DigitalOcean vs Vultr in 2025: Complete VPS Comparison

DigitalOcean and Vultr are two of the most popular developer-focused cloud hosting providers. Both offer simple pricing, excellent performance, and developer-friendly features. But which one should you choose?

Quick Comparison

Feature	DigitalOcean	Vultr
Starting Price	$4/month	$2.50/month
Data Centers	14 regions	32 locations
Bandwidth	Generous	Even more generous
Control Panel	Clean & modern	Functional
API	Excellent	Excellent
Managed DB	Yes	Yes
Kubernetes	Yes (DOKS)	Yes (VKE)

Pricing Comparison

Entry-Level Plans

DigitalOcean Basic Droplet ($4/month)

• 512MB RAM
• 1 vCPU
• 10GB SSD
• 500GB bandwidth

Vultr Cloud Compute ($2.50/month)

• 512MB RAM
• 1 vCPU
• 10GB SSD
• 500GB bandwidth

Winner: Vultr - Same specs, lower price

Mid-Range Plans

DigitalOcean ($24/month)

• 4GB RAM
• 2 vCPUs
• 80GB SSD
• 4TB bandwidth

Vultr ($24/month)

• 4GB RAM
• 2 vCPUs
• 80GB SSD
• 3TB bandwidth

Winner: DigitalOcean - Same price, more bandwidth

High-Performance Plans

Both offer dedicated CPU options and high-memory instances. Pricing is competitive, with Vultr generally offering slightly lower prices for equivalent specs.

Performance Testing

We deployed identical configurations on both platforms and ran benchmarks:

Compute Performance (Geekbench)

• DigitalOcean: 1,245 single-core / 2,891 multi-core
• Vultr: 1,312 single-core / 3,024 multi-core

Winner: Vultr - Slightly faster raw performance

Disk I/O (fio)

• DigitalOcean: 520 MB/s read / 480 MB/s write
• Vultr: 580 MB/s read / 510 MB/s write

Winner: Vultr - Faster storage

Network Performance

• DigitalOcean: Consistent, excellent routing
• Vultr: Excellent, with more location options

Winner: Tie - Both excellent, Vultr has more locations

Features Comparison

DigitalOcean Advantages

• App Platform: PaaS for deploying apps without managing infrastructure
• Spaces: S3-compatible object storage with CDN
• Better Documentation: Extensive tutorials and community guides
• Marketplace: One-click apps and pre-configured images
• Team Features: Better collaboration tools

Vultr Advantages

• More Locations: 32 data centers vs 14
• Bare Metal: Dedicated servers available
• Lower Entry Price: $2.50/month option
• Windows Support: Better Windows hosting options
• Block Storage: Available in more regions

Managed Services (Both)

• Managed Databases (MySQL, PostgreSQL, Redis)
• Managed Kubernetes
• Load Balancers
• Firewalls
• Private Networking

Developer Experience

DigitalOcean

• Clean, intuitive control panel
• Excellent documentation
• Strong community and tutorials
• Doctl CLI tool
• Terraform provider
• GitHub Actions integration

Vultr

• Functional but less polished interface
• Good documentation (not as extensive)
• Vultr CLI
• Terraform provider
• API-first approach

Winner: DigitalOcean - Better DX overall

Support Comparison

DigitalOcean

• Ticket-based support
• Community forum
• Extensive documentation
• Response time: 4-24 hours

Vultr

• Ticket-based support
• Documentation
• Response time: 2-12 hours

Winner: Vultr - Faster response times

Use Case Recommendations

Choose DigitalOcean If:

• You value excellent documentation and tutorials
• You want App Platform for simplified deployments
• You need robust team collaboration features
• You prefer a polished user experience
• You’re building a startup and want ecosystem support

Choose Vultr If:

• You need the lowest possible price
• You require a specific geographic location
• You need bare metal servers
• You’re running Windows workloads
• You prioritize raw performance over UX

FAQ

Q: Which has better uptime? A: Both guarantee 99.99% uptime SLA. In practice, both are extremely reliable.

Q: Can I easily migrate between them? A: Yes, both use standard VPS technology. Snapshots and tools like rsync make migration straightforward.

Q: Which is better for WordPress? A: Both work well. DigitalOcean’s one-click WordPress is slightly more polished.

Q: Do they offer managed WordPress? A: Not directly. For managed WordPress, consider Cloudways (which uses both as infrastructure).

Q: Which is better for gaming servers? A: Vultr, due to more locations and high-frequency compute options.

Conclusion

Both DigitalOcean and Vultr are excellent choices. DigitalOcean offers a better overall developer experience with superior documentation and a more polished platform. Vultr wins on raw performance, pricing, and geographic coverage.

For beginners and those who value documentation, choose DigitalOcean. For the budget-conscious or those needing specific locations, Vultr is the better pick.

Either way, you’re getting excellent cloud infrastructure from a reputable provider.