DigitalOcean is great, but it's not perfect for everyone. Maybe you need more data center locations, cheaper pricing, or specific features. Here are the best alternatives.
| Provider | Starting Price | Best For | Data Centers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vultr | $2.50/mo | Budget + global coverage | 32 locations |
| Linode (Akamai) | $5/mo | CDN + edge computing | 25+ locations |
| Hetzner | €3.79/mo | European hosting, best value | 5 locations |
| AWS Lightsail | $3.50/mo | AWS ecosystem access | 20+ regions |
| Google Cloud | Free tier | ML/AI workloads | 35+ regions |
| Hostwinds | $4.99/mo | Managed VPS hosting | 3 locations |
| OVHcloud | €3.50/mo | European compliance | 15+ locations |
1. Vultr — Best Overall Alternative
Vultr is the closest competitor to DigitalOcean. With 32 data center locations (vs DO's 14), lower entry pricing ($2.50/mo), and similar features, it's an excellent choice.
- Bare metal, cloud compute, and managed Kubernetes
- Hourly billing with monthly caps
- More locations including Tokyo, Seoul, and Mumbai
Read our full DigitalOcean vs Vultr comparison →
2. Linode (Akamai) — Best for CDN Integration
Now part of Akamai, Linode offers similar pricing to DigitalOcean with the added benefit of Akamai's massive CDN and DDoS protection network.
- Nearly identical pricing to DigitalOcean
- Akamai CDN and security features
- 25+ global data centers
Read our full DigitalOcean vs Linode comparison →
3. Hetzner — Best Value in Europe
German provider Hetzner offers incredible value. Their cloud servers are 30-50% cheaper than DigitalOcean with excellent performance.
- Dedicated vCPU servers from €7.49/mo
- Data centers in Germany, Finland, and US
- Excellent for GDPR-compliant hosting
4. AWS Lightsail — Simplified AWS
Amazon's answer to DigitalOcean. Lightsail offers simple VPS hosting with predictable pricing, plus easy upgrade paths to full AWS services.
- Starts at $3.50/mo for 512MB RAM
- Easy migration to EC2 when you outgrow it
- Access to AWS ecosystem (RDS, S3, etc.)
Read our full DigitalOcean vs AWS comparison →
5. Google Cloud Platform — Best Free Tier
Google Cloud offers an always-free tier (e2-micro instance) and $300 in credits. Best for teams already using Google services.
- Always-free e2-micro instance
- Best-in-class ML/AI tools (Vertex AI, BigQuery)
- 35+ regions worldwide
6. Hosnds — Best Managed VPS
If you want someone to manage your server, Hostwinds offers fully managed VPS hosting with 24/7 support.
- Managed and unmanaged options
- 24/7/365 live support
- Nightly backups included
7. OVHcloud — Best for European Compliance
French cloud provider with strong European data sovereignty. Good choice for businesses needing GDPR compliance with European-only data storage.
- Competitive pricing
- European data sovereignty
- Bare metal and cloud options
Still Not Sure? Try DigitalOcean First
DigitalOcean remains the best all-around choice for most developers. The $200 free credit lets you test everything risk-free.
🎁 Try DigitalOcean Risk-Free
Get $200 free credit for 60 days. No commitment, cancel anytime.
Claim Free Credit →