DigitalOcean Kubernetes provides the control plane for free, unlike other services that charge a management fee. This includes compute and storage infrastructure and management for processes like etcd, kube-apiserver, kube-controller-manager, kube-scheduler, cloud-controller-manager, and other services for Kubernetes cluster management.

Customers are billed for the underlying resources used by their Kubernetes worker nodes, which could include Droplets, Block Storage, and Load Balancers. A Kubernetes cluster can be deployed for as little as $10 per month. Only public outgoing transfers are considered for bandwidth billing. Transfer limits are calculated by pooling the transfer from all droplets on the account. Overages above pooled transfer will be charged at a rate of $0.01/GB.

The monthly price advertised is the max amount per month, the actual cost will depend on the number of node hours consumed within the billing period. Learn more.

What forms of payment do you accept?

We accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, and PayPal. For additional payment options, including wire transfer, purchase orders, and ACH, please contact us.

Note that when you add a card, we may send a temporary pre-authorization request to the issuing bank. This pre-authorization charge is immediately released by DigitalOcean but may take a few days to clear from your card depending on the bank.

When will my card be charged?

DigitalOcean billing cycles are monthly. Typically, on the first day of each month we invoice and automatically charge your account’s primary payment method for the previous month’s usage. In some cases, we might charge if your usage exceeds a threshold. You can also login and self pay the balance at any time.

Am I charged when I enter my credit card?

No. Your card is only charged at the end of the billing cycle or upon exceeding a usage threshold.

Pre-authorization charge: When you add a card, we may send a preauthorization request to the issuing bank. This is to verify that the card being added has been issued by the bank and that they will authorize any charges in future. These temporary pre-authorizations are typically $1 but can vary in range and are immediately canceled by us. Depending on your bank, it might take a few days for the charge to clear from the card.

Will taxes be included in my monthly invoice?

We’re required by law to apply taxes in some countries. Click here to learn whether we collect taxes in your country, what the tax rate is, etc.

Why am I billed for powered off Droplets?

When you power off your Droplet, you are still billed for it. This is because your disk space, CPU, RAM, and IP address are all reserved, even while powered off. Therefore, charges are made until you destroy the instance.

How do I destroy my resources?

Check out the docs to learn how to destroy Droplets, Kubernetes clusters, Managed Databases clusters (PostgreSQL, MySQL, Redis), Spaces, Volumes, Firewalls, and Load Balancers.

Can I be notified if my bill exceeds a threshold?

Yes, you can set up billing alerts and we will email you if the monthly spending exceeds an amount you specify.

What if I use my Droplet for less than a month, would I still be charged for the whole month?

You will never be billed more than the monthly cost of your Droplet. All Droplets are billed hourly up to a monthly cap of 672 hours (the number of hours in 4 weeks). If you use your server for fewer than 672 hours during the month, you will be billed for each hour that you used it. If you use your server for more than 672 hours that month, you will be billed at the monthly cost. For example, if you spin up a $10/mo Droplet and use it for 336 hours, then you would be charged $5 (going by the hourly rate). If you use that Droplet for 700 hours, then you would be charged $10 (capped at the monthly rate).

I got a $100 credit when I opened an account. When will my card be charged?

Your card will be charged only after you have utilized the free credits. For example, if you received a $100 credit for 60 days, then that $100 credit is automatically applied to your account. If you spend $25 in that timeframe, then your card will not be charged. If you spend $300, then the $100 credit would be fully utilized and your card will be charged only $200. Since the credit is valid for 60 days, you won’t be able to use any remaining credit after 60 days.

I spun up a $5 Droplet, but my monthly bill is more than $5. Why is that?

Our pricing is based on a single Droplet. You may have created additional resources and this could be the reason for the higher bill. You can check your bill in the control panel to get details on the various resources you are using. If you need help, please contact support.

What’s the price for the Marketplace 1-Click Apps?

We charge you for the underlying compute on which the 1-Click Apps runs.

How do I remove my card from the account?

To remove a credit or debit card, click the "..." menu of the card, then click Delete. In the Confirm Delete Card window that opens, click Delete to remove the card. You cannot remove a card if it is the default payment method for your account or if it’s the only card left on your account.

Can I have a refund?

We do not offer refunds. If there are extenuating circumstances, contact support.

Can I prepay for my resources?

Yes, you can make pre-payments with PayPal. Pre-payments let you pay ahead of time for future resource usage. When your account balance is due, we apply pre-payments before we charge any credit or debit cards.

How do you calculate costs in the pricing calculator?

Our pricing calculator uses 672 hours (hours in a 31-day month) to calculate the monthly cost for each provider. On-demand prices are shown.

Prices are drawn from the following data centers:

• DigitalOcean: Prices consistent throughout all data centers
• GCP: US East (Iowa)
• AWS: US East (Ohio)
• Azure: US East (no state specified)

The configurations we’ve used from other providers for this comparison are as follows:

• AWS- t3.micro, t3.small, t3.medium, t3.large, t3.xlarge, t3.2xlarge, m5.4xlarge, m5.4xlarge, m5.12xlarge, m5.12xlarge, m5.12xlarge, c5.large, c5.xlarge, c5.2xlarge, c5.4xlarge, c5.9xlarge
• GCP- f1-micro, g1-micro, n1-standard-4, n1-standard-8, n1-standard-16, n1-standard-32, n1-standard-64, n1-standard-96, n1-highcpu-4, n1-highcpu-8, n1-highcpu-16, n1-highcpu-32, n1-highcpu-64
• Azure-B1S, B1MS, B2S, B2MS, B4MS, B8MS, A8m v2, A8m v2, D32 v3, D32 v3, F2s v2, F4s v2, F8s v2, F16s v2, F32s v2

The pricing calculator does not account for all available discounts. The pricing calculator does not include backups or snapshots, which incur an additional fee. DigitalOcean acknowledges that there is some variability and complexity in other providers’ pricing. If you wish to better understand the pricing for one of the providers included in our pricing calculator, we recommend you use the pricing calculators/lists from those providers.

The pricing calculator was last updated on February 13, 2019.