Short answer
As of October 23, 2026, DigitalOcean wins more of the head-to-head checks (5 vs 2) and ranks higher overall (#15 of 160). DigitalOcean is cheaper to start ($4.00 vs $11.00 a month) and DigitalOcean has more locations (13 vs 9).
Verdict
DigitalOcean is cheaper to start: Basic 512 MB (s-1vcpu-512mb-10gb) costs $4.00 per month against $11.00 at Cloudways, and it stays cheaper per gigabyte of RAM ($7.00 vs $11.00 median).
DigitalOcean has the wider footprint with 13 locations in 8 countries, against 9 in 8 at Cloudways; both offer Amsterdam, Bangalore, Frankfurt, London, New York, San Francisco and 3 more.
On features, only Cloudways offers a managed option.
Customers rate Cloudways higher on Trustpilot: 4.6 from 3,766 reviews versus 4.5 from 2,581.
Overall Cloudways ranks #88 and DigitalOcean #15 of 160 providers we track. Choose Cloudways if you want a managed server; choose DigitalOcean if price matters most or you need a wider choice of locations.
Cloudways and DigitalOcean side by side
| Cloudways | DigitalOcean | |
|---|---|---|
| Cheapest plan | DigitalOcean Micro: $11.00/mo | Basic 512 MB (s-1vcpu-512mb-10gb): $4.00/mo |
| Entry plan specs | 1 vCPU, 2 GB RAM, 50 GB SSD, 2 TB traffic | 1 vCPU, 512 MB RAM, 10 GB SSD, 500 GB traffic |
| Cheapest Windows plan | No Windows | No Windows |
| Median price per GB RAM | $11.00 | $7.00 |
| Data-center locations | 9 in 8 countries | 13 in 8 countries |
| Regions | Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania | Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania |
| Virtualisation | KVM (underlying DigitalOcean/Vultr/Linode droplets) | KVM |
| Hourly billing | Yes | Yes |
| NVMe storage | Yes | Yes |
| DDoS protection | Yes | Yes |
| Backups | Paid | Paid |
| Managed option | Yes | No |
| Payment methods | card, paypal | card, paypal, crypto, alipay, other |
| Money-back | Not published | Not published |
| Uptime SLA | No uptime percentage published; support-response SLA with 5% monthly-fee credit per missed hour | 99.99% |
| Trustpilot | 4.6 (3,766 reviews) | 4.5 (2,581 reviews) |
| Founded / HQ | 2012, Mosta MT | 2012, Broomfield US |
Highlighted cells mark the better value where the comparison is objective (lower price, more locations, higher rating).
Plans at the same size
The closest matching plans by RAM from each provider.
| RAM | Cloudways | $/month | DigitalOcean | $/month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 GB | Linode 1GB (1 vCPU, 25 GB) | $14.00 | Basic 1 GB (s-1vcpu-1gb) (1 vCPU, 25 GB) | $6.00 |
| 2 GB | DigitalOcean Micro (1 vCPU, 50 GB) | $11.00 | Basic 2 GB (s-1vcpu-2gb) (1 vCPU, 50 GB) | $12.00 |
| 4 GB | no plan | — | Basic 4 GB (s-2vcpu-4gb) (2 vCPU, 80 GB) | $24.00 |
| 8 GB | DigitalOcean Medium (4 vCPU, 160 GB) | $88.00 | Basic 8 GB (s-4vcpu-8gb) (4 vCPU, 160 GB) | $48.00 |
| 16 GB | no plan | — | Basic 16 GB (s-8vcpu-16gb) (8 vCPU, 320 GB) | $96.00 |
Locations
Cloudways operates 9 locations (Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania); DigitalOcean operates 13 (Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania).
Cities both offer: Amsterdam, Bangalore, Frankfurt, London, New York, San Francisco, Singapore, Sydney and Toronto.
Only DigitalOcean: Atlanta, Kansas City, Memphis and Richmond.
Frequently asked questions
Is Cloudways or DigitalOcean better?
As of October 23, 2026, DigitalOcean wins more of the head-to-head checks (5 vs 2) and ranks higher overall (#15 of 160). DigitalOcean is cheaper to start ($4.00 vs $11.00 a month) and DigitalOcean has more locations (13 vs 9).
Is Cloudways cheaper than DigitalOcean?
DigitalOcean has the lower entry price: $4.00 against $11.00 per month. The plans-at-equal-RAM table compares them size by size.
Which has more data centers, Cloudways or DigitalOcean?
DigitalOcean, with 13 locations in 8 countries versus 9 at Cloudways. Both operate in Amsterdam, Bangalore, Frankfurt, London, New York and 4 more.
Do Cloudways and DigitalOcean offer Windows VPS?
Neither offers Windows Server.
Sources
Prices, plans and locations were read from these pages; last checked October 23, 2026. Prices change, so confirm on the provider's site before you buy.