DigitalOcean App Platform vs AWS Lightsail
Pricing data as of 2026-10-12 · refreshed weekly
DigitalOcean App Platform (paas) and AWS Lightsail (vps) 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 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 |
AWS Lightsailvps
| $5 bundle | $5/mo |
| $7 bundle | $7/mo |
| $12 bundle | $12/mo |
| $24 bundle | $24/mo |
Cheapest fitting plan per stack (startup traffic)
| Stack | DigitalOcean App Platform | AWS Lightsail | Cheaper |
|---|---|---|---|
| Next.js | $5.48 (Shared 1 vCPU / 512MB) | $5 ($5 bundle) | AWS Lightsail |
| Nuxt | $5.48 (Shared 1 vCPU / 512MB) | $5 ($5 bundle) | AWS Lightsail |
| Astro | $5.48 (Shared 1 vCPU / 512MB) | $5 ($5 bundle) | AWS Lightsail |
| SvelteKit | $5.48 (Shared 1 vCPU / 512MB) | $5 ($5 bundle) | AWS Lightsail |
| Remix / React Router | $5.48 (Shared 1 vCPU / 512MB) | $5 ($5 bundle) | AWS Lightsail |
| Node.js API | $5.48 (Shared 1 vCPU / 512MB) | $5 ($5 bundle) | AWS Lightsail |
| Django | $10 (Shared 1 vCPU / 1GB (fixed)) | $7 ($7 bundle) | AWS Lightsail |
| FastAPI | $5.48 (Shared 1 vCPU / 512MB) | $5 ($5 bundle) | AWS Lightsail |
| Laravel | $10 (Shared 1 vCPU / 1GB (fixed)) | $7 ($7 bundle) | AWS Lightsail |
| Ruby on Rails | $25 (Shared 1 vCPU / 2GB) | $12 ($12 bundle) | AWS Lightsail |
| Spring Boot | $25 (Shared 1 vCPU / 2GB) | $12 ($12 bundle) | AWS Lightsail |
| Ghost | $10 (Shared 1 vCPU / 1GB (fixed)) | $7 ($7 bundle) | AWS Lightsail |
| Strapi | $10 (Shared 1 vCPU / 1GB (fixed)) | $7 ($7 bundle) | AWS Lightsail |
| Static site | $1.46 (Static site (free tier)) | $5 ($5 bundle) | DigitalOcean App Platform |
Next.js by traffic level
| Traffic | DigitalOcean App Platform | AWS Lightsail |
|---|---|---|
| Hobby / side project (~5,000/mo) | $5 (Shared 1 vCPU / 512MB) | $5 ($5 bundle) |
| Startup / small business (~50,000/mo) | $5.48 (Shared 1 vCPU / 512MB) | $5 ($5 bundle) |
| E-commerce (~200,000/mo) | $19.64 (Shared 1 vCPU / 512MB) | $5 ($5 bundle) |
| High traffic (~1,000,000/mo) | $33.3 (Shared 1 vCPU / 512MB) | $7 ($7 bundle) |
"+" = even the largest plan may not cover that traffic. Full breakdowns: Next.js on DigitalOcean App Platform · Next.js on AWS Lightsail
FAQ
Is DigitalOcean App Platform or AWS Lightsail cheaper?
AWS Lightsail is cheaper more often: at startup traffic (~50,000 visits/month) DigitalOcean App Platform wins on 1 of 14 shared stacks, AWS Lightsail on 13. Price alone ignores ops work: DigitalOcean App Platform is a PaaS, AWS Lightsail is a VPS.
What does a Next.js app cost on DigitalOcean App Platform vs AWS Lightsail?
Cheapest fitting plan by traffic level — hobby / side project: DigitalOcean App Platform $5/month (Shared 1 vCPU / 512MB) vs AWS Lightsail $5/month ($5 bundle); startup / small business: DigitalOcean App Platform $5.48/month (Shared 1 vCPU / 512MB) vs AWS Lightsail $5/month ($5 bundle); e-commerce: DigitalOcean App Platform $19.64/month (Shared 1 vCPU / 512MB) vs AWS Lightsail $5/month ($5 bundle); high traffic: DigitalOcean App Platform $33.30/month (Shared 1 vCPU / 512MB) vs AWS Lightsail $7/month ($7 bundle).
What is included with DigitalOcean App Platform and AWS Lightsail?
DigitalOcean App Platform bundles CDN, SSL, Auto-deploy; not included: Image opt, Edge, Previews. AWS Lightsail is a VPS with nothing bundled — CDN, TLS automation, previews and deploys are yours to set up.
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.