> With the help of Capterra, learn about DigitalOcean Software - reviews, pricing plans, popular comparisons to other Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) products and more.

Source: https://www.capterra.com/p/205055/DigitalOcean

---

# 

 DigitalOcean Software Review 2026: Features, Integrations, Pros & Cons

Last updated on March 13, 2026

Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team.

[Description](#description)[Use cases](#use-cases)[Alternatives](#alternatives)[FAQs](#faqs)[Users](#users)[Features](#features)[Pricing](#pricing)[Integrations](#integrations)[Support](#support)[Reviews](#reviews)

DigitalOcean

## What is DigitalOcean?

Straightforward IaaS to get you up and running. Predictable and straightforward billing. Offering 1 Click App Install, Managed Kubernetes, Managed Databases and more. IPv6, private networking, and monitoring at no additional cost. 14 data centers strategically positioned around the world.

## What is DigitalOcean used for?

[Application Development](https://www.capterra.com/application-development-software/)[Virtual Private Server](https://www.capterra.com/virtual-private-server-software/)[Cloud Management](https://www.capterra.com/cloud-management-software/)

Recognitions

Shortlist

Top alternative

Featured

Overall rating

Based on 159 user reviews

Reviews sentiment

Positive

95%

Neutral

2%

Negative

3%

Starting price

$4

Flat Rate, Per Month

Free trial  
available

Capterra Shortlist charts the highest-rated and most popular products...

-   Cloud Management / 2026

Our "Best of" badge program showcases products with the highest ratings...

Our "Best of" badge program showcases products with the highest ratings...

Do you work for DigitalOcean?[Manage this product listing](https://digitalmarkets.gartner.com/get-listed/claim-bx?url=https://www.digitalocean.com&name=DigitalOcean)

## Compare with a popular alternative

Capterra selects software alternatives based on relevant features, verified user reviews and user interactions. Placement may be influenced by client status.

### DigitalOcean

4.6 (159)

VS.

[4.4 (15,392)](https://www.capterra.com/p/19319/JIRA/reviews/)

Starting Price

$4

Flat Rate, Per Month

Starting Price

$7.91

Per User, Per Month

Free Trial

Free Version

Pricing Options

Free Trial

Free Version

Ease Of Use

4.6 (159)

Ease Of Use

4.1 (930)

Value For Money

4.5 (140)

Value For Money

4.3 (832)

Customer Service

4.3 (126)

Customer Service

4.2 (900)

## DigitalOcean alternatives

[Essential Studio](https://www.capterra.com/p/228226/Essential-Studio/)

[4.5 (930)](https://www.capterra.com/p/228226/Essential-Studio/reviews/)

Starting price

Contact vendor for pricing

Pricing Options

Free Trial

Free Version

User Rating

94%

of reviewers

rated it above 4 stars

[Learn More](https://www.capterra.com/p/228226/Essential-Studio/)

Highest Rated

[GitHub](https://www.capterra.com/p/129067/GitHub/)

[4.8 (6,179)](https://www.capterra.com/p/129067/GitHub/reviews/)

Starting price

$4.00

Per User, Per Month

Pricing Options

Free Trial

Free Version

User Rating

98%

of reviewers

rated it above 4 stars

[Learn More](https://www.capterra.com/p/129067/GitHub/)

[Microsoft Visual Studio](https://www.capterra.com/p/80230/microsoft-visual-studio/)

[4.6 (3,006)](https://www.capterra.com/p/80230/microsoft-visual-studio/reviews/)

Starting price

$499.92

Per User, Per Month

Pricing Options

Free Trial

Free Version

User Rating

97%

of reviewers

rated it above 4 stars

[Learn More](https://www.capterra.com/p/80230/microsoft-visual-studio/)

[Microsoft Azure](https://www.capterra.com/p/16365/Azure/)

[4.6 (1,960)](https://www.capterra.com/p/16365/Azure/reviews/)

Starting price

$31.39

Per User, Per Month

Pricing Options

Free Trial

Free Version

User Rating

96%

of reviewers

rated it above 4 stars

[Learn More](https://www.capterra.com/p/16365/Azure/)

[View all alternatives](https://www.capterra.com/p/205055/DigitalOcean/alternatives/)

## FAQs about DigitalOcean

Overview

### What problems does DigitalOcean solve?

DigitalOcean solves slow, complex server setup, unpredictable hosting costs, and difficult app deployment by giving developers, startups, and small IT teams fast droplet provisioning, one-click marketplace installs, reliable web hosting, backups, and straightforward scaling. It helps backend engineers and web teams launch, test, host, and manage applications without heavyweight cloud complexity.

