Introducing a new way to share your referral link: Powered by DigitalOcean badge

A few weeks ago we released a new feature for the referral program that allows you to embed a DigitalOcean branded badge onto your website, app, or content which links to your personal referral URL. Any time a user clicks on your badge and signs up for DigitalOcean, you become eligible to earn a $25 free credit, and there’s no limit to the amount of credit you can earn via referrals. This new badge is an engaging and visual way to share DigitalOcean with your network and earn credits while doing so.

Three benefits of the referral badge

1. Earn credits. By telling your network about DigitalOcean, you become eligible to earn a $25 free credit for every referral signup to support your current resources or kickoff a new project. Watch the video below to see how one of our Sr. Developer Advocates offset the cost of their invoices prior to joining DigitalOcean by using a referral badge.

2. Increase referrals. Embedding the badge is a great way to get more exposure for your referral link because it will be visible to anyone who visits your app. It’s a “set it and forget it” approach where you can add it to your app once and watch referral credits swim to you.

3. Share the DO love. Nobody can tell the DigitalOcean story better than our customers. Anyone who visits your app will see that you’re building on DigitalOcean with the branded badge, introducing your visitors to powerful tools they can use to grow their own businesses. As you’re building your app, you may want to consider App Platform to quickly and easily build, deploy, and scale apps by pointing to your GitHub repository.

Why we made this feature available

We recently conducted a survey with a set of customers who participate in the referral program to learn about their experience and ways we can improve. A common theme among respondents was a desire to share their referral link with creative assets like a banner or logo. We listened to this feedback and unveiled three badge designs you can embed to your content straight from your DigitalOcean account.


One of our company values is “simplicity in all we DO”. We are always working to improve our customers’ experiences by eliminating complexity so developers can focus on realizing their dreams. Before launching the badge feature, you could share your referral link via social media channels or as a text link in emails, blogs, and other mediums. We recognized that we could add value by creating an additional way to share your personal link, and felt that an attention-grabbing visual option would make the referral process easier in order to drive more referral signups for you.

How the referral program works

Here’s how you can start sharing your experience with DigitalOcean and participate in the referral program:

1. If you enjoy using DigitalOcean, you can share your personal referral badge or link with friends and colleagues.
2. When they sign up through your link and add a valid payment method, they’ll receive a $100, 60-day credit to get started.
3. After their credit expires and they spend $25 on DigitalOcean, you’ll receive a $25 credit. The best part is there is no limit to the amount of credit you can earn through referrals.

Start sharing your personal badge to earn free credits

Your personal referral link, badge, and referral statistics are in the referral dashboard in your DigitalOcean account. You can access your referral dashboard by navigating to Account Settings, then to the Referrals page.

1. Choose from three different badge designs which we hope will fit the look and feel of your app.
2. Simply select the badge you like the most, copy your embed code, then paste it into the footer section of your HTML file.
3. When your badge is live, you can navigate back to your referral dashboard to track how many clicks and signups your badge is getting, as well as how much credit you stand to earn or has been applied to your account.

To learn more about the referral program at DigitalOcean and for further instructions about adding the badge to your app, you can check out this documentation. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them here.

Happy coding!

Nicole Murdocca

Growth Marketing Manager