DigitalOcean Craft CMS 1-Click App review
A straightforward Craft 5 deployment with core services configured, but ongoing management stays with you.
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
DigitalOcean Craft CMS 1-Click App is a preconfigured deployment for developers and teams running Craft CMS 5 websites. It places Craft on a DigitalOcean Droplet with Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, Caddy, PHP 8.3 FPM, MySQL, Composer, UFW, and fail2ban. Deployment is available through the DigitalOcean control panel or API, making it suited to teams that want a prepared Linux hosting environment without assembling the core Craft stack manually. It is not a separate managed Craft CMS hosting plan: the Droplet, operating system, application updates, backups, and data remain customer-managed.
Pricing follows the underlying Droplet rather than a Craft-specific hosting tier. The Basic Droplet — 2 GiB plan costs $12 per month and includes 1 vCPU, 50 GiB SSD, and 2,000 GiB transfer. The Basic Droplet — 4 GiB plan costs $24 per month and includes 2 vCPUs, 80 GiB SSD, and 4,000 GiB transfer. Both plans provide the same 1-Click Craft 5 deployment features, while the higher tier adds computing, storage, and transfer capacity. Optional backups are billed separately, so the listed monthly price does not represent a fully managed backup arrangement.
The strongest fit is a developer who values a configured Craft 5 foundation and is comfortable handling server operations. Automatic HTTPS through Caddy, custom-domain TLS setup, Composer installation, firewalling, API provisioning, and Craft service-management scripts reduce initial configuration work. However, the product does not include automated backups or staging, and ongoing maintenance remains the customer’s responsibility. Teams seeking managed updates, built-in staging, or included backup operations should choose a hosting service with those capabilities instead. DigitalOcean Craft CMS 1-Click App makes more sense for self-managed projects where control and a straightforward deployment path matter more than managed-hosting coverage.
DigitalOcean Craft CMS 1-Click App pros and cons
- Where it wins
- Craft CMS 5 deploys through the DigitalOcean control panel or API.
- Includes Caddy, automatic HTTPS, PHP 8.3 FPM, MySQL, and Composer.
- UFW, fail2ban, TLS setup, and service-management scripts are included.
- Where it doesn't
- The Droplet, operating system, updates, backups, and data remain customer-managed.
- Automated backups are not included; optional backups are billed separately.
- There is no staging environment included in the deployment.
DigitalOcean Craft CMS 1-Click App fact sheet, pricing and score →
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