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Compare DigitalOcean and Google Compute Engine 
At a Glance
Market Segments
Small-Business (85.9% of reviews)
Small-Business (36.4% of reviews)
Entry-Level Pricing
Starting at $4.00
Pay As You Go Per Month
DigitalOcean
Star Rating
(736)4.6 out of 5
Market Segments
Small-Business (85.9% of reviews)
Pros & Cons
Entry-Level Pricing
Starting at $4.00
Browse all 11 pricing plansGoogle Compute Engine
Star Rating
(939)4.5 out of 5
Market Segments
Small-Business (36.4% of reviews)
Pros & Cons
Entry-Level Pricing
Pay As You Go Per Month
Free Trial is available
Browse all 2 pricing plansSummary
AI Generated Summary
AI-generated. Powered by real user reviews.
- G2 reviewers report that DigitalOcean excels in ease of use, with many users highlighting its straightforward interface and the absence of complexity for beginners. Users appreciate the platform's quick setup process and the availability of helpful articles that guide them through configuring cloud resources.
- Users say that Google Compute Engine offers impressive performance and flexibility, particularly for those familiar with the platform. Reviewers note that managing virtual machines becomes straightforward with experience, and the integration with other Google Cloud services enhances deployment capabilities.
- According to verified reviews, DigitalOcean stands out for its affordable pricing, making it a popular choice among small businesses. Users commend the competitive rates and the ability to quickly start and run various server configurations, which is particularly beneficial for budget-conscious teams.
- Reviewers mention that Google Compute Engine, while slightly less user-friendly initially, provides a cost-effective pricing model that appeals to businesses looking for scalable solutions. Users appreciate the flexibility in resource allocation, which allows for efficient management of workloads.
- G2 reviewers highlight that DigitalOcean's quality of support is commendable, with many users expressing satisfaction with the assistance they receive. The platform's community resources and documentation are frequently praised for helping users troubleshoot issues effectively.
- Users report that while Google Compute Engine has a solid overall rating, it faces challenges in ease of setup compared to DigitalOcean. New users often find the initial learning curve steeper, although they acknowledge that the platform becomes easier to navigate with time and experience.
Pricing
Entry-Level Pricing
DigitalOcean
Droplets
Starting at $4.00
Simple, affordable, fast virtual machines
- Deploys in seconds
- Scales up on demand
- Run any workload from mission critical apps to low traffic sites
Google Compute Engine
Beyond Free Tier and Free Trial
Pay As You Go
Per Month
Pricing for Compute Engine is based on per-second usage of the machine types, persistent disks, and other resources that you select for your virtual machines.
- Compute Engine charges for usage based on the following price sheet: https://cloud.google.com/compute/all-pricing
Free Trial
DigitalOcean
Free Trial is available
Google Compute Engine
Free Trial is available
Ratings
Meets Requirements
9.1
641
9.0
502
Ease of Use
9.3
630
8.6
504
Ease of Setup
9.3
489
8.6
328
Ease of Admin
9.2
407
8.6
213
Quality of Support
8.6
524
8.4
464
Has the product been a good partner in doing business?
9.1
380
8.8
205
Product Direction (% positive)
9.0
630
9.4
480
Features by Category
Core Conversational Capabilities - AI Chatbots
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Interaction
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Task & Flow Management - AI Chatbots
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Learning
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Deployment & Embedding - AI Chatbots
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Content Generation
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Admin & Configuration - AI Chatbots
Not enough data
Not enough data
System
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Agentic AI - AI Chatbots
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Monitoring & Improvement - AI Chatbots
Not enough data
Not enough data
Reliability & Safety - AI Chatbots
Not enough data
Not enough data
Functionality
Not enough data
8.8
136
Not enough data
8.7
134
Not enough data
8.8
135
Management
Not enough data
8.3
135
Not enough data
8.9
135
Not enough data
8.7
133
Not enough data
8.9
135
Agentic AI - Cloud Management Platforms
Not enough data
8.0
14
Not enough data
8.8
14
Not enough data
8.6
14
Infrastructure Provision
9.1
145
8.7
176