Answer based on 114 reviews

Overview

### Which roles and teams benefit most from DigitalOcean?

DigitalOcean is most used by developers, software engineers, web developers, and system administrators who need simple cloud infrastructure for hosting apps, managing servers, and deploying websites. Founders, CEOs, CTOs, and owners benefit from affordable scaling and fast setup, while students and consultants use it for learning, testing, and client environments.

Answer based on 159 reviews

Overview

### What company size and industries is DigitalOcean built for?

DigitalOcean is built primarily for small businesses, which account for 89% of reviewers, especially in Computer Software at 26% and Information Technology and Services at 19%. It also serves midsize businesses at 7% and enterprises at 4%, fitting teams that need straightforward cloud deployment and predictable pricing as they grow.

Answer based on 159 reviews

Features and Usability

### What are the key features of DigitalOcean?

DigitalOcean includes core cloud computing features like Droplets for virtual servers, a control panel for server setup, API-based provisioning, backup and recovery, and load balancing. Differentiating capabilities include App Platform deployments and Spaces object storage. Reviewers also frequently cite scalable web hosting, clear billing, and monitoring tools.

Answer based on 83 reviews

Pricing

### How much does it cost and what fees or limitations are included?

DigitalOcean starts at $0/month for App Platform static sites, with Droplets from 4/month, Spaces from 5/month, Kubernetes from 12/month, Databases from 15/month, and Volumes from 10/month for 100GB. A free trial is available. Reviewers often describe pricing as clear and predictable, though some say databases and higher-usage setups can get expensive.

Answer based on 83 reviews

Integrations

### Which third-party tools and platforms does DigitalOcean integrate with?

DigitalOcean integrates with WordPress, GitHub, Plesk, Ubuntu, Cloudflare, GitLab, cPanel & WHM, and Google Cloud. It also supports over 20 integrations across website hosting, code repositories, server images, and infrastructure tooling, with catalog listings that include Kubernetes, Terraform, Rancher, Slack, Mesosphere, and Puppet Enterprise.

Answer based on 24 reviews

Getting Started and Support

### How easy is it to onboard and train a team on DigitalOcean?

DigitalOcean is fairly quick to onboard for technical teams, especially for basic provisioning and common app deployments. It offers webinars and documentation, and reviewers often mention helpful guides and tutorials. Beginners can get started, but nontechnical users and command-line newcomers usually need more time to get comfortable.

Answer based on 12 reviews

Getting Started and Support

### What customer support options does DigitalOcean offer, and how do users rate the experience?

DigitalOcean offers 24/7 live rep support. Users describe the experience as mixed: some report helpful, kind assistance and effective guidance, while others cite slow responses, limited detail, automated replies, and difficulty getting timely help during account, billing, or server issues, especially when problems are urgent.

Answer based on 63 reviews

Security

### How does DigitalOcean handle data security and access control?

DigitalOcean uses manageable access controls, network and firewall rules, SSH access, two-factor authentication, identity verification, and secure infrastructure for droplets, apps, Kubernetes, and Spaces storage. Reviewers generally describe security as strong out of the box, though some note limited deep network security, minimal DDoS protection, and setup can feel intimidating.

Answer based on 19 reviews

## Who uses DigitalOcean?

Based on Capterra reviews from the past 5 years

Talk to a software expert

to get a free software list  
tailored to your business needs

Company size

Based on 117 reviews

100%

75%

50%

25%

Smallbusiness

Midsizebusinesses

Enterprise

Top job functions

Based on 117 reviews

IT & Software Development

37%

IT & Software Development

37%

Marketing

14%

Engineering

14%

Administrative

8%

Others

27%

Top industries

Based on 117 reviews

Computer Software

45%

Information Technology and Services

30%

Marketing and Advertising

13%

E-Learning

6%

Other

6%

## Features

Features with the highest number of reviews are displayed first. Those that have no reviews appear next, sorted alphabetically.

