Compare / DigitalOcean
The DigitalOcean alternative with no droplet to size
DigitalOcean gives you a droplet to build on or an App Platform instance to size, and a managed database as a separate resource you size and pay for on top. Lizard takes one command, sizes nothing, and puts Postgres, Redis, and S3-compatible storage in the same project.
Why developers look for a DigitalOcean alternative
A droplet is a server you own
Patching, firewall rules, nginx, certificates, and the pager. Fine when you want it; a part-time job when you do not.
App Platform bills the instance
From $5 a month per container, charged for the size you picked whether it is busy or idle.
The database is a separate product
A dev Postgres inside the app costs $7 a month; production-grade managed Postgres starts at $15 a month as a resource you add on top. Either way the real entry price sits above the headline $5.
Bandwidth comes with the instance size
Free static apps get 1 GiB. Paid plans include 50 GiB a month at $5, up to 900 GiB on the largest, then $0.02 per GiB — pooled across the whole team rather than counted per app.
Lizard vs DigitalOcean
Every figure read off DigitalOcean’s published pricing and our own. Last verified: 27 August 2026.
| Compared by | Lizard | DigitalOcean |
|---|---|---|
| Setup | lizard up — no size, no spec, no YAML | Size a droplet, or size an App Platform container (app spec on the CLI and API) |
| Billing | Per second on measured CPU, memory and disk | Per second, but on the instance size you picked, busy or idle |
| Entry price | Free with $5 of credit, then $5 a month | Free for 3 static apps, from $5 a month for a dynamic one |
| Database | lizard add postgres — same project, same bill | Managed Postgres, separate product, from about $15 a month |
| Egress | 50 GB a month included on Hobby, 300 GB on Pro, then $0.05 per GB | 50 GiB included on the $5 plan, up to 900 GiB on the largest, then $0.02 per GiB |
| Build | lizardpack writes the Dockerfile on the build node | Buildpacks or your own Dockerfile |
| Isolation | A pod per service, with a default-deny network policy | Shared-CPU containers by default; dedicated CPU from $29 a month |
| Run a command in a running app | lizard ssh -s api -- <cmd>, one command at a time, no interactive session | Console access on App Platform, full SSH on a droplet |
When DigitalOcean is the better choice
You want the whole toolbox on one bill — droplets, Spaces, load balancers, managed Kubernetes, and a database — with predictable flat pricing and a console your whole team already knows. Egress is cheaper too, at $0.02 per GiB against our $0.05. For a team that wants infrastructure rather than a platform, DigitalOcean is a good, honest choice.
Moving from DigitalOcean
No Dockerfile required — lizardpack detects the stack and writes one on the build node. If your repo already has a Dockerfile, it is used as it stands.
Frequently asked questions
For app hosting without infrastructure work, Lizard, Railway, or Render. For cheap raw servers, Hetzner is the usual answer. For the whole cloud toolbox on one bill, the honest answer is often DigitalOcean itself.
Usually, for anything not running flat out, because Lizard bills measured CPU, memory, and disk by the second while App Platform bills the instance size you picked. DigitalOcean is cheaper on egress: $0.02 per GiB against our $0.05.
No. Run lizard up in the project and lizardpack detects Go, Node, Python, Rust, Ruby, PHP, Java, or a static site and writes a real multi-stage Dockerfile on the build node. A Dockerfile you already have is used as it stands when it has a real build step; set dockerfilePath to force it.
pg_dump from the DigitalOcean connection string, lizard add postgres, then pg_restore into the DSN from the dashboard. Point the app at it with lizard secrets set DATABASE_URL='${{postgres.DATABASE_URL}}' --service api, then lizard redeploy.
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