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DigitalOcean Droplets vs Vercel

DigitalOcean Droplets is $16/mo cheaper.

That’s $192/year. Vercel costs 5× as much.

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

Vercel logo: Hosting that builds a preview URL for every Git push, especially Next.js apps.
Vercel logo: Hosting that builds a preview URL for every Git push, especially Next.js apps.

Vercel

Est. $20/mo

Hosting that builds a preview URL for every Git push, especially Next.js apps.

Try it

Pros of Vercel

  • A branch gets a URL without extra setup

  • Next.js features work without a custom server

  • Connects to the GitHub repo directly

Cons of Vercel

  • Long-running workers and custom VMs are a poor fit

  • The bill climbs once you leave the hobby limits