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DigitalOcean costs Free to $15 per month as of November 2026, with 14 plans available including a free tier. Plans: App Platform (free), Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) (free), Container Registry (free), Functions (free), Support Plans (free), Uptime (free), Virtual Private Cloud (free), Droplets at $4/month, Spaces at $5/month, Volumes at $10/month, Kubernetes at $12/month, Load Balancers at $12/month, Databases at $15/month, and GPU Droplet (usage-based). Usage cost depends on the selected model and generation volume.

Use the interactive pricing calculator to estimate your exact cost based on team size and requirements.

  • Free tier: Yes

DigitalOcean offers 14 pricing tiers: App Platform, Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM), Container Registry, Functions, Support Plans, Uptime, Virtual Private Cloud, Droplets, Spaces, Volumes, Kubernetes, Load Balancers, Databases, GPU Droplet. A free plan is available. Paid plans include Droplets at $4/month, Spaces at $5/month, Volumes at $10/month.

Last verified: | Sources: 1 pricing pages and reviews
Free Trial plan type

Yes, DigitalOcean offers a free trial plan as of November 2026. The free tier includes 0 features with limits on usage. Paid plans start at $4/month (Droplets). Pricing verified from 1 sources by CostBench.

Free Trial

DigitalOcean's free offering is a time-limited trial to test the full product.

What's Included in the Free Plan

Start DigitalOcean Free Trial

What's NOT Included (Paid Only)

  • 512 MiB to 16 GB RAM
  • 1 to 8 shared vCPUs
  • 10 to 320 GB SSD storage
  • 500 GiB to 6,000 GiB outbound transfer
  • Per-second billing (60-second minimum)

You'll Need to Upgrade When...

  • You exceed the user limit
  • You need features like 512 MiB to 16 GB RAM or 1 to 8 shared vCPUs
  • You require premium support or SLA guarantees
  • You need to remove branding or watermarks
  • You need advanced integrations or API access

Hidden Restrictions on Free Plan

  • ! Credits have a fixed dollar amount and expiry date
  • ! Trial does not include a permanent free tier — all resources become paid after trial ends

Free vs Paid: Which Do You Need?

Free Plan is Enough If...

  • You're an individual or very small team
  • You need only basic features
  • You don't mind usage limits
  • Branding on output is acceptable
  • Community support is sufficient

Free vs Droplets Plan Comparison

App Platform $0
Features 0 included 5+ included
Support Community/Email Priority Support
Branding DigitalOcean branding Your branding
Best For Individuals Personal projects, small websites, and development environments

Frequently Asked Questions

01 Is DigitalOcean free?

Yes, DigitalOcean offers a free trial plan with 0 core features included. However, there are limits on users and features that may require upgrading.

02 What's included in DigitalOcean's free plan?

DigitalOcean's free plan includes: . Key limits include basic usage caps.

03 What's NOT included in DigitalOcean's free plan?

The free plan excludes: 512 MiB to 16 GB RAM, 1 to 8 shared vCPUs, 10 to 320 GB SSD storage, 500 GiB to 6,000 GiB outbound transfer, Per-second billing (60-second minimum). You'll also have DigitalOcean branding and limited support options.

04 When should I upgrade from DigitalOcean's free plan?

Consider upgrading when: you hit user or storage limits, need features like 512 MiB to 16 GB RAM or 1 to 8 shared vCPUs, require premium support, or want to remove branding. The cheapest paid plan starts at $4/month.

05 Is DigitalOcean's free plan really free forever?

DigitalOcean's free offering is actually a time-limited trial, not a forever-free plan. After the trial period, you'll need to subscribe to a paid plan to continue using the service.

Start DigitalOcean Free Trial
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