Access Controls/Permissions

4.3 (58)

60.34% of 58 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important

Define levels of authorization for access to specific files or systems

Backup and Recovery

4.4 (50)

64.00% of 50 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important

Create backups and provide methods to recover deleted/lost data

Virtual Server

4.7 (41)

60.98% of 41 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important

Creates a virtual server that replicates all the functionalities of a dedicated physical server

API

4.3 (37)

51.35% of 37 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important

Application programming interface that allows for integration with other systems/databases

Data Storage Management

4.3 (33)

63.64% of 33 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important

Manage and store data in a database

Load Balancing

4.3 (27)

51.85% of 27 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important

Process of distributing a set of tasks over a set of resources, with the aim of making their overall processing more efficient

DigitalOcean 24 features

Define levels of authorization for access to specific files or systems

Application programming interface that allows for integration with other systems/databases

Create backups and provide methods to recover deleted/lost data

A network of remote servers which allow businesses to store, manage, and process data through the cloud instead of a local server

Provides a channel for team members to share media files, communicate, and work together

Centralized portal to help users host and manage multiple websites and resources.

Manage budgets, track and optimize spending and align capacity to workload demand

Stores definitions of the data elements and their relationships (metadata) and how they are retrieved for the user

Move from one database to another, or upgrade the version of database software being used

Protect sensitive data for digital privacy

Manage and store data in a database

Manage the processes involved when making the application ready for use

A visual way of interacting with an application or operating system using items such as windows, icons, and menus

An application for source code editing, compiling, and debugging

Process of distributing a set of tasks over a set of resources, with the aim of making their overall processing more efficient

Collection, search, and analysis of access logs and audit logs

Observe and track the demand, usage, progress or quality of a system, product, or user

Allows businesses to monitor and secure applications and workloads across multiple public clouds

Tracks and makes accessible data on the health of servers and other network components.

Database management based on relationships between data

Set and monitor service level agreements to ensure timely response and resolution

Development of software programs

Track and manage virtual machines (VMs) running on physical host machines

Creates a virtual server that replicates all the functionalities of a dedicated physical server

Get Advice

We can help you find the software with the features you need.

Features

4.6 (159)

4.6

Based on 159 reviews

## Pricing

Value for money

4.5 (140)

Free Trial

[View pricing plan details](https://www.capterra.com/p/205055/DigitalOcean/pricing/)

Droplets

$4.00

Flat Rate,Per Month

It includes:

-   Deploy in Seconds
-   Scale on Demands
-   Run any workload - from mission critical apps to low traffic sites

Kubernetes

$12.00

Flat Rate,Per Month

It includes:

-   Free Control Plane
-   Managed Kubernetes
-   Automate and optimize to peak performance

Databases

$15.00

Flat Rate,Per Month

It includes:

-   Automated Failovers
-   Daily Backups
-   Setup and Maintenance
-   Managed MongoDB, Kafka, PostgreSQL, MySQL, Caching, and OpenSearch

Spaces

$5.00

Flat Rate,Per Month

It includes:

-   Built in CDN
-   S3-Compatible Storage

Volumes

$10.00

Flat Rate,Per Month

It includes:

-   Block Storage
-   High Availability
-   Resize

Value for money

4.5 (140)

4.5

Based on 140 reviews

## Integrations

[

Slack](https://www.capterra.com/p/135003/Slack/)[

Terraform](https://www.capterra.com/p/179262/HashiCorp/)[

Puppet Enterprise](https://www.capterra.com/p/124189/Puppet-Enterprise/)[

Rancher](https://www.capterra.com/p/234842/Rancher/)

Connect with a Capterra advisor for a free 15-minute consultation

Get a personalized software list aligned to your business needs with guidance from our expert advisors. Our team has helped 1 million+ businesses like yours find options that fit their needs.

## Support, customer service and training options

Customer Service

4.3 (126)

Support

-   Email/Help Desk
-   FAQs/Forum
-   Knowledge Base
-   Phone Support
-   24/7 (Live rep)
-   Chat

Training

-   In Person
-   Live Online
-   Webinars
-   Documentation
-   Videos

Deployment

-   Web
-   Android
-   iPhone/iPad

Typical users

-   Freelancers
-   Small businesses
-   Mid size businesses
-   Enterprises

Customer Service

4.3 (126)

4.3

Based on 126 reviews

## User reviews

Overall rating

4.6

Based on 159 reviews

Filter by rating

5(115)

4(36)

3(3)

2(0)

1(5)

Mentioned topic

Sorted by most recent

AS

ALEX S.