Feature Not Available
8.4
175
Feature Not Available
8.5
167
7.3
76
7.8
159
8.3
119
8.6
167
9.3
153
9.2
178
Feature Not Available
8.3
162
8.8
132
8.7
175
Management
8.8
154
8.6
176
8.7
154
8.6
172
8.7
147
8.5
177
Functionality
8.4
82
8.9
174
Performance
Not enough data
9.0
113
Not enough data
8.6
111
Not enough data
8.5
110
Functionality
Not enough data
8.7
109
Not enough data
8.6
108
Not enough data
8.6
108
Not enough data
9.1
112
Agentic AI - Server Virtualization
Not enough data
8.3
15
Not enough data
8.4
15
Not enough data
8.9
15
Not enough data
8.7
15
Not enough data
8.1
15
Not enough data
8.8
15
Automated resource scaling
Not enough data
8.6
119
Not enough data
8.9
119
Scaling strategies
Not enough data
8.4
120
Not enough data
8.4
119
Visualization
Not enough data
8.3
118
Not enough data
8.4
118
Integration - Machine Learning
Not enough data
Not enough data
Learning - Machine Learning
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Agentic AI - Virtual Private Servers (VPS)
7.5
21
Not enough data
7.3
20
Not enough data
7.5
20
Not enough data
Hosting Management
8.4
346
Not enough data
8.9
353
Not enough data
Feature Not Available
Not enough data
8.6
285
Not enough data
8.1
241
Not enough data
8.7
268
Not enough data
7.9
216
Not enough data
Feature Not Available
Not enough data
8.8
296
Not enough data
8.6
294
Not enough data
Development
8.9
74
Not enough data
Feature Not Available
Not enough data
8.4
74
Not enough data
8.8
69
Not enough data
7.9
69
Not enough data
Database
8.7
69
Not enough data
7.8
68
Not enough data
7.9
67
Not enough data
8.6
67
Not enough data
8.9
69
Not enough data
Infrastructure
8.8
70
Not enough data
9.0
71
Not enough data
8.3
69
Not enough data
Configuration
8.7
50
Not enough data
8.6
50
Not enough data
8.6
50
Not enough data
7.3
49
Not enough data
8.6
49
Not enough data
Database Administration
8.7
50
Not enough data
8.3
50
Not enough data
7.8
49
Not enough data
Availability
9.1
50
Not enough data
8.8
49
Not enough data
8.3
50
Not enough data
8.4
49
Not enough data
Security
7.6
46
Not enough data
7.9
47
Not enough data
7.6
45
Not enough data
Data Management
8.6
46
Not enough data
7.5
46
Not enough data
Management
9.3
39
Not enough data
8.9
38
Not enough data
8.4
37
Not enough data
Organization
8.8
37
Not enough data
9.0
37
Not enough data
8.9
37
Not enough data
Development
8.8
37
Not enough data
8.7
35
Not enough data
8.9
35
Not enough data
9.2
34
Not enough data
Categories
Categories
Shared Categories
DigitalOcean and Google Compute Engine are categorized as Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
Unique Categories
DigitalOcean is categorized as Container Orchestration, Block Storage, Container Management, Database as a Service (DBaaS), VPS Hosting Platforms, Cloud Platform as a Service (PaaS), Machine Learning, and AI Chatbots
Google Compute Engine is categorized as Cloud Management Platforms, Server Virtualization, and Auto Scaling
Reviews
Reviewers' Company Size
DigitalOcean
Small-Business(50 or fewer emp.)
Mid-Market(51-1000 emp.)
Enterprise(> 1000 emp.)
Google Compute Engine
Small-Business(50 or fewer emp.)
Mid-Market(51-1000 emp.)
Enterprise(> 1000 emp.)
Small-Business
(50 or fewer emp.)
Mid-Market
(51-1000 emp.)
Enterprise
(> 1000 emp.)
Reviewers' Industry
Computer Software
24.6%
Information Technology and Services
19.7%
Internet
6.9%
Marketing and Advertising
5.8%
Computer & Network Security
3.0%
Other
40.0%
Information Technology and Services
20.7%
Computer Software
18.8%
Financial Services
6.5%
Computer & Network Security
4.2%
Marketing and Advertising
3.3%
Other
46.6%
Alternatives
Discussions
What are droplets in DigitalOcean?
7 Comments
JL
Companies like to rename existing concepts to make them seem more exclusive. A Droplet is what Digital Ocean has decided to name its virtual machines,...Read more
What's your primary use case for DigitalOcean?
2 Comments
TR
I use it for hosting my staging websites for my web dev business as well as hosting my own website. I'm not a big fan of web hosting companies, especially as...Read more
Are digital ocean droplets VPS?
2 Comments
JL
Yes, Droplets are what Digital Ocean calls their VPS's.Read more
What does Google Compute Engine do?
4 Comments
IC
You can deploy a VM instance within minutes via the Google Compute Engine, connect to your instance via SSH, and monitor metrics like CPU, Network, Memory...Read more
What is Google Compute Engine used for?
2 Comments
MR
Google Compute Engine (GCE) is a component of Google Cloud Platform (GCP) that provides virtual machines (VMs) running in Google's data centers. It is an...Read more
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