DigitalOcean
**: **$200 in platform credit** for 1 year, perfect for hosting your AI projects or deploying models.
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What is DigitalOcean?
DigitalOcean is an AI-native cloud computing platform that provides developers with simplified infrastructure for building, deploying, and scaling applications. The platform offers virtual machines (Droplets), managed Kubernetes, App Platform (PaaS), serverless Functions, managed databases, object storage (Spaces), and AI-specific services including AI Platform for building production-ready AI agents, GPU Droplets for AI/ML workloads, and an Inference Engine with 70+ models.
Key features include simplified cloud infrastructure with per-second billing, one CLI and one API for all resources, generous bandwidth allowances starting at 500 GiB/month free, managed control planes for Kubernetes and databases, S3-compatible Spaces object storage, built-in CDN, cloud firewalls, VPC networking, load balancers, and an AI stack spanning from GPUs to agent runtimes. The platform supports open-source integrations including Kubernetes, pgvector, LangGraph, vLLM, and many more.
DigitalOcean is designed for developers ranging from those just learning to code to startups building their first product to scaling businesses handling billions of queries. It serves AI developers running inference workloads, web developers deploying applications, DevOps teams managing Kubernetes clusters, and businesses needing reliable cloud infrastructure without the complexity of major cloud providers. Over 600,000 customers trust DigitalOcean for AI inference, application hosting, and data storage.
The platform emphasizes simplicity, predictable pricing with monthly caps, and economics that improve as you scale. DigitalOcean owns its silicon and infrastructure across 20 data centers in 11 regions, offering both air-cooled and liquid-cooled options with NVIDIA H100/H200/Blackwell and AMD Instinct GPUs.
DigitalOcean pricing
Pricing model: Freemium
DigitalOcean offers a free tier with 500 GiB/month bandwidth, 3 free static sites, free Kubernetes control plane, free cloud firewalls, free DNS management, free container registry (1 repo, 500 MiB), and 90,000 GiB-seconds/month for Functions. Droplets start at $4/month with per-second billing (60 sec minimum). App Platform starts at $0/month. Kubernetes starts at $12/month. GPU Droplets start at $1.88/GPU/hour with contract or $0.76/GPU/hour on-demand. AI Platform starts at $0.05/M tokens. Managed Databases start at $15/month. Spaces starts at $5/month. Load Balancers start at $12/month. Backups cost 20% (weekly) or 30% (daily) of Droplet cost, or $0.01/GiB/month flexible. All plans include monthly caps and flat pricing with no surprise charges.
DigitalOcean pros
- Droplets start at only $4/month with per-second billing
- Free control plane for managed Kubernetes
- Generous free tier includes 500 GiB/month bandwidth
- Build and deploy 3 static sites for free
- One CLI and one API for all resources
- Simple, predictable monthly pricing with caps
- Free daily backups for managed databases
- S3-compatible Spaces object storage starts at $5/month
- Built-in CDN included with Spaces
- 70+ AI models on one OpenAI-compatible endpoint
- GPU Droplets available for AI/ML workloads
- Free cloud firewalls and DNS management
- Free container registry with 1 repository
- One bill for all services including AI inference
- 20 data centers across 11 global regions
- Free reserved IPs when assigned to Droplets
- Request-based autoscaling on App Platform
- Scale to Zero feature reduces costs for idle web services
- Agent Evaluations and Traceability for AI agent testing
- No egress fees between AI platform layers
DigitalOcean cons
- No refunds offered under standard policy
- SMTP traffic is blocked by default on Droplets
- Inter-datacenter VPC peering costs $0.01/GiB
- GPU Droplets require multi-month commitment for best pricing
- Public internet egress overage is $0.01/GiB
- Some GPU options only available by contract
- Private Droplets still in public preview
- AI Platform requires credit card even for free tier
- Limited enterprise support compared to AWS/Azure
- Fewer advanced services than major cloud providers
Frequently asked questions about DigitalOcean
What forms of payment do you accept?
DigitalOcean accepts Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, PayPal, Google Pay, and Apple Pay (requires Safari browser). For additional payment options including wire transfer, purchase orders, and ACH, contact their sales team. When adding a card, a temporary pre-authorization request (typically $1) may be sent to verify the card, which is immediately released but may take a few days to clear.
When will my card be charged?
DigitalOcean billing cycles are monthly. On the first day of each month, they invoice and automatically charge your account's primary payment method for the previous month's usage. In some cases, they may charge if usage exceeds a threshold. You can also log in and self-pay the balance at any time.
Am I charged when I enter my credit card?
No. Your card is only charged at the end of the billing cycle or upon exceeding a usage threshold. A temporary pre-authorization charge (typically $1 but can vary) may be sent when adding a card to verify it was issued by the bank. This temporary charge is immediately canceled by DigitalOcean but might take a few days to clear depending on your bank.
How does the $5 free credit work?
Your card will be charged only after you have utilized the free credits or after the credit expiration period. For example, if you received a $5 credit for 90 days, that credit is automatically applied to your account. If you spend $3 in that timeframe, your card won't be charged. If you spend $10, the $5 credit is fully utilized and your card is charged only $5. Remaining credit cannot be used after the 90-day period expires.
Can I be notified if my bill exceeds a threshold?
Yes, you can set up billing alerts and DigitalOcean will email you if your monthly spending exceeds an amount you specify. This helps you monitor and control your cloud infrastructure costs.
How do I destroy my resources?
You can destroy Droplets, Kubernetes clusters, Managed Database clusters (PostgreSQL, MySQL, Caching), Spaces, Volumes, Firewalls, and Load Balancers through the control panel. Detailed documentation is available on how to destroy each resource type safely.
What's the price for Marketplace 1-Click Apps?
DigitalOcean charges only for the underlying compute resources on which the 1-Click Apps run. There is no additional fee for the 1-Click App itself beyond the Droplet or other infrastructure costs.
Can I have a refund?
DigitalOcean does not offer refunds under their standard policy. If there are extenuating circumstances, you should contact support to discuss your specific situation.
What is an AI agent on DigitalOcean?
At DigitalOcean, an AI agent is an application powered by an LLM that incorporates stateful components like conversational memory and training on data sources (vector database or Knowledge Base). It may have a human-like role, personality, or conversational interface, but may not. Agency is viewed as a spectrum of autonomy ranging from simple rule-based responses to complex, goal-oriented, and self-improving behavior. AI Platform provides tools to build, evaluate, and deploy these agents without managing infrastructure.
How will my data be used by the AI?
At DigitalOcean, your data is never used to train their AI or systems, and it's never sold or shared. If you select open-source models like Mistral, Llama, or DeepSeek, your data stays entirely within DigitalOcean's infrastructure. They store only what is needed to power your agent or provide troubleshooting features like Conversation Logs.