DigitalOcean vs Laravel Forge (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, DigitalOcean grades higher than Laravel Forge: 2.2 against 1.8 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
DigitalOcean grades higher on value for money, the free plan and features. Laravel Forge grades higher on ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
DigitalOcean
Cloud servers, app hosting and managed databases for developers
Laravel Forge
Server management and deploys for Laravel, PHP and Node apps
Which one is for you
Pick DigitalOcean if
- Fits if you want plain virtual machines with a monthly cap on the price
- Works for teams that want databases and Kubernetes under one bill
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you don't want to patch and secure a server yourself
- Tight if you stay free: 3 static apps and 1GiB of transfer each
- Watch out: a container, worker or job makes a free app paid
- Watch out: most listed prices are starting points, and larger Droplets, databases and GPUs cost more
Pick Laravel Forge if
- Fits if you run Laravel apps and want flat-rate server management
- Works for solo developers with many apps on their own cloud accounts
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a free plan or trial
- Watch out: servers are billed separately
- Tight if you use other clouds: Hobby has 1 external server
- Pricey if you want shared-server discounts, as Laravel VPS discounts start at Growth ($19)
- Watch out: only monthly prices could be read
How we grade them
| 2.2GPADigitalOceanFair | 1.8GPALaravel ForgeWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BDroplets from $4 a month, inside the cheaper quarter ($5.28). Managed databases start at $15, Kubernetes at $12 and bandwidth past the allowance is $0.01 per GiB. | C$12 a month on Hobby, about the category middle ($11), with servers billed separately by your provider or Laravel VPS. Growth is $19 and Business $39. |
| Free plan and trial | C3 static-site apps free on App Platform, 1GiB of transfer each. Add a container, worker or job and the app is paid. | FNo free plan or trial on the pricing page. |
| Features | BDroplets, App Platform, managed Kubernetes and databases, storage, backups and GPUs from one provider. The listing names no hole in the core job. | CServer setup, zero-downtime deploys, queues, databases, SSL and an API. It does the server-management job fully, but that's a smaller job than hosting, and Hobby limits you to 1 external server. |
| Ease of use | DNo store rating on record. Droplets are unmanaged servers: setup, updates and security are yours. | CNo store rating on record. You connect a cloud account and set up servers and sites. |
| Platforms and integrations | CWeb only, and the listing shows no integrations. | BWeb only, with DigitalOcean, AWS, Hetzner and a documented REST API. |
| Best for | plain cloud servers for developers | managing Laravel and PHP servers |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: DigitalOcean and Laravel Forge. How we grade
Price against what you get
DigitalOcean starts at $4 a month and scores 2.0 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Laravel Forge starts at $12 a month and scores 2.3.
Laravel Forge scores higher, and starts $8 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other web hosts on the chart, 8 score higher than DigitalOcean for less, and 3 score higher than Laravel Forge for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- DigitalOcean also covers databases.
- Laravel Forge also covers workflow automation.
At a glance
| DigitalOcean | Laravel Forge | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Paid |
| Starts at | $4 per month (Droplet), billed per second | $12 per month (Hobby, monthly billing) |
| Free plan | App Platform: 3 apps made only of static sites, with 1GiB of data transfer per app. | None |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | DigitalOcean | Laravel |
| Price read from | digitalocean.com | laravel.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
DigitalOcean
- Free App Platform apps can only use static site components; any container, worker or job makes the app paid.
- Bandwidth beyond a Droplet's included transfer is billed at $0.01 per GiB.
- A Droplet is an unmanaged server: updates and security setup are the buyer's job.
- Many of the listed prices are starting points; larger Droplet, database and GPU sizes cost more.
Laravel Forge
- Forge is a paid service with no free plan or trial listed on its pricing page.
- You also pay your cloud provider, or Laravel VPS charges, for the servers themselves.
- Hobby includes only 1 external server; unlimited external servers start with Growth at $19 a month.
- The pricing page has a Monthly and an Annual toggle; the annual figures could not be read, so only monthly prices are listed.
Key features
DigitalOcean
- Droplets
- Virtual machines in Basic and Premium CPU options, billed per second since January 1, 2026, with a monthly cap on each size.
- App Platform
- A managed way to deploy static sites, web services, workers and jobs, with free static sites for up to three apps.
- Managed Kubernetes and Functions
- Kubernetes starts at $12 a month, and Functions include 90,000 GiB-seconds a month free with no per-invocation charge.
- Storage
- Spaces object storage starts at $5 a month, block storage volumes at $10, and shared file storage is $0.15 per GiB-month.
- Backups and snapshots
- Droplet backups cost 20% of the Droplet price for weekly and 30% for daily, and snapshots are usage-based from $0.01 per GiB a month.
- GPU Droplets and AI models
- GPU Droplets start at $0.76 per GPU-hour on demand, and the platform also lists hosted AI models priced per million tokens.
Laravel Forge
- Laravel VPS
- A one-click server option that Forge says is set up in under 10 seconds, with Nginx, PHP, MySQL or Postgres and Redis installed, and a shared web terminal.
- Zero-downtime deploys
- Deploys can be scripted, queued and stacked, and zero-downtime deployments are included for a single server.
- Bring your own cloud
- Servers can also be created at providers such as DigitalOcean, AWS and Hetzner, though on Hobby only one external server is included.
- Databases and queues
- Forge can provision, back up and monitor database clusters, and supervises queue workers without manual Supervisor setup.
- SSL and hosted domains
- Free automated SSL is included, along with on-forge.com hosted domains for launching an app before domain setup.
- API
- A documented REST API covers servers, deployments, databases, firewall rules, backups, monitors and other resources.
Plans
DigitalOcean
App Platform static sites$0
per month for up to 3 static-site apps
Free for apps using only static sites, with 1GiB of transfer each. Extra static-only apps are $3 a month.
App Platform containers$5
per month for the entry container plan
Paid apps with web services, workers or jobs run on container plans from $5 a month; other plans include $10, $20 and $25.
Droplets$4
per month, billed per second
Virtual machines, billed per second with a 60-second or $0.01 minimum. Each includes outbound transfer, starting at 500GiB a month.
Managed Databases$15
per month and up
Fully managed databases for PostgreSQL, MySQL and caching, maintained by DigitalOcean.
Laravel Forge
Hobby$12
per month, monthly billing
Unlimited Laravel VPS servers, 1 external server, unlimited sites and deployments, managed databases and community support.
Growth$19
per month, monthly billing
Unlimited servers, 5% discount on Laravel VPS and standard support, plus the other features of Hobby.
Business$39
per month, monthly billing
Unlimited servers, 15% discount on Laravel VPS and advanced support.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, DigitalOcean or Laravel Forge?
As of Nov 12, 2026, DigitalOcean is cheaper to start with: $4 a month, against $12 a month for Laravel Forge. DigitalOcean starts at $4 per month (Droplet), billed per second, and Laravel Forge starts at $12 per month (Hobby, monthly billing).
Which has a free plan, DigitalOcean or Laravel Forge?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only DigitalOcean has a free plan. Laravel Forge does not.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.