Editor Sebastiaan Smits ·
Published October 28, 2026 · Updated October 28, 2026
Teams look past DigitalOcean when outbound transfer past the pooled allowance adds up, when they need a managed service its catalog lacks, or when a smaller bill matters more than convenience. They move to Hetzner and Akamai Cloud for the same server-first model, and to the large clouds for breadth.
Short answer: The closest replacements for DigitalOcean in our cloud computing platforms ranking are Hetzner Cloud, Akamai Cloud (Linode) and UpCloud. Choose Hetzner Cloud if you run your own databases and want the lowest, easiest bill. Everything below is drawn from the Best Cloud Computing Platforms in 2026 shortlist and judged only against DigitalOcean, including when it is wiser to remain with DigitalOcean.
Visibility in our rankings can be paid for. Payment moves a vendor's position within the shortlist; it never adds a vendor, and it never changes a word of the review or of this page. The first three alternatives go to challengers, vendors outside the best-known brands in a category, wherever the category has them; the established names follow in their ranked order. How it works: placement disclosure · editorial process.
Each Droplet plan includes outbound transfer, pooled across all Droplets in a team. Past the pool, outbound data costs $0.01 per GiB. A site that serves large files can exceed the allowance, while some rivals publish no egress fee at all.
DigitalOcean's documentation states that you cannot currently download snapshots or backups. Moving a server means rebuilding it from your own configuration, code and data dumps, or using third-party tools. Plan for that before you choose a date.
The Terms of Service let DigitalOcean terminate access with or without notice, and say termination may destroy account data. They also state no obligation to make content available after closure. Keep your own copies outside the account.
Listed from best to weakest fit for people moving off DigitalOcean. The rightmost column shows where we rank each one out of 15.
| # | Alternative | Headquarters | Switch if | Our rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Hetzner Cloud | Germany | you run your own databases and want the lowest, easiest bill | #1 |
| 2 |  Akamai Cloud (Linode) | United States | you want a Droplet-like model from a larger network operator | #5 |
| 3 |  UpCloud | Finland | you want a European provider with a server-first catalog and 24/7 chat support | #14 |
| 4 |  Scaleway | France | outbound transfer charges drive your DigitalOcean bill and you accept an estimator-based price list | #3 |
| 5 |  OVHcloud | France | you want a French provider and a broader catalog than a Droplet-centric cloud | #4 |
| 6 |  Contabo | Germany | you need a lot of RAM and disk per euro and manage servers yourself | #15 |
| 7 |  Civo | United Kingdom | your workloads already run in containers and you want free transfer and a free control plane | #6 |
| 8 |  Amazon Web Services | United States | you need services DigitalOcean does not sell, and accept a steeper learning curve | #7 |
| 9 |  Google Cloud | United States | you want data and analytics products next to your servers and can handle a larger console | #8 |
| 10 |  Microsoft Azure | United States | your company runs on Microsoft licensing and identity and needs the cloud to match | #9 |
| 11 |  Oracle Cloud Infrastructure | United States | outbound data is your main cost and you can work with a less familiar console | #10 |
| 12 |  IBM Cloud | United States | your organization needs commitments, enterprise contracts or IBM products next to the cloud | #11 |
A German provider with a plainer catalog. Servers are billed hourly and never above a monthly cap, only outgoing traffic is metered, and backups are a flat 20% of the server price. Managed databases and app hosting are missing, so you run those yourself.
Switch from DigitalOcean if you run your own databases and want the lowest, easiest bill.
The former Linode, now Akamai Cloud. Billing is hourly and never above the monthly rate, and transfer is pooled across the account, close to how Droplets pool allowance across a team. The company is larger than DigitalOcean and sells the same server-first model with Akamai's network behind it.
Switch from DigitalOcean if you want a Droplet-like model from a larger network operator.
A Finnish provider selling Starter, Premium and Cloud Native server plans, managed databases and Kubernetes, and a zero-cost egress product. Extra storage is billed per GB per hour, and Simple Backup adds 10% to 60% of the plan price. We could not read its price page.
Switch from DigitalOcean if you want a European provider with a server-first catalog and 24/7 chat support.
A French cloud with usage-based instance pricing, savings plans and no egress fees. That differs from the Droplet model, where outbound transfer past the pooled allowance costs $0.01 per GiB. Rates sit in a console estimator, so a bill cannot be read from a static table.
Switch from DigitalOcean if outbound transfer charges drive your DigitalOcean bill and you accept an estimator-based price list.
A French public cloud billed pay as you use, with a savings plan option. It is wider than DigitalOcean in scope, with a long product range around the servers. Its Public Cloud price page loaded dynamically in our fetch, so we could not quote rates and you must price a workload yourself.
