Short answer
As of October 23, 2026, UpCloud wins more of the head-to-head checks (7 vs 2), while DigitalOcean ranks higher overall. UpCloud is cheaper to start ($3.50 vs $4.00 a month) and UpCloud has more locations (14 vs 13).
Verdict
UpCloud is cheaper to start: Starter 1xCPU-1GB costs $3.50 per month against $4.00 at DigitalOcean, and it stays cheaper per gigabyte of RAM ($4.50 vs $7.00 median).
UpCloud has the wider footprint with 14 locations in 12 countries, against 13 in 8 at DigitalOcean; both offer Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London, New York, Singapore and Sydney.
On features, only UpCloud offers Windows Server, only DigitalOcean offers DDoS protection and only DigitalOcean offers dedicated-CPU plans.
Customers rate DigitalOcean higher on Trustpilot: 4.5 from 2,581 reviews versus 3.0 from 168.
Overall UpCloud ranks #26 and DigitalOcean #15 of 160 providers we track. Choose UpCloud if price matters most or you need a wider choice of locations; choose DigitalOcean if DDoS protection must be included or you pay in crypto.
UpCloud and DigitalOcean side by side
| UpCloud | DigitalOcean | |
|---|---|---|
| Cheapest plan | Starter 1xCPU-1GB: $3.50/mo | Basic 512 MB (s-1vcpu-512mb-10gb): $4.00/mo |
| Entry plan specs | 1 vCPU, 1 GB RAM, 10 GB SSD | 1 vCPU, 512 MB RAM, 10 GB SSD, 500 GB traffic |
| Cheapest Windows plan | Starter 1xCPU-1GB: $3.50/mo | No Windows |
| Median price per GB RAM | $4.50 | $7.00 |
| Data-center locations | 14 in 12 countries | 13 in 8 countries |
| Regions | Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania | Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania |
| Virtualisation | KVM | KVM |
| Hourly billing | Yes | Yes |
| NVMe storage | — | Yes |
| DDoS protection | — | Yes |
| Backups | Paid | Paid |
| Managed option | No | No |
| Payment methods | card, paypal, other | card, paypal, crypto, alipay, other |
| Money-back | 30 days | Not published |
| Uptime SLA | 99.99% (Starter) / 99.999% (Premium, Cloud Native); SLA compensation is 50x the service fee for unscheduled interruptions over 5 minutes, capped at 30 days of fees per incident | 99.99% |
| Trustpilot | 3.0 (168 reviews) | 4.5 (2,581 reviews) |
| Founded / HQ | 2011, Helsinki FI | 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 | UpCloud | $/month | DigitalOcean | $/month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 GB | Starter 1xCPU-1GB (1 vCPU, 10 GB) | $3.50 | Basic 1 GB (s-1vcpu-1gb) (1 vCPU, 25 GB) | $6.00 |
| 2 GB | Starter 1xCPU-2GB (1 vCPU, 20 GB) | $7.00 | Basic 2 GB (s-1vcpu-2gb) (1 vCPU, 50 GB) | $12.00 |
| 4 GB | Starter 2xCPU-4GB (2 vCPU, 30 GB) | $14.00 | Basic 4 GB (s-2vcpu-4gb) (2 vCPU, 80 GB) | $24.00 |
| 8 GB | Starter 4xCPU-8GB (4 vCPU, 40 GB) | $24.00 | Basic 8 GB (s-4vcpu-8gb) (4 vCPU, 160 GB) | $48.00 |
| 16 GB | Premium 8xCPU-16GB (8 vCPU, 200 GB) | $164.00 | Basic 16 GB (s-8vcpu-16gb) (8 vCPU, 320 GB) | $96.00 |
Locations
UpCloud operates 14 locations (Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania); DigitalOcean operates 13 (Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania).
Cities both offer: Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London, New York, Singapore and Sydney.
Only UpCloud: Chicago, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Madrid, San Jose, Stavanger, Stockholm and Warsaw.
Only DigitalOcean: Atlanta, Bangalore, Kansas City, Memphis, Richmond, San Francisco and Toronto.
Frequently asked questions
Is UpCloud or DigitalOcean better?
As of October 23, 2026, UpCloud wins more of the head-to-head checks (7 vs 2), while DigitalOcean ranks higher overall. UpCloud is cheaper to start ($3.50 vs $4.00 a month) and UpCloud has more locations (14 vs 13).
Is UpCloud cheaper than DigitalOcean?
UpCloud has the lower entry price: $3.50 against $4.00 per month. The plans-at-equal-RAM table compares them size by size.
Which has more data centers, UpCloud or DigitalOcean?
UpCloud, with 14 locations in 12 countries versus 13 at DigitalOcean. Both operate in Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London, New York, Singapore and 1 more.
Do UpCloud and DigitalOcean offer Windows VPS?
Only UpCloud 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.