Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
DigitalOcean Droplets
Score 9.4 out of 10
N/A
DigitalOcean's Droplets is designed to help the user spin up a virtual machine in just 55 seconds. Standard, General Purpose, CPU-Optimized, or Memory-Optimized configurations provide flexibility to build, test, and grow an app from startup to scale.
$4
per month
Google Cloud SQL
Score 8.7 out of 10
N/A
Google Cloud SQL is a database-as-a-service (DBaaS) with the capability and functionality of MySQL.
$0
per core hour
PostgreSQL
Score 8.7 out of 10
N/A
PostgreSQL (alternately Postgres) is a free and open source object-relational database system boasting over 30 years of active development, reliability, feature robustness, and performance. It supports SQL and is designed to support various workloads flexibly.N/A
Pricing
DigitalOcean DropletsGoogle Cloud SQLPostgreSQL
Editions & Modules
Basic
$4
per month
CPU-Optimized
$42
per month
General Purpose
$63
per month
Memory-Optimized
$84
per month
Storage-Optimized
$131
per month
License - Express
$0
per core hour
License - Web
$0.01134
per core hour
Storage - for backups
$.08
per month per GB
HA Storage - for backups
$.08
per month per GB
Storage - HDD storage capacity
$.09
per month per GB
License - Standard
$0.13
per core hour
Storage - SSD storage capacity
$.17
per month per GB
HA Storage - HDD storage capacity
$.18
per month per GB
HA Storage - SSD storage capacity
$.34
per month per GB
License - Enterprise
$0.47
per core hour
Memory
$5.11
per month per GB
HA Memory
$10.22
per month per GB
vCPUs
$30.15
per month per vCPU
HA vCPUs
$60.30
per month per vCPU
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
DigitalOcean DropletsGoogle Cloud SQLPostgreSQL
Free Trial
NoYesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsPricing for DigitalOcean Droplets varies depending on the size of the virtual environment and the associated data needs.Pricing varies with editions, engine, and settings, including how much storage, memory, and CPU you provision. Cloud SQL offers per-second billing.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
DigitalOcean DropletsGoogle Cloud SQLPostgreSQL
Considered Multiple Products
DigitalOcean Droplets

No answer on this topic

Google Cloud SQL
Chose Google Cloud SQL
Given this is a hosted solution, database a service it helps in removing the effort of maintaining these databases manually. Eases out the pain of upgrading, applying security patches and keeping things running without having to worry about missed changes. The database can be …
Chose Google Cloud SQL
Easier learning, simple features and settings with a very user-friendly application environment and flexible prices make Google Cloud [SQL] a pioneering option over competitors
Chose Google Cloud SQL
Google Cloud SQL is very similar to other cloud provider options. AWS and DigitalOcean are direct competitors, While Azure is focusing on their own products. At cloud provider level, it's a matter of choosing the provider, and this product will not play a significant role on …
PostgreSQL

