Amazon Lightsail vs DigitalOcean: what each really costs

Team size

Billing

Amazon Lightsail

No plan for this billing option

No paid plan to compare for this billing option.

DigitalOcean

No plan for this billing option

No paid plan to compare for this billing option.

10 peopleAmazon LightsailDigitalOcean
Entry paid planNo plan for this billing optionNo plan for this billing option
Vendor price
Monthly cost
Annual cost
Per user / year
Billing commitmentNot recordedNot recorded
Minimum seatsNone statedNone stated
Free planNo free plan listedNo free plan listed
Free trialNot statedNot stated

Calculated by SpecEntry from official vendor prices. Taxes and optional add-ons are not included. Open each product page for every plan and the official source.

Amazon Lightsail vs DigitalOcean: features

Key features as each vendor lists them. A feature missing from a list does not mean the product lacks it.

Amazon Lightsail

  • Virtual server instancesEasy-to-set-up virtual servers backed by AWS infrastructure.
  • Lightsail ContainersRun Docker containers in the cloud straight from developer workflows.
  • Block and object storageOffers both block storage and object storage.
  • Static content hostingObject Storage can host static content in the cloud.
  • Multiple operating systemsChoose Amazon Linux, Windows Server, Ubuntu, CentOS and others.
  • Managed certificatesRequest and manage certificates in the console, with renewals handled by AWS.
  • Guided console setupThe console guides configuration, often with components preconfigured.

Source:aws.amazon.com/lightsail/features ·

DigitalOcean

  • Managed agentsProduction agents run on the same stack as your data, inference and infrastructure.
  • Managed databasesDatabases for agentic, vector, relational, analytic and RAG use cases.
  • Inference RouterInference Router picks the right model per call automatically.
  • Serverless and batch inferenceRun serverless, dedicated or batch inference.
  • OpenAI-compatible endpointAccess DeepSeek, Llama, Qwen and your own fine-tunes on one OpenAI-compatible endpoint.
  • Agent evaluation toolsInsights records agent actions, Signals flags shortfalls and Evaluations tests changes.
  • Single CLI and APIOne CLI, one API and one bill.

Source:digitalocean.com ·

Amazon Lightsail vs DigitalOcean pricing questions

  1. How much do Amazon Lightsail and DigitalOcean cost?

    Amazon Lightsail paid plans start at $5 USD/mo, with public IPv4 (Linux 0.5 GB). DigitalOcean paid plans start at $4 per month, starting price (Droplets).

  2. Is Amazon Lightsail or DigitalOcean cheaper for 5 users?

    DigitalOcean is cheaper for 5 users: $48 per year on Droplets, against $60 per year for Amazon Lightsail on Linux 0.5 GB. That is $12 less per year, before tax.

  3. Is Amazon Lightsail or DigitalOcean cheaper for 10 users?

    DigitalOcean is cheaper for 10 users: $48 per year on Droplets, against $60 per year for Amazon Lightsail on Linux 0.5 GB. That is $12 less per year, before tax.

  4. Is Amazon Lightsail or DigitalOcean cheaper for 25 users?

    DigitalOcean is cheaper for 25 users: $48 per year on Droplets, against $60 per year for Amazon Lightsail on Linux 0.5 GB. That is $12 less per year, before tax.