DigitalOcean and Linode (now Akamai Cloud) both charge $12, $24, and $48 a month for 2, 4, and 8 GB shared plans, so price rarely decides it.
Akamai Cloud fits bandwidth-heavy apps and teams that want free 24/7 phone support, with transfer overage at $0.005 per GB against $0.01.
DigitalOcean fits developers who learn from tutorials or want App Platform, its service for deploying code without managing servers.
Akamai completed its purchase of Linode in March 2022 and sells it as Akamai Cloud. Its cloud docs still call its virtual machines Linodes.
DigitalOcean vs Linode: the short verdict
Akamai Cloud (Linode): for apps that move a lot of data, teams that want phone support without a paid plan, and projects that need regions in more cities.
DigitalOcean: for developers who learn from tutorials, and teams that want App Platform and Functions.
Price isn’t the tiebreaker. From 2 GB to 16 GB, the shared plans cost the same.
DigitalOcean vs Linode at a glance
| DigitalOcean | Akamai Cloud (Linode) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 GB shared plan | $6 a month | $5 a month |
| 2, 4, and 8 GB shared plans | $12, $24, $48 a month | $12, $24, $48 a month |
| Transfer overage | $0.01 per GB, pooled across your team | $0.005 per GB |
| Backups on a 4 GB plan | $4.80 weekly or $7.20 daily | $5 for daily, weekly, and biweekly copies |
| Compute locations | 16 data centers in 13 cities | Regions in 26 cities |
| Uptime SLA | 99.99% per Droplet | 99.99% (99% in limited-availability regions) |
| Free support | 24/7 tickets, replies in under 24 hours | 24/7 phone, email, chat, and ticket |
| Billing | Per second, 60-second minimum, capped at the monthly price | Hourly, rounded up to the next hour |
| Current plans and prices | See DigitalOcean plans | See Linode plans |
DigitalOcean and Linode prices at matching sizes
DigitalOcean’s Basic Droplets and Akamai Cloud’s shared CPU plans cost the same from 2 GB to 16 GB, and only the 1 GB plan differs by $1 a month.
Linode was long seen as the cheaper option. On April 1, 2023, Akamai raised shared and dedicated compute prices by 20%, while the $5 Nanode stayed the same.
The same pricing update cut transfer overage in half, from $0.01 to $0.005 per GB.
| RAM | Akamai Cloud (Linode) shared CPU | DigitalOcean Basic Droplet |
|---|---|---|
| 1 GB | $5: 1 vCPU, 25 GB, 1 TB transfer | $6: 1 vCPU, 25 GB, 1 TB transfer |
| 2 GB | $12: 1 vCPU, 50 GB, 2 TB transfer | $12: 1 vCPU, 50 GB, 2 TB transfer |
| 4 GB | $24: 2 vCPUs, 80 GB, 4 TB transfer | $24: 2 vCPUs, 80 GB, 4 TB transfer |
| 8 GB | $48: 4 vCPUs, 160 GB, 5 TB transfer | $48: 4 vCPUs, 160 GB, 5 TB transfer |
| 16 GB | $96: 6 vCPUs, 320 GB, 8 TB transfer | $96: 8 vCPUs, 320 GB, 6 TB transfer |
Akamai’s prices come from its North America pricing page. DigitalOcean’s come from its Droplet pricing page.
Prices change often, so check DigitalOcean’s current prices and Linode’s current prices before you buy.
At 16 GB, the trade-off is CPU against transfer. DigitalOcean gives 2 more vCPUs, and Akamai gives 2 TB more transfer.
Akamai labels these shared plans as running on legacy hardware. Its cheapest dedicated CPU plan, also on legacy hardware, costs $36 a month for 2 vCPUs and 4 GB.
DigitalOcean and Linode data transfer overage
Akamai Cloud charges half DigitalOcean’s rate for data transfer over your allowance: $0.005 per GB against $0.01.
