AWS T3 vs DigitalOcean Droplet
By Zer0 · 2026-08-22
Small Linux VM plus internet transfer: t3.micro/medium list prices versus Basic Droplets that include SSD and bandwidth.
A 1 GB Linux box looks cheap on every cloud until you add a boot disk and internet transfer. Compare t3.micro in us-east-1 (compute only, disk extra) with DigitalOcean’s s-1vcpu-1gb Basic Droplet (monthly cap includes SSD and a transfer allowance) on the small-VM calculator.
This page holds hours and bytes constant. It does not include AWS gp3 disks, Elastic IPs, or T3 Unlimited CPU-credit overages. It does not include Reserved Instances.
Tiny site, 100 GB outbound
730 hours, 1 vCPU / 1 GB, 100 GB internet, free tiers on. SightLab VM catalog:
- AWS t3.micro: compute is covered by the 750-hour Free Tier on eligible 12-month accounts; internet egress is covered by the 100 GB grant while it lasts. Year two is on-demand compute plus disk — read both lines on the calculator.
- DigitalOcean s-1vcpu-1gb: the monthly cap includes SSD; 100 GB outbound sits inside the included transfer grant. Confirm the current monthly rate on the calculator.
2 vCPU / 4 GB plus 2 TB outbound
Free tiers no longer cover these sizes. Put t3.medium plus 2 TB internet next to DigitalOcean s-2vcpu-4gb (transfer included in the monthly cap) on the small-VM calculator. The gap is transfer, not the VM line.
When T3 is still rational
If the instance talks only to S3, RDS, and other AWS services in the same region, internet egress may be near zero and AWS same-region transfer is often free on the data-transfer SKU. IAM, VPC, and managed databases then dominate the choice. Re-run from the small VM calculator with your region group and egress GB.
Related tools
- Small Cloud VM Cost Calculator — Compare small Linux VMs on AWS T3, Azure B-series, Google E2, and DigitalOcean Droplets, including transfer.
- Cloud Data Egress Cost Calculator — Estimate monthly internet and cross-region data-transfer cost from a source region.