CEO

Computer Software

### "DigitalOcean support is unacceptable. "

1.0

Overall Rating

1.0

1.0

Ease of Use

1.0

1.0

Features

1.0

1.0

Customer Service

1.0

1.0

Likelihood to Recommend

0/10

April 21, 2026

DigitalOcean fully disabled our entire website due to a vague DMCA complaint targeting a single URL. The notice didn’t identify any specific infringing content, yet our whole droplet was taken offline — for the second time from the same reporter. This caused real financial loss and SEO damage. No timely response, no proportional action, no escalation. A system in which a nonspecific complaint can shut down a live business is deeply concerning.

Pros

I don't like anything about it! It has become very expensive. Customer service is terrible! I do not recommend it!

Cons

DigitalOcean support is unacceptable! If uptime matters, avoid. Production site 24+ hours, no real response, no escalation.

Switched from

[GoDaddy Website Builder](https://www.capterra.com/p/182500/GoDaddy-Website-Builder/)

I was hoping this was a good hosting service.

Review source

Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication.

MP

Michal P.

Software Engineer

Accounting

### "Digital Ocean experience"

5.0

Overall Rating

5.0

5.0

Ease of Use

5.0

5.0

Features

4.0

4.0

Customer Service

0.0

0.0

Likelihood to Recommend

8/10

April 7, 2026

Pros

I really like the ease of setting up a server on DigitalOcean. They make it really easy and quick for the average user. They also offer great value.

Cons

I am pretty satisfied with my use of digital ocean, I would say I dont have anything negative to say about my experience. Something they could consider is an AI assistant to help in the monitoring of deployments.

Alternatives considered

[Microsoft Azure](https://www.capterra.com/p/16365/Azure/)

[Amazon EC2](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/)

Reasons for choosing DigitalOcean

It was cheaper and easier to set up when I just needed a virtual private server.

Review source

Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication.

VK

Vasilis K.

Web Developer

Computer Software

### "One of the best providers for virtual private servers and other digital services."

5.0

Overall Rating

5.0

5.0

Ease of Use

5.0

5.0

Features

4.0

4.0

Customer Service

4.0

4.0

Likelihood to Recommend

8/10

December 25, 2025

My overall experience with DigitalOcean has been great. I use it to host many of my web projects, manage my domains, storage, databases, etc. It's also cheap for simple setups but you can easily scale it if needed.

Pros

I really like how fast it is to spin up and setup your own virtual private server. I also love the detailed and straightforward documentation and articles.

Cons

It's hard to find something that I don't like. Maybe something that could be improved is the pricing. It would be great if there was an option for a pay-as-you-go plan.

Review source

Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication.

AU

Anonymous User

Admin Consulting

Information Technology and Services

### "One of the best with documentation and developer community"

5.0

Overall Rating

5.0

5.0

Ease of Use

5.0

5.0

Features

4.0

4.0

Customer Service

5.0

5.0

Likelihood to Recommend

8/10

October 28, 2025

I have not seen issues with security, performance and speed may depend on various factors, but the service quality is greatly improved by the community experience

Pros

Documentation is one of the best in the industry, making it easy to use and the community support is well established, reducing the learning curve. Willing to add new state of the art AI features

Cons

Virtual servers only, without bare metal customization, pricing could be more competitive, and no demo available without an account

Review source

Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication.

JT

James T.

Owner

Information Technology and Services

### "Great VM provider"

5.0

Overall Rating

5.0

5.0

Ease of Use

5.0

5.0

Features

5.0

5.0

Customer Service

5.0

5.0

Likelihood to Recommend

9/10

September 8, 2025

Overall a great experience. haven't have down time and the interface is simple and easy to use without searching for things

Pros

This platform makes it easy to deploy plenty of common apps. The ability to spin up a VM and do what you need without much hassle is a great benefit

Cons

There isn't much to dislike about DigitalOcean. The price and feature are in sync and outages have never been an issue

Review source

Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication.

AU

Anonymous User

Student

Medical Practice

### "Great virtual cloud software!"

5.0

Overall Rating

5.0

5.0

Ease of Use

5.0

5.0

Features

5.0

5.0

Customer Service

5.0

5.0

Likelihood to Recommend

8/10

August 27, 2025

Although I've only been using it for a short while, Digital Ocean has really helped me complete my n8n workflows through their pre-made drops interface.

Pros

It's super easy to use and has great speed and performance for your drops. Also there are plenty of youtube videos to help if you get stuck

Cons

There are more pros that cons, the only setback I've noticed worth mentioning is if you're not initially familiar with digitalcloud interfaces then it's best to follow their tutorial which is great!

