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Contabo vs DigitalOcean VPS

Contabo has the lower starting price: $5.28 a month for 8 GB RAM, against $6.00 for 1 GB at DigitalOcean.

Prices checked on October 27, 2026. Monthly prices in USD on the billing term shown with each plan, including discounts through our links. We earn a fee if you buy through a provider link, which never changes the ranking. How we rank

The short answer

  • Contabo has the lower starting price: $5.28 a month for 8 GB RAM, against $6.00 for 1 GB at DigitalOcean.
  • Contabo gives more memory for your money: a median of $1.19 per GB of RAM, about 6.6 times cheaper than DigitalOcean at $7.88.
  • DigitalOcean scales further, up to 256 GB RAM and 48 vCPU, while Contabo tops out at 96 GB and 24 vCPU.
  • For location, only Contabo has servers in Japan, and only DigitalOcean has servers in Netherlands, Canada.
  • Contabo offers NVMe storage, which is faster than the SATA SSDs the other uses.

Side by side

Contabo and DigitalOcean compared. The better value in each row is highlighted.
Compared onContaboDigitalOcean
Starting price$5.28/mo (better)$6.00/mo
Median price per GB RAM$1.19 (better)$7.88
Lowest price per GB RAM$0.49 (better)$5.25
Median price per vCPU$4.20 (better)$31.50
VPS plans1730
Largest plan RAM96 GB256 GB (better)
Largest plan vCPU2448 (better)
NVMe storageYesNo
Unlimited bandwidth plansYesNo
Server countriesUnited States, United Kingdom, Germany, Singapore, Japan, Australia, IndiaUnited States, United Kingdom, Germany, Netherlands, Canada, Singapore, Australia, India
Discount through VPS Scouter––
Founded20032011
HeadquartersMunich, GermanyNew York, USA

Price at every RAM size

The cheapest plan from each provider with at least this much memory, per month.

Cheapest Contabo and DigitalOcean plan for each amount of RAM
RAMContaboDigitalOcean
1 GB+$5.28 · Cloud VPS 4 (8 GB, 4 vCPU) (better)$6.00 · Basic 1 GB (1 GB, 1 vCPU)
2 GB+$5.28 · Cloud VPS 4 (8 GB, 4 vCPU) (better)$12.00 · Basic 2 GB (2 GB, 1 vCPU)
4 GB+$5.28 · Cloud VPS 4 (8 GB, 4 vCPU) (better)$24.00 · Basic 4 GB (4 GB, 2 vCPU)
8 GB+$5.28 · Cloud VPS 4 (8 GB, 4 vCPU) (better)$48.00 · Basic 8 GB (8 GB, 4 vCPU)
16 GB+$13.44 · Cloud VPS 8 (24 GB, 8 vCPU) (better)$84.00 · Memory-Optimized 16 GB (16 GB, 2 vCPU)
32 GB+$24.00 · Cloud VPS 12 (48 GB, 12 vCPU) (better)$168.00 · Memory-Optimized 32 GB (32 GB, 4 vCPU)

Best value plans from Contabo and DigitalOcean

Best value plans from Contabo and DigitalOcean
#Provider and planvCPURAMStorageBandwidthPriceVisit provider
1ContaboCloud VPS 6612 GB200 GB SSDUnlimited$7.20/mo2-year term · renews at $9.00/moVisit Contabo
2ContaboCloud VPS 8824 GB300 GB SSDUnlimited$13.44/mo2-year term · renews at $16.80/moVisit Contabo
3ContaboCloud VPS 121248 GB400 GB SSDUnlimited$24.00/mo2-year term · renews at $30.00/moVisit Contabo
4ContaboCloud VPS 448 GB100 GB SSDUnlimited$5.28/mo2-year term · renews at $6.60/moVisit Contabo
5ContaboCloud VPS 181896 GB600 GB SSDUnlimited$47.04/mo2-year term · renews at $58.80/moVisit Contabo
6ContaboCloud VPS 161664 GB500 GB SSDUnlimited$35.60/mo2-year term · renews at $44.50/moVisit Contabo
7ContaboCloud VPS Plus 6612 GB300 GB NVMEUnlimited$18.40/mo2-year term · renews at $23.00/moVisit Contabo
8ContaboCloud VPS Plus 181896 GB900 GB NVMEUnlimited$95.20/mo2-year term · renews at $119.00/moVisit Contabo
9ContaboCloud VPS Plus 8824 GB450 GB NVMEUnlimited$33.60/mo2-year term · renews at $42.00/moVisit Contabo
10ContaboCloud VPS Plus 121248 GB600 GB NVMEUnlimited$56.80/mo2-year term · renews at $71.00/moVisit Contabo
11ContaboCloud VPS Plus 161664 GB750 GB NVMEUnlimited$76.00/mo2-year term · renews at $95.00/moVisit Contabo
12ContaboCloud VPS Plus 448 GB150 GB NVMEUnlimited$13.00/mo2-year term · renews at $16.25/moVisit Contabo

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Contabo cheaper than DigitalOcean?

Contabo has the lower entry price at $5.28 a month. Per GB of RAM, Contabo is cheaper, with a median of $1.19 across its plans. Which one is cheaper for you depends on the plan size you need, so check the table by RAM size.

Which is better, Contabo or DigitalOcean?

It depends on what you need. Contabo gives more memory for your money: a median of $1.19 per GB of RAM, about 6.6 times cheaper than DigitalOcean at $7.88. DigitalOcean scales further, up to 256 GB RAM and 48 vCPU, while Contabo tops out at 96 GB and 24 vCPU. Neither price tells you about speed or support, so read the provider pages and reviews too.

How do you compare the prices?

We use each provider's monthly price in USD on the billing term it advertises, which we show next to every price, including any discount you get through our links. Prices come from the providers' own pricing pages and are checked every Sunday.

Read the full provider pages

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