DigitalOcean vs Akamai Cloud (formerly Linode)
Cloud Infrastructure pricing comparison · 2026
DigitalOcean has a free plan, then $4–$15/mo, while Akamai Cloud (formerly Linode) costs $5–$60/mo. DigitalOcean is typically 77% more affordable, though your actual cost depends on tier and team size.
DigitalOcean
DigitalOcean pricing starts at $4/month for a Basic Droplet (512 MiB RAM / 1 vCPU).
verified 10w ago
$240
$410
Akamai Cloud (formerly Linode)
Linode, now part of Akamai Technologies, offers public flat-rate cloud compute pricing sta
verified 9w ago
$240
$410
Recorded annual contract medians
Akamai
median is
$170
less than
DigitalOcean
· different customer contracts; not a quote
Cheapest
$240
Spread
41%
Estimated license cost
at 25 seats
List price × seats. Click a tier below to lock it.
Spaces
$1.5K/yr
year 1 license · $5/seat
Linode 2 GB (Shared CPU)
$3.6K/yr
year 1 license · $12/seat
What buyers actually pay
median, annual
Vendr deal-flow data. The real benchmark, not list price.
Median annual
$410/yr
Vendr · n=145
↓ Lowest median
Median annual
$240/yr
Vendr · n=3 · limited data
REF · 01
Sources & confidence
Every dollar amount and contract clause below traces back to a sourced fact. We don't manufacture composite scores.
Where this data comes from
Vendr · TrustRadius · Reddit · BBB · official docs
Sources
17 sourced facts
11 hidden-cost · 3 contract · Vendr median · 2 review platforms
Last verified
2mo ago
Confidence
Medium confidence
Sources
14 sourced facts
9 hidden-cost · 2 contract · Vendr median · 2 review platforms
Last verified
2mo ago
Confidence
Medium confidence
REF · 02
Plans at a glance
Every tier per product. Lock one to drive the cost row above and reveal a tier-specific outbound CTA.
Tier ladder
Click a tier to lock the cost row to it. Locking surfaces a tier-specific Visit CTA.
REF · 04
Contract terms
The fine print, surfaced. Green = buyer-friendly. Each clause backed by a quoted source.
DigitalOcean
Akamai
Auto-renewal
Yes
Yes
Cancellation
—
Any time — hourly billing stops when resource is destroyed
Commitment
✓
Monthly (hourly billing available)
None — pay-as-you-go hourly billing
Price escalation
No published schedule; hardware fleet reportedly aging without refresh
No published price escalation schedule found in sources
Can downgrade
✓
Yes
✓
Yes
REF · 05
What users say
Aggregated, with sample sizes. We use whichever review platform has data.
User reviews
TrustRadius · Trustpilot · G2
Decide
Get a quote from each vendor
Each link opens the vendor's pricing page in a new tab.
License cost is computed from publicly listed plans (real math, list price × seats).
Median annual cost is from Vendr's deal flow when available — see source badges.
Hidden costs and contract terms each cite their own sources. We do not invent composite scores.
VS
DigitalOcean and Linode (Akamai) both operate in the cloud infrastructure category. This page compares their list pricing.
Plan-by-Plan Pricing
| Plan | DigitalOcean | Akamai Cloud (formerly Linode) |
|---|---|---|
| App Platform | Free /month | $5 /month |
| Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) | Free /month | $12 /month |
| Container Registry | Free /month | $24 /month |
| Functions | Free /month | $48 /month |
| Support Plans | Free /month | $36 /month |
| Uptime | Free /month | $43 /month |
| Virtual Private Cloud | Free /month | $60 /month |
| Droplets | $4 /month | Custom |
| Spaces | $5 /month | $60 /month per cluster (HA control plane) |
| Volumes | $10 /month | — |
| Kubernetes | $12 /month | — |
| Load Balancers | $12 /month | — |
| Databases | $15 /month | — |
| GPU Droplet | Custom | — |
Cost at Scale
Total cost of ownership — licenses, implementation, and hidden costs included.
DigitalOcean
4 scenarios$4/month ($48/year)
Hobbyist / Developer Single App
$7/month ($84/year)
Small Business Website
$19/month ($228/year)
Developer Stack with Managed Postgres
Akamai Cloud (formerly Linode)
6 scenarios$5/month ($60/year)
Small Developer/Hobby Project
$24/month ($288/year)
Small Business Web Application
$36/month ($432/year)
Production Application with Dedicated CPU
Market Intelligence
DigitalOcean
- Median annual cost
- $410
- Based on
- 145 deals
Akamai Cloud (formerly Linode)
- Median annual cost
- $240
- Based on
- 3 deals
Contract Terms
| Term | DigitalOcean | Akamai Cloud (formerly Linode) |
|---|---|---|
| Auto-renewal | Yes | Yes |
| Cancellation | — | Any time — hourly billing stops when resource is destroyed |
| Minimum commitment | Monthly (hourly billing available) | None — pay-as-you-go hourly billing |
| Price escalation | No published schedule; hardware fleet reportedly aging without refresh | No published price escalation schedule found in sources |
| Can downgrade | Yes | Yes |