Head-to-head
SiteGround vs DigitalOcean
Two of the most-considered options in their category. Compared on the same scoring scale, here's the honest breakdown.
★ Winner
S
SiteGround
SiteGround Hosting Ltd.
RC Score
8.2/10
Starts at
$17.99/mo intro
Premium WordPress hosting built on Google Cloud with award-winning support
See SiteGround review →vs
D
DigitalOcean
DigitalOcean Holdings, Inc.
RC Score
8.1/10
Starts at
$0/mo intro
Developer cloud infrastructure without the hyperscaler complexity
See DigitalOcean review →Round by round
Scoreboard DigitalOcean 2–2
6.5/10
Value
★8.8/10
9.0/10★
Features
7.9/10
8.5/10
Ease of use
★9.0/10
9.5/10★
Support
6.5/10
0.0/10
Deal strength
0.0/10
0.0/10
User feedback
0.0/10
ReviewCost analysis
What each one actually costs
Calculated from each vendor's published prices. A dash means the vendor does not publish enough to work it out.
| SiteGround | DigitalOcean | |
|---|---|---|
Entry price (paid) Cheapest plan that costs money | $17.99 | $4 |
Free plan | No | Yes |
How it is charged Decides what a team pays | Tiered | Tiered |
Monthly, 5 people | $17.99 | $4 |
Monthly, 10 people | $17.99 | $4 |
Monthly, 50 people | $17.99 | $4 |
Three-year total, 10 people | $647.64 | $144 |
Renewal price published | Yes | Not published |
Pick by need
Which one is right for you?
There's rarely a universal winner. Here's who wins for which use case.
D
Small personal site
Pick DigitalOcean
Wins on value (8.8/10)
S
Small business
Pick SiteGround
Wins on support (9.5/10)
S
E-commerce store
Pick SiteGround
Wins on features (9.0/10)
S
Developer / power user
Pick SiteGround
Wins on features (9.0/10)
D
Complete beginner
Pick DigitalOcean
Wins on ease (9.0/10)
S
Need to scale fast
Pick SiteGround
Wins on deal strength (0.0/10)
How to choose between them
The trade-offs that follow from the figures above, rather than a single winner.
- DigitalOcean starts cheaper — $4 a month against $17.99 for SiteGround.
- At ten people the gap is $13.99 a month, in DigitalOcean's favour — the pricing models diverge as the team grows.
- DigitalOcean has a free plan; the other does not, which matters if you want to try before committing.
- Their scores are within half a point of each other, so neither is the obvious choice on our scoring alone.
Scores follow our published methodology. Prices come from each vendor’s own pricing page — see the source and date on SiteGround and DigitalOcean.