Switch from DigitalOcean if you want a French provider and a broader catalog than a Droplet-centric cloud.
A German VPS seller built around large specifications at low monthly prices. Cloud VPS 4 is listed at 4 vCPU, 8 GB RAM and 100 GB SSD, with traffic marked unlimited with an asterisk. It sells servers and extras, not an app platform, and the plan terms need reading.
Switch from DigitalOcean if you need a lot of RAM and disk per euro and manage servers yourself.
A UK provider centered on Kubernetes. Nodes start at $5.43 a month, the control plane is free and data transfer is free and unlimited, which removes the overage line DigitalOcean adds past its pooled allowance. It is a cluster product, not a general Droplet-style catalog.
Switch from DigitalOcean if your workloads already run in containers and you want free transfer and a free control plane.
The largest catalog in this category, billed on use with Savings Plans and a free plan with up to $200 in credits. It offers far more services than DigitalOcean, and a first bill is harder to predict. Each added service brings its own price dimensions.
Switch from DigitalOcean if you need services DigitalOcean does not sell, and accept a steeper learning curve.
A hyperscaler with a one-minute minimum on Compute Engine, automatic discounts for sustained and committed use, and a $300 free credit plus an always-free tier. Its product range is far wider than DigitalOcean's, as is its IAM and billing structure, which takes longer to learn.
Switch from DigitalOcean if you want data and analytics products next to your servers and can handle a larger console.
A hyperscaler with reservations, savings plans and Spot virtual machines. The free account gives $200 credit for 30 days. Azure fits Windows, Microsoft licensing and Entra-based identity better than DigitalOcean does, and costs more of your time to configure.
Switch from DigitalOcean if your company runs on Microsoft licensing and identity and needs the cloud to match.
A pay-as-you-go cloud with Universal Credits, the same price in every region and 10 TB of free outbound data per month. The free tier lasts 30 days with a $300 credit, then Always Free services continue. Its catalog is closer to a hyperscaler than to a Droplet service.
Switch from DigitalOcean if outbound data is your main cost and you can work with a less familiar console.
Oracle Cloud Infrastructure in our ranking · Go to the vendor →
A pay-as-you-go account with 40-plus always-free Lite products and a $200 credit for 30 days, plus reserved capacity at one-year or three-year terms. It is aimed at larger organizations and regulated workloads, and a single blog site on a $4 Droplet is not what it is built for.
Switch from DigitalOcean if your organization needs commitments, enterprise contracts or IBM products next to the cloud.
Stay if you run a handful of Droplets, managed databases or Kubernetes and the published price list fits your bill. Droplets start at $4 a month, per-second billing began on 1 January 2026, and prices are readable on one page. Switching only pays off when transfer, a missing service or jurisdiction is the actual problem.
Because snapshots cannot be downloaded, treat the move as a rebuild. Write the server setup as scripts or configuration, dump databases, and copy files over the network. Test the new host with the same workload before you change DNS.
DigitalOcean charges a Droplet price, an outbound overage, and percentage or usage-based backups. Compare the same three lines at the target provider, including egress, backups and managed services, using their own calculators, and run both in parallel for a billing cycle.
No, the documentation says you cannot currently download DigitalOcean backups or snapshots. You can transfer Droplet snapshots to another DigitalOcean account or team, or add them to other regions, but moving to another provider means rebuilding from your own files and database dumps.
The pages we read list no exit fee. You pay for what ran until the account is closed. Outbound transfer past the pooled allowance costs $0.01 per GiB, so copying large data volumes out can add a charge.
Droplets are billed per second since 1 January 2026, with a minimum of 60 seconds or $0.01, whichever is higher. Charges recur automatically to your payment method, and you can set billing alerts that email you when monthly spending passes a limit.
Percentage-based backups cost 20% of the Droplet price for weekly and 30% for daily. Usage-based plans start at $0.01 per GiB per month. Droplet snapshots cost $0.06 per GB per month. Check which you use before comparing providers.
Yes, the Terms of Service reserve the right to terminate access to any part of the services at any time, with or without notice. Termination may destroy account data, so keep copies of anything you cannot recreate.
No, the pricing FAQ says the Droplet offering is unmanaged, so you maintain the server yourself. DigitalOcean sells managed Kubernetes separately, and its page names managed Kubernetes and databases as services you can use instead.
We opened the vendors' own pages on October 28, 2026 to confirm each price and limit quoted for DigitalOcean and its rivals. Those pages move without warning, so the numbers describe that day only.
Sebastiaan Smits, Founder, wrote, edited and fact-checked this page.
Founder of The Interregnum and of 2 Steps Ahead, an AI search visibility agency. Editorially responsible for every page here; research and drafting are AI-assisted. Last reviewed October 28, 2026.
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