stackstash

DigitalOcean Droplets vs Fly.io

DigitalOcean Droplets is $6/mo cheaper.

That’s $72/year.

DigitalOcean Droplets logo: Simple cloud VMs (Droplets) with predictable pricing from $4/mo.
DigitalOcean Droplets logo: Simple cloud VMs (Droplets) with predictable pricing from $4/mo.

DigitalOcean Droplets

Est. $4/mo

Simple cloud VMs (Droplets) with predictable pricing from $4/mo.

Try it

Pros of DigitalOcean Droplets

  • Clear pricing compared with AWS/GCP

  • Fast to get a server online

  • Great docs for beginners and indies

  • App Platform if you don't want to manage VMs

  • Solid bandwidth allowances

Cons of DigitalOcean Droplets

  • Fewer regions and services than AWS/Azure

  • Not the cheapest at large scale

  • Less set-and-forget than pure PaaS like Vercel

  • Advanced networking/IAM is thinner than big clouds

Fly.io logo: Runs your app in VMs you can place close to users.
Fly.io logo: Runs your app in VMs you can place close to users.

Fly.io

Est. $10/mo

Runs your app in VMs you can place close to users.

Try it

Pros of Fly.io

  • You can run a normal server process

  • Machines can sit near the users who call them

  • A small app can scale to zero

Cons of Fly.io

  • You own the Docker image and the process

  • More setup than pushing a Next.js app to Vercel