What you can actually run on a Droplet, what each one really costs once backups are included, and an honest account of the maintenance you're signing up for. Every price here comes from DigitalOcean's own published pricing.
| Guide | Realistic cost | Difficulty | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Static sites | $0–4/mo | Easy | Blogs, portfolios, docs |
| WordPress | $7–22/mo | Moderate | A WordPress site you'll maintain |
| Ghost | $14–22/mo | Moderate | Publications, newsletters |
| Personal VPN | $4–6/mo | Easy | Public wifi, private server access |
| Docker self-hosting | $12–29/mo | Advanced | Replacing several subscriptions |
App Platform hosts three static sites free, with HTTPS, a custom domain, and a global CDN. The cheapest real hosting we cover, and the only one with no maintenance at all.
Sizing a Droplet, the 1-Click image, pointing your domain, and the patching and backup work that comes with running it yourself.
Self-hosted Ghost, the security step people skip during setup, and an honest comparison with Ghost Pro at $15 — because the savings here are thinner than you'd think.
WireGuard on the smallest Droplet, covering a whole household. Includes a straight account of what a self-hosted VPN does not protect you from.
Nextcloud, n8n, monitoring and more on one server — plus the Docker firewall behaviour that quietly exposes databases to the internet.
If your site is static, start there — it's free and there's nothing to maintain. If you need WordPress or Ghost, budget around $14/mo including backups and be honest with yourself about whether you'll keep the server patched. If you want to replace subscriptions with self-hosted equivalents, the Docker guide is where the real value is. And read the full review first if you're still deciding whether DigitalOcean is right for you at all.