Short answer
As of October 23, 2026, DigitalOcean wins more of the head-to-head checks (3 vs 3) and ranks higher overall (#15 of 160). DigitalOcean is cheaper to start ($4.00 vs $5.00 a month) and Amazon Lightsail has more locations (19 vs 13).
Verdict
DigitalOcean is cheaper to start: Basic 512 MB (s-1vcpu-512mb-10gb) costs $4.00 per month against $5.00 at Amazon Lightsail, and it stays cheaper per gigabyte of RAM ($7.00 vs $7.00 median).
Amazon Lightsail has the wider footprint with 19 locations in 17 countries, against 13 in 8 at DigitalOcean; both offer Frankfurt, London, Singapore and Sydney.
On features, only Amazon Lightsail offers Windows Server.
Customers rate DigitalOcean higher on Trustpilot: 4.5 from 2,581 reviews versus 1.3 from 429.
Overall DigitalOcean ranks #15 and Amazon Lightsail #73 of 160 providers we track. Choose DigitalOcean if price matters most or you pay in crypto; choose Amazon Lightsail if you need a wider choice of locations or you need Windows Server.
DigitalOcean and Lightsail side by side
| DigitalOcean | Amazon Lightsail | |
|---|---|---|
| Cheapest plan | Basic 512 MB (s-1vcpu-512mb-10gb): $4.00/mo | Linux 512 MB: $5.00/mo |
| Entry plan specs | 1 vCPU, 512 MB RAM, 10 GB SSD, 500 GB traffic | 2 vCPU, 512 MB RAM, 20 GB SSD, 1 TB traffic |
| Cheapest Windows plan | No Windows | Windows 512 MB: $9.50/mo |
| Median price per GB RAM | $7.00 | $7.00 |
| Data-center locations | 13 in 8 countries | 19 in 17 countries |
| Regions | Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania | Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania, South America |
| Virtualisation | KVM | KVM (AWS Nitro) |
| Hourly billing | Yes | Yes |
| NVMe storage | Yes | No |
| DDoS protection | Yes | Yes |
| Backups | Paid | Paid |
| Managed option | No | No |
| Payment methods | card, paypal, crypto, alipay, other | card, sepa, other |
| Money-back | Not published | Not published |
| Uptime SLA | 99.99% | 99.99% region-level (multi-AZ deployment); 99.5% per single instance |
| Trustpilot | 4.5 (2,581 reviews) | 1.3 (429 reviews) |
| Founded / HQ | 2012, Broomfield US | 2006, Seattle 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 | DigitalOcean | $/month | Lightsail | $/month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 GB | Basic 1 GB (s-1vcpu-1gb) (1 vCPU, 25 GB) | $6.00 | Linux 1 GB (2 vCPU, 40 GB) | $7.00 |
| 2 GB | Basic 2 GB (s-1vcpu-2gb) (1 vCPU, 50 GB) | $12.00 | Linux 2 GB (2 vCPU, 60 GB) | $12.00 |
| 4 GB | Basic 4 GB (s-2vcpu-4gb) (2 vCPU, 80 GB) | $24.00 | Linux 4 GB (2 vCPU, 80 GB) | $24.00 |
| 8 GB | Basic 8 GB (s-4vcpu-8gb) (4 vCPU, 160 GB) | $48.00 | Linux 8 GB (2 vCPU, 160 GB) | $44.00 |
| 16 GB | Basic 16 GB (s-8vcpu-16gb) (8 vCPU, 320 GB) | $96.00 | Linux 16 GB (4 vCPU, 320 GB) | $84.00 |
Locations
DigitalOcean operates 13 locations (Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania); Amazon Lightsail operates 19 (Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania, South America).
Cities both offer: Frankfurt, London, Singapore and Sydney.
Only DigitalOcean: Amsterdam, Atlanta, Bangalore, Kansas City, Memphis, New York, Richmond, San Francisco and Toronto.
Only Lightsail: Ashburn, Columbus, Dublin, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Montreal, Mumbai, Paris, Portland and 5 more.
Frequently asked questions
Is DigitalOcean or Amazon Lightsail better?
As of October 23, 2026, DigitalOcean wins more of the head-to-head checks (3 vs 3) and ranks higher overall (#15 of 160). DigitalOcean is cheaper to start ($4.00 vs $5.00 a month) and Amazon Lightsail has more locations (19 vs 13).
Is DigitalOcean cheaper than Amazon Lightsail?
DigitalOcean has the lower entry price: $4.00 against $5.00 per month. The plans-at-equal-RAM table compares them size by size.
Which has more data centers, DigitalOcean or Amazon Lightsail?
Amazon Lightsail, with 19 locations in 17 countries versus 13 at DigitalOcean. Both operate in Frankfurt, London, Singapore and Sydney.
Do DigitalOcean and Amazon Lightsail offer Windows VPS?
Only Amazon Lightsail 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.