vs
Amazon Lightsail vs DigitalOcean
Amazon Lightsail sells fixed monthly bundles with IPv4 included: $5.00 for 512 MB, $12.00 for 2 GB and $24.00 for 4 GB. DigitalOcean starts at $4.00 for 512 MiB and also charges $12.00 for 2 GB. Lightsail lists 19 datacenters, DigitalOcean 13.
Which one to pick
Pick Amazon Lightsail if
Big cloudBilled in US dollars
- You already use AWS, or plan to grow into it
- You want up to $200 of AWS credit as a new customer
- You want a datacenter in South America or more of Asia
Pick DigitalOcean if
Cloud serversBilled in US dollars
- You want the cheapest small server: $4.00 a month
- You need managed Kubernetes
- You want managed MongoDB, Valkey, Kafka or OpenSearch
The same server on both
Each host's cheapest entry plan with at least this much memory, with the IPv4 address added where it's extra.
MemoryAmazon LightsailDigitalOcean
Amazon LightsailDigitalOcean1 GB+
Amazon Lightsail
Micro-1GB Linux with public IPv4 2 vCPU, 1 GB, 40 GB SSD$7.00
DigitalOcean
Basic 1 GiB 1 vCPU, 1 GB, 25 GB SSD$6.00
2 GB+
Amazon Lightsail
Small-2GB Linux with public IPv4 2 vCPU, 2 GB, 60 GB SSD$12.00
DigitalOcean
Basic 2 GiB 1 vCPU, 2 GB, 50 GB SSD$12.00
4 GB+
Amazon Lightsail
Medium-4GB Linux with public IPv4 2 vCPU, 4 GB, 80 GB SSD$24.00
DigitalOcean
No entry plan this size
Where they differ most
With IPv4, per month
- Amazon Lightsail
- $5.00/month
- DigitalOcean
- $4.00/month
Continents
- Amazon Lightsail
- North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Oceania
- DigitalOcean
- North America, Europe, Asia, Oceania
Automatic backups
- Amazon Lightsail
- Not stated
- DigitalOcean
- 20% of the plan price
Included traffic
- Amazon Lightsail
- 1 TB on Nano-0.5GB Linux with public IPv4
- DigitalOcean
- Not stated on Basic 512 MiB
Managed databases
- Amazon Lightsail
- MySQL, PostgreSQL
- DigitalOcean
- PostgreSQL, MySQL, Valkey, MongoDB, Kafka, OpenSearch
Managed Kubernetes
- Amazon Lightsail
- NoNo
- DigitalOcean
- YesYes
Every fact, side by side
A dot marks a row where they differ. Rows with an info mark open a note.
DigitalOceanAmazon LightsailWhat it really costs
Cheapest plan (differs)$4.00/month, Basic 512 MiB (1 vCPU, 0.5 GB, 10 GB SSD)$5.00/month, Nano-0.5GB Linux with public IPv4 (2 vCPU, 0.5 GB, 20 GB SSD)
With IPv4, per month (differs)$4.00/month$5.00/month
Promo and renewal Same price on renewalSame price on renewal
VAT in listed prices (differs)Prices exclude VATNo VAT on US prices
How you pay
Signup checks (differs)Payment method required to verify identity; a temporary card pre-authorisation (typically $1)Phone verification; a payment method and a $1 hold may be requested
What you get
Entry plan sizes (differs)1/0.5 GB, 1/1 GB, 1/2 GB, 2/2 GB2/0.5 GB, 2/1 GB, 2/2 GB, 2/4 GB
CPU in entry plans SharedShared
Included traffic (differs)Not stated on Basic 512 MiB1 TB on Nano-0.5GB Linux with public IPv4
Where it runs
Datacenters (differs)13 in 8 countries19 in 17 countries
Continents (differs)North America, Europe, Asia, OceaniaNorth America, South America, Europe, Asia, Oceania
What comes with it
Who you're renting from
Company (differs)DigitalOcean, LLCAmazon Web Services, Inc.
