VPS hosting on DigitalOcean

DigitalOcean provides a wide range of VPS hosting options suited to every need.

VPS hosting options

DigitalOcean provides a range of VPS hosting options for anyone looking to get simple and cost-effective compute power for their projects. VPS hosting is provided through Droplets, DigitalOcean’s virtual machines, and there are multiple Droplet types for use cases ranging from personal websites to highly scalable applications such as video streaming and gaming applications. You can choose between shared CPU offerings and dedicated CPU offerings based on your anticipated usage. Learn more about how to select the right VPS offering for your use case.

Don’t want to manage VPS yourself? Try Cloudways Managed VPS Hosting. Say goodbye to spending hours trying to setup and troubleshoot VPS servers by yourself. Get managed VPS hosting optimized for speed & performance. Learn More

Shared CPU Droplets

Shared CPU Droplets are DigitalOcean’s lowest cost VPS hosting solution, starting at just $4/month. With shared CPU Droplets, you will share processing power with other users on the same virtual server. If one Droplet using a shared CPU experiences a heavier load at any time, additional power will automatically be assigned to that Droplet.

Regular Shared CPU Droplets

Premium Shared CPU Droplets

DigitalOcean’s Premium Droplets are shared CPU Droplets that use the latest two generations of CPUs we have available, and NVMe SSDs, which deliver faster performance. Premium Droplets have enhanced memory performance which can improve the performance of in-memory databases and server-side caches. Premium Droplets start at $7/month for 1GB memory, 1vCPU (either Intel or AMD), 25GB NVMe SSDs, and 1000GB transfer.

Dedicated CPU Droplets

Dedicated CPU Droplets ensure that your Droplet has access to the full computing power of your virtual server at any time. DigitalOcean offers multiple types of dedicated CPU Droplets, including General Purpose, CPU-Optimized, Memory-Optimized, and Storage-Optimized.

General Purpose Droplets

General Purpose Droplets are suitable for a wide variety of production workloads and have a balanced ratio of memory to dedicated CPU. Droplets are available ranging from 2vCPUs up to 40 vCPUs, and are ideal for workloads including medium-to-high-traffic web servers, eCommerce sites, medium-sized databases, and Software as a Service solutions. General Purpose Droplets start at $63/month for 8GB memory, 25GB SSD, and 4TB transfer.

CPU-Optimized Droplets

CPU-Optimized Droplets are ideal for workloads that require sustained CPU performance but which are not as memory-intensive, including CI/CD applications, video encoding, machine learning, batch processing, and front-end web servers. CPU-Optimized Droplets have a 2:1 ratio of memory to CPU, running from 2 vCPUs with 4GB of RAM to 32 vCPUs with 64GB of RAM. CPU-Optimized Droplets start at $42/month for 4GB memory, 25GB SSD, and 4TB transfer.

Memory-Optimized Droplets

Memory-Optimized Droplets include 8GB RAM for each vCPU, and work well for uses that require more memory, including high-performance SQL or NoSQL databases, big data processing, and resource-intensive business applications. The additional memory provided in these Droplets improves performance for applications which utilize large amounts of memory. Memory-Optimized Droplets start at $84/month for 16GB memory and 2vCPUs, 50GB SSD, and 4TB transfer.

Storage-Optimized Droplets

Storage-Optimized Droplets used NVMe (non-volatile memory express), which delivers faster disk performance than regular SSDs. These Droplets are ideal for workloads capturing large amounts of data, including large, high-performance NoSQL databases, analytics software, and data storage solutions. Storage-Optimized Droplets include 150GB storage for each dedicated vCPU, and go up to 7TB of storage. Storage-Optimized Droplets start at $131/month for 16GB memory, 300GB SSD, and 4TB transfer.

Get started with VPS hosting on DigitalOcean

Spin up virtual private servers on DigitalOcean.

Learn more

Get started with DigitalOcean

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

What is VPS?

A Virtual Private Server (VPS) is a type of virtual machine that mimics the experience of a dedicated physical server by splitting a physical server “virtually,” enabling multiple users to create their own virtual servers on one physical server. While multiple Virtual Private Servers are hosted on one physical server, each VPS is completely private, meaning it can run independent operating systems, and has its own dedicated memory. Many VPS hosting solutions include dedicated CPU, or, for low-traffic applications, users can select a shared-CPU VPS for a lower cost. VPS hosting is much more cost-effective for the vast majority of businesses than buying, configuring, and maintaining physical servers. Additionally, users can scale up their virtual private servers quickly by either adding memory to a single VPS or by creating additional VPS instances with their preferred VPS provider.

What is the difference between VPS and shared hosting?

Shared hosting is another popular way of hosting websites and applications, and has a few key differences from VPS hosting. With shared hosting, a user shares the majority of resources, including memory and CPU, with other websites or applications on the host. This can result in a decrease in performance if another application experiences a traffic surge. Using a shared hosting solution also does not give users root access to the server, which means you have less control over your server. VPS hosting providers users a fully dedicated virtual server with root access, so even though your VPS is on the same physical machine as other virtual private servers, you have much more control over the configuration of the server, and do not have to share resources with others.

What projects can I use VPS hosting for?

VPS hosting is private, secure, and gives users dedicated resources and control over their virtual machines. Almost any type of website or application today can benefit from using VPS hosting, especially when utilizing a provider such as DigitalOcean which provides a range of options for CPU-intensive, memory-intensive, and storage-intensive applications. While very low-traffic applications such as personal websites can use shared hosting solutions, VPS hosting gives all users more control over their server configurations. Some common uses for VPS hosting include:

Website and blog hosting
eCommerce stores
Video streaming
Gaming platforms
Software as a Service solutions
Databases
Microservices
Machine learning and artificial intelligence

What happens when I need help, or no longer need VPS hosting?

If you need help with your VPS hosting, DigitalOcean provides excellent support and a wide range of tutorials and documentation to help you with your setup. You can get help building and maintaining your VPS instance through our community tutorials, by asking a question to other DigitalOcean users, or by reaching out to our dedicated support team. DigitalOcean’s simple user interface makes it easy to upgrade, add, or remove virtual servers directly from your account. If you no longer need a virtual private server solution, you can easily cancel your VPS hosting plan.

What operating systems does DigitalOcean VPS hosting support?

DigitalOcean virtual private servers support Linux operating systems. Choose from popular OS’ including Ubuntu, CentoS, and Debian, or upload your own custom operating system or virtual appliance using our custom images feature. We also provide 1-click applications for popular software including Docker, LAMP, LEMP, MongoDB, MySQL, and Node.js.

Get started for free

Get started

*This promotional offer applies to new accounts only.