HomeDigitalOcean vs Cloudways
Updated March 2026 · Independent Analysis

DigitalOceanvsCloudways

DigitalOcean starts at $4/mo, 71% cheaper than Cloudways's $14/mo. Both rated 4.6/5 by users.

D
DigitalOcean

Cloud infrastructure designed for developers, startups, and SMBs

4.6/5Founded 2011800K+ customers users
Try DigitalOcean Free →
C
Cloudways

Managed cloud hosting platform on top of DigitalOcean, AWS, and Google Cloud

4.6/5Founded 2011250K+ websites users
Try Cloudways Free →

⚡ Quick Stats

Avg Rating
🏆 DigitalOcean wins
💰
Starting Price
🏆 DigitalOcean wins
🔧
Features
🏆 DigitalOcean wins
🎁
Free Plan
🏆 DigitalOcean wins

📊 Ratings Breakdown

D

DigitalOcean

4.6/5 avg
G2 Score4.5/5
Capterra Score4.7/5
Overall Avg4.6/5
C

Cloudways

4.6/5 avg
G2 Score4.5/5
Capterra Score4.7/5
Overall Avg4.6/5

⚡ Quick Verdict

Independent analysis based on features, pricing, and user ratings

Choose DigitalOcean if you need:
  • Droplets (VPS)
  • Kubernetes
  • App Platform
  • Managed Databases
  • Spaces (Object Storage)
Try DigitalOcean Free →
Choose Cloudways if you need:
  • Managed Hosting
  • 1-Click Install
  • Free SSL
  • Free Migration
  • Staging Environment
Try Cloudways Free →

🔧 Feature Comparison

DigitalOcean uniquely offers Droplets (VPS), Kubernetes, App Platform. Cloudways uniquely offers Managed Hosting, 1-Click Install, Free SSL. Both share 1 features including CDN.

Feature
DigitalOcean
Cloudways
CDN
Droplets (VPS)
Kubernetes
App Platform
Managed Databases
Spaces (Object Storage)
Load Balancers
VPC
Monitoring
Firewalls
Backups
Snapshots
API
CLI Tools
Functions (Serverless)
Managed Hosting
1-Click Install
Free SSL
Free Migration
Staging Environment
Automated Backups
Server Monitoring
PHP Apps Support
WordPress Optimization
Team Collaboration
SFTP/SSH Access
24/7 Support
Git Deployment
CloudwaysBot
Total Features
15
15

💰 Pricing Comparison

DigitalOcean starts at $4/mo, 71% cheaper than Cloudways's $14/mo.

D

DigitalOcean Plans

Free tier available

$200 Free Credit
Free
  • $200 credit for new accounts
Basic DropletBest Value
$4/mo
  • 512MB RAM
  • 1 vCPU
  • 10GB SSD
Regular Droplet
$6/mo
  • 1GB RAM
  • 1 vCPU
  • 25GB SSD
Premium Droplet
$8/mo
  • 1GB RAM
  • 1 vCPU
  • NVMe SSD
Full DigitalOcean pricing breakdown →
C

Cloudways Plans

Paid plans only

DO 1GBBest Value
$14/mo
  • 1GB RAM
  • 1 Core
  • 25GB SSD
DO 2GB
$28/mo
  • 2GB RAM
  • 1 Core
  • 50GB SSD
DO 4GB
$54/mo
  • 4GB RAM
  • 2 Cores
  • 80GB SSD
AWS/GCE
$38/mo
  • Starting price for AWS small
Full Cloudways pricing breakdown →
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❓ Frequently Asked Questions

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