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Head-to-head · Ubuntu VPS Hosting

Azure Virtual Machines vs DigitalOcean Droplets

  • Updated Oct 2026
  • Both researched from official sources
  • 1 check side by side
Higher score Azure Virtual Machines #3 in Ubuntu VPS Hosting 9.1/10 Paid Visit Azure
DigitalOcean Droplets #4 in Ubuntu VPS Hosting 9.0/10 Paid Visit DigitalOcean

Azure Virtual Machines leads on 0 checks, DigitalOcean Droplets on 0, and 1 is even. Who comes out ahead on the 1 yes/no, price and count check where we have data for both products. The editor score weighs everything else too.

Our verdict

  • Highest scoreAzure Virtual Machines · 9.1/10

Azure Virtual Machines scores higher on our rubric for ubuntu vps hosting: 9.1 against 9.0 out of 10; our editors rank them #3 and #4.

Azure Virtual Machines is the better fit for enterprise Ubuntu deployments on Azure. DigitalOcean Droplets is the better fit for teams seeking approachable Linux VPS infrastructure.

  • Azure Virtual Machines fits best

    Enterprise Ubuntu deployments on Azure

  • DigitalOcean Droplets fits best

    Teams seeking approachable Linux VPS infrastructure

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Side by side

Feature Azure Virtual Machines 9.1/10 Visit ↗ DigitalOcean Droplets 9.0/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score 9.1 9.0
Ranking #3 in Ubuntu VPS Hosting #4 in Ubuntu VPS Hosting
Best for Enterprise Ubuntu deployments on Azure Teams seeking approachable Linux VPS infrastructure
Pricing model Paid Paid
Starting price Not checked yet $4/mo
Free plan — —
Free trial — —
Deployment Cloud Cloud
Platforms Web, Windows, Linux Web, Linux
Support Tickets, Community, Docs · 24/7 Email, Live chat, Tickets · 24/7
Compliance SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS, SSO/SAML, 2FA SOC 2, PCI DSS
Integrations 7 integrations 2 integrations
Built for Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Specs
vCPU cores Not checked yet Not checked yet
RAM Not checked yet Not checked yet
NVMe storage Not checked yet Not checked yet
Bandwidth Not checked yet Not checked yet
Server locations Not checked yet Not checked yet
Managed support Not checked yet Not checked yet
DDoS protection Not checked yet Not checked yet
Our review
Pros
  • Choose Linux or Windows VM series, sizes and Azure regions.
  • Scale VM instance counts with Virtual Machine Scale Sets.
  • Connect VMs to Azure monitoring, backup and load balancing.
  • $4 Basic Droplet includes 1 vCPU, 10 GiB SSD and 500 GiB transfer
  • Multiple VM types support general, CPU, memory and storage-focused workloads
  • Control panel, CLI, API, Terraform and autoscale pools support varied operations
Cons
  • Costs vary by VM configuration, operating system, region and usage.
  • No ongoing free plan is available.
  • VMs depend on the broader Azure cloud ecosystem.
  • Backups and snapshots cost extra as add-ons
  • No ongoing free Droplets plan is listed
  • Designed for Linux workloads rather than non-Linux server environments
Our verdict

Azure Virtual Machines provides configurable Linux and Windows virtual machines on Microsoft Azure. It suits teams hosting applications, databases or high-performance computing workloads that need to select VM sizes and regions, with…

Read the review →

DigitalOcean Droplets are Linux-based virtual machines running on virtualized hardware for websites, applications, databases, development environments and other cloud workloads. They suit solo developers, small teams, mid-market…

Read the review →
  1. Azure Virtual MachinesUbuntu VPS Hosting 9.1Paid
  2. DigitalOcean DropletsUbuntu VPS Hosting 9.0Paid

Strengths and trade-offs

  • Azure Virtual Machines — where it wins

    • Choose Linux or Windows VM series, sizes and Azure regions.
    • Scale VM instance counts with Virtual Machine Scale Sets.
    • Connect VMs to Azure monitoring, backup and load balancing.

    Where it doesn't

    • Costs vary by VM configuration, operating system, region and usage.
    • No ongoing free plan is available.
    • VMs depend on the broader Azure cloud ecosystem.

  • DigitalOcean Droplets — where it wins

    • $4 Basic Droplet includes 1 vCPU, 10 GiB SSD and 500 GiB transfer
    • Multiple VM types support general, CPU, memory and storage-focused workloads
    • Control panel, CLI, API, Terraform and autoscale pools support varied operations

    Where it doesn't

    • Backups and snapshots cost extra as add-ons
    • No ongoing free Droplets plan is listed
    • Designed for Linux workloads rather than non-Linux server environments
  • Azure Virtual Machines9.1/10 · Paid

    A flexible Azure VM service for teams that need scaling, monitoring and backup options.

    Visit AzureFull verdict →
  • DigitalOcean Droplets9.0/10 · Paid

    Flexible Linux VPS infrastructure from $4 per month, with autoscaling and API control.

    Visit DigitalOceanFull verdict →

More comparisons

All ubuntu VPS hosting comparisons → · Full ranking →

Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026

Last updated · How we research and update