Suggestions appear as you type. Use the up and down arrows to choose one and Enter to open it.

This page's audience our own tag's counts — open to see them
–Visits
–Page views
–Clicks to vendors
–Time on page
–Reading now
Clicks to vendors, by tool
  • –
Top countries
  • –
Devices
  • –

– · visits, page views and clicks counted by our own tag, which counts more than our checked analytics; every figure rounded down · how we count

Head-to-head · Cheap VPS Hosting

DigitalOcean Droplets vs BuyVM

  • Updated Oct 2026
  • Both researched from official sources
  • 1 check side by side
Higher score DigitalOcean Droplets #2 in Cheap VPS Hosting 9.2/10 Paid ✓ 0 of 2 features Visit DigitalOcean
BuyVM #8 in Cheap VPS Hosting 8.2/10 Paid ✓ 0 of 2 features Visit BuyVM

DigitalOcean Droplets leads on 0 checks, BuyVM 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 scoreDigitalOcean Droplets · 9.2/10

DigitalOcean Droplets scores higher on our rubric for cheap vps hosting: 9.2 against 8.2 out of 10; our editors rank them #2 and #8.

DigitalOcean Droplets is the better fit for budget VPS with a broad, easy-to-manage cloud stack. BuyVM is the better fit for users who want templates, snapshots, and networking.

  • DigitalOcean Droplets fits best

    Budget VPS with a broad, easy-to-manage cloud stack

  • BuyVM fits best

    Users who want templates, snapshots, and networking

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 DigitalOcean Droplets 9.2/10 Visit ↗ BuyVM 8.2/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score 9.2 8.2
Ranking #2 in Cheap VPS Hosting #8 in Cheap VPS Hosting
Best for Budget VPS with a broad, easy-to-manage cloud stack Users who want templates, snapshots, and networking
Pricing model Paid Paid
Starting price $4/mo Not checked yet
Free plan — —
Free trial — —
Deployment Cloud Cloud
Platforms Web, Linux Web
Features DigitalOcean Droplets 0/2 · BuyVM 0/2
Managed option Not checked yet Not checked yet
DDoS protection Not checked yet Not checked yet
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
Our review
Pros
  • Starts at $4/month with 500 GiB transfer and 10 GiB SSD
  • Multiple Droplet configurations plus horizontal autoscaling pools
  • Control panel, CLI, API, Terraform, and 16 available regions
  • More than 100 operating-system templates support varied server workloads.
  • Free snapshots and block storage slabs add storage options.
  • Private networking and Anycast IP addresses extend networking choices.
Cons
  • Backups and snapshots are available only as add-ons
  • Droplets are Linux-based virtual machines
  • No free plan; the entry Basic tier has 512 MiB memory
  • BuyVM is focused on VPS infrastructure, not traditional shared hosting.
  • Automatic backups are optional rather than included with snapshots.
  • DDoS-protected IPv4 addresses are an add-on.
Our verdict

DigitalOcean Droplets are Linux-based virtual machines for hosting websites, applications, databases, development environments, and other cloud workloads. They suit solo developers through enterprise teams that want cloud infrastructure…

Read the review →

BuyVM focuses on VPS infrastructure rather than traditional shared web hosting. Its dedicated KVM slices and Stallion custom VPS management control panel are aimed at users who want to manage server workloads, with support for Linux, BSD,…

Read the review →
  1. DigitalOcean DropletsCheap VPS Hosting 9.2Paid
  2. BuyVMCheap VPS Hosting 8.2Paid

Strengths and trade-offs

  • DigitalOcean Droplets — where it wins

    • Starts at $4/month with 500 GiB transfer and 10 GiB SSD
    • Multiple Droplet configurations plus horizontal autoscaling pools
    • Control panel, CLI, API, Terraform, and 16 available regions

    Where it doesn't

    • Backups and snapshots are available only as add-ons
    • Droplets are Linux-based virtual machines
    • No free plan; the entry Basic tier has 512 MiB memory

  • BuyVM — where it wins

    • More than 100 operating-system templates support varied server workloads.
    • Free snapshots and block storage slabs add storage options.
    • Private networking and Anycast IP addresses extend networking choices.

    Where it doesn't

    • BuyVM is focused on VPS infrastructure, not traditional shared hosting.
    • Automatic backups are optional rather than included with snapshots.
    • DDoS-protected IPv4 addresses are an add-on.

More comparisons

All cheap VPS hosting comparisons → · Full ranking →

Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026

Last updated · How we research and update