Overview
DigitalOcean Managed Databases offers PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, Valkey (Redis-compatible caching), Kafka and OpenSearch as managed clusters in DigitalOcean's datacenters. DigitalOcean handles setup, patching, daily backups and failover; clusters live in your account's private network and accept public connections only from allowlisted sources.
Pricing is flat and published per plan: the smallest PostgreSQL or MySQL cluster is $15.15/mo for 1 vCPU, 1 GiB RAM and 10 GiB of storage, and the table climbs through 2, 4, 8 and 16 GiB plans. Adding standby nodes gives automatic failover; adding read-only nodes spreads read traffic. Storage can be expanded in 10 GiB steps at $0.215/GiB-month, and storage autoscaling can do this without manual action.
Backups are free and daily, and PostgreSQL and MySQL clusters can be restored to any point in the previous seven days. There is no scale-to-zero or free tier, and a cluster is limited to three nodes, so it suits steady production apps on DigitalOcean more than hobby projects or very large deployments.
Pricing and plans
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| PostgreSQL / MySQL 1 GiB | $15.15/mo | 1 vCPU, 1 GiB RAM, 10 GiB disk (up to 30 GiB), single node |
| PostgreSQL / MySQL 2 GiB | $30.45/mo | 1 vCPU, 2 GiB RAM, 30 GiB disk |
| PostgreSQL / MySQL 4 GiB | $60.90/mo | 2 vCPU, 4 GiB RAM, 60 GiB disk |
| PostgreSQL / MySQL 8 GiB | $122.10/mo | 4 vCPU, 8 GiB RAM, 140 GiB disk |
| MongoDB 1 GiB | $15.23/mo | 1 vCPU, 1 GiB RAM, 15 GiB disk |
| Valkey 1 GiB | $15.00/mo | 1 vCPU, 1 GiB RAM |
| Kafka | $148.80/mo | Three brokers, 6 GiB RAM and 6 vCPUs in total, 120 GiB disk |
| OpenSearch 2 GiB | $19.60/mo | 1 vCPU, 2 GiB RAM, 40 GiB disk |
What it does
- Six engines
- PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, Valkey, Kafka and OpenSearch, each managed through the same console and API.
- Free daily backups
- Backups run automatically every day and data can be restored to any point within the previous seven days.
- Standby nodes and failover
- Optional standby nodes take over automatically if the primary fails.
- Storage autoscaling
- Storage can grow automatically as data increases, without downtime or manual resizing.
- Private networking
- Clusters run in the account's VPC; public access is limited to trusted sources, with encryption in transit and at rest.
- Insights and alerts
- Built-in metrics for CPU, memory, disk, connections and cache hit ratio, with alert policies.
Strengths and limitations
Strengths
- Flat, published monthly prices that are the same in every region
- Six engines under one account alongside Droplets, Kubernetes and App Platform
- Free daily backups with 7-day point-in-time restore
- Frankfurt and other non-US datacenters available
Limitations
- No free tier and no scale-to-zero
- Each PostgreSQL cluster is limited to 3 nodes, and node counts follow fixed options
- Standby nodes are not supported on some 1 vCPU shared-CPU plans
- Backup retention for point-in-time restore is 7 days
Who it suits
Good for
- Apps already hosted on DigitalOcean Droplets, Kubernetes or App Platform
- Small teams that want a predictable monthly database bill
- Production PostgreSQL or MySQL with simple high availability
Look elsewhere if
- Hobby projects looking for a free database
- Spiky or rarely used workloads that benefit from scale-to-zero billing
Alternatives to DigitalOcean Managed Databases
| Tool | From | Free option | Stages |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scaleway Managed Databases Managed PostgreSQL, MySQL and serverless Postgres | €0.0156/hr | ||
| Ubicloud Managed PostgreSQL Managed PostgreSQL | $19.54/mo | ||
| Stackhero Managed open-source databases and services | €19/mo | ||
| Convex Reactive backend and document database | $25/mo | Free tier | |
| Supabase Managed Postgres backend platform | $25/mo | Free tier | |
| Nhost Postgres + GraphQL backend platform | $25/mo | Free tier |
Questions
How much is the cheapest DigitalOcean managed PostgreSQL database?
$15.15/mo for a single node with 1 vCPU, 1 GiB RAM and 10 GiB of storage; MySQL is the same price.
Does DigitalOcean have a free managed database?
No. There is no free tier; new accounts may receive promotional credit.
Are backups included with DigitalOcean Managed Databases?
Yes. Daily backups are free, and you can restore to any point within the previous seven days.
How do I get high availability on DigitalOcean Managed Databases?
Add standby nodes to the cluster; if the primary fails, traffic switches to a standby automatically. Standby nodes are billed as extra nodes.
Is DigitalOcean database pricing different by region?
No. DigitalOcean advertises flat pricing across all datacenters.
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