DigitalOcean Droplets vs Vultr
Default scenario: At 32 vCPUs, 128 GB RAM, 10 TB egress to internet / month, estimated bills are $9,370/yr for Vultr and $12,096/yr for DigitalOcean Droplets. That’s a $2,726 difference before accounting for different features or operating costs.
The services may differ in features, performance, support and the work you need to do yourself. Read the notes and test what matters to your setup.
Your selected usage
32 vCPUs, 128 GB RAM, 10 TB egress to internet / month
- DigitalOcean Droplets: $12,096/yr estimated
- Vultr: $9,370/yr estimated
Estimated costs at different usage levels
| Usage | DigitalOcean Droplets | Vultr |
|---|---|---|
| Default scenario32 vCPUs, 128 GB RAM, 10 TB egress to internet / month | $12,096/yrg-16vcpu-64gb · 2 × $504 + $0 egress | $9,370/yrvx1-g-32c-128g · 1 × $701 + $80 egress |
| Side project2 vCPUs, 4 GB RAM, 0.5 TB egress to internet / month | $756/yrg-2vcpu-8gb · 1 × $63 + $0 egress | $526/yrvx1-g-2c-8g · 1 × $44 + $0 egress |
| Startup16 vCPUs, 64 GB RAM, 5 TB egress to internet / month | $6,048/yrg-16vcpu-64gb · 1 × $504 + $0 egress | $4,565/yrvx1-g-16c-64g · 1 × $350 + $30 egress |
| Scale-up128 vCPUs, 512 GB RAM, 50 TB egress to internet / month | $48,384/yrg-16vcpu-64gb · 8 × $504 + $0 egress | $39,398/yrvx1-g-64c-256g · 2 × $1,402 + $480 egress |
On-demand list prices, Linux, the vendor’s main US or EU region (see notes). Fleets are built from one instance type. A vCPU is one hardware thread; rows marked shared sell oversubscribed vCPUs. Disks, backups and committed-use discounts (often 30–60% on hyperscalers) aren’t included. Try your own numbers against all servers & vps providers.
Side by side
| DigitalOcean Droplets | Vultr | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Developer-friendly VMs with flat monthly prices that include an SSD and a pooled bandwidth allowance. | Global VPS and cloud provider with 30+ regions. VX1 dedicated-CPU instances bill hourly and boot from block storage. |
| Headquarters | 🇺🇸 United States | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Parent jurisdiction | 🇺🇸 United States | 🇺🇸 United States (The Constant Company) |
| EU self-serve plan | Available; check eligible plans and regions | Available; check eligible plans and regions |
| GDPR DPA | Yes | Yes |
| Provider type | Developer cloud | Developer cloud |
| Billing | payg | payg |
| Free tier | No permanent free tier; promotional credit for new accounts. | 2 TB/month of egress free per account. |
| Open source | No | No |
| Source last checked | 2026-10-06 | 2026-10-06 |
| Pricing evidence | Published rates | Published rates |
Which should you choose?
Vultr has the lower estimated bill at every usage level we tested, from 3 vCPUs, 13 GB RAM, 1 TB egress to internet / month to 3,200 vCPUs, 13,000 GB RAM, 1,000 TB egress to internet / month.
Choose DigitalOcean Droplets if…
Our data shows no advantage on price, residency, jurisdiction or licensing. Compare features in the notes below.
Choose Vultr if…
- it has the lower estimated bill at Side project, Startup and Scale-up usage
Based on estimated list-price bills and the facts above. Features, performance and support aren’t scored.
DigitalOcean Droplets pricing
Calculated from the listed vendor rates; exclusions still apply.
| Plan | vCPUs / instance | RAM / instance (GB) | Instance / month | Internet egress / TB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| g-2vcpu-8gb | 2 | 8 | $63 | $10.74 |
| g-4vcpu-16gb | 4 | 16 | $126 | $10.74 |
| g-8vcpu-32gb | 8 | 32 | $252 | $10.74 |
| g-16vcpu-64gb | 16 | 64 | $504 | $10.74 |
| g-32vcpu-128gb | 32 | 128 | $1,008 | $10.74 |
| g-40vcpu-160gb | 40 | 160 | $1,260 | $10.74 |
General Purpose Droplets (dedicated hyperthreads, 4 GB per vCPU), same price in every region, billed per second and capped at the monthly price (672 hours). Price includes boot SSD (25–200 GB) and a public IPv4. Transfer allowance per Droplet (4,000–9,000 GiB, shown here in TB) is pooled across the team; overage is $0.01/GiB. The uncapped "v5" General Purpose line bills hourly ($0.095/h for 2 vCPU). Shared-vCPU Basic Droplets start at $4/month. No public commitment discounts.
DigitalOcean Droplets plan limits, full rates and cheaper alternatives · official pricing page
Vultr pricing
Calculated from the listed vendor rates; exclusions still apply.
| Plan | vCPUs / instance | RAM / instance (GB) | Instance / month | Internet egress / TB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| vx1-g-2c-8g | 2 | 8 | $43.8 | $10 |
| vx1-g-4c-16g | 4 | 16 | $87.6 | $10 |
| vx1-g-8c-32g | 8 | 32 | $175.2 | $10 |
| vx1-g-16c-64g | 16 | 64 | $350.4 | $10 |
| vx1-g-32c-128g | 32 | 128 | $700.8 | $10 |
| vx1-g-64c-256g | 64 | 256 | $1,401.6 | $10 |
VX1 General Purpose (dedicated vCPUs, 4 GB per vCPU), New Jersey; prices are the same globally. Billed hourly with no monthly cap (730 hours). No local disk: boot from block storage (~$0.10/GB-month NVMe) or pick the VX1 NVMe variant ($55.48/month for 2 vCPU). Egress: 2 TB/month free per account, then $0.01/GB; the per-plan transfer allowance the API lists for VX1 (5–10 TB) is not modelled because how it applies isn't documented. Optimized Cloud General Purpose ($60/month for 2 vCPU, 8 GB) includes NVMe and 5–9 TB transfer. Shared Cloud Compute starts at $5/month (1 vCPU, 1 GB, 1 TB transfer).
Vultr plan limits, full rates and cheaper alternatives · official pricing page
Frequently asked questions
Is DigitalOcean Droplets cheaper than Vultr?
Vultr has the lower estimated bill at every usage level we tested, from 3 vCPUs, 13 GB RAM, 1 TB egress to internet / month to 3,200 vCPUs, 13,000 GB RAM, 1,000 TB egress to internet / month. At 32 vCPUs, 128 GB RAM, 10 TB egress to internet / month, the estimates are $12,096/yr for DigitalOcean Droplets and $9,370/yr for Vultr. Estimates use list prices and leave out features, support and operating costs.
Do DigitalOcean Droplets and Vultr offer EU data residency?
Both offer EU data residency on a self-serve plan. Check which plans and regions qualify.
Do DigitalOcean Droplets and Vultr have a free tier or trial?
DigitalOcean Droplets: No permanent free tier; promotional credit for new accounts. Vultr: 2 TB/month of egress free per account.
Where are DigitalOcean Droplets and Vultr based?
DigitalOcean Droplets is headquartered in the United States. Vultr is headquartered in the United States and owned by The Constant Company (the United States).