# Plausible Analytics on DigitalOcean

Canonical: https://inetgeek.com/stacks/plausible-on-digitalocean/

DigitalOcean publishes its own guide for deploying Plausible Analytics.

Open-source web analytics deployed as a Docker Compose stack, requiring PostgreSQL for application data and ClickHouse for the event store.

## What Plausible Analytics needs

Every host claims to run Plausible Analytics, so the claim on its own decides nothing. These are the things Plausible Analytics requires from the platform underneath it, and what DigitalOcean publishes about each. DigitalOcean documents 4 of the 4.

| Requirement | DigitalOcean | Why it matters |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Managed databases | Supported | Plausible needs PostgreSQL for application data alongside ClickHouse for events. The Postgres half is the part a managed database service can take off your hands; ClickHouse you run yourself. |
| Persistent storage | Supported | ClickHouse writes the event store to disk, and that store is the whole point of running Plausible. An ephemeral filesystem loses your analytics history on every deploy. |
| Memory (entry plan) | 512 MiB on the cheapest Basic Droplet (Regular CPU, 1 vCPU, $4.00/mo). | ClickHouse holds a great deal in memory. An instance sized for a small blog will not run a Plausible stack, so the entry plan's RAM decides whether this is viable at all. |
| Docker deployment | Supported | The supported self-hosted install is a Docker Compose stack of Plausible, PostgreSQL and ClickHouse together, not a single process. |

- Managed databases source: https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/databases/
- Persistent storage source: https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/volumes/details/features/
- Memory (entry plan) source: https://www.digitalocean.com/pricing/droplets
- Docker deployment source: https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/app-platform/how-to/deploy-from-container-images/

## What DigitalOcean documents

> In addition to creating a Droplet from the Plausible Analytics 1-Click App via the control panel, you can also use the DigitalOcean API.

Source: https://marketplace.digitalocean.com/apps/plausible-analytics

### Plausible Analytics features on DigitalOcean

- **docker_compose**: Supported — This 1-click enables you to create a DigitalOcean droplet pre-installed with recommended Docker tools (docker-engine, docker-compose). ([source](https://marketplace.digitalocean.com/apps/docker))
- **one_click_image**: Supported — On your first SSH login to the droplet or launch of the Droplet console of your Plausible Droplet 1-Click, you will be greeted by a Plausible setup script. ([source](https://marketplace.digitalocean.com/apps/plausible-analytics))
- **smtp_outbound**: Not supported — SMTP ports 25, 465, and 587 are blocked on Droplets to prevent spam and other abuses on our platform. This block applies to all Droplets by default and includes traffic passing through a Reserved IP address. ([source](https://docs.digitalocean.com/support/why-is-smtp-blocked/))
- **automated_backups**: Supported — Backups are automatically-created disk images of Droplets. Enabling backups for Droplets enables system-level backups at intervals of every 4 hours, 6 hours, 12 hours, day, or week, which provides a way to revert to an older state or create new Droplets. ([source](https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/backups/))
- **vertical_resize**: Supported — Resizing a CPU Droplet changes the resources (CPU, RAM, and disk) that the Droplet has. You cannot resize GPU Droplets. ([source](https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/droplets/how-to/resize/))

## What it costs to run there

|  | DigitalOcean |
| --- | --- |
| Entry paid plan | $4.00 |
| Pricing model | billed per second with a minimum charge of 60 seconds or $0.01, whichever is higher |
| 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 |
| Regions | Thirteen regions holding 16 datacenters: New York City (NYC1, NYC2, NYC3), Amsterdam (AMS3), San Francisco (SFO2, SFO3), Singapore, London, Frankfurt, Toronto, Bangalore, Sydney, Atlanta, Richmond, Kansas City and Memphis. |

- Entry paid plan source: https://www.digitalocean.com/pricing/droplets
- Pricing model source: https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/droplets/details/pricing/
- When you exceed a cap source: https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/droplets/details/pricing/
- Regions source: https://docs.digitalocean.com/platform/regional-availability/

## Whether it suits you

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.

Consider something else if: You want a platform that manages the runtime for you rather than a server you administer.

Written by Palash Bagchi on 2026-09-05. This is a recommendation, not a sourced fact — it carries no citation because it is an opinion.

## Related

- Best hosting for Plausible Analytics: https://inetgeek.com/stacks/plausible/
- DigitalOcean: https://inetgeek.com/hosting/digitalocean/