Report this

What is the reason for this report?

Why DO storage optimized droplets expensive compared to AWS, GCP?

Posted on January 29, 2021

I was comparing DO storage optimized droplet largest instance to AWS, GCP counterparts which you can see below.

DO storage optimized droplet

  • Memory : 256GB
  • CPUs : 32 vCPUs
  • Storage : 7.03TB SSD
  • Net interface speed : probably 2 GB/s
  • Data Transfer Out: 10TB
  • Cost / mo = $ 2,480

AWS

Instance Name : i3.x8large

  • Memory : 244 GB
  • CPUs : 32 vCPUs
  • Storage : 4 x 1900 NVMe SSD = 7.6 TB
  • Net interface speed :10 Gigabit
  • Data transfer out : 10 TB
  • Cost / mo = $ 2,388.62 (1 year no upfront reserve)

GCP

Instance type : n2-highmem-32

  • Memory : 256 GB
  • CPUs : 32 vCPUs
  • Storage : 24 x 375 SSD = 9 TB
  • Net interface speed : 7 GBs to the internet
  • Data transfer out : 10 TB (standard tier)
  • Cost / mo = $ 2,168.08 (1 year commitment)

As you can see DO storage optimized droplet is expensive compared to GCP, AWS instances. If you go with same AWS instance with 1 year full or partial upfront reserve things get more cheaper. I expected DO to be cheaper compared to AWS and GCP. Am I missing something here?

Another problem I see with DO droplets is network interface speed.



This textbox defaults to using Markdown to format your answer.

You can type !ref in this text area to quickly search our full set of tutorials, documentation & marketplace offerings and insert the link!

These answers are provided by our Community. If you find them useful, show some love by clicking the heart. If you run into issues leave a comment, or add your own answer to help others.

Great question! At this time DO only offers what would be equivalent to On-Demand pricing.

Comparison of On-Demand Pricing:

With the same specs as above (using US East), that puts the comparable prices for AWS at $2,744/mo (DO is a 9.6% discount) and for GCP at $2,815/mo (DO is a 11.9% discount) note: GCP prices include a 20% sustained use discount.

The developer cloud

Scale up as you grow — whether you're running one virtual machine or ten thousand.

Get started for free

Sign up and get $200 in credit for your first 60 days with DigitalOcean.*

*This promotional offer applies to new accounts only.