Scaleway Kapsule vs DigitalOcean Kubernetes
A detailed comparison to help you choose between Scaleway Kapsule and DigitalOcean Kubernetes.
Quick Verdict
3.9/5
Scaleway Kapsule
0 reviews
3.8/5
DigitalOcean Kubernetes
0 reviews
Scaleway Kapsule is rated higher (3.9 vs 3.8). 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. DigitalOcean Kubernetes (DOKS) is one of the most affordable managed Kubernetes services. No cluster management fee — pay only for worker nodes. Integrates with DO load balancers, volumes, and container registry.
Scaleway Kapsule EU-native managed Kubernetes — GDPR compliant | DigitalOcean Kubernetes Managed Kubernetes from $12/month | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Rating | 3.9 (0 reviews)✓ | 3.8 (0 reviews) |
| Pricing model | freemium | paid |
| Starting price | Free tier available✓ | From $12/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 | Startups and small teams deploying managed Kubernetes for the first time who want a free control plane and Droplet-priced nodes without hyperscaler pricing or complexity. |
| Specifications (entry plan) | ||
| CPU cores | 2 vCPU | — |
| RAM | 2 GB | — |
| Storage | — | — |
| Bandwidth | — | — |
| SLA uptime | — | — |
| Data-center count | 10 | 16✓ |
| €/vCPU/mo | €0.00 | — |
| €/GB RAM/mo | €0.00 | — |
| Features | ||
| IPv6 | ||
| DDoS protection | ✓ | |
| Automated backups | ||
| Snapshots | ||
| Managed option | ||
| Bare metal | ||
| GPU available | ||
| S3-compatible | ||
| Hourly billing | ||
| Free tier | ✓ | |
| Data-center locations | ||
| Regions | FranceNetherlandsPolandItaly | — |
| Tags | ||
| Tags | free tiermanaged optioneu datacentergdpr compliantapi accessterraform provider | managed optionhourly billingeu datacenterus datacenterapac datacenterapi accessterraform provider |
| Visit Scaleway Kapsule → | Visit DigitalOcean Kubernetes → | |
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 Kubernetes
Pros
- + No cluster management fee — free control plane, pay only for worker nodes
- + Worker nodes billed per second from $12/month with a 672-hour monthly cap
- + CNCF-certified Kubernetes with automatic patch upgrades and close upstream version tracking
- + Integrated load balancers, block storage, firewalls, and container registry with one API and CLI
- + Free built-in cluster monitoring with Slack/email alerts
- + Node pools span Basic to GPU (H100) Droplets, including isolated nodes with no public IP
Cons
- - Realistic production clusters cost $60-90/month once nodes, the $12/month load balancer, and storage are counted
- - Autoscaling is less sophisticated than EKS/GKE; no serverless pods or node auto-provisioning
- - No Windows or bare-metal worker nodes
- - Version support windows follow upstream strictly — clusters must keep upgrading
- - Standard support is ticket-based with no Kubernetes-specific enterprise tier
- - HA control plane status versus the 99.95% SLA is ambiguous across official pages
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