Azure AKS vs DigitalOcean DOKS: pricing
On the control plane, both Azure AKS and DigitalOcean DOKS have a free control plane. Azure AKS charges Free (Free) and DigitalOcean DOKS charges Free (Free). Their cheapest worker nodes are about $30/mo and $12/mo. For an illustrative 3-node cluster with one load balancer, DigitalOcean DOKS is the cheaper of the two (~$48/mo vs ~$102/mo). Snapshot captured June 2026 — verify before buying.
Data as of June 2026.
Azure AKS vs DigitalOcean DOKS side by side
| Cost factor | Azure AKS | DigitalOcean DOKS |
|---|---|---|
| Vendor | Microsoft Azure | DigitalOcean |
| Control plane | Free | Free |
| Est. control-plane / month | Free | Free |
| Free control plane? | Yes | Yes |
| Cheapest node / month | $30 | $12 |
| Load balancer | Azure Standard Load Balancer billed separately. | DigitalOcean Load Balancer from $12/month. |
| Egress | Standard Azure bandwidth egress applies (first 100 GB/month free). | Generous pooled free egress (e.g. 2,000 GiB/month with the basic node), then ~$0.01/GiB. |
| Free tier | Free tier control plane at $0 (best-effort 99.5% availability, no SLA). You still pay for VM nodes, storage and networking. | Free standard control plane (no fee). Pay only for droplet nodes, block storage and load balancers. |
| Regions | 60+ Azure regions worldwide. | 15+ DigitalOcean datacenter regions. |
Sources: Microsoft Azure pricing · DigitalOcean pricing.
Sample monthly cost
A rough monthly total for a small cluster (3 nodes at each provider's cheapest node price + one $12/mo load balancer + the control-plane fee). This ignores egress, storage, support and node-size differences, so treat it as a starting point only:
| Component | Azure AKS | DigitalOcean DOKS |
|---|---|---|
| Control plane | Free | Free |
| 3 × cheapest node | $90 | $36 |
| 1 × load balancer | $12 | $12 |
| Estimated total / month | $102 | $48 |
Verdict
On cost alone, DigitalOcean DOKS is the cheaper pick for this small-cluster example. But the right choice depends on more than price: Azure AKS (free control-plane tier for dev/test) versus DigitalOcean DOKS (free standard control plane). Read each provider's full breakdown — Azure AKS and DigitalOcean DOKS — and model your own node plan in the calculator.
Frequently asked questions
Is Azure AKS or DigitalOcean DOKS cheaper?
On the control plane, both Azure AKS and DigitalOcean DOKS have a free control plane. For a sample 3-node cluster with one load balancer (using each provider's cheapest node and a $12/mo load balancer), DigitalOcean DOKS comes out lower — about $48/mo vs $102/mo. This is illustrative; your real cost depends on node size, count, egress and region. snapshot captured June 2026.
What is the control-plane fee for Azure AKS vs DigitalOcean DOKS?
Azure AKS: Free tier control plane is $0/cluster/hour (no financially-backed SLA). The Standard tier adds an Uptime SLA for $0.10/cluster/hour (~$73/month); the Premium tier (with long-term support) is $0.60/cluster/hour. DigitalOcean DOKS: Standard control plane is free. A high-availability (HA) control plane with a 99.95% SLA is $40/cluster/month. snapshot captured June 2026 — verify on each vendor's pricing page.
Which has the cheaper worker nodes, Azure AKS or DigitalOcean DOKS?
DigitalOcean DOKS has the cheaper representative node: $12/mo vs $30/mo. Azure AKS: You pay normal Azure VM rates for node pools (e.g. Standard_B2s ~ $0.0416/hour, ~$30/month per node). DigitalOcean DOKS: Basic worker droplet from $12/month per node (1 vCPU / 2 GB). You pay only for the droplets, volumes and load balancers you use.
Azure AKS or DigitalOcean DOKS — which should a small team pick?
If a free control plane and predictable pricing matter most, lean to whichever of Azure AKS/DigitalOcean DOKS is free and simpler. If you need deep cloud integration or the widest region coverage, the larger vendor usually wins despite higher fees. Run your real node plan through the calculator before deciding.
More comparisons
Last updated: 2026-06-20