No answer on this topic

Features
DigitalOcean DropletsGoogle Cloud SQLPostgreSQL
Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS)
Comparison of Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) features of Product A and Product B
DigitalOcean Droplets
8.8
1 Ratings
7% above category average
Google Cloud SQL
-
Ratings
PostgreSQL
-
Ratings
Service-level Agreement (SLA) uptime10.01 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
Dynamic scaling10.01 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
Elastic load balancing5.01 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
Pre-configured templates5.01 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
Monitoring tools10.01 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
Pre-defined machine images9.01 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
Operating system support10.01 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
Security controls10.01 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
Automation10.01 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
Database-as-a-Service
Comparison of Database-as-a-Service features of Product A and Product B
DigitalOcean Droplets
-
Ratings
Google Cloud SQL
8.9
35 Ratings
5% above category average
PostgreSQL
-
Ratings
Automatic software patching00 Ratings9.612 Ratings00 Ratings
Database scalability00 Ratings8.635 Ratings00 Ratings
Automated backups00 Ratings8.835 Ratings00 Ratings
Database security provisions00 Ratings8.535 Ratings00 Ratings
Monitoring and metrics00 Ratings8.934 Ratings00 Ratings
Automatic host deployment00 Ratings9.012 Ratings00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
DigitalOcean DropletsGoogle Cloud SQLPostgreSQL
Small Businesses
Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2)
Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2)
Score 8.8 out of 10
IBM Cloudant
IBM Cloudant
Score 7.4 out of 10
InfluxDB
InfluxDB
Score 8.8 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
SAP on IBM Cloud
SAP on IBM Cloud
Score 9.0 out of 10
IBM Cloudant
IBM Cloudant
Score 7.4 out of 10
SQLite
SQLite
Score 8.0 out of 10
Enterprises
SAP on IBM Cloud
SAP on IBM Cloud
Score 9.0 out of 10
IBM Cloudant
IBM Cloudant
Score 7.4 out of 10
SQLite
SQLite
Score 8.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
DigitalOcean DropletsGoogle Cloud SQLPostgreSQL
Likelihood to Recommend
10.0
(8 ratings)
8.2
(33 ratings)
8.0
(55 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(2 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Usability
10.0
(1 ratings)
8.3
(15 ratings)
8.3
(9 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
7.0
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(5 ratings)
9.3
(7 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(1 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(11 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
DigitalOcean DropletsGoogle Cloud SQLPostgreSQL
Likelihood to Recommend
DigitalOcean
DigitalOcean Droplets are the best choice for developers teams that need reliable Linux servers to deploy their projects, the ability to create a droplet for testing purposes then destroy it, and only get charged for the few hours used makes the chances of messing up very slim. DigitalOcean Droplets is a great solution because the servers are scalable and the process of adding more resources like CPU or RAM to an existing droplet takes only a few minutes and once a server is scaled up it can also be scaled down if necessary which is perfect for supporting a temporary peak in traffic for example.
Read full review
Google
Does what it promises well, for instance, as a sidecar for the main enterprise data warehouse. However, I would not recommend using it as the main data warehouse, particularly due to the heavy business logic, as other dedicated tools are more suitable for ensuring scalable operations in terms of change management and multi-developer adjustments.
Read full review
PostgreSQL Global Development Group
PostgreSQL is best used for structured data, and best when following relational database design principles. I would not use PostgreSQL for large unstructured data such as video, images, sound files, xml documents, web-pages, especially if these files have their own highly variable, internal structure.
Read full review
Pros
DigitalOcean
  • Simplicity to scale services--the interface is very quick and effective to use
  • Reliability--this is key for us, as any downtime effects our reputation
  • Keeps the costs down--hosting our own equivalent infrastructure would cost a lot more
Read full review
Google
  • It has a easily and user understandable interface which provides it every necessary feature to come up with.
  • It's backend is very strong that can help us to run big quieres without any hesitation.
  • It's integration with other tools are one of the powerful feature which makes it more suitable to use.
Read full review
PostgreSQL Global Development Group
  • It works well with external data sources and runs on platforms with stable performance.
  • Clients can rest assured that their personal information will be safe and secure.
  • Many forums discuss setup and usage, and most are free.
  • Adding tooling applications to a computer is unlimited.
  • PostgreSQL runs on many OS platforms and supports ANSI SQL, stored procedures, and triggers.
Read full review
Cons
DigitalOcean
  • In terms of an availability zone, they have limitations not available in most of the geographical locations.
  • No live support is available which can cause problem if you have outage.
  • Number of service is quite limited.
Read full review
Google
  • Increasing support for more database engines may enable a wider range of application needs to be met.
  • Implementing and updating cutting-edge security features on a constant basis.
  • Streamlining and enhancing the tools for transferring data to Google Cloud SQL from on-premises databases or other cloud providers.
Read full review
PostgreSQL Global Development Group
  • Clearer indications on what is the query plan, to optimize the query
  • More out of the box, Postgres specific, SQL functions
  • It would be nice to have a more visual aid of the relationship between all tables, but possibly this depend more on the UI used
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
DigitalOcean
No answers on this topic
Google
It fits the current needs and bandwith of out lean organization.
Read full review
PostgreSQL Global Development Group
As a needed software for day to day development activities
Read full review
Usability
DigitalOcean