On 1 TB of overage, that’s about $5 at Akamai and $10 at DigitalOcean. DigitalOcean’s rate comes from its bandwidth billing docs.
DigitalOcean pools allowances across all Droplets on your team, which can reduce overage if some servers use less.
Media sites, file downloads, and APIs that send lots of data cost less to run on Akamai.
Winner: Akamai Cloud.
Backups on DigitalOcean and Linode
Akamai Cloud’s backups cost within $0.40 a month of DigitalOcean’s weekly backups at 2 GB to 8 GB, but keep daily, weekly, and biweekly copies.
Akamai’s backup docs describe up to four backups: three automatic ones plus one manual snapshot. Automatic backups reach back up to 14 days.
| RAM | Akamai backups | DigitalOcean weekly (20%) | DigitalOcean daily (30%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 GB | $2.00 | $1.20 | $1.80 |
| 2 GB | $2.50 | $2.40 | $3.60 |
| 4 GB | $5.00 | $4.80 | $7.20 |
| 8 GB | $10.00 | $9.60 | $14.40 |
DigitalOcean’s percentage-based backups cost 20% of the Droplet price for weekly copies and 30% for daily.
It also sells usage-based backups from $0.01 per GiB a month, with flexible frequency and retention.
Winner: Akamai Cloud, for daily, weekly, and biweekly copies at close to DigitalOcean’s weekly price.
Regions for DigitalOcean and Linode
Akamai Cloud lists core compute regions in 26 cities, while DigitalOcean lists 16 datacenters in 13 cities.
DigitalOcean’s list comes from its regional availability docs. Akamai’s comes from its availability page.
Three Akamai regions have limited availability: London (eu-west), Madrid, and Melbourne. Jakarta has been closed to new customers since January 21, 2025.
Akamai covers cities DigitalOcean doesn’t, such as Chicago, Miami, Paris, Milan, Tokyo, Osaka, Mumbai, Chennai, and São Paulo.
Winner: Akamai Cloud, for more locations.
DigitalOcean vs Linode uptime SLAs
DigitalOcean and Akamai Cloud both commit to 99.99% monthly uptime for standard compute, which allows about 4.4 minutes of downtime a month.
DigitalOcean’s Droplet SLA applies to each Droplet, and you claim credits within two billing cycles.
Akamai’s compute SLA drops to 99% for instances in limited-availability regions. To claim a credit, you open a ticket within 30 days after the month ends.
Winner: tie, with a caveat for Akamai’s limited-availability regions.
DigitalOcean vs Linode support and documentation
Akamai Cloud includes 24/7 phone, email, chat, and ticket support at no extra cost, while DigitalOcean’s live chat starts on a $99-a-month support plan.
Akamai’s support page doesn’t list paid support tiers.
DigitalOcean’s free Starter support is ticket-based, 24/7, with replies in under 24 hours. Its support plans page lists Developer at $24, Standard at $99, and Premium at $999 a month.
DigitalOcean has a large library of tutorials and community Q&As, which many developers use while learning.
Winner: Akamai Cloud for included support channels, DigitalOcean for learning resources.
DigitalOcean vs Linode billing and free credits
DigitalOcean bills Droplets per second with a 60-second minimum, while Akamai Cloud bills by the hour and rounds up to the next hour.
DigitalOcean’s pricing page adds that its bundled plans have a monthly cap. Short test servers cost slightly less there, since a 10-minute server isn’t billed as a full hour.
For new accounts, Akamai’s pricing page offers US$100 in promotional credits, subject to its promotion rules.
DigitalOcean says it often gives new users promotional credits but doesn’t state a fixed amount.
Winner: DigitalOcean for billing granularity, Akamai Cloud for a published starting credit.
DigitalOcean’s Linode comparison, checked
DigitalOcean’s own Linode comparison gets two of its three main Linode claims out of date, because its pricing details date from March 2024.
