AWS Lightsail vs DigitalOcean (2026): which VPS for India?
Plan for plan, with rupee prices, India regions, transfer limits, backups and billing.
By Pritam SononePrices checked 28 Oct 2026Reviewed by Pritam SononePrices re-checked regularly against the brand’s own website.How we test →Affiliate links: we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. It never changes our verdicts.
Prices match at 2 GB and 4 GB ($12 and $24). DigitalOcean is cheaper at 1 GB, charges 13 times less for extra transfer and bills per second from Bangalore. Lightsail is cheaper at 8 GB ($44, about ₹4,930 with GST), has a Mumbai region with half the transfer, and new AWS accounts get up to $200 credit.
AWS Lightsail vs DigitalOcean at a glance
From both official pricing pages, 28 Oct 2026. Dollar prices converted at the 16 Oct 2026 ECB rate (US$1 = ₹94.96) with 18% GST.
| AWS Lightsail | DigitalOcean | |
|---|---|---|
| 512 MB | $5: 2 vCPU, 20 GB, 1 TB | $4: 1 vCPU, 10 GiB, 500 GiB |
| 1 GB | $7: 2 vCPU, 40 GB, 2 TB | $6: 1 vCPU, 25 GiB, 1,000 GiB |
| 2 GB | $12: 2 vCPU, 60 GB, 3 TB | $12: 1 vCPU, 50 GiB, 2,000 GiB ($18 for 2 vCPU) |
| 4 GB | $24: 2 vCPU, 80 GB, 4 TB | $24: 2 vCPU, 80 GiB, 4,000 GiB |
| 8 GB | $44: 2 vCPU, 160 GB, 5 TB | $48: 4 vCPU, 160 GiB, 5,000 GiB |
| 4 GB with 18% GST | ₹2,689/mo | ₹2,689/mo |
| India region | Mumbai (half the transfer) | Bangalore |
| Extra outbound transfer | $0.13 per GB in Mumbai | $0.01 per GiB |
| Backups | Snapshots, $0.05 per GB a month | 20% (weekly) or 30% (daily) of the Droplet price |
| Billing | Fixed monthly bundle | Per second, 60-second minimum, capped at the monthly price |
| Free start for new accounts | Up to $200 credit, 6 months | Not listed on the pricing page |
| WordPress blueprint | Yes | Not checked for this page |
Which should you choose?
Choose AWS Lightsail if
- You want up to $200 of AWS credit to start
- You need 8 GB for less
- You plan to use S3, RDS or CloudFront
- You prefer a Mumbai server
Choose DigitalOcean if
- You serve a lot of traffic (cheap overage)
- You spin servers up and down (per-second billing)
- You want Bangalore
- You want the cheapest 512 MB or 1 GB server
Hidden costs: backups, transfer and billing
| AWS Lightsail | DigitalOcean | |
|---|---|---|
| Transfer in India region | Half the listed allowance in Mumbai | Full allowance, pooled across your Droplets |
| Over the allowance | $0.13 per GB (Mumbai) | $0.01 per GiB |
| Backups | Snapshots $0.05 per GB a month | Weekly 20% or daily 30% of the Droplet; usage-based from $0.01 per GiB |
| Snapshots | $0.05 per GB a month | $0.06 per GB a month |
| Tax | 18% GST on top | 18% GST on top |
More on each: AWS Lightsail review, AWS Lightsail in India, DigitalOcean VPS in India and best VPS hosting in India.
Official pricing pages
Captured on 28 Oct 2026.
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AWS Lightsail vs DigitalOcean: FAQ
AWS Lightsail vs DigitalOcean: which is better for India?
For most WordPress sites, DigitalOcean: per-second billing, transfer overage at $0.01 per GiB and a Bangalore region. Lightsail wins at 8 GB ($44 against $48) and if you want AWS credits or other AWS services.
Which is cheaper?
At 1 GB, DigitalOcean ($6 against $7). At 2 GB and 4 GB they tie ($12 and $24). At 8 GB Lightsail is cheaper: $44 (about ₹4,930 with GST) against $48 (about ₹5,379).
Which has a data centre in India?
Both. Lightsail runs in Mumbai, with half the usual transfer allowance. DigitalOcean runs in Bangalore.
What happens if I use more bandwidth?
DigitalOcean bills extra outbound transfer at $0.01 per GiB. Lightsail in Mumbai bills $0.13 per GB above the allowance, 13 times as much.
Which is better for WordPress beginners?
Neither is managed. Both need you to update and secure the server. If you want a managed server on DigitalOcean or AWS, look at Cloudways, which runs on top of them.
About this page
Pritam Sonone
Founder of Digital Pritam. WordPress developer and designer, WordCamp Kolhapur 2025 speaker. Builds WordPress sites for clients.
How we checked
- Every price, region and free-tier term read on the official page on 28 Oct 2026
- US dollar prices converted at the 16 Oct 2026 ECB rate with 18% GST; rupee prices as shown by the provider
- Where a provider does not publish a figure, we say so instead of guessing
- No user rating shown: none could be verified on the day; no star score, as we have not hosted a site on these yet
Sources: AWS Lightsail pricing · DigitalOcean Droplet pricing · DigitalOcean regions
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