Cloud servers (VPS) · Comparison
Akamai Cloud (Linode) vs Amazon Lightsail vs DigitalOcean Droplets
3 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 | Akamai Cloud (Linode) | Amazon Lightsail | DigitalOcean Droplets |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you're paying for | Worth the priceA 2 vCPU, 4 GB Linode for $24 a month with 4 TB of pooled transfer, overage at $0.005 per GB and ISO 27001 coverage for compute. | 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 | 6.7Best | 5.6 | 6.6 |
| Free option | Free trial | Free trial | Free trial |
| Card to start | Card required | –Not measured | Card required |
| Getting access | Self-serve | Self-serve | Self-serve |
| Starter priceCheapest paid plan | $5/mo | $3.50/mo | $4/mo |
| Pricing model | Usage-based | Usage-based | Usage-based |
| Pricing page | Public prices | Public prices | Public prices |
| Reference server | Linode 4 GB: 2 vCPU (shared), 4 GB, 80 GB SSD, 4 TB transfer, $24/mo | 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) | $29: $24 plan + $5 Backups add-on, computed | $28: $24 plan + $4 for one 80 GB snapshot, computed | $28.80: $24 plan + $4.80 weekly backups, computed |
| Billing | Hourly, rounded up, capped at the monthly price; G8 plans and extra IPv4 uncapped | Hourly up to the monthly bundle price | Per second, 60-second minimum, capped at 672 hours a month |
| Transfer overage | $0.005/GB (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific); pooled; inbound free | $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 | One per Linode included; extra addresses need justification, price not listed | Included in IPv4 bundles; IPv6-only bundles $1.50 to $4 less | Included on bundled plans; reserved IPv4 $5/mo when unassigned |
| Backups | Priced per plan ($2 to $5/mo at small sizes); daily, weekly and biweekly copies | 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 | One manual snapshot in Backups; captured images $0.10/GB-month | $0.05/GB-month, incremental | $0.06/GB-month |
| Free credit | $100 for new customers via promo page or referral, payment method required | $100 in AWS credits, up to $100 more, Free plan up to 6 months | $5 for 90 days, payment method required |
| Dedicated vCPU from | $36/mo (G6 Dedicated 4 GB) or $43 (G7) | Not offered (burstable plans) | $42/mo (CPU-Optimized, 2 vCPU, 4 GiB, 25 GiB) |
| Image export | No backup download; raw .img image upload up to 6 GB | 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 | SOC 2 Type 1 for compute; ISO 27001:2022 covers compute | Lightsail not listed in AWS SOC or ISO scope | SOC 2 Type II; own ISO 27001 not stated |
| HIPAA BAA | On request; compute listed in HIPAA scope | Lightsail not on the HIPAA eligible services list | Through sales or support |
| EU regions | Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Paris, Milan, Madrid, Stockholm | Frankfurt, Ireland, Paris, Stockholm, Spain (opt-in) | Amsterdam, Frankfurt (London in the UK) |
| Spend cap | None; transfer emails at 80, 90 and 100% | 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, Akamai Cloud keeps Linode's clear plan list and adds low-cost pooled transfer ($0.005 per GB over the allowance), ISO 27001 for compute and free support. Compute has a SOC 2 Type 1 report, and G8 plans are billed without a cap. | 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: Akamai Cloud (Linode): facts checked 2026-10-16 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; 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 Akamai Cloud (Linode) review
Checked Oct 16, 2026- Pick Akamai Cloud (Linode) when
- You want lower overage ($0.005 per GB), a $100 credit and ISO 27001 that covers compute.
- Pick DigitalOcean Droplets when
- You want a SOC 2 Type II report, backups as often as every 4 hours and a $28.80 scenario price (computed).
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 Amazon Lightsail review
Checked Oct 16, 2026- Pick Amazon Lightsail when
- You want AWS identity tools, CloudTrail and snapshots that export to EC2.
- Pick Akamai Cloud (Linode) when
- You want overage at $0.005 per GB, ISO 27001 for compute and a HIPAA BAA on request.
From our DigitalOcean Droplets review
Checked Oct 16, 2026- Pick DigitalOcean Droplets when
- You want a SOC 2 Type II report for the servers, spend alerts and backups as often as every 4 hours.
- Pick Akamai Cloud (Linode) when
- You want lower transfer overage ($0.005 per GB), a $100 credit and ISO 27001 for compute, at $29 a month for the scenario (computed).
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.
- Akamai Cloud (Linode)Nanode 1 GB$5/mo$0.0075/hour, capped at the monthly price
- 1 shared vCPU, 1 GB, 25 GB SSD
- 1 TB of transfer
- One IPv4 address included
- Backups $2/mo
- 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: Akamai Cloud (Linode) 2026-10-16, Amazon Lightsail 2026-10-16, DigitalOcean Droplets 2026-10-16.
Which one fits
- If you need to start today without a sales call
- Akamai Cloud (Linode)Self-serve sign-up, card required; the highest score of the 3 self-serve products here (6.7/10).
- Lowest starter price
- Amazon Lightsail$3.50/mo for the Linux 512 MB (IPv6 only) plan.
- Highest overall score
- Akamai Cloud (Linode)6.7/10 (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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