DigitalOcean vs Vultr
Both are credible choices — here's where they genuinely differ.
Some links on this page are affiliate links. They never affect our verdict.
Pricing — including renewal
| DigitalOcean | Vultr | |
|---|---|---|
| Intro price | ~$4/mo (basic droplet) | ~$2.50–5/mo |
| Intro requires | Pay-as-you-go, no contract | Pay-as-you-go, no contract |
| Renewal | No teaser rates — the price is the price | No teaser rates — flat published pricing |
| Money-back | Credit-based trial offers | Trial credit offers |
Features compared
| DigitalOcean | Vultr | |
|---|---|---|
| Unlimited websites | ✔ Yes | ✔ Yes |
| Multiple websites | — No | — No |
| Free SSL | — No | — No |
| Unmetered bandwidth | — No | — No |
| Email included | — No | — No |
| Free daily backups | — No | — No |
| Free domain (1st yr) | — No | — No |
| CDN included | — No | — No |
| Staging environment | — No | — No |
| NVMe/SSD storage | ✔ Yes | ✔ Yes |
| UK data centre | ✔ Yes | ✔ Yes |
| No long contract | ✔ Yes | ✔ Yes |
| Support | Ticket-based; paid support plans for faster response | Ticket-based |
Plan details — what you actually get
DigitalOcean
Websites: Unlimited — it's your server
Storage: 10 GB+ NVMe per droplet, scalable
Bandwidth: Generous transfer allowance, then metered
Email: Not included (run your own / third party)
SSL: Free via Let's Encrypt (you configure)
Backups: Paid add-on (~20% of droplet cost)
CDN: Available (Spaces CDN)
Staging: DIY — spin up another droplet
Vultr
Websites: Unlimited — it's your server
Storage: NVMe per instance, scalable
Bandwidth: Per-plan transfer allowance
Email: Not included
SSL: Free via Let's Encrypt (you configure)
Backups: Paid add-on
CDN: Available
Staging: DIY
The verdict
Both DigitalOcean and Vultr are credible for developer features, growing / high traffic, honest renewal pricing. For those needs you won't go far wrong either way.
Choose Vultr if you care more about cheapest to run.