Cloud servers (VPS) · Comparison
DigitalOcean vs Akamai Cloud (Linode) vs Vultr: Akamai 6.7, DigitalOcean and Vultr 6.6; a 2 vCPU server costs $24 to $29
We read the pricing, billing, transfer, backup, trust and legal pages of three developer clouds on the same day and scored them on the same six indicators. What a 2 vCPU, 4 GB server with backups costs, how transfer is billed, how you leave, and who should pick which.
On this page9 sections
On six indicators read from each vendor's public pages, Akamai Cloud (Linode) scores 6.7 out of 10, and DigitalOcean Droplets and Vultr Cloud Compute both score 6.6. For our reference scenario, one Linux server in a US region with 2 vCPUs, 4 GB of RAM and 80 GB of SSD, a public IPv4 address, 2 TB of outbound transfer and automatic backups, billed month to month, Vultr comes to $24 a month, DigitalOcean to $28.80 and Akamai Cloud to $29. Akamai Cloud stands out for transfer, with pooled allowances and overage at $0.005 per GB; DigitalOcean for predictable billing with IPv4 included and a SOC 2 Type II report; Vultr for the lowest plan price and the broadest compliance file of the three.
All three are in the Good band, and each leads on a different indicator. The scores measure what the public pages commit to, not how fast the servers run or how often they are down, and we did not sign up for any of them.
At a glance
| DigitalOcean Droplets | Akamai Cloud (Linode) | Vultr Cloud Compute | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you pay for | A bundled server with IPv4, capped at 672 hours a month | Linode plans with pooled, low-cost transfer | The lowest plan price for the reference size, with SOC 2 and ISO 27001 |
| Reference server | Basic Regular: 2 vCPU, 4 GiB, 80 GiB, 4,000 GiB transfer, $24 | Linode 4 GB: 2 vCPU, 80 GB, 4 TB transfer, $24 | Regular Performance: 2 vCPU, 4 GB, 80 GB, 3 TB transfer, $20 |
| Reference scenario (US, monthly) | $28.80, computed | $29, computed | $24, computed |
| Billing | Per second, capped at 672 hours | Hourly, capped at the monthly price (G8 uncapped) | Hourly, capped at 672 hours |
| Transfer overage | $0.01/GiB, pooled across the team | $0.005/GB, pooled | $0.01/GB, pooled, 2 TB free per account |
| Backups | Weekly 20% or daily 30% of the price | $5/mo at 4 GB, priced per plan | 20% of the price |
| Free credit | $5 for 90 days | $100 through a promo page or referral | Coupon credit up to $300, up to 30 days |
| Image download | No; custom image import only | No; raw image upload only | No; ISO and raw image import only |
| SOC 2 / ISO 27001 | SOC 2 Type II; own ISO 27001 not stated | SOC 2 Type 1 for compute; ISO 27001 | SOC 2 Type II; ISO 27001 |
| HIPAA BAA | Through sales or support | On request | By contract, after an architecture review |
| Score (public pages) | 6.6 Good | 6.7 Good | 6.6 Good |
What the public pages show
DigitalOcean Droplets are bundles of vCPU, memory, SSD, transfer and a public IPv4 address, billed per second and capped at 672 hours a month. Basic plans start at $4; the 2 vCPU, 4 GiB, 80 GiB plan is $24 with 4,000 GiB of transfer, pooled across the team. New accounts start at Tier 1 (3 Droplets on Basic plans up to $48 a month), and dedicated CPU needs Tier 2.
Akamai Cloud (Linode) sells the Linode plans: the Linode 4 GB with 2 shared vCPUs, 80 GB and 4 TB of transfer is $24, billed hourly up to that price. Transfer is pooled across most core regions, with overage at $0.005 per GB. G8 dedicated plans are billed hourly with no cap and include no transfer since July 1, 2026, while G6 and G7 keep the cap.
Vultr Cloud Compute lists Regular Performance with 2 vCPUs, 4 GB, 80 GB SSD and 3 TB of transfer at $20, billed hourly up to 672 hours. Transfer is pooled across the account with 2 TB free per account. The pricing page says some locations are priced differently and points to the control panel; Vultr's public plans API lists them, and for this plan only São Paulo differs.
Strengths and things to know
DigitalOcean. Strengths: IPv4 included and a monthly cap on bundled plans; transfer pooled at $0.01 per GiB; weekly, daily or usage-based backups; a SOC 2 Type II report and free OIDC single sign-on for teams. Things to know: backups and snapshots cannot be downloaded; new accounts start with limits; the HIPAA BAA goes through sales or support; spend alerts do not cap usage.
Akamai Cloud. Strengths: overage at $0.005 per GB, pooled; ISO 27001, 27017 and 27018 that name the compute plans; standard support included; SAML single sign-on and audit logs that can be streamed to your own storage. Things to know: compute has a SOC 2 Type 1 report rather than Type 2; G8 plans are uncapped with no transfer included; the price of an additional IPv4 address is not on the current pages; there is no spending cap.
Vultr. Strengths: the lowest plan price for the reference size; an account-wide transfer pool with 2 TB free; SOC 2 Type II with HIPAA plus ISO 27001, 27017 and 27018; free OIDC single sign-on. Things to know: some regional prices are not on the pricing page; DDoS protection is $10 a month per instance; the DPA and HIPAA BAA are by request or contract; pages disagree on details such as the starting price.
