Vultr vs DigitalOcean 2026: Complete Comparison

Quick Verdict: Both are excellent cloud VPS providers, but Vultr wins on pricing and locations while DigitalOcean wins on developer experience and managed services. For most users, Vultr offers better value.

At a Glance

Feature	Vultr	DigitalOcean
Starting Price	$2.50/mo	$4/mo
Locations	32	15
Hourly Billing	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
Kubernetes	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
Bare Metal	✅ Yes	❌ No
Managed DBs	Limited	✅ Full
Free Trial	$100 credit	$200 credit

Pricing Comparison

This is where Vultr pulls ahead:

Tier	Vultr	DigitalOcean
Entry	$2.50/mo (512MB)	$4/mo (512MB)
1GB RAM	$5/mo	$6/mo
2GB RAM	$10/mo	$12/mo
4GB RAM	$20/mo	$24/mo
8GB RAM	$40/mo	$48/mo

Winner: Vultr — Consistently 15-20% cheaper across all tiers.

Performance

Both providers use enterprise-grade hardware:

Benchmark	Vultr	DigitalOcean
CPU (Geekbench 5)	950	920
Disk Read	1.8 GB/s	1.2 GB/s
Disk Write	1.5 GB/s	900 MB/s
Network	940 Mbps	950 Mbps

Winner: Vultr — NVMe storage on all plans makes a difference.

Data Center Locations

Vultr — 32 Locations

Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East, Africa — including niche locations like Johannesburg, Tel Aviv, and Mumbai.

DigitalOcean — 15 Locations

Focused on major markets: NYC, SF, Toronto, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London, Singapore, Bangalore, Sydney.

Winner: Vultr — More than double the locations for better global coverage.

Developer Experience

DigitalOcean Strengths

• Clean, intuitive UI — Often called the "Apple of cloud"
• Industry-leading tutorials — Best documentation in the industry
• Strong CLI — doctl is well-designed
• App Platform — Deploy from Git without managing servers
• Managed Databases — PostgreSQL, MySQL, Redis, MongoDB

Vultr Strengths

• Functional UI — Gets the job done
• Good docs — Solid but not as extensive
• CLI available — vultr-cli works well
• Bare Metal — Dedicated physical hardware option
• Windows VPS — Native Windows support

Winner: DigitalOcean — Superior developer experience and documentation.

Unique Features

Vultr Only

• ✅ Bare Metal servers
• ✅ $2.50/mo plan (cheapest in industry)
• ✅ 32 global locations
• ✅ High Frequency Compute (3GHz+ CPUs)
• ✅ Native Windows VPS
• ✅ Free DDoS protection

DigitalOcean Only

• ✅ App Platform (PaaS)
• ✅ Managed Databases (PostgreSQL, MySQL, Redis, MongoDB)
• ✅ Functions (serverless)
• ✅ Better community and tutorials
• ✅ Premium support tiers

Support

Aspect	Vultr	DigitalOcean
Type	Ticket only	Ticket + Community
Response	2-4 hours	1-3 hours
Phone	❌	Enterprise only
Tutorials	Good	Excellent

Winner: DigitalOcean — Faster responses, better community resources.

When to Choose Each

Choose Vultr If:

• 💰 Budget is your priority
• 🌍 You need specific geographic locations
• 🖥️ You want bare metal servers
• 🪟 You need Windows VPS
• ⚡ High-frequency CPU matters

Choose DigitalOcean If:

• 👨‍💻 Developer experience matters most
• 📚 You're learning and value tutorials
• 🗃️ You need managed databases
• 🚀 You want PaaS deployments
• 🏢 You need enterprise support

The Better Value Alternative

While both are solid, consider Hostinger for even better value:

Provider	4GB RAM	Storage	Support
Hostinger	$4.99/mo	50GB NVMe	24/7 Chat
Vultr	$20/mo	80GB SSD	Tickets
DigitalOcean	$24/mo	80GB SSD	Tickets

Hostinger offers 4GB RAM at 1/4 the price with live chat support.

Conclusion

Vultr wins on price, locations, and raw specs. DigitalOcean wins on experience, documentation, and managed services.

For most users prioritizing value, we recommend:

1. Hostinger — Best overall value
2. Vultr — Best for budget-conscious users
3. DigitalOcean — Best for developers prioritizing experience