Amazon Web Services (AWS) vs DigitalOcean Kubernetes

Amazon Web Services (AWS)7.8Visit DigitalOcean Kubernetes7.2Visit

Higher score Amazon Web Services (AWS) #2 in OpenVPN VPS Hosting 7.8/10 Paid ✓ 0 of 3 features Visit AWS

vs

DigitalOcean Kubernetes #3 in OpenVPN VPS Hosting 7.2/10 Paid ✓ 0 of 3 features Visit DigitalOcean

• Amazon Web Services (AWS) fits best

  Organizations needing broad cloud infrastructure

• DigitalOcean Kubernetes fits best

  Teams deploying VPN services on Kubernetes

Advertiser disclosure: iTechGuides is reader-supported. Vendors can pay for top positions in our rankings and for a place on other products' pages, and we may earn a commission when you click some links. Bought places stand at the number bought; this page and our disclosure say so. Paying vendors may get a fuller, more detailed review from our editors, and that review can change their score. How we rank.

Side by side

Feature	Amazon Web Services (AWS) 7.8/10 Visit ↗	DigitalOcean Kubernetes 7.2/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	7.8	7.2
Ranking	#2 in OpenVPN VPS Hosting	#3 in OpenVPN VPS Hosting
Best for	Organizations needing broad cloud infrastructure	Teams deploying VPN services on Kubernetes
Pricing model	Paid	Paid
Starting price	—	$12/unit/mo
Free plan	Not checked yet	—
Free trial	—	—
Deployment	Cloud	Cloud
Platforms	Web	Web
Support	Phone, Live chat, Community, Docs · 24/7	Email, Live chat, Tickets, Community, Docs
Compliance	SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS	SOC 2, GDPR
Built for	Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise	Small business, Mid-market
Features Amazon Web Services (AWS) 0/3 · DigitalOcean Kubernetes 0/3
Access Server image	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Community install guide	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Root access	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Specs
Included VPN connections	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
VPS memory	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Server regions	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Our review
Pros	Compute, storage, database, networking, and application services in one cloud CloudTrail records audit logs and API activity Multiple Regions and Availability Zones support workload placement	Managed control plane with node-pool autoscaling and scale-to-zero support RBAC, custom roles, and OIDC single sign-on for clusters Integrates with DigitalOcean load balancers, volumes, and registry
Cons	Costs vary by service, region, usage, storage, and data transfer HIPAA eligibility applies only to designated services Customers must configure workloads under the shared-responsibility model	Kubernetes service rather than conventional VPS hosting Worker nodes are billed separately from the managed control plane Requires Kubernetes API or cluster administration
Our verdict	AWS offers cloud infrastructure and managed services for organizations building, hosting, storing, and processing applications and data. Its range spans compute, storage, databases, networking, and application services, with deployment… Read the review →	DigitalOcean Kubernetes (DOKS) is a managed Kubernetes service for developers and businesses that want to deploy and administer containerized workloads. For teams hosting VPN services, it offers a Kubernetes environment rather than a… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• Amazon Web Services (AWS) — where it wins

  • Compute, storage, database, networking, and application services in one cloud
  • CloudTrail records audit logs and API activity
  • Multiple Regions and Availability Zones support workload placement

  Where it doesn't

  • Costs vary by service, region, usage, storage, and data transfer
  • HIPAA eligibility applies only to designated services
  • Customers must configure workloads under the shared-responsibility model

• DigitalOcean Kubernetes — where it wins

  • Managed control plane with node-pool autoscaling and scale-to-zero support
  • RBAC, custom roles, and OIDC single sign-on for clusters
  • Integrates with DigitalOcean load balancers, volumes, and registry

  Where it doesn't

  • Kubernetes service rather than conventional VPS hosting
  • Worker nodes are billed separately from the managed control plane
  • Requires Kubernetes API or cluster administration

• Amazon Web Services (AWS)7.8/10 · Paid

  Broad cloud services, but workload selection and configuration remain your responsibility.

  Visit AWSFull verdict →
• DigitalOcean Kubernetes7.2/10 · Paid

  A managed Kubernetes service for teams running VPN workloads in clusters, not on VPSs.

  Visit DigitalOceanFull verdict →