Pricing reality
Reference scenario: one Linux server in a US region on the cheapest self-serve plan with at least 2 vCPUs (shared allowed), 4 GB of RAM and 80 GB of SSD, one public IPv4 address, 2 TB of outbound transfer a month and the vendor's automatic backups at their weekly or default schedule, billed month to month at US list prices before tax, without promotional credit or commitment discounts.
| Service | Plan | Monthly cost | Where the number comes from |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vultr | Regular Performance 2 vCPU / 4 GB / 80 GB | $24.00 | Computed: $20 plan + $4 backups (20%); IPv4 included; 2 TB within the 3 TB allowance; $20 in every US location per Vultr's plans API |
| DigitalOcean | Basic Regular 2 vCPU / 4 GiB / 80 GiB | $28.80 | Computed: $24 plan + $4.80 weekly backups (20%); IPv4 included; 2 TB within 4,000 GiB |
| Akamai Cloud | Linode 4 GB | $29.00 | Computed: $24 plan + $5 Backups add-on; IPv4 included; 2 TB within 4 TB |
The three plans are close; backups and transfer move the bill more than the plan. Daily backups cost 30% on DigitalOcean ($31.20 in total), while Vultr's 20% and Akamai Cloud's $5 already allow a daily schedule. Transfer is where the gap widens: 3 TB beyond the allowance would add about $28 on DigitalOcean (billed per GiB), $30 on Vultr and $15 on Akamai Cloud (our arithmetic, counting 1 TB as 1,000 GB). For dedicated vCPUs at 2 vCPU and 4 GB, Akamai Cloud lists $36 (G6) or $43 (G7), Vultr $40 (CPU Optimized) and DigitalOcean $42 (CPU-Optimized, 25 GiB disk).
How we scored them
Every product in this category is scored on the same six indicators, read from the vendor's own pricing, billing, transfer, backup, trust and legal pages, with fixed formulas. The overall score is the plain mean. Our methodology page explains how these scores work.
| Indicator | DigitalOcean | Akamai Cloud | Vultr |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing clarity | 6 | 6 | 4 |
| Free credit and trial | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| Price of the reference server | 7.2 | 7.1 | 8 |
| Transfer terms | 9 | 10 | 8 |
| Backups, cost control and exit | 6 | 5 | 5 |
| Compliance and account security | 7.5 | 7 | 8.5 |
| Overall | 6.6 | 6.7 | 6.6 |
Pricing clarity loses a point for each price a page leaves out or each pair of pages that disagree: four each for DigitalOcean and Akamai Cloud, five for Vultr, which loses one more because some regional prices are not on its pricing page. Akamai Cloud's narrow lead comes from transfer terms, with the lowest overage of the three, pooled; it also scores above DigitalOcean on its larger sign-up credit and above Vultr on pricing clarity. Vultr leads on price and compliance, and DigitalOcean on backups and cost control, where it has spend alerts and the most backup schedules.
Also in this category
Amazon Lightsail scores 5.6: fixed AWS bundles priced the same in every region, $28 a month for the scenario (computed, counting one full 80 GB snapshot), snapshots billed by storage and an export path to Amazon EC2; transfer overage is $0.09 per GB in US regions, and Lightsail is not on AWS's SOC, ISO or HIPAA scope lists. Hetzner Cloud scores 4.7: in the EU, a 2 vCPU, 4 GB, 80 GB server is $22.99 with 20 TB of transfer and a DPA accepted in the account; in the US, the scenario costs $45.59 (computed) on the older CPX21, and there is no sign-up credit, SOC 2 report or single sign-on.
Who should choose which
- Choose Akamai Cloud (Linode) if your servers send a lot of data and you want overage at $0.005 per GB, pooled, with ISO 27001 for compute and support included. Look elsewhere if you need a SOC 2 Type II report for the servers or a spending cap.
- Choose DigitalOcean Droplets if you want a fixed price per server with IPv4 included, transfer pooled across the team, and a SOC 2 Type II report with team single sign-on. Look elsewhere if you need to download server images or want an ISO 27001 certificate from the vendor itself.
- Choose Vultr Cloud Compute if you want the lowest price for a 2 vCPU, 4 GB, 80 GB server and a broad compliance file with free single sign-on. Look elsewhere if you need every regional price on the pricing page or a DPA without contacting Vultr.
Bottom line
From public pages alone, the three are within a tenth of a point: Akamai Cloud 6.7, DigitalOcean and Vultr 6.6. Vultr costs the least for our scenario at $24 a month, against $28.80 on DigitalOcean and $29 on Akamai Cloud; Akamai Cloud charges the least for extra transfer, and DigitalOcean has the simplest billing. None of the three lets you download a server image, so plan the exit as a copy of your data.
How we checked
We read the vendors' pricing pages, billing, bandwidth, backup, snapshot and image docs, trust and compliance pages, legal terms and account docs on Oct 16, 2026. Vultr's website refused our requests, so we read its pricing page (copy of Sep 26, 2026), FAQ (Aug 1, 2026) and other marketing and legal pages from Internet Archive copies, and its docs directly. Akamai's compliance page loads by script, so we read the failover copy Akamai hosts on akamai.com. We did not sign up, start a trial, create a server or call an API. Facts the pages did not state, such as Akamai's current price for an additional IPv4 address or Vultr's price for an extra IPv4 address, are left out rather than guessed; Vultr's US price for the reference plan is confirmed by its public plans API. Every figure is on the vendors' pages as of that date or, where marked, computed from them.
