Our take
Pick DigitalOcean if app teams who will stay on Free at $0 (3 static-site apps, 1 GiB transfer each) while they open a first Insights tab, then buy a shared container at $5 / month (1 vCPU / 512 MiB) when they need a web service or worker. Pick Docker if individual developers who will stay on Personal at $0 while they open a first Containers list, then Pro at $9/user/month yearly ($11 monthly) when they need
Best for
DigitalOcean CPU / memory you chart at a public $
Docker A container table you start at a public $
Free plan
DigitalOcean $0 · / month. 3 apps with static sites. 1 GiB transfer / app. GitHub / GitLab deploy. Automatic HTTPS. Extra static-only apps $3 / month
Docker $0 · “For individual developers who need the essential tools to build and deploy containers.”
Lowest paid
DigitalOcean Paid containers $5
Docker Hardened Images / extras $5
Next step up
DigitalOcean Add-ons we fetched $25
Docker Pro $9/user/mo
Runs where
DigitalOcean Hosted
Docker Hosted
Watch out
DigitalOcean Free is static sites only
Docker Personal is the $0 individual tile
Last checked
DigitalOcean 2026-10-23 · digitalocean.com/pricing/app-platform
Docker 2026-10-23 · docker.com/pricing
app teams who will stay on Free at $0 (3 static-site apps, 1 GiB transfer each) while they open a first Insights tab, then buy a shared container at $5 / month (1 vCPU / 512 MiB) when they need a web service or worker.
Read the DigitalOcean pageindividual developers who will stay on Personal at $0 while they open a first Containers list, then Pro at $9/user/month yearly ($11 monthly) when they need commercial / advanced Desktop features.
Read the Docker page
