Confused by cloud hosting options? Did you know 5 million developers trust DigitalOcean? This review takes a developer’s perspective, splashing into features and user-friendliness. Is DigitalOcean your fin-tastic hosting solution, or are there sharks lurking beneath the surface?

This review analyzes DigitalOcean for developers, seeing if it’s a user-friendly cloud hosting choice with the features developers need. Think of it as your cheat sheet to see if DigitalOcean rocks your developer world!

What is DigitalOcean?

DigitalOcean, a cloud computing platform founded in 2011, offers simple and affordable infrastructure for developers. It is now the third-largest cloud provider by public IPv4 addresses, behind AWS and Google Cloud.

DigitalOcean doesn’t have all the enterprise features of the “big three” clouds by design. Its market is developers, SMBs, and startups seeking an easy-to-use, low-maintenance cloud. In my opinion, it delivers on that promise.

Key Features & Services

So what exactly does DigitalOcean offer? Let’s break down the key components:

Droplets

The core of DigitalOcean’s offering is Droplets, virtual servers similar to ultra-configurable VPS plans. They come in various sizes, can run any OS, and offer numerous one-click app installs.

I’m currently running a few Droplets for various projects, including:

• An Ubuntu 20.04 Droplet with 2 vCPUs and 4 GB RAM for hosting a Node.js app
• A CentOS Droplet running a LAMP stack for a WordPress blog
• A backend API server with 4 vCPUs and 8 GB RAM

Spinning up a new Droplet takes less than a minute. The performance has been rock-solid, which I’ll dive into more later. Overall, Droplets are the foundation of the DigitalOcean ecosystem and they do their job very well.

Managed Databases

While you can certainly run databases on your Droplets, DigitalOcean also offers fully-managed database clusters. Currently they support PostgreSQL, MySQL, and Redis, with the ability to choose your version, size, and region.

I have a managed PostgreSQL database hooked up to my Node.js app, Droplet. Setting it up was a breeze through the control panel, and I was even able to migrate my existing database with just a few clicks. Having a managed option is great for offloading the admin work.

Spaces Object Storage

For storing unstructured data like images, videos, and backups, DigitalOcean offers a service called Spaces. It’s comparable to Amazon S3 or Google Cloud Storage.

I use Spaces to host all my site’s media assets. Integrating it into my app was simple with DigitalOcean’s well-documented API. The performance has been speedy and I’ve had no issues with availability.

Kubernetes

For those looking to deploy containerized applications, DigitalOcean has a managed Kubernetes offering. You can provision clusters with just a few clicks.

I haven’t used the Kubernetes service extensively myself, but I did spin up a small test cluster to deploy a sample app. The experience was intuitive and I was able to get my containers up and running quickly. I can see this being very appealing for developers who want Kubernetes without the management overhead.

App Platform

One of DigitalOcean’s newer offerings is App Platform, which is a fully-managed Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) for deploying apps. You can bring your code and pick your build method, and DigitalOcean handles the rest.I recently used App Platform to deploy a static site. The process was incredibly smooth—I just connected my GitHub repo, chose my branch, and clicked deploy.

My site was live on a DigitalOcean URL within minutes. For simple use cases, App Platform is a fantastic option that abstracts away a lot of the deployment complexity.

Pricing & Value

Based on the information from DigitalOcean’s official pricing page and other reliable sources, here is an accurate, updated, and fact-checked overview of DigitalOcean’s pricing policy as of June 2024, presented in a table format:

Service	Pricing	Key Features
Droplets (Virtual Machines)	– Basic Droplets: $4-$20/month for 1 shared vCPU, 512MB-2GB memory – General Purpose Droplets: $48-$1,488/month for 2-48 dedicated vCPUs, 8-192GB memory – CPU-Optimized Droplets: $36-$1,116/month for 2-48 dedicated vCPUs, 4-96GB memory	– Includes 500GB-10TB/month free data transfer, then $0.01/GB – Billed hourly up to a monthly cap of 672 hours
Managed Databases	– MongoDB, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Redis: Starting at $15/month for 1GB memory, 1 vCPU	– Daily backups included – Scalable resources
Kubernetes	– $10/month per node – Control plane is free	– Pay for underlying Droplet resources for worker nodes
App Platform	– Basic: $5/month for shared vCPUs – Professional: $12/month per container for dedicated vCPUs	– Fully managed solution – Automatic scaling
Spaces Object Storage	– $5/month per 250GB storage, includes 1TB outbound transfer – Additional storage: $0.02/GB, transfer: $0.01/GB	– S3-compatible API – Ideal for storing unstructured data
Load Balancers	– $10/month per node	– Improve availability and performance – Distribute traffic across Droplets
Block Storage Volumes	– $0.10/GB per month – Scales from 1GB to 16TB	– Flexible, attachable SSD-based storage – Good for databases, file systems

Most DigitalOcean services include a free data transfer allowance, after which additional transfer is billed at $0.01/GB. DigitalOcean aims to provide simple, predictable, and affordable pricing across its cloud platform. For the latest pricing details and a cost calculator, check DigitalOcean’s official pricing page.

