RAW vs DigitalOcean: Real Benchmarks, Real Savings

Test Methodology

No cherry-picking. We provisioned the closest equivalent instances on both platforms — 2 vCPU, 2 GB RAM on RAW (CX22), 2 vCPU / 4 GB on DigitalOcean (Basic Droplet). Both in Frankfurt. Both running Ubuntu 24.04.

We ran four benchmarks:

• sysbench cpu — multi-threaded prime calculation (10,000 primes, 2 threads)
• fio — random 4K read/write IOPS on the local disk
• iperf3 — network throughput to a shared endpoint
• stress-ng — memory bandwidth (stream test)

Every test was run 3 times. We report the median. No tuning, no warm-up tricks, no kernel hacks. Stock OS, stock config.

CPU: sysbench

Multi-threaded prime calculation, 2 threads, 10,000 events:

RAW is ~9% faster on CPU. The likely reason: dedicated bare metal infrastructure has less oversubscription than DigitalOcean's shared vCPUs. Fewer noisy neighbors = more consistent performance.

Disk I/O: fio

Random 4K read/write, iodepth=32, direct I/O:

This is the biggest gap. RAW runs on dedicated NVMe drives. DigitalOcean uses network-attached SSDs with IOPS caps. For database workloads, CI/CD, or anything disk-heavy, this is a 2.6–2.7× difference. Not close.

Network: iperf3

TCP throughput to a shared measurement server in Frankfurt:

Both platforms deliver close to 1 Gbps. No meaningful difference here. Both are fast enough for any web workload.

One note: RAW includes unlimited bandwidth. DigitalOcean caps Basic Droplets at 2–3 TB/month, then charges overages.

Memory: stress-ng

Stream memory bandwidth test, 60 seconds:

Memory performance is effectively identical. Both use DDR4, both deliver consistent throughput. No surprises here.

The Price Gap

Now the real kicker. Here's what you actually pay for equivalent compute:

Prices as of April 2026. RAW uses dedicated bare metal infrastructure. DigitalOcean prices from their public pricing page.

Same performance (or better). 79% cheaper. That's not a rounding error — it's a fundamentally different cost structure. RAW passes through bare metal pricing directly. DigitalOcean adds a 4–5× margin on top of similar hardware.

When to Use DigitalOcean Instead

We're not going to pretend RAW is better for everyone. Use DigitalOcean if:

• You need managed databases. DO's managed Postgres/MySQL/Redis saves real ops time. RAW gives you a server — you run your own DB.
• You want managed Kubernetes. DO's DOKS is genuinely good. If you need K8s, it's a reasonable option.
• You need a GUI for everything. DO's control panel is polished. RAW is SSH-first.
• You want managed load balancers. DO offers them out of the box. On RAW, you'd set up Caddy, nginx, or HAProxy yourself.
• You need App Platform. Git-push deploys with zero config. If that's your workflow, DO does it well.

When to Use RAW

• You want root access and raw performance. No abstraction layers. No shared tenancy throttling. Your server, your rules.
• You're comfortable with SSH. If you can ssh root@server and install packages, you're qualified.
• You want to save 70–80% on identical hardware. The math is simple: $5/mo vs $24/mo for the same compute.
• You're running Docker, self-hosted apps, or CI/CD runners. These workloads don't need managed services. They need fast, cheap compute.
• You hate surprise bills. Flat-rate pricing. No egress fees. No IOPS charges. No bandwidth overages.

The Bottom Line

DigitalOcean is a fine platform. But if you're paying for compute and you know how to use a terminal, you're overpaying by 4–5×. RAW gives you faster disks, comparable CPU and network, and 79% lower prices.

The managed services tax is real. If you don't need managed databases or Kubernetes, stop paying for them.

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