DigitalOcean Droplets vs DigitalOcean App Platform
Pricing data as of 2026-10-12 · refreshed weekly
DigitalOcean Droplets (vps) and DigitalOcean App Platform (paas) overlap on 14 stacks. The table below shows the cheapest fitting plan on each for a typical startup workload (~50,000 visits/month) — list prices, no promos.
DigitalOcean Dropletsvps
| Basic 512MB | $4/mo |
| Basic 1GB | $6/mo |
| Basic 2GB | $12/mo |
| Basic 4GB | $24/mo |
DigitalOcean App Platformpaas
| Static site (free tier) | $0/mo |
| Shared 1 vCPU / 512MB | $5/mo |
| Shared 1 vCPU / 1GB (fixed) | $10/mo |
| Shared 1 vCPU / 1GB | $12/mo |
| Shared 1 vCPU / 2GB | $25/mo |
| Shared 2 vCPU / 4GB | $50/mo |
Cheapest fitting plan per stack (startup traffic)
| Stack | DigitalOcean Droplets | DigitalOcean App Platform | Cheaper |
|---|---|---|---|
| Next.js | $4 (Basic 512MB) | $5.48 (Shared 1 vCPU / 512MB) | DigitalOcean Droplets |
| Nuxt | $4 (Basic 512MB) | $5.48 (Shared 1 vCPU / 512MB) | DigitalOcean Droplets |
| Astro | $4 (Basic 512MB) | $5.48 (Shared 1 vCPU / 512MB) | DigitalOcean Droplets |
| SvelteKit | $4 (Basic 512MB) | $5.48 (Shared 1 vCPU / 512MB) | DigitalOcean Droplets |
| Remix / React Router | $4 (Basic 512MB) | $5.48 (Shared 1 vCPU / 512MB) | DigitalOcean Droplets |
| Node.js API | $4 (Basic 512MB) | $5.48 (Shared 1 vCPU / 512MB) | DigitalOcean Droplets |
| Django | $6 (Basic 1GB) | $10 (Shared 1 vCPU / 1GB (fixed)) | DigitalOcean Droplets |
| FastAPI | $4 (Basic 512MB) | $5.48 (Shared 1 vCPU / 512MB) | DigitalOcean Droplets |
| Laravel | $6 (Basic 1GB) | $10 (Shared 1 vCPU / 1GB (fixed)) | DigitalOcean Droplets |
| Ruby on Rails | $12 (Basic 2GB) | $25 (Shared 1 vCPU / 2GB) | DigitalOcean Droplets |
| Spring Boot | $12 (Basic 2GB) | $25 (Shared 1 vCPU / 2GB) | DigitalOcean Droplets |
| Ghost | $6 (Basic 1GB) | $10 (Shared 1 vCPU / 1GB (fixed)) | DigitalOcean Droplets |
| Strapi | $6 (Basic 1GB) | $10 (Shared 1 vCPU / 1GB (fixed)) | DigitalOcean Droplets |
| Static site | $4 (Basic 512MB) | $1.46 (Static site (free tier)) | DigitalOcean App Platform |
Next.js by traffic level
| Traffic | DigitalOcean Droplets | DigitalOcean App Platform |
|---|---|---|
| Hobby / side project (~5,000/mo) | $4 (Basic 512MB) | $5 (Shared 1 vCPU / 512MB) |
| Startup / small business (~50,000/mo) | $4 (Basic 512MB) | $5.48 (Shared 1 vCPU / 512MB) |
| E-commerce (~200,000/mo) | $6 (Basic 1GB) | $19.64 (Shared 1 vCPU / 512MB) |
| High traffic (~1,000,000/mo) | $12 (Basic 2GB) | $33.3 (Shared 1 vCPU / 512MB) |
"+" = even the largest plan may not cover that traffic. Full breakdowns: Next.js on DigitalOcean Droplets · Next.js on DigitalOcean App Platform
FAQ
Is DigitalOcean Droplets or DigitalOcean App Platform cheaper?
DigitalOcean Droplets is cheaper more often: at startup traffic (~50,000 visits/month) DigitalOcean Droplets wins on 13 of 14 shared stacks, DigitalOcean App Platform on 1. Price alone ignores ops work: DigitalOcean Droplets is a VPS, DigitalOcean App Platform is a PaaS.
What does a Next.js app cost on DigitalOcean Droplets vs DigitalOcean App Platform?
Cheapest fitting plan by traffic level — hobby / side project: DigitalOcean Droplets $4/month (Basic 512MB) vs DigitalOcean App Platform $5/month (Shared 1 vCPU / 512MB); startup / small business: DigitalOcean Droplets $4/month (Basic 512MB) vs DigitalOcean App Platform $5.48/month (Shared 1 vCPU / 512MB); e-commerce: DigitalOcean Droplets $6/month (Basic 1GB) vs DigitalOcean App Platform $19.64/month (Shared 1 vCPU / 512MB); high traffic: DigitalOcean Droplets $12/month (Basic 2GB) vs DigitalOcean App Platform $33.30/month (Shared 1 vCPU / 512MB).
What is included with DigitalOcean Droplets and DigitalOcean App Platform?
DigitalOcean Droplets is a VPS with nothing bundled — CDN, TLS automation, previews and deploys are yours to set up. DigitalOcean App Platform bundles CDN, SSL, Auto-deploy; not included: Image opt, Edge, Previews.
How current are these prices?
They are official list prices as of 2026-10-12, re-checked against each provider's pricing page on a weekly cycle. Intro promos and coupons are not used in totals; taxes are not included unless a plan note says so.
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