Compare / DigitalOcean Droplet vs Scaleway Instances
DigitalOcean Droplet vs Scaleway Instances
Pre-calculated from hand-checked data — DigitalOcean checked 2026-08-06, Scaleway checked 2026-08-06.
The short version
Scaleway Instances wins more of our comparison points, but DigitalOcean Droplet still fits if developers comfortable with a Linux server who want predictable pricing and full control describes you.
Price DigitalOcean Droplet
DigitalOcean Droplet is cheaper at every stage we model — about $24/mo even for a growing project.
Ease Scaleway Instances
Scaleway Instances is easier to get running: spin up an instance from the console or the scw CLI, then manage it like any VPS; Terraform and cloud-init are first-class.
Features Scaleway Instances
Scaleway Instances comes out ahead on 2 of the 15 features we track, versus 0.
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 Droplet | Scaleway Instances | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Developers comfortable with a Linux server who want predictable pricing and full control. | EU projects that want real cloud ergonomics — hourly billing, CLI, Terraform, managed databases — without a US hyperscaler. |
| How deploys work | You get root on an Ubuntu server: install your runtime, or start from a 1-click image. | 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 | You are the ops team — security updates, backups, and monitoring are on you. | À la carte pricing makes the real cost higher than the sticker, and account verification can be painful. |
| Free tier | None | None |
What you'd realistically pay
DigitalOcean Droplet Scaleway Instances
| Project stage | DigitalOcean Droplet | Scaleway Instances | Cheaper |
|---|---|---|---|
| Just starting | ≈$6/mo s-1vcpu-1gb — 1 vCPU, 1 GiB RAM, 25 GiB SSD, 1,000 GiB transfer. A $4 Droplet with 512 MiB exists if that is enough. | ≈€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 Droplet |
| Steady traffic | ≈$6/mo s-1vcpu-1gb — A single small Droplet handles steady modest traffic; resize when it stops being enough. | ≈€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 Droplet |
| Growing | ≈$24/mo s-2vcpu-4gb — 2 vCPU, 4 GiB RAM, 4 TB transfer; resize further as needed. | ≈€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 Droplet |
DigitalOcean Droplet pricing notes
- Same prices in US and EU regions; IPv4 included.
- Billed per second with a 60-second minimum; bandwidth overage $0.01/GiB.
- 1-click images (WordPress, Docker, and more) handle initial setup.
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 Scaleway Instances
Pricing clarity DigitalOcean Droplet
Free tier
Scaling Scaleway Instances
Control
Feature by feature
DigitalOcean Droplet wins 0, Scaleway Instances wins 2, with 13 even.
Deploy workflow
| DigitalOcean Droplet | Scaleway Instances | |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy from Git push | No No built-in deploy pipeline — you script your own or use CI. | No Not on Instances — bring your own CI, or use Scaleway’s separate serverless products. |
| Preview deploys | No Nothing built in. | No Nothing built in. |
| Official CLI | Yes doctl creates, resizes, and snapshots Droplets. | Yes The scw CLI covers instances, volumes, IPs, and snapshots. |
| Instant rollbacks | Partial Snapshots and backups can restore a machine; not per-deploy rollbacks. | Partial Snapshots and images restore machines; no deploy-level rollback. |
Platform
| DigitalOcean Droplet | Scaleway Instances | |
|---|---|---|
| Custom domains + HTTPS | Yes Point DNS at the Droplet; you run certbot or a proxy for TLS. | Yes Point DNS at the server; TLS is yours via certbot or a proxy. |
| Built-in CDN / edge network | No No CDN — add Cloudflare in front if you need one. | Partial Edge Services adds a CDN in front of load balancers and object storage; nothing automatic on a bare instance. |
| Serverless functions | No Not on a Droplet. | No Not on Instances — Scaleway sells separate Serverless Containers and Functions products. |
| Docker containers | Yes Install Docker or start from the Docker 1-click image. | Yes Docker-ready images or install it yourself. |
| SSH / shell access | Yes Full root SSH — it is your server. | 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 Droplet | Scaleway Instances | |
|---|---|---|
| Automatic scaling | No Manual resizing or manual horizontal scaling. | No Manual resizing on Instances; autoscaling lives in the serverless products. |
| Scale to zero | No The server bills whether busy, idle, or powered off. | Partial A fully powered-off (archived) instance stops compute billing, but IPs and volumes keep billing. |
| Scheduled jobs | Yes Classic cron on the box. | Yes Classic cron on the box. |
| Managed database | Yes DO Managed Databases run separately and connect over the private network. | Yes Managed PostgreSQL/MySQL from ~€11.40/month plus storage; Redis and MongoDB too. |
| Logs & metrics built in | Partial Basic CPU/bandwidth graphs and optional metrics agent; app logs are yours to manage. | 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.