Yes, it is. But a droplet (VPS) is unmanaged and requires Linux knowledge to install and maintain.

In many ways I would argue it’s better bang for your buck performance wise, because all the shared hosting I’ve ever used has been overloaded and has other customers that periodically do crazy things which makes the situation even worse.

But like @Woet pointed out, it’s unmanaged so requires knowledge to setup and maintain. If you don’t have the knowledge or the time to learn then shared hosting is probably the only other option on a low budget.