· web hosting · 3 min read
DigitalOcean review
The simplicity and ease of use make it ideal for beginner developers
DigitalOcean is a popular cloud hosting provider that offers a variety of features and benefits for WordPress users. DigitalOcean is a good choice for WordPress hosting if you are looking for a reliable, scalable, and secure hosting provider. However, it may not be the best choice for beginners or those who want managed WordPress hosting.
DigitalOcean for hosting a WordPress site:
Pros:
- Easy Setup & Management: The simplicity and ease of use make it ideal for beginner developers. Signing up takes only minutes, and after that, you can deploy your first Droplets with just a few clicks. The user interface is clean and well thought out, making it effortless to manage your infrastructure.
- Solid State Drives (SSD): Your data lives on redundant SSDs, ensuring both speed and reliability. This means better read/write speeds, faster application delivery, improved caching, and lower latency. These attributes help create responsive sites and delightful end-user experiences.
- High Uptime: You want your site online whenever customers, fans, clients, or friends visit. DigitalOcean provides top uptime percentages due to its distributed architecture and robust network design. Enjoy fewer service interruptions because of less downtime, resulting in happier visitors and increased revenue over time.
Cons:
- Pricier than Competitors: Although priced reasonably for starter plans, advanced options could potentially become pricey for larger projects requiring numerous Droplets. Compared to other hosts, DigitalOcean can cost 5–10x more based on resource allocations and usage. Keep this in mind while exploring long-term solutions.
- Supported Software: While they boast fantastic developer experience and tools, specific software packages may limit compatibility with certain CMSes, CRMs, eCommerce platforms, etc. Check their supported apps list before committing to see if everything works with DO.
- Limited Features: Some hosts offer bundled extras like CDN, automated backups, SSL certifications, firewalls, content deliver networks, etc., but those come at additional costs on DigitalOcean. Consider extra charges when building a budget.
Overall, DigitalOcean excels in ease of use, reliable performance, developer friendliness, and reasonable introductory prices.
Is DigitalOcean good for blog?
DigitalOcean is a popular choice for hosting blogs and websites. Here are a few reasons why DigitalOcean can be a good option for hosting a blog:
Affordability: DigitalOcean offers competitive pricing, making it suitable for bloggers and small websites with budget constraints. Their fixed plans called “Droplets” provide a predictable and transparent pricing structure.
Ease of Use: DigitalOcean has a user-friendly interface that simplifies server management and deployment processes. They provide one-click installations for popular blogging platforms like WordPress, making it easy to get your blog up and running quickly.
Reliability and Performance: DigitalOcean has a reputation for providing reliable infrastructure and fast performance. They use solid-state drives (SSDs) for storage, which helps improve load times and overall website performance.
Scalability: DigitalOcean allows you to scale your infrastructure as your blog grows. You can easily upgrade your Droplets to higher plans or add additional resources like storage, RAM, or CPU without much hassle.
Developer-Friendly Environment: DigitalOcean offers an extensive API and a command-line interface (CLI) that caters to developers’ needs. This can be beneficial if you want to automate tasks, integrate with other tools, or have more control over your hosting environment.
Community and Resources: DigitalOcean has an active and supportive community. They provide a wealth of tutorials, guides, and documentation that can assist you in setting up, managing, and optimizing your blog hosting.
While DigitalOcean is a solid choice for hosting a blog, it’s important to consider your specific requirements, expected traffic levels, and technical expertise. Additionally, keep in mind that managing a self-hosted blog comes with responsibilities such as security, backups, and updates. If you prefer a more managed solution, you might also explore platforms like WordPress.com or other managed WordPress hosting providers.