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VPS and app hosting · head to head

DigitalOcean vs Elestio

What each costs, whether there's a free plan, and what each is best for, from prices checked on their own sites.

DigitalOceanElestio
From$4/mo$11/mo
Free planYes · $5 signup credit, applied automatically when you create your first teamYes · 3-day trial with $20 credit
Best forSimple managed apps next to other DigitalOcean servicesFully managed hosting for open-source apps such as n8n, Ollama and Open WebUI.
CheckedOct 18, 2026Oct 17, 2026
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The difference in short

  • DigitalOcean costs less to start: $4/mo against $11/mo for Elestio.
  • Both have a free plan, trial or credit to start with.
All about DigitalOcean
PlanPriceSpecs / includesNotes
Basic Droplet 512 MiB$4/mo1 vCPU · 0.5 GB RAM · 10 GiB SSDhourly/per-second billing, capped at the monthly price ($0.00595/hr). Regular CPU option.
Basic Droplet 1 GiB$6/mo1 vCPU · 1 GB RAM · 25 GiB SSDhourly/per-second billing, capped at the monthly price ($0.00893/hr)
Basic Droplet 2 GiB (1 vCPU)$12/mo1 vCPU · 2 GB RAM · 50 GiB SSDhourly/per-second billing, capped at the monthly price ($0.01786/hr)
Basic Droplet 2 GiB (2 vCPU)$18/mo2 vCPU · 2 GB RAM · 60 GiB SSDhourly/per-second billing, capped at the monthly price ($0.02679/hr)
Basic Droplet 4 GiB$24/mo2 vCPU · 4 GB RAM · 80 GiB SSDhourly/per-second billing, capped at the monthly price ($0.03571/hr)
Basic Droplet 8 GiB$48/mo4 vCPU · 8 GB RAM · 160 GiB SSDhourly/per-second billing, capped at the monthly price ($0.07143/hr). 16 GiB / 8 vCPU / 320 GiB is $96/mo ($0.14286/hr).
All about Elestio
PlanPriceSpecs / includesNotes
Linode 'Micro' (cheapest shown)$11/mo1 vCPU · 1 GB RAM · 25 GB SSDhourly billing ($0.015/hr); monthly figure assumes 730 hours. Matches the page headline 'Plans start at $11/month'. Region not captured.
Vultr 'Micro' (Frankfurt)$12/mo1 vCPU · 1 GB RAM · 25 GB NVMehourly billing ($0.016/hr); monthly figure assumes 730 hours
DigitalOcean 'Micro' (Frankfurt)$13/mo1 vCPU · 1 GB RAM · 25 GB NVMehourly billing ($0.018/hr); monthly figure assumes 730 hours
Netcup 'Medium' (Nuremberg)$16/mo2 vCPU · 4 GB RAM · 60 GB SSDhourly billing ($0.022/hr); monthly figure assumes 730 hours. Page default selection.
Hetzner 'MediumARM' (Falkenstein)$18/mo2 vCPU · 4 GB RAM · 40 GB NVMehourly billing ($0.025/hr); monthly figure assumes 730 hours. Arm. Hetzner Xlarge x86 (4 vCPU / 16 GB) is $223/mo.
AWS Lightsail 'Small' (Frankfurt)$24/mo2 vCPU · 2 GB RAM · 60 GB SSDhourly billing ($0.033/hr); monthly figure assumes 730 hours. Scaleway 'Small' (2 vCPU / 2 GB / 20 GB) is $26/mo.

What's good, and what to watch for

DigitalOcean

  • Billed per second with a one-minute minimum; jobs bill only while running
  • The transfer allowance is pooled across all apps in the team
  • Development Postgres database for $7 a month
  • Autoscaling works only on dedicated-CPU plans, from $29/month
  • The $5 size can't scale; transfer beyond the allowance is $0.02/GiB
  • Autoscaling works only on dedicated-CPU instances, not shared ones

Elestio

Fully managed hosting for open-source apps such as n8n, Ollama and Open WebUI.

Other VPS and app hosting options

Cheapest first where the prices compare.

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FAQ

Which is cheaper, DigitalOcean or Elestio?

DigitalOcean costs less to start: $4/mo against $11/mo for Elestio. Prices checked Oct 18, 2026 on each company's own site.

Do DigitalOcean and Elestio have a free plan?

DigitalOcean: Yes: $5 signup credit, applied automatically when you create your first team. Elestio: Yes. 3-day trial with $20 credit.

What else should I compare with DigitalOcean and Elestio?

Other VPS and app hosting options we've checked: Fly.io ($2.19/mo), Vultr ($2.50/mo), Hostinger ($2.99/mo), UpCloud ($3.50/mo).

Keep comparing

Built from the prices and facts we checked on each company's own site. We haven't tested either hands-on.How we work