Cloud servers (VPS) · Comparison
Amazon Lightsail vs DigitalOcean Droplets
2 products compared side by side: what you pay for with each one first, then the five access facts, entry prices, recorded plan limits and the bottom line of each review. The evidence note under the table says how each product was checked.
Side by side
| Metric | Amazon Lightsail | DigitalOcean Droplets |
|---|---|---|
| What you're paying for | Easy to adoptA fixed-price AWS server: 2 vCPUs, 4 GB, 80 GB SSD, 4 TB of transfer and an IPv4 address for $24 a month, with a path to Amazon EC2. | Worth the priceA 2 vCPU, 4 GiB server with 4,000 GiB of pooled transfer and a public IPv4 address for $24 a month, billed per second and capped at 672 hours. |
| Overall score | 5.6 | 6.6Best |
| Free option | Free trial | Free trial |
| Card to start | –Not measured | Card required |
| Getting access | Self-serve | Self-serve |
| Starter priceCheapest paid plan | $3.50/mo | $4/mo |
| Pricing model | Usage-based | Usage-based |
| Pricing page | Public prices | Public prices |
| Reference server | Linux General Purpose: 2 vCPU (burstable), 4 GB, 80 GB SSD, 4 TB transfer, $24/mo with IPv4 | Basic Regular: 2 vCPU (shared), 4 GiB, 80 GiB SSD, 4,000 GiB transfer, $24/mo |
| Reference scenario (US, monthly) | $28: $24 plan + $4 for one 80 GB snapshot, computed | $28.80: $24 plan + $4.80 weekly backups, computed |
| Billing | Hourly up to the monthly bundle price | Per second, 60-second minimum, capped at 672 hours a month |
| Transfer overage | $0.09/GB in US regions; inbound counts toward the allowance; pooled per plan and region | $0.01/GiB in every region; pooled across the team; inbound free |
| Public IPv4 | Included in IPv4 bundles; IPv6-only bundles $1.50 to $4 less | Included on bundled plans; reserved IPv4 $5/mo when unassigned |
| Backups | Automatic daily snapshots, latest 7 kept, billed as snapshot storage (Linux only) | Weekly 20% or daily 30% of the Droplet price; usage-based from $0.01/GiB |
| Snapshots | $0.05/GB-month, incremental | $0.06/GB-month |
| Free credit | $100 in AWS credits, up to $100 more, Free plan up to 6 months | $5 for 90 days, payment method required |
| Dedicated vCPU from | Not offered (burstable plans) | $42/mo (CPU-Optimized, 2 vCPU, 4 GiB, 25 GiB) |
| Image export | Snapshot export to Amazon EC2 only; no download or import | No snapshot download; custom image import (raw, qcow2, VHDX, VDI, VMDK) |
| SOC 2 / ISO 27001 | Lightsail not listed in AWS SOC or ISO scope | SOC 2 Type II; own ISO 27001 not stated |
| HIPAA BAA | Lightsail not on the HIPAA eligible services list | Through sales or support |
| EU regions | Frankfurt, Ireland, Paris, Stockholm, Spain (opt-in) | Amsterdam, Frankfurt (London in the UK) |
| Spend cap | AWS Budgets alerts; project spend limits that pause resources only in AWS's new sign-up experience, which is in limited release | Spend alerts only |
| Bottom line | From its public pages, Lightsail is a simple way to a fixed-price AWS server, with snapshots billed by storage and an export path to EC2. It is not on AWS's compliance scope lists, and transfer beyond the allowance costs $0.09 per GB. | From its public pages, DigitalOcean is a predictable choice for small servers: IPv4 included, a monthly cap, pooled transfer at $0.01 per GiB and backups at a flat share of the price. Images cannot be downloaded, and new accounts start with limits. |
Evidence: Amazon Lightsail: facts checked 2026-10-16 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; DigitalOcean Droplets: facts checked 2026-10-16 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run. Prices in USD as listed, excluding tax. "–" means not recorded.
When to pick each
In the words of each review, with the date its facts were checked.
From our Amazon Lightsail review
Checked Oct 16, 2026- Pick Amazon Lightsail when
- You want the same price in every region, a Free plan that stops rather than bills, and a path to Amazon EC2.
- Pick DigitalOcean Droplets when
- You want pooled transfer at $0.01 per GiB, a SOC 2 Type II report and a HIPAA BAA path.
From our DigitalOcean Droplets review
Checked Oct 16, 2026- Pick DigitalOcean Droplets when
- You want transfer overage at $0.01 per GiB pooled across all servers, and a HIPAA BAA path.
- Pick Amazon Lightsail when
- You want up to $200 in AWS credits and snapshots you can export to Amazon EC2.
Entry price
Baseline: each product's cheapest paid plan, per month. Included usage differs, so read the line under each price.
- Amazon LightsailLowest priceLinux 512 MB (IPv6 only)$3.50/mo$0.0047/hour; no public IPv4
- 2 burstable vCPUs, 512 MB, 20 GB SSD
- 1 TB of transfer
- DigitalOcean DropletsBasic Regular 512 MiB$4/mo$0.00595/hour, billed per second up to 672 hours
- 1 shared vCPU, 512 MiB, 10 GiB SSD
- 500 GiB of outbound transfer
- Public IPv4 included
Prices as listed on each pricing page, in USD per month, excluding tax. Observed: Amazon Lightsail 2026-10-16, DigitalOcean Droplets 2026-10-16.
Which one fits
- If you need to start today without a sales call
- DigitalOcean DropletsSelf-serve sign-up, card required; the highest score of the 2 self-serve products here (6.6/10).
- Lowest starter price
- Amazon Lightsail$3.50/mo for the Linux 512 MB (IPv6 only) plan.
- Highest overall score
- DigitalOcean Droplets6.6/10 (Good). The review shows the score breakdown and the run behind it.
Picked by fixed rules from the table above, not by hand. How we score
Full reviews
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