Which is cheaper, Amazon EC2 or DO Droplets?

DO is cheaper in 15 of 15 comparable categories, with an average price difference of 55.7%.

How do Amazon EC2 and DO Droplets compare for general purpose workloads?

For general purpose workloads: AWS: $178.85/mo, DO: $91.25/mo. DO is cheaper.

Amazon EC2 vs DO Droplets: Pricing Comparison (2026)

Updated Apr 4, 2026AWSDO

Overall Winner

AWS Wins

DO Wins

Ties

Pricing Analysis

DigitalOcean wins 15 of 15 price comparisons, averaging 55.7% lower prices in categories where it leads.

Prices range from $0.005950/hr to $0.7500/hr across comparable tiers.

●DigitalOcean leads in Accelerated Computing (8/8 tiers, avg 58% difference)
●DigitalOcean leads in Compute Optimized (4/4 tiers, avg 58% difference)
●DigitalOcean leads in General Purpose (3/3 tiers, avg 47% difference)

Choose DigitalOcean

Best for Accelerated Computing workloads

Choose DigitalOcean

Best for Compute Optimized workloads

Choose DigitalOcean

Best for General Purpose workloads

Side-by-Side Pricing

Comparing Amazon EC2 and DO Droplets across 15 equivalent tiers. On-demand hourly rates are shown in USD for the default region.

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Family:

Category	AWS Amazon EC2	DO Droplets	Diff	Cheapest
Accelerated Computing - 8 vCPU, 15 GB RAM	$0.6500/hr g2.2xlarge ($474.50/mo)	$0.1429/hr s-8vcpu-16gb ($104.29/mo)	+78.0%	DO
Accelerated Computing - 4 vCPU, 30.5 GB RAM	$0.7500/hr g3s.xlarge ($547.50/mo)	$0.2500/hr m-4vcpu-32gb ($182.50/mo)	+66.7%	DO
Accelerated Computing - 8 vCPU, 32 GB RAM	$0.5412/hr g4ad.2xlarge ($395.05/mo)	$0.3750/hr g-8vcpu-32gb ($273.75/mo)	+30.7%	DO
Accelerated Computing - 4 vCPU, 16 GB RAM	$0.3785/hr g4ad.xlarge ($276.33/mo)	$0.1875/hr g-4vcpu-16gb ($136.88/mo)	+50.5%	DO
Accelerated Computing - 8 vCPU, 16 GB RAM	$0.5560/hr g5g.2xlarge ($405.88/mo)	$0.2500/hr c-8vcpu-16gb ($182.50/mo)	+55.0%	DO
Accelerated Computing - 4 vCPU, 8 GB RAM	$0.4200/hr g5g.xlarge ($306.60/mo)	$0.0714/hr s-4vcpu-8gb ($52.14/mo)	+83.0%	DO
Accelerated Computing - 2 vCPU, 8 GB RAM	$0.2020/hr g6f.large ($147.46/mo)	$0.0938/hr g-2vcpu-8gb ($68.44/mo)	+53.6%	DO
Accelerated Computing - 4 vCPU, 8 GB RAM	$0.2280/hr inf1.xlarge ($166.44/mo)	$0.1250/hr c-4vcpu-8gb ($91.25/mo)	+45.2%	DO
Compute Optimized - 2 vCPU, 1.7 GB RAM	$0.1300/hr c1.medium ($94.90/mo)	$0.0268/hr s-2vcpu-2gb ($19.56/mo)	+79.4%	DO
Compute Optimized - 2 vCPU, 3.75 GB RAM	$0.1050/hr c3.large ($76.65/mo)	$0.0357/hr s-2vcpu-4gb ($26.07/mo)	+66.0%	DO
Compute Optimized - 2 vCPU, 3.75 GB RAM	$0.1000/hr c4.large ($73.00/mo)	$0.0625/hr c-2vcpu-4gb ($45.63/mo)	+37.5%	DO
Compute Optimized - 1 vCPU, 2 GB RAM	$0.0340/hr c6g.medium ($24.82/mo)	$0.0179/hr s-1vcpu-2gb ($13.04/mo)	+47.5%	DO
General Purpose - 2 vCPU, 17.1 GB RAM	$0.2450/hr m2.xlarge ($178.85/mo)	$0.1250/hr m-2vcpu-16gb ($91.25/mo)	+49.0%	DO
General Purpose - 1 vCPU, 0.613 GB RAM	$0.0200/hr t1.micro ($14.60/mo)	$0.0060/hr s-1vcpu-512mb-10gb ($4.34/mo)	+70.3%	DO
General Purpose - 1 vCPU, 1 GB RAM	$0.0116/hr t2.micro ($8.47/mo)	$0.0089/hr s-1vcpu-1gb ($6.52/mo)	+23.0%	DO

When to Choose DO Droplets

✓Accelerated Computing - 8 vCPU, 15 GB RAM - saves $370.18/mo (78% cheaper)
✓Accelerated Computing - 4 vCPU, 30.5 GB RAM - saves $365.00/mo (66.7% cheaper)
✓Accelerated Computing - 8 vCPU, 32 GB RAM - saves $121.33/mo (30.7% cheaper)
✓Accelerated Computing - 4 vCPU, 16 GB RAM - saves $139.43/mo (50.5% cheaper)
✓Accelerated Computing - 8 vCPU, 16 GB RAM - saves $223.38/mo (55% cheaper)
✓Accelerated Computing - 4 vCPU, 8 GB RAM - saves $254.48/mo (83% cheaper)
✓Accelerated Computing - 2 vCPU, 8 GB RAM - saves $79.06/mo (53.6% cheaper)
✓Accelerated Computing - 4 vCPU, 8 GB RAM - saves $75.19/mo (45.2% cheaper)
✓Compute Optimized - 2 vCPU, 1.7 GB RAM - saves $75.34/mo (79.4% cheaper)
✓Compute Optimized - 2 vCPU, 3.75 GB RAM - saves $50.59/mo (66% cheaper)
✓Compute Optimized - 2 vCPU, 3.75 GB RAM - saves $27.38/mo (37.5% cheaper)
✓Compute Optimized - 1 vCPU, 2 GB RAM - saves $11.75/mo (47.5% cheaper)
✓General Purpose - 2 vCPU, 17.1 GB RAM - saves $87.60/mo (49% cheaper)
✓General Purpose - 1 vCPU, 0.613 GB RAM - saves $10.29/mo (70.3% cheaper)
✓General Purpose - 1 vCPU, 1 GB RAM - saves $1.97/mo (23% cheaper)