DigitalOcean vs Vultr
A comparison of DigitalOcean and Vultr built from values read directly from each provider's own documentation, with the source recorded against every figure.
The short answer
- Pick DigitalOcean if
- Teams that want plain Linux virtual machines with predictable per-second billing from $4 a month, and the option of managed databases beside them. App Platform adds Git and Docker deploys on top.
- Pick Vultr if
- Teams that want cheap virtual machines with generous included transfer — 2 TB a month per account — and overage at a cent per gigabyte. Block storage and managed databases sit alongside.
11 sourced criteria separate them:
- Entry paid plan
- DigitalOcean: $4.00
- Vultr: $2.50/mo (Regular Performance Cloud Compute, IPv6-only plan)
- Pricing model
- DigitalOcean: billed per second with a minimum charge of 60 seconds or $0.01, whichever is higher
- Vultr: Hourly billing; Cloud Compute is billed up to 672 hours per month, with a one-hour minimum billing unit
- Egress over allowance
- DigitalOcean: $0.01 per GiB (Droplets); $0.02 per GiB (App Platform)
- Vultr: $0.01 per GB
- When you exceed a cap
- DigitalOcean: Billed automatically — outbound transfer beyond the pooled plan allowance is charged at $0.01 per GiB; inbound transfer is free
- Vultr: Billed automatically — bandwidth above the plan quota is charged at $0.01 per GB
- Storage (entry plan)
- DigitalOcean: 10 GiB SSD on the cheapest Basic Droplet (Regular CPU, 512 MiB / 1 vCPU, $4.00/mo, size slug s-1vcpu-512mb-10gb)
- Vultr: 10 GB on the cheapest paid Cloud Compute Regular Performance plan (1 vCPU / 0.5 GB, $2.50/mo, IPv6 Only)
- Memory (entry plan)
- DigitalOcean: 512 MiB on the cheapest Basic Droplet (Regular CPU, 1 vCPU, $4.00/mo, size slug s-1vcpu-512mb-10gb)
- Vultr: 0.5 GB on the cheapest paid Cloud Compute Regular Performance plan (1 vCPU, $2.50/mo, IPv6 Only)
- Sites or apps included
- DigitalOcean: No more than 10 Droplets can be created at the same time through the Control Panel or the API
- Vultr: An account-wide maximum-instances limit applies; the number is shown only in the Vultr Console under Billing > Limits and is not published (increases can be requested)
- Included bandwidth
- DigitalOcean: 500 GiB of included outbound transfer on the cheapest Basic Droplet ($4.00/mo, s-1vcpu-512mb-10gb); this is an included allowance, not a hard cap — see overage_behaviour
- Vultr: 2 TB of free bandwidth per account per month, plus each running instance's own monthly cap allocated hourly
- File or inode limit
- DigitalOcean: Up to 5000 Block Storage volumes per account
- Vultr: Up to 16 Vultr Block Storage volumes can be attached to the same Cloud Compute instance
- Edge network
- DigitalOcean: Limited
- Vultr: Supported
- Autoscaling
- DigitalOcean: Supported
- Vultr: Limited
At a glance.
| Criterion | DigitalOcean | Vultr |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | ||
| Entry paid plan | $4.00 | $2.50/mo (Regular Performance Cloud Compute, IPv6-only plan) |
| Pricing model | billed per second with a minimum charge of 60 seconds or $0.01, whichever is higher | Hourly billing; Cloud Compute is billed up to 672 hours per month, with a one-hour minimum billing unit |
| Egress over allowance | $0.01 per GiB (Droplets); $0.02 per GiB (App Platform) | $0.01 per GB |
| When you exceed a cap | Billed automatically — outbound transfer beyond the pooled plan allowance is charged at $0.01 per GiB; inbound transfer is free | Billed automatically — bandwidth above the plan quota is charged at $0.01 per GB |
| Limits | ||
| Storage (entry plan) | 10 GiB SSD on the cheapest Basic Droplet (Regular CPU, 512 MiB / 1 vCPU, $4.00/mo, size slug s-1vcpu-512mb-10gb) | 10 GB on the cheapest paid Cloud Compute Regular Performance plan (1 vCPU / 0.5 GB, $2.50/mo, IPv6 Only) |
| Memory (entry plan) | 512 MiB on the cheapest Basic Droplet (Regular CPU, 1 vCPU, $4.00/mo, size slug s-1vcpu-512mb-10gb) | 0.5 GB on the cheapest paid Cloud Compute Regular Performance plan (1 vCPU, $2.50/mo, IPv6 Only) |
| Sites or apps included | No more than 10 Droplets can be created at the same time through the Control Panel or the API | An account-wide maximum-instances limit applies; the number is shown only in the Vultr Console under Billing > Limits and is not published (increases can be requested) |
| Included bandwidth | 500 GiB of included outbound transfer on the cheapest Basic Droplet ($4.00/mo, s-1vcpu-512mb-10gb); this is an included allowance, not a hard cap — see overage_behaviour | 2 TB of free bandwidth per account per month, plus each running instance's own monthly cap allocated hourly |
| File or inode limit | Up to 5000 Block Storage volumes per account | Up to 16 Vultr Block Storage volumes can be attached to the same Cloud Compute instance |
| Execution | ||
| Managed connection pooling | Supported | Supported |
| Deployment | ||
| Containers | Supported | Supported |
| Infrastructure | ||
| Persistent storage | Supported | Supported |
| Managed databases | Supported | Supported |
| Edge network | Limited | Supported |
| Autoscaling | Supported | Limited |
Where they differ.
