Compare / DigitalOcean App Platform vs Scaleway Instances
DigitalOcean App Platform vs Scaleway Instances
Pre-calculated from hand-checked data — DigitalOcean checked 2026-08-06, Scaleway checked 2026-08-06.
The short version
DigitalOcean App Platform wins more of our comparison points, but Scaleway Instances still fits if eU projects that want real cloud ergonomics — hourly billing, CLI, Terraform, managed databases — without a US hyperscaler describes you.
Price DigitalOcean App Platform
DigitalOcean App Platform is cheaper at every stage we model — about $24/mo even for a growing project.
Ease DigitalOcean App Platform
DigitalOcean App Platform is easier to get running: connect the Git repo or a container image; App Platform builds, deploys, and scales it.
Control Scaleway Instances
Scaleway Instances gives you more control over the stack — the flip side of the convenience trade.
Free tier DigitalOcean App Platform
DigitalOcean App Platform has a free tier; Scaleway Instances doesn't.
Features DigitalOcean App Platform
DigitalOcean App Platform comes out ahead on 5 of the 15 features we track, versus 2.
What developers say about this matchup
We couldn't find a substantive first-person discussion comparing this exact pair. We leave the section empty instead of filling it with vendor marketing or generic SEO comparisons.
At a glance
| DigitalOcean App Platform | Scaleway Instances | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Apps that want git-push deploys inside a provider they can grow with. | EU projects that want real cloud ergonomics — hourly billing, CLI, Terraform, managed databases — without a US hyperscaler. |
| How deploys work | Connect the Git repo or a container image; App Platform builds, deploys, and scales it. | Spin up an instance from the console or the scw CLI, then manage it like any VPS; Terraform and cloud-init are first-class. |
| The tradeoff | Weaker compute per dollar than a Droplet — the convenience premium is real. | À la carte pricing makes the real cost higher than the sticker, and account verification can be painful. |
| Free tier | Free tier: 3 apps with static sites, 1 GiB of outbound transfer each per month. Extra static-site apps cost $3/month. | None |
What you'd realistically pay
| Project stage | DigitalOcean App Platform | Scaleway Instances | Cheaper |
|---|---|---|---|
| Just starting | ≈$5/mo 1 shared vCPU / 512 MiB — Includes 50 GiB of outbound transfer; billed per second. | ≈€10.42/mo DEV1-S + IPv4 + 10 GB volume — ~€6.55 instance (2 shared vCPU, 2 GB RAM) + €2.92 IPv4 + ~€0.95 block storage. Ex-VAT, ~730h/month. | DigitalOcean App Platform |
| Steady traffic | ≈$12/mo 1 shared vCPU / 1 GiB — Includes 150 GiB of transfer; a managed database adds more. | ≈€24.92/mo PLAY2-NANO + IPv4 + 20 GB volume — ~€20.10 instance (2 shared vCPU, 4 GB RAM) + €2.92 IPv4 + ~€1.90 block storage. | DigitalOcean App Platform |
| Growing | ≈$24/mo Two 1 GiB containers — Horizontal scaling; database and extra transfer on top. | ≈€45/mo PLAY2-MICRO + IPv4 + 20 GB volume — ~€40.20 instance (4 shared vCPU, 8 GB RAM) + €2.92 IPv4 + ~€1.90 block storage. | DigitalOcean App Platform |
DigitalOcean App Platform pricing notes
- Billed per second with a one-minute minimum.
- Web services can scale to zero, idling at 10% of the standard price.
Scaleway Instances pricing notes
- Hourly billing (~730 h/month), ex-VAT, with no egress fees — bandwidth is an unmetered per-instance speed.
- Flexible IPv4 €0.004/h (~€2.92/month); IPv6 is free. Block Storage 5K is €0.000130/GB/h (~€0.095/GB/month).
- Savings Plans (12/36-month commitment) take up to 25% off compute.
