The server: DigitalOcean Droplet prices
DigitalOcean's Droplet pricing page, read on 13 October 2026, lists these Basic plans. Backups are a percentage add-on: the page states percentage-based backups set at 20% of Droplet cost for weekly and 30% for daily.
| Monthly price | Memory | vCPU | SSD | Transfer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $6 | 1 GiB | 1 | 25 GiB | 1,000 GiB |
| $12 | 2 GiB | 1 | 50 GiB | 2,000 GiB |
| $18 | 2 GiB | 2 | 60 GiB | 3,000 GiB |
| $24 | 4 GiB | 2 | 80 GiB | 4,000 GiB |
| $48 | 8 GiB | 4 | 160 GiB | 5,000 GiB |
The panel: published plan prices
A server panel provisions the web server, PHP, database and SSL on your Droplet and gives you a dashboard. The panel subscription is separate from the server bill. Ploi's pricing page states that its pricing does not include server fees, and SpinupWP's page describes connecting your own provider such as DigitalOcean.
- SpinupWP lists additional servers as low as $1 per month per additional server, depending on volume.
- Ploi lists a Free plan for 1 server and 1 site, and a 10% saving for yearly billing.
- RunCloud's documentation names its plans Essentials, Professional, Business and Enterprise and states that inactive or offline servers still count toward the server quota; its prices were not readable from its pricing page on 13 October 2026, so they are not listed here.
- Backup storage destinations, such as an S3-compatible bucket, are billed by that storage provider, not by the panel.
| Panel | Plan and price | Servers