The article shows an update date of May 14, 2026, but says its pricing and product information are correct as of March 1, 2024.
| DigitalOcean’s claim | What Akamai’s pages show now |
|---|---|
| Linode has 11 regions | Akamai lists regions in 26 cities |
| Linode includes no free data transfer | Akamai’s pricing includes 1 to 8 TB on the plans above |
| Linode’s cheapest shared plan is $5 for 1 GB | Matches Akamai’s pricing page |
The page is still useful for DigitalOcean’s own product details.
DigitalOcean vs Linode winners by category
Akamai Cloud wins on transfer overage, backups, regions, and included support, while DigitalOcean wins on learning resources, platform services, and billing granularity.
| Category | Winner | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Price at 2 GB to 16 GB | Tie | $12, $24, $48, and $96 at both |
| Price at 1 GB | Akamai Cloud | $5 vs $6 |
| Transfer overage | Akamai Cloud | $0.005 vs $0.01 per GB |
| Backups | Akamai Cloud | Daily, weekly, and biweekly copies at close to DigitalOcean’s weekly price |
| Regions | Akamai Cloud | 26 cities vs 13 |
| Uptime SLA | Tie | 99.99% at both |
| Included support | Akamai Cloud | 24/7 phone, chat, email, and ticket |
| Billing | DigitalOcean | Per second vs hourly |
| Learning resources | DigitalOcean | Large tutorial library |
| Platform services | DigitalOcean | App Platform and Functions |
Our pick: Akamai Cloud for production apps that move lots of data or need included support. DigitalOcean for developers who are learning or want its platform services.
Should you choose DigitalOcean or Linode?
Akamai Cloud suits data-heavy production apps, and DigitalOcean suits learners and teams that want managed platform services.
If you run a media site, file service, or busy API, Akamai Cloud’s lower transfer overage saves money every month.
A developer learning Linux will get more from DigitalOcean’s tutorials.
Need to talk to someone at 3 a.m. without paying for a support plan? Akamai lists 24/7 phone support.
Deploying code without managing servers? DigitalOcean’s App Platform handles that job.
For help sizing your server, choosing the right VPS plan walks through CPU, RAM, and storage. The DigitalOcean review and Linode review cover each provider in full.
DigitalOcean also faces Vultr in Vultr vs DigitalOcean, and wider questions sit in the VPS hosting section.
Ready to check prices? Visit DigitalOcean or visit Linode to see today’s plans before you buy.
Frequently asked questions
Is Linode cheaper than DigitalOcean?
Only at 1 GB, where Linode costs $5 a month and DigitalOcean $6. From 2 GB to 16 GB, both charge the same since Akamai’s 2023 price rise.
Which charges less for extra data transfer, DigitalOcean or Linode?
Linode. Akamai Cloud bills $0.005 per GB over the allowance, half of DigitalOcean’s $0.01.
Which has more data centers, DigitalOcean or Linode?
Linode, by city count: 26 for Akamai Cloud versus 13 for DigitalOcean, which runs 16 datacenters.
Which includes phone support, DigitalOcean or Linode?
Linode includes 24/7 phone support free. DigitalOcean’s free tier is ticket-only, and its paid plans add chat, with Slack and video on Premium.
Which gives more free credit to new users, DigitalOcean or Linode?
Akamai Cloud publishes a US$100 promotional credit for Linode. DigitalOcean offers promotional credits to new users but doesn’t list a fixed amount on its pricing page.
Which is better for beginners, DigitalOcean or Linode?
DigitalOcean, for most beginners, thanks to its tutorial library. Linode suits you once you’re comfortable managing servers.
How we compared DigitalOcean and Linode
This comparison is built from official sources, checked on September 25, 2026.
For Akamai Cloud, we used its compute docs, North America pricing page, 2023 pricing update, availability page, backup docs, compute SLA, and support page.
For DigitalOcean, we used its Droplet pricing, bandwidth, regional availability, SLA, and support plans pages, plus its Linode comparison.
Our Methodology and Editorial Guidelines explain how we research hosts and correct errors.