Performance & Reliability

Uptime and speed are critical when you’re running production applications. Fortunately, DigitalOcean excels on both fronts.DigitalOcean guarantees 99.99% uptime for droplets and 99.99% uptime for block storage.

In the three months I’ve been using it heavily, I have yet to experience any downtime. My droplets have chugged along without any hiccups.

In terms of speed, I’ve been consistently impressed. I run periodic Speedtest benchmarks on my Droplets, and the results are always excellent, with near-gigabit speeds. Anecdotally, my apps feel very snappy and responsive.

To put this in perspective, here’s an example of how DigitalOcean handled a major traffic spike on my WordPress blog. I posted a link that ended up on the first page of Hacker News. In the span of a few hours, my modest 2 vCPU and 4 GB of RAM, Droplet, handled over 50,000 pageviews without breaking a sweat.

The server load barely ticked over 10%, and response times remained fast. I was amazed and relieved that I didn’t have to do any panicked scaling.

Ease of Use

DigitalOcean excels in simplicity and user-friendliness compared to big cloud providers like AWS. Its control panel is clean and intuitive, making tasks like creating a droplet easy.

With managed databases, you don’t have to worry about configuration, security patches, or backups. It’s all handled for you. Space is similarly straightforward. Just create a space, upload your files, and you’re good to go.

For those who prefer a more automated approach, DigitalOcean offers a robust API for managing resources programmatically. The documentation is excellent, with official libraries for all major languages. I use the Python library to automatically provision and deprovision Droplets for my CI/CD pipeline. It works flawlessly.

To illustrate just how easy it is to get started, here’s a quick step-by-step guide to deploying a new app on DigitalOcean’s App Platform:

Step	Instructions
1	Connect your GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket repository in the App Platform control panel.
2	Select the branch you want to deploy from.
3	Choose your build method (e.g., Dockerfile, buildpacks) and specify any environment variables.
4	Click “Create Resource,” and DigitalOcean will automatically build and deploy your app.
5	Visit the provided URL to see your live app!

That’s it—no complex setup, no server provisioning, no manual deployment steps. The app platform abstracts all that away. For me, that simplicity is a huge selling point. I can focus on writing code, not babysitting infrastructure.

Customer Support

No matter how good a platform is, things can always go wrong. That’s where solid customer support comes in.

In my experience, DigitalOcean’s support has been fantastic. The few times I’ve needed to reach out, I’ve gotten prompt, helpful responses from knowledgeable technicians.

DigitalOcean offers several support channels, depending on your needs:

Channel	Details
Community Q&A	free, community-driven forum for general questions and troubleshooting
Tickets	Email support with 24/7 availability and responses within a few hours
Live Chat	Real-time chat support for Droplet plan customers and up

The Community Q&A is a great resource for common issues; chances are someone has encountered the same problem before. For more specific or account-related questions, the ticket system is reliable. I’ve never waited more than a few hours for a response.

One of my best support experiences was when I was migrating a legacy PHP app to a new Droplet. I ran into some weird compatibility issues with the older PHP version. After struggling on my own for a bit, I hopped on DigitalOcean’s live chat.

The support rep was patient and knowledgeable and helped me work through the mismatched dependency problems. What could have taken me hours of frustrating troubleshooting was resolved in a 20-minute chat session.

Use Cases

So who is DigitalOcean for? In my opinion, it’s a great fit for several common scenarios:

Use Case	Why DigitalOcean?
Web apps and software projects	Easy deployments, managed databases and load balancers, predictable pricing
Blogs, portfolios, and landing pages	Simple static site hosting with an app platform and affordable Droplets for WordPress
Development and testing environments	Quick to spin up and down Droplets, team accounts for collaboration
Startups and small businesses	Flexible, affordable infrastructure that scales with your needs

On the flip side, DigitalOcean may not be the best choice for large enterprises. These businesses need extensive compliance support and dedicated account managers. They may also require niche services.

Conclusion: DigitalOcean Delivers Simplicity and Value

After using DigitalOcean for 90 days, I confirm it delivers on its promise of simple, affordable, high-performance cloud hosting. The platform is easy to use. It has robust features and excellent support. It’s ideal for developers, small businesses, and startups.

My experience with DigitalOcean was frictionless. Spinning up Droplets, deploying apps, and managing databases were far easier compared to other providers. The intuitive control panel and well-documented API allowed me to focus on projects instead of infrastructure.

DigitalOcean’s Droplets handled heavy traffic and resource-intensive jobs effortlessly. Managed services like databases and Kubernetes offered advanced functionality without admin hassles.

DigitalOcean provides exceptional value with straightforward pricing and generous resources. It is cost-effective to host a web app or blog.

It may lack some niche services and enterprise-grade support of the big three cloud providers. However, it more than meets the needs of most users.

For developers seeking an affordable, user-friendly cloud platform, I highly recommend DigitalOcean. Its simplicity, performance, and value are outstanding.

Spin up a Droplet and deploy an app. Discover why DigitalOcean is the go-to choice for informed developers. Your productivity and wallet will thank you.