8 of 52 providers reward us when you sign up through our links. It never changes a ranking. Which ones
Akamai Cloud (Linode) vs DigitalOcean
DigitalOcean starts $1 per month cheaper at the entry tier.
Akamai Cloud (Linode)
$5/mo entry
Akamai Cloud (Linode) pricingTeams that value platform maturity and stability over the lowest possible invoice.
DigitalOcean
$4/mo entry
DigitalOcean pricingDevelopers who want a real server with predictable billing and no surprise egress invoice.
Akamai Cloud (Linode) lists more regions, which matters if latency to a specific city is your constraint. Akamai Cloud (Linode) is the better pick for teams that value platform maturity and stability over the lowest possible invoice.
Specification differences
Entry plans compared line by line. Rows marked with a dash are preferences rather than measurable wins, so we do not pick a side on them.
| Attribute | Akamai Cloud (Linode) | DigitalOcean | Better |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry plan price / month | $5 | $4 | DigitalOcean |
| Entry plan vCPU | 1 | 1 | |
| Entry plan RAM | 1 GB | 0.5 GB | Akamai Cloud (Linode) |
| Entry plan storage | 25 GB | 10 GB | Akamai Cloud (Linode) |
| Included transfer | 1 TB | 0.5 TB | Akamai Cloud (Linode) |
| Listed regions | 20 | 15 | Akamai Cloud (Linode) |
| Management model | Unmanaged (you run the OS) | Unmanaged (you run the OS) | |
| Support | Ticket and phone support; paid premium tiers available. | Ticket support on all plans; paid support tiers for faster response. | |
| Billing | Hourly metering, capped at the listed monthly price. | Hourly metering, capped at the listed monthly price. | |
| Free tier | No free tier. Trial credit is offered to new accounts from time to time. | No permanent free tier. Trial credit is offered to new accounts from time to time. |
Same size, side by side
The cheapest plan from each provider that meets each size, so the comparison is between equal servers rather than two entry plans. Prices include a separately-billed IPv4 address where the provider charges for one.
| Size | Akamai Cloud (Linode) | DigitalOcean | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 vCPU / 1 GB | $5Nanode 1GB · 1 vCPU · 1 GB · 25 GBEntry shared instance. | $6Basic 1GB · 1 vCPU · 1 GB · 25 GBEntry Droplet. Adequate for a single small app or a low-traffic site. | Akamai Cloud (Linode) cheaper by $1 |
| 2 vCPU / 4 GB | $24Linode 4GB · 2 vCPU · 4 GB · 80 GBMid-tier shared instance. | $24Basic 4GB · 2 vCPU · 4 GB · 80 GBComfortable for a production app with a local database. | same |
| 4 vCPU / 8 GB | $48Linode 8GB · 4 vCPU · 8 GB · 160 GBFour cores with the largest included transfer in the shared range. | $48Basic 8GB · 4 vCPU · 8 GB · 160 GBHeadroom for several services on one host. | same |
| 8 vCPU / 16 GB | $192Linode 32GB · 8 vCPU · 32 GB · 640 GBEight shared cores and 32GB, with 16TB of transfer included. | $96Basic 16GB · 8 vCPU · 16 GB · 320 GBEight shared cores and 16GB for a busy single-server stack. | DigitalOcean cheaper by $96 |
Every provider at these sizes, ranked: 1 GB RAM · 4 GB RAM · 8 GB RAM · 16 GB RAM
Where each one wins and loses
Akamai Cloud (Linode)
Linode predates most of the budget cloud market and was acquired by Akamai, which folded it into a much larger edge network. The instance shapes and flat pricing remain close to DigitalOcean, and the platform is mature and stable. It is the safe, unexciting choice in this list.
Strengths
- Mature platform with a long operational track record
- Flat pricing and instance shapes broadly comparable to DigitalOcean
- Backed by Akamai edge infrastructure
Weaknesses
- Unmanaged, same operational burden as its peers
- Product direction now set by a much larger parent company
- Smaller developer community than DigitalOcean
Support: Ticket and phone support; paid premium tiers available.
Billing: Hourly metering, capped at the listed monthly price.
Free tier: No free tier. Trial credit is offered to new accounts from time to time.
DigitalOcean
DigitalOcean built its reputation on flat monthly pricing and documentation that a solo developer can finish reading. Droplets are plain virtual machines: you get root access and you own the operating system, the patching and the backups. It is the usual first step off shared hosting for people who want control without a cloud-architecture certification.
Strengths
- Flat monthly price per Droplet size, so the invoice is predictable
- Generous included egress compared with the hyperscalers
- Documentation and community tutorials are unusually good
- Managed databases, object storage and Kubernetes available alongside
Weaknesses
- Unmanaged: OS updates, security hardening and backups are your job
- Fewer regions than AWS or Google Cloud
- Backups and snapshots are billed on top of the Droplet price
Support: Ticket support on all plans; paid support tiers for faster response.
Billing: Hourly metering, capped at the listed monthly price.
Free tier: No permanent free tier. Trial credit is offered to new accounts from time to time.
The full cost stack
What a server costs beyond its sticker price, shown for 2 vCPU / 4 GB. Only figures read from each provider's own documentation appear; a gap says “not captured yet”.
| Item | Akamai Cloud (Linode) | DigitalOcean |
|---|---|---|
| Plan (2 vCPU / 4 GB) | $24 | $24 |
| Automatic backups | not captured yet | 20% = +$4.80 ($28.80 total) |
| Outbound traffic beyond the allowance | not captured yet | $0.01/GB over allowance |
| Smallest managed load balancer | not captured yet | $12/mo |
Sources: docs.digitalocean.com · docs.digitalocean.com · docs.digitalocean.com
Price changes we have logged
No tracked price change for either provider yet.
Full record at the change log.
Every plan
The complete plan ladders, with the date and source of every price, are on each provider's page: Akamai Cloud (Linode) and DigitalOcean.
These are the providers' own list prices, shown in US dollars and last updated 23 Oct 2026. Where a provider bills a public IPv4 address on top, it is added to the monthly price, the ranking and every cost per vCPU or per GB, and the row shows the parts: the server, any disk priced apart, and the IPv4 charge. Each row says when we read its price, and whether it excludes VAT or needs a term. Check the provider's page before you buy.
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Where both sell
Akamai Cloud (Linode) and DigitalOcean both have data centers in these places. Each page ranks every provider there at the price charged in that location.
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Akamai Cloud (Linode) vs DigitalOcean — frequently asked
Every answer is computed from this pair's own prices and costs.
- Which is cheaper for 1 vCPU / 1 GB, Akamai Cloud (Linode) or DigitalOcean?
- Akamai Cloud (Linode) Nanode 1GB at $5/mo, which is $1 (17%) less than DigitalOcean Basic 1GB at $6/mo.
- How many data center locations do Akamai Cloud (Linode) and DigitalOcean have?
- Akamai Cloud (Linode) lists 20 and DigitalOcean lists 15.
- What do backups add at Akamai Cloud (Linode) and DigitalOcean?
- Akamai Cloud (Linode): not captured yet; DigitalOcean: 20% of the plan price.