Scaleway Kapsule vs DigitalOcean
A detailed comparison to help you choose between Scaleway Kapsule and DigitalOcean.
Quick Verdict
3.9/5
Scaleway Kapsule
0 reviews
3.7/5
DigitalOcean
0 reviews
Scaleway Kapsule is rated higher (3.9 vs 3.7). Scaleway Kapsule is a managed Kubernetes service hosted entirely in EU datacenters (Paris, Amsterdam). GDPR-compliant, integrated with Scaleway's ecosystem, and competitively priced for EU requirements. Cloud VPS and managed services platform offering droplets, databases, and app hosting. Built for developers who want straightforward pricing and documentation without enterprise complexity.
Scaleway Kapsule EU-native managed Kubernetes — GDPR compliant | DigitalOcean Simple, predictable cloud infrastructure for developers | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Rating | 3.9 (0 reviews)✓ | 3.7 (0 reviews) |
| Pricing model | freemium | paid |
| Starting price | Free tier available✓ | From $4/mo |
| Best for | European teams wanting managed Kubernetes with no control-plane fee, staying inside Scaleway's EU ecosystem and comfortable with documented platform limits | Developer teams and small SaaS companies that value documentation, API quality, and managed add-ons over raw compute value, especially for NA/EU/APAC audiences. |
| Specifications (entry plan) | ||
| CPU cores | 2 vCPU✓ | 1 vCPU |
| RAM | 2 GB✓ | 1 GB |
| Storage | — | 25 GB |
| Bandwidth | — | 1 TB/mo |
| SLA uptime | — | 99.99% |
| Data-center count | 10 | 16✓ |
| €/vCPU/mo | €0.00✓ | €4.00 |
| €/GB RAM/mo | €0.00✓ | €4.00 |
| Performance | ||
| CPU score (sysbench) | — | 2,200 |
| Disk read (fio) | — | 560 MB/s |
| Disk IOPS (4K random) | — | 8,400 |
| Network out | — | 0.5 Gbps |
| Latency (TTFB) | — | 32 ms |
| Features | ||
| IPv6 | ✓ | |
| DDoS protection | ✓ | |
| Automated backups | ✓ | |
| Snapshots | ✓ | |
| Managed option | ||
| Bare metal | ||
| GPU available | ||
| S3-compatible | ||
| Hourly billing | ||
| Free tier | ||
| Data-center locations | ||
| Regions | FranceNetherlandsPolandItaly | United StatesNetherlandsSingaporeUnited KingdomGermanyCanada+2 |
| Tags | ||
| Tags | free tiermanaged optioneu datacentergdpr compliantapi accessterraform provider | free tierhourly billingnvme storageipv6ddos protectionbackups includedsnapshotsmanaged options3 compatibleeu datacenterus datacenterapac datacenterterraform providerkubernetes supportprivate networkingapi access |
| Visit Scaleway Kapsule → | Visit DigitalOcean → | |
Scaleway Kapsule
Pros
- + Free shared control plane — a 3-node cluster costs about €19.65/month all-in on entry nodes
- + CNCF-conformant vanilla Kubernetes with published version calendar and 14-month support per minor
- + Fully managed components: CCM, autoscaler, node autoheal after 15 minutes, Block/File CSI drivers
- + EU-only regions (Paris, Amsterdam, Warsaw, Milan) under French law with ISO 27001 and HDS certifications
- + Complete API, CLI and Terraform coverage; Kosmos option to attach external nodes at zero control-plane cost
Cons
- - Control plane ingress sits behind a single-zone Load Balancer — a global zonal failure makes the API unreachable
- - No dual-stack IPv4/IPv6 and no ReadWriteMany/ReadOnlyMany storage support yet
- - Forced minor upgrades within 30 days of end of support, whether or not you have tested the version
- - No published Kapsule-specific SLA figure; support is the standard Scaleway ticket queue
- - Egress metered per GB on some classes and idle node pools bill around the clock
DigitalOcean
Pros
- + Transparent bundled pricing from $4/month with per-second billing and monthly caps
- + Documentation and community tutorials are the strongest we have seen in mid-market cloud
- + Real 99.99% SLA with publicly posted service-credit tiers
- + Managed add-ons (databases, Kubernetes with free control plane, S3-compatible Spaces) on one bill and one API
- + GPU Droplets (H100/H200/MI300X) with per-second billing and no commitment
- + Free monitoring, Cloud Firewalls, and generous bundled outbound transfer
Cons
- - Weak compute-per-euro versus Hetzner/UpCloud/Vultr — our benchmarks show ~3.4x price for less CPU at the 4GB tier
- - Backups cost 20% of Droplet price; snapshots billed separately; no permanent free tier
- - No coverage in South America, Africa, the Middle East, or Japan
- - SMTP ports blocked by default on new Droplets; low initial Droplet caps for new accounts
- - Support responsiveness on standard plans is ticket-based and often slow for small accounts
- - SLA uptime is measured by DigitalOcean itself, in its own discretion
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