Other platforms dashboard console is more difficult to use. DigitalOcean's dashboard is clean, simple, and straightforward
Read full review
Google
As with other cloud tools, users must learn a new terminology to navigate the various tools and configurations, and understand Google Cloud's configuration structure to perform even the most basic operations. So the learning curve is quite steep, but after a few months, it gets easier to maintain.
Read full review
PostgreSQL Global Development Group
Postgresql is the best tool out there for relational data so I have to give it a high rating when it comes to analytics, data availability and consistency, so on and so forth. SQL is also a relatively consistent language so when it comes to building new tables and loading data in from the OLTP database, there are enough tools where we can perform ETL on a scalable basis.
Read full review
Reliability and Availability
DigitalOcean
No answers on this topic
Google
No answers on this topic
PostgreSQL Global Development Group
PostgreSQL's availability is top notch. Apart from connection time-out for an idle user, the database is super reliable.
Read full review
Performance
DigitalOcean
No answers on this topic
Google
No answers on this topic
PostgreSQL Global Development Group
The data queries are relatively quick for a small to medium sized table. With complex joins, and a wide and deep table however, the performance of the query has room for improvement.
Read full review
Support Rating
DigitalOcean
No answers on this topic
Google
GCP support in general requires a support agreement. For small organizations like us, this is not affordable or reasonable. It would help if Google had a support mechanism for smaller organizations. It was a steep learning curve for us because this was our first entry into the cloud database world. Better documentation also would have helped.
Read full review
PostgreSQL Global Development Group
There are several companies that you can contract for technical support, like EnterpriseDB or Percona, both first level in expertise and commitment to the software.
But we do not have contracts with them, we have done all the way from googling to forums, and never have a problem that we cannot resolve or pass around. And for dozens of projects and more than 15 years now.
Read full review
Online Training
DigitalOcean
No answers on this topic
Google
No answers on this topic
PostgreSQL Global Development Group
The online training is request based. Had there been recorded videos available online for potential users to benefit from, I could have rated it higher. The online documentation however is very helpful. The online documentation PDF is downloadable and allows users to pace their own learning. With examples and code snippets, the documentation is great starting point.
Read full review
Implementation Rating
DigitalOcean
No answers on this topic
Google
No answers on this topic
PostgreSQL Global Development Group
The online documentation of the PostgreSQL product is elaborate and takes users step by step.
Read full review
Alternatives Considered
DigitalOcean
DigitalOcean Droplets is continuously evolving to be more and more powerful. It has great features and has low cost options, which is really great for developers. Its CDN, Loadbalancer, etc. make it a good place to host a high-traffic application. Moroever, DigitalOcean Droplets has a nonprofit program that helps nonprofit sites to run their infrastructure, which is tremendous and no competitor of DigitalOcean Droplets does that.
Read full review
Google
Unlike other products, Google Cloud SQL has very flexible features that allow it to be selected for a free trial account so that the product can be analyzed and tested before purchasing it. Integration capabilities with most of the web services tools are easier regarding Google Cloud SQL with its nature and support.
Read full review
PostgreSQL Global Development Group
Although the competition between the different databases is increasingly aggressive in the sense that they provide many improvements, new functionalities, compatibility with complementary components or environments, in some cases it requires that it be followed within the same family of applications that performs the company that develops it and that is not all bad, but being able to adapt or configure different programs, applications or other environments developed by third parties apart is what gives PostgreSQL a certain advantage and this diversification in the components that can be joined with it, is the reason why it is a great option to choose.
Read full review
Scalability
DigitalOcean
No answers on this topic
Google
No answers on this topic
PostgreSQL Global Development Group
The DB is reliable, scalable, easy to use and resolves most DB needs
Read full review
Return on Investment
DigitalOcean
  • Digital Ocean has been great helping us move web apps to the cloud
  • Digital Ocean has been really helpful when hiring contractors
  • The interface could use some work, but overall its not terrible
Read full review
Google
  • Improved integration with Google Cloud, we have set up some automations with Google Workspace, and we have noticed that the raw data sharing between them is very fast as compared to using some other managed database, not sure why.
  • Due to some downtime during maintenance, we had to set up a relatively small service which ingested the data while this went down and dumped it when it came back up. So this was a negative impact on our ROI, since now we had to remedy this downtime against the same profit margins
  • It was cheaper than the legacy aws service since we needed large database instances
Read full review
PostgreSQL Global Development Group
  • Easy to administer so our DevOps team has only ever used minimal time to setup, tune, and maintain.
  • Easy to interface with so our Engineering team has only ever used minimal time to query or modify the database. Getting the data is straightforward, what we do with it is the bigger concern.
  • It's free. You can't beat that.
Read full review
ScreenShots

Google Cloud SQL Screenshots

Screenshot of migrating to a fully managed database solution - Self-managing a database, such as MySQL, PostgreSQL, or SQL Server, can be inefficient and expensive, with significant effort around patching, hardware maintenance, backups, and tuning. Migrating to a fully managed solution can be done using a Database Migration Service with minimal downtime.Screenshot of data-driven application development - Cloud SQL accelerates application development via integration with the larger ecosystem of Google Cloud services, Google partners, and the open source community.