Amazon Lightsail vs DigitalOcean: Upfront, Renewal and 3-Year Cost
As of , for 2 vCPU, 4 GB RAM, Amazon Lightsail costs $24.00/month ($864.00 within 3 years) and DigitalOcean $24.00/month ($864.00 within 3 years), the same at both. Methodology · Source: hosting price records.
Prices as shown in the United States on .
Matched offers · Starting monthly price
| Amazon Lightsail | DigitalOcean | Lower at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 vCPU, 4 GB RAM | Amazon Lightsail Linux 4 GB (IPv4) · $24.00/month Observed | DigitalOcean Basic Droplet 4 GiB · $24.00/month Observed | same |
All tracked plans Amazon Lightsail: 2 plans · DigitalOcean: 2 plans
Amazon Lightsail
| Plan | Paid at purchase | Starting monthly price | First term | Renewal price | Paid within 3 years | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon Lightsail Linux 1 GB (IPv4) | Not stated¹ | $7.00/month Observed | — | flat monthly price | $252.00 Calculated 36 monthly payments × $7.00 (billing schedule not stated on the provider page) | |
| Amazon Lightsail Linux 4 GB (IPv4) | Not stated¹ | $24.00/month Observed | — | flat monthly price | $864.00 Calculated 36 monthly payments × $24.00 (billing schedule not stated on the provider page) |
¹ Billing for the first term is not stated on the page.
DigitalOcean
| Plan | Paid at purchase | Starting monthly price | First term | Renewal price | Paid within 3 years | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DigitalOcean Basic Droplet 1 GiB | $6.00 Calculated first month; billed monthly | $6.00/month Observed | — | flat monthly price | $216.00 Calculated 36 monthly payments × $6.00 | |
| DigitalOcean Basic Droplet 4 GiB | $24.00 Calculated first month; billed monthly | $24.00/month Observed | — | flat monthly price | $864.00 Calculated 36 monthly payments × $24.00 |
What differs in our measurements
3 notes · no price changes since Oct 14, 2026
- Starting monthly price for 2 vCPU, 4 GB RAM: the same at both ($24.00/month).
- Amazon Lightsail: no price change recorded across 12 successful price checks since Oct 14, 2026.
- DigitalOcean: no price change recorded across 12 successful price checks since Oct 14, 2026.
How the amounts are calculated payments, not months · no taxes or add-ons
How the amounts are calculated: we count payments, not months. “Paid at purchase” is the whole first term billed on day one (first-term monthly price × months of the term, e.g. 2.99 × 48 = 143.52), even when the term is longer than 3 years; for a plan the provider page says is billed monthly, it is the first month, and where the page does not say how the term is billed, no amount is shown. “Paid within 3 years” adds the payments due in the first 36 months; renewal is counted month by month at the measured renewal price, because the page does not say for how long a renewal is billed (our assumption). A flat monthly price is paid every month. We do not add taxes, setup fees, domain or add-on prices. Prices are taken as measured today.
Pages
DigitalOcean vs Akamai Cloud (Linode) · Hosting and VPS: lowest monthly prices and 3-year cost by our measurements · Total cost over 1–5 years
We compare prices and billing terms; plan features are shown as each provider states them.