Cloud servers (VPS) · Comparison
Amazon Lightsail vs DigitalOcean Droplets vs Vultr Cloud Compute
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 | Amazon Lightsail | DigitalOcean Droplets | Vultr Cloud Compute |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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. | Worth the priceA 2 vCPU, 4 GB, 80 GB server for $20 a month with 3 TB of pooled transfer, backed by Vultr's own SOC 2 Type II report and ISO 27001. |
| Overall score | 5.6 | 6.6 | 6.6 |
| Free option | Free trial | Free trial | Free trial |
| Card to start | –Not measured | Card required | Card required |
| Getting access | Self-serve | Self-serve | Self-serve |
| Starter priceCheapest paid plan | $3.50/mo | $4/mo | $2.50/mo |
| Pricing model | Usage-based | Usage-based | Usage-based |
| Pricing page | Public prices | 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 | Regular Performance: 2 vCPU (shared), 4 GB, 80 GB SSD, 3 TB transfer, $20/mo |
| Reference scenario (US, monthly) | $28: $24 plan + $4 for one 80 GB snapshot, computed | $28.80: $24 plan + $4.80 weekly backups, computed | $24: $20 plan + $4 backups (20%), computed |
| Billing | Hourly up to the monthly bundle price | Per second, 60-second minimum, capped at 672 hours a month | Hourly, 1-hour minimum, capped at 672 hours; VX1 and GPU at 730 hours |
| 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 | $0.01/GB; pooled across the account with 2 TB free; 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 | One included; reserved IP $3/mo; extra addresses for an unlisted fee |
| 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 | 20% of the server price; daily to monthly schedules; two most recent kept |
| Snapshots | $0.05/GB-month, incremental | $0.06/GB-month | $0.05/GB-month of compressed size |
| Free credit | $100 in AWS credits, up to $100 more, Free plan up to 6 months | $5 for 90 days, payment method required | Coupon credit up to $300 (up to 30 days); free tier server by application |
| Dedicated vCPU from | Not offered (burstable plans) | $42/mo (CPU-Optimized, 2 vCPU, 4 GiB, 25 GiB) | $28/mo (CPU Optimized, 1 vCPU, 2 GB); 2 vCPU, 4 GB at $40 |
| Image export | Snapshot export to Amazon EC2 only; no download or import | No snapshot download; custom image import (raw, qcow2, VHDX, VDI, VMDK) | No snapshot download; ISO and raw image import from a URL |
| SOC 2 / ISO 27001 | Lightsail not listed in AWS SOC or ISO scope | SOC 2 Type II; own ISO 27001 not stated | SOC 2 Type II (with HIPAA) in the console; ISO 27001:2022 |
| HIPAA BAA | Lightsail not on the HIPAA eligible services list | Through sales or support | By contract, after an architecture review |
| EU regions | Frankfurt, Ireland, Paris, Stockholm, Spain (opt-in) | Amsterdam, Frankfurt (London in the UK) | Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Paris, Madrid, Stockholm, Warsaw, Milan |
| 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 | None self-serve; bandwidth usage emails |
| 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. | From its public pages, Vultr has the lowest list price for the reference server and a broad compliance file with free SSO. Some regional prices are missing from the pricing page, and several pages disagree on details such as DDoS protection. |
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; Vultr Cloud Compute: 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 Amazon Lightsail review
Checked Oct 16, 2026- Pick Amazon Lightsail when
- You want the same published price in every region, a free start that suspends rather than bills when it ends, and a path to Amazon EC2.
- Pick Vultr Cloud Compute when
- You want a lower scenario price ($24, computed), a SOC 2 Type II report and ISO 27001.
From our DigitalOcean Droplets review
Checked Oct 16, 2026- Pick DigitalOcean Droplets when
- You want the same price in every region, free DDoS protection and a DPA that is part of the terms.
- Pick Vultr Cloud Compute when
- You want the lowest scenario price here ($24 a month, computed) and ISO 27001 alongside SOC 2.
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.
From our Vultr Cloud Compute review
Checked Oct 16, 2026- Pick Vultr Cloud Compute when
- You want the lowest scenario price ($24, computed) and ISO 27001 alongside a SOC 2 Type II report.
- Pick DigitalOcean Droplets when
- You want the same price in every region, free DDoS protection and a DPA that is part of the terms.
Entry price
Baseline: each product's cheapest paid plan, per month. Included usage differs, so read the line under each price.
- Amazon LightsailLinux 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
- Vultr Cloud ComputeLowest priceRegular Performance 0.5 GB (IPv6 only)$2.50/mo$0.004/hour; 2 per account, not available through the API; $3.50 with IPv4
- 1 shared vCPU, 0.5 GB, 10 GB SSD
- 0.5 TB of transfer
- IPv6 only
Prices as listed on each pricing page, in USD per month, excluding tax. Observed: Amazon Lightsail 2026-10-16, DigitalOcean Droplets 2026-10-16, Vultr Cloud Compute 2026-10-16.
Which one fits
- If you need to start today without a sales call
- DigitalOcean Droplets and Vultr Cloud ComputeSelf-serve sign-up, card required; tied at 6.6/10 for the highest score of the 3 self-serve products here.
- Lowest starter price
- Vultr Cloud Compute$2.50/mo for the Regular Performance 0.5 GB (IPv6 only) plan.
- Highest overall score
- DigitalOcean Droplets and Vultr Cloud Compute6.6/10 (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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