Switched from

[Google Cloud Run](https://www.capterra.com/p/268691/Google-Cloud-Run/)

There seemed to be a greater value for money with digital ocean

Review source

Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication.

Zachary C.

Director

Computer & Network Security

### "Best cloud servers for developers"

4.0

Overall Rating

4.0

4.0

Ease of Use

5.0

5.0

Features

4.0

4.0

Customer Service

0.0

0.0

Likelihood to Recommend

8/10

August 4, 2025

Pros

Simple reliable services, been using them for years and never had any major issues with them. They offer a wide range of services which at times can be overwhelming. Service is build around security

Cons

I feel there service has gone too much towards AI and is no longer just about simple virtual servers, this means there is a big learning curve now

Switched from

[Vultr](https://www.capterra.com/p/228645/Vultr/)

We had issues with downtime with Vultr and swapped for better service.

Review source

Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication.

AU

Anonymous User

Owner

Accounting

### "A Basic User's Experience"

5.0

Overall Rating

5.0

5.0

Ease of Use

4.0

4.0

Features

5.0

5.0

Customer Service

5.0

5.0

Likelihood to Recommend

7/10

August 2, 2025

No complaints! It's been hosting my admittedly fairly simple sites for a few years no with no issues.

Pros

It's pretty simple to get up and running with a WordPress site and then customize. There's no limit on domain names, sub-domains and the like via the aliases function. Haven't dug much into the development options, but they look pretty deep. Also, it feels like the service is updated pretty frequently, and in my experience has been solid.

Cons

In places there appears to be a bit of a learning curve, but there are good support pages to explain how to do things.

Review source

Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication.

PL

Palitha L.

Owner

Information Technology and Services

### "Extremely Disappointed – Poor Communication and Unfair Charges"

1.0

Overall Rating

1.0

1.0

Ease of Use

1.0

1.0

Features

1.0

1.0

Customer Service

1.0

1.0

Likelihood to Recommend

0/10

June 23, 2025

I used a VPS from DigitalOcean for a few months. Recently, they sent a copyright-related notice to my email unfortunately, it went to my spam folder, so I missed it. Without any further warning or follow-up, they blocked the public IP address of my server. This caused a major outage for one of my clients, and I only found out when their system stopped working completely. I immediately contacted DigitalOcean support to resolve the issue, but after waiting more than 16 hours, I still didn’t receive a response. With no communication from their end, I had to pause all my work and migrate the entire platform to AWS at my own cost. I also had to compensate my client for the downtime. To make things worse, even though the server was inaccessible, DigitalOcean continued charging me for it daily. After 4 days with no response from support, I deleted the host entirely. Their handling of the situation was unprofessional, slow, and costly. I cannot recommend DigitalOcean after this experience. If your work is time-sensitive or client-critical, look elsewhere. Fast, reliable support and transparent communication are essential and sadly, DigitalOcean fell short on both.

Pros

Initially, the setup process was straightforward, and the server performance was decent for the price. The interface is clean and easy to use for basic server management.

Cons

Their support is extremely slow and unresponsive during critical issues. They blocked my server without proper notification (email went to spam), causing a major outage. Even after contacting support immediately, I received no response for days. Despite the service being unusable, I was still charged daily. This lack of communication and fairness was unacceptable.

Alternatives considered

[AWS Config](https://www.capterra.com/p/205398/AWS-Config/)

Reasons for choosing DigitalOcean

I chose DigitalOcean because of its ease of use. But I was wrong. Their services are very poor.

Review source

Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication.

SK

Saad K.

PhD Candidate

Higher Education

### "Great produce"

5.0

Overall Rating

5.0

5.0

Ease of Use

5.0

5.0

Features

5.0

5.0

Customer Service

5.0

5.0

Likelihood to Recommend

10/10

June 5, 2025

The overall experience in terms of quality of service was great. Highly recommended especially for startups that do not have the capital to host servers.

Pros

Seamless hosting of my website that was scalable on the go with convenient pricing strategy that fits budget for small ventures to enterprise level. Highly recommended.

Cons

Though the pricing strategy is flexible, it can be a bit pricy for small ventures that are not generating revenues.

Review source

Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication.

[View all Reviews](https://www.capterra.com/p/205055/DigitalOcean/reviews/)

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Popular comparisons

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