Entry paid plan
- DigitalOcean
- $4.00
- Vultr
- $2.50/mo (Regular Performance Cloud Compute, IPv6-only plan)
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Droplet Pricing | DigitalOcean ↗
“512 MiB / 1 vCPU / 500 GiB transfer / 10 GiB SSD — $0.00595 /hr, $4.00 /mo”
Read 2026-09-05 · official pricing
- High Performance, High Frequency, Bare Metal, Affordable Cloud Computing - Vultr.com ↗
“1 vCPU 0.5 GB 0.50 TB 10 GB $2.50 /mo $0.004 /hr IPv6 Only”
Read 2026-09-05 · official pricing
Pricing model
- DigitalOcean
- billed per second with a minimum charge of 60 seconds or $0.01, whichever is higher
- Vultr
- Hourly billing; Cloud Compute is billed up to 672 hours per month, with a one-hour minimum billing unit
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Droplet Pricing | DigitalOcean Documentation ↗
“billed per second with a minimum charge of 60 seconds or $0.01, whichever is higher”
Read 2026-09-05 · official docs
- How Am I Billed for My Servers? | Vultr Docs ↗
“Vultr bills all servers on an hourly basis. The billing model varies slightly based on the product type: GPU Instances: Billed up to 730 hours per month, aligned with the industry-standard monthly cap. All Other Server Types (including Cloud Compute, Optimized Cloud Compute, Bare Metal): Billed up to 672 hours per month.”
Read 2026-09-05 · official docs
Egress over allowance
- DigitalOcean
- $0.01 per GiB (Droplets); $0.02 per GiB (App Platform)
- Vultr
- $0.01 per GB
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Bandwidth Billing | DigitalOcean Documentation ↗
“Droplets: Additional outbound transfer is billed at $0.01 per GiB. App Platform: Additional outbound transfer is billed at $0.02 per GiB.”
Read 2026-09-05 · official pricing
- What Is the Bandwidth Overage Rate? | Vultr Docs ↗
“Bandwidth usage exceeding your plan's allocated quota is billed at an overage rate of $0.01 per GB.”
Read 2026-09-05 · official docs
When you exceed a cap
- DigitalOcean
- Billed automatically — outbound transfer beyond the pooled plan allowance is charged at $0.01 per GiB; inbound transfer is free
- Vultr
- Billed automatically — bandwidth above the plan quota is charged at $0.01 per GB
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Droplet Pricing | DigitalOcean Documentation ↗
“Each Droplet plan includes an amount of free outbound data transfer. Additional outbound transfer is billed at $0.01 per GiB. Inbound transfer to Droplets is free.”
Read 2026-09-05 · official docs
- High Performance, High Frequency, Bare Metal, Affordable Cloud Computing - Vultr.com ↗
“We charge $0.01 per GB for bandwidth used in excess of your quota.”
Read 2026-09-05 · official pricing
Storage (entry plan)
10 GiB SSD on the cheapest Basic Droplet (Regular CPU, 512 MiB / 1 vCPU, $4.00/mo, size slug s-1vcpu-512mb-10gb)
10 GB on the cheapest paid Cloud Compute Regular Performance plan (1 vCPU / 0.5 GB, $2.50/mo, IPv6 Only)
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Droplet Pricing | DigitalOcean ↗
“Memory | vCPU | Transfer | SSD | $/hr | $/mo — 512 MiB | 1 vCPU | 500 GiB | 10 GiB | $0.00595 | $4.00”
Read 2026-09-05 · official pricing
- High Performance, High Frequency, Bare Metal, Affordable Cloud Computing - Vultr.com ↗
“vCPUs | Memory | Bandwidth | Storage | Monthly Price | Hourly Price — 1 vCPU | 0.5 GB | 0.50 TB | 10 GB | $2.50 /mo | $0.004 /hr | IPv6 Only”
Read 2026-09-05 · official pricing
Memory (entry plan)
512 MiB on the cheapest Basic Droplet (Regular CPU, 1 vCPU, $4.00/mo, size slug s-1vcpu-512mb-10gb)
0.5 GB on the cheapest paid Cloud Compute Regular Performance plan (1 vCPU, $2.50/mo, IPv6 Only)
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Droplet Pricing | DigitalOcean ↗
“Memory | vCPU | Transfer | SSD | $/hr | $/mo — 512 MiB | 1 vCPU | 500 GiB | 10 GiB | $0.00595 | $4.00”
Read 2026-09-05 · official pricing
- High Performance, High Frequency, Bare Metal, Affordable Cloud Computing - Vultr.com ↗
“vCPUs | Memory | Bandwidth | Storage | Monthly Price | Hourly Price — 1 vCPU | 0.5 GB | 0.50 TB | 10 GB | $2.50 /mo | $0.004 /hr | IPv6 Only”
Read 2026-09-05 · official pricing
Sites or apps included
- DigitalOcean
- No more than 10 Droplets can be created at the same time through the Control Panel or the API
- Vultr
- An account-wide maximum-instances limit applies; the number is shown only in the Vultr Console under Billing > Limits and is not published (increases can be requested)
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Droplet Limits | DigitalOcean Documentation ↗
“You can’t create more than 10 Droplets at the same time using the Control Panel or the API.”