- New Professional accounts with a payment method get €100 in credit.
Our ratings
Ease of use DigitalOcean App Platform
Pricing clarity DigitalOcean App Platform
Free tier DigitalOcean App Platform
Scaling
Control Scaleway Instances
Feature by feature
DigitalOcean App Platform wins 5, Scaleway Instances wins 2, with 8 even.
Deploy workflow
| DigitalOcean App Platform | Scaleway Instances | |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy from Git push | Yes Connect GitHub or GitLab; pushes build and deploy automatically. | No Not on Instances — bring your own CI, or use Scaleway’s separate serverless products. |
| Preview deploys | No No automatic per-PR preview environments. | No Nothing built in. |
| Official CLI | Yes doctl manages apps, Droplets, and databases from one CLI. | Yes The scw CLI covers instances, volumes, IPs, and snapshots. |
| Instant rollbacks | Yes Roll back to a previous deployment from the dashboard. | Partial Snapshots and images restore machines; no deploy-level rollback. |
Platform
| DigitalOcean App Platform | Scaleway Instances | |
|---|---|---|
| Custom domains + HTTPS | Yes Custom domains with managed TLS certificates. | Yes Point DNS at the server; TLS is yours via certbot or a proxy. |
| Built-in CDN / edge network | Partial Static assets go through a CDN; dynamic services run in one region. | Partial Edge Services adds a CDN in front of load balancers and object storage; nothing automatic on a bare instance. |
| Serverless functions | Partial DO Functions exist within App Platform but are a minor, less-loved product. | No Not on Instances — Scaleway sells separate Serverless Containers and Functions products. |
| Docker containers | Yes Deploy from a Dockerfile or any container registry. | Yes Docker-ready images or install it yourself. |
| SSH / shell access | Partial A web console reaches the running container; no true SSH. | Yes Full root SSH. |
| EU hosting region | Yes Amsterdam and Frankfurt at identical US prices. | Yes Paris, Amsterdam, Warsaw, and Milan — EU-only by design. |
Runtime & operations
| DigitalOcean App Platform | Scaleway Instances | |
|---|---|---|
| Automatic scaling | Partial CPU-based autoscaling on dedicated instances only. | No Manual resizing on Instances; autoscaling lives in the serverless products. |
| Scale to zero | Partial Web services can idle at 10% of price, not zero. | Partial A fully powered-off (archived) instance stops compute billing, but IPs and volumes keep billing. |
| Scheduled jobs | Partial Job components run at deploy events; scheduled cron needs a worker workaround. | Yes Classic cron on the box. |
| Managed database | Yes DO Managed Databases (Postgres, MySQL, Redis-compatible) attach directly. | Yes Managed PostgreSQL/MySQL from ~€11.40/month plus storage; Redis and MongoDB too. |
| Logs & metrics built in | Yes Insights graphs, runtime logs, and alert policies built in. | Partial Cockpit collects instance metrics and logs into managed Grafana; app-level instrumentation is yours. |
Watch out for
DigitalOcean
- App Platform containers are small for the money — $12/month buys 1 GiB of RAM, while a $24 Droplet has 4 GiB.
- Managed databases bill separately from both products.
- Bandwidth allowances pool at the team level; overage is $0.02/GiB on App Platform and $0.01/GiB on Droplets.
Scaleway
- List prices exclude storage and public IPv4: add ~€2.92/month for a flexible IPv4 and ~€0.095/GB/month for block storage.
- Scaleway raised prices across Stardust, PLAY2, PRO2, BASIC3, and storage on 1 June 2026.
- "Standby" bills as a running instance; only a full power-off (archive) stops compute billing — and IPs and volumes keep billing regardless.
- Automated KYC can freeze accounts (sometimes with servers running) until you re-verify with ID and selfie.
- The famous €0.43/month Stardust instances are chronically out of stock.
Read the full reviews: DigitalOcean and Scaleway. Or answer four questions to see what fits your project.