DigitalOcean Alternative: Same Simplicity, Half the Price

DigitalOcean popularized simple cloud hosting. But their prices haven't kept up with the market. Here's how to get the same experience for 50-80% less.

DigitalOcean vs RAW: Price Comparison

Why Developers Love DigitalOcean

• Simple, clean UI
• Great documentation and tutorials
• One-click apps (WordPress, Docker, etc.)
• Transparent pricing (unlike AWS)
• Good API

RAW Has the Same Things

• Clean dashboard — dark brutalist design, zero clutter
• Comprehensive docs — 24 API endpoints, 18 CLI commands documented
• One-click apps — Docker, Node.js, Python, PostgreSQL, Redis, Nginx
• Transparent pricing — flat monthly, no hidden fees
• Full API + CLI — everything is API-first

What RAW Does Better

• 75-81% cheaper for equivalent specs
• CLI-first — npx rawhq deploy (no signup required)
• 13-second deploys (DigitalOcean: 30-60 seconds)
• 20 TB bandwidth (DigitalOcean: depends on plan)
• NVMe storage (faster than DO's regular SSD)

What DigitalOcean Does Better

• Managed databases (PostgreSQL, MySQL, Redis)
• Managed Kubernetes
• Spaces (S3-compatible object storage)
• More regions (14 vs our 5)
• Longer track record (12+ years)

For 90% of Use Cases, RAW Wins

If you're running a web app, API server, database, or any standard workload — RAW gives you the same thing for 75-80% less. The only reason to pay DigitalOcean's premium is if you specifically need their managed services.

Try RAW

npx rawhq deploy

7-day free trial. 13 seconds to deploy. No credit card.