DigitalOcean vs Cloudways(2026)
DigitalOcean is better for teams that need developer-friendly pricing. Cloudways is the stronger choice if freedom to pick underlying cloud provider. DigitalOcean is paid (from $4/month) and Cloudways is paid (from $14/month).
Full feature breakdown, pricing details, and pros & cons below.
Affiliate disclosure: Some “Visit” links on this page are affiliate links. We may earn a commission if you sign up — at no extra cost to you. It does not affect our rankings or editorial coverage. Learn more.
DigitalOcean
DigitalOcean provides cloud infrastructure for developers — VPS Droplets, managed Kubernetes, App Platform PaaS, managed databases, and object storage.
Starting at $4/month
Visit DigitalOceanCloudways
Cloudways is a managed cloud hosting platform that runs on top of AWS, Google Cloud, DigitalOcean, Linode, and Vultr — abstracting server management while giving you cloud flexibility.
Starting at $14/month
Visit CloudwaysHow Do DigitalOcean and Cloudways Compare on Features?
| Feature | DigitalOcean | Cloudways |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | paid | paid |
| Starting price | $4/month | $14/month |
| Droplets (VPS) | ✓ | — |
| App Platform (PaaS) | ✓ | — |
| Managed Kubernetes (DOKS) | ✓ | — |
| Managed databases | ✓ | — |
| Spaces (object storage) | ✓ | — |
| Load balancers | ✓ | — |
| GPU Droplets | ✓ | — |
| Multi-cloud (AWS, GCE, DO, Linode, Vultr) | — | ✓ |
| One-click app installs | — | ✓ |
| Managed security and patching | — | ✓ |
| PHP/Node/Laravel/WordPress support | — | ✓ |
| Team collaboration | — | ✓ |
| Performance monitoring | — | ✓ |
DigitalOcean Pros and Cons vs Cloudways
DigitalOcean
Cloudways
Should You Use DigitalOcean or Cloudways?
Choose DigitalOcean if…
- •Developer-friendly pricing
- •Predictable billing
- •Strong community and tutorials
Choose Cloudways if…
- •Freedom to pick underlying cloud provider
- •Significantly cheaper than managed alternatives
- •No server management headaches