What is DigitalOcean used for?

DigitalOcean is a cloud provider offering virtual servers, managed databases, storage, networking and the App Platform PaaS, with a growing focus on AI workloads. It is a good fit for hosting web applications on virtual servers, running managed databases for small teams and deploying apps without managing infrastructure.

Is DigitalOcean free?

Yes. DigitalOcean has a free plan, and paid plans start at $4 per month.

Is DigitalOcean open source?

No. DigitalOcean is proprietary (closed-source) software and can't be self-hosted. Open-source alternatives to DigitalOcean include Ubicloud, Coolify and Dokploy.

What are some alternatives to DigitalOcean?

DigitalOcean competes with Linode, Vultr and Amazon Lightsail. For open-source options, see Enlisted's ranked list of open-source DigitalOcean alternatives.

DigitalOcean: features, pricing and alternatives

About DigitalOcean

DigitalOcean is a commercial cloud infrastructure provider that targets developers, startups and small and midsize businesses. Its core services include virtual servers, managed databases, storage, networking, security features and a platform-as-a-service called App Platform for deploying applications.

The product catalog is grouped into compute, containers and images, managed databases, management and developer tools, networking, security and storage. Its current homepage emphasizes an AI-native cloud, with serverless inference, model routing and a public-preview Managed Agents service, alongside documentation, a community site and a marketplace of partner offerings.

DigitalOcean is a proprietary hosted service sold on usage, with a public pricing page. It suits teams that want a simpler alternative to larger hyperscale clouds for web hosting, application deployment, databases and increasingly AI inference.

Key features

Virtual servers for general compute
App Platform for deploying applications
Managed database engines
Object and block storage
Networking and security services
Serverless inference and managed agents

Good fit for

→Hosting web applications on virtual servers
→Running managed databases for small teams
→Deploying apps without managing infrastructure

Tags: cloud; iaas; paas; hosting; managed-databases; app-platform; vps

DigitalOcean: questions and answers

What is DigitalOcean used for?: DigitalOcean is a cloud provider offering virtual servers, managed databases, storage, networking and the App Platform PaaS, with a growing focus on AI workloads. It is a good fit for hosting web applications on virtual servers, running managed databases for small teams and deploying apps without managing infrastructure.
Is DigitalOcean free?: Yes. DigitalOcean has a free plan, and paid plans start at $4 per month.
Is DigitalOcean open source?: No. DigitalOcean is proprietary (closed-source) software and can't be self-hosted. Open-source alternatives to DigitalOcean include Ubicloud, Coolify and Dokploy.
What are some alternatives to DigitalOcean?: DigitalOcean competes with Linode, Vultr and Amazon Lightsail. For open-source options, see Enlisted's ranked list of open-source DigitalOcean alternatives.