Read 2026-09-05 · official docs
- How to Manage Vultr Account Limits | Vultr Docs ↗
“The Vultr account limit defines the maximum instances and costs you can have in your account. These limits are necessary to control costs or excessive usage of your cloud account resource allocations.”
Read 2026-09-05 · official docs
Included bandwidth
- DigitalOcean
- 500 GiB of included outbound transfer on the cheapest Basic Droplet ($4.00/mo, s-1vcpu-512mb-10gb); this is an included allowance, not a hard cap — see overage_behaviour
- Vultr
- 2 TB of free bandwidth per account per month, plus each running instance's own monthly cap allocated hourly
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Droplet Pricing | DigitalOcean ↗
“Memory | vCPU | Transfer | SSD | $/hr | $/mo — 512 MiB | 1 vCPU | 500 GiB | 10 GiB | $0.00595 | $4.00”
Read 2026-09-05 · official pricing
- How Are Bandwidth Caps Calculated? | Vultr Docs ↗
“Free Bandwidth: Vultr provides 2 TB of free bandwidth per account, allocated monthly. This allocation resets at the beginning of each calendar month and does not carry over.”
Read 2026-09-05 · official docs
File or inode limit
Up to 5000 Block Storage volumes per account
Up to 16 Vultr Block Storage volumes can be attached to the same Cloud Compute instance
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Volume Limits | DigitalOcean Documentation ↗
“You can create up to 5000 volumes per account. If your workload requires more volumes, contact support.”
Read 2026-09-05 · official docs
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Block Storage | Vultr Docs ↗
“Yes, you can attach up to 16 Vultr Block Storage volumes to the same Vultr Cloud Compute instance.”
Read 2026-09-05 · official docs
Edge network
- DigitalOcean
- Limited
- Vultr
- Supported
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Spaces Features | DigitalOcean Documentation ↗
“Spaces includes an optional built-in CDN, a globally distributed network of edge servers that cache and deliver content from locations closest to your users.”
Read 2026-09-05 · official docs
- Vultr CDN Pull Zone Setup and Management | Vultr Docs ↗
“Manage CDN Pull Zones on Vultr to accelerate content delivery by caching and serving static assets from globally distributed edge locations for faster load times and reduced origin server load.”
Read 2026-09-05 · official docs
Autoscaling
- DigitalOcean
- Supported
- Vultr
- Limited
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- How to Scale Apps | DigitalOcean Documentation ↗
“Autoscaling automatically adds or removes containers based on workload. [...] Request-based autoscaling monitors HTTP traffic metrics, such as requests per second or P95 request duration, and works with both shared and dedicated CPU plans.”
Read 2026-09-05 · official docs
- How Does Vultr Kubernetes Engine Handle Scaling? | Vultr Docs ↗
“Automatic Node Pool Scaling: VKE supports autoscaling for node pools. Based on workload demand, the autoscaler adjusts the number of nodes within a specified range. This ensures your applications remain responsive during peak traffic while reducing costs during periods of low activity.”
Read 2026-09-05 · official docs
Which should you choose?
Choose DigitalOcean if…
Teams that want plain Linux virtual machines with predictable per-second billing from $4 a month, and the option of managed databases beside them. App Platform adds Git and Docker deploys on top.
Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved
Choose Vultr if…
Teams that want cheap virtual machines with generous included transfer — 2 TB a month per account — and overage at a cent per gigabyte. Block storage and managed databases sit alongside.
Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved
Consider something else if…
- DigitalOcean: You want a platform that manages the runtime for you rather than a server you administer.
- Vultr: The $2.50 entry plan is IPv6-only; the equivalent machine with IPv4 starts at $3.50, and stopped instances are still billed.
Documented by only one.
These criteria are published by one provider and not the other. An absence here means we have not found a source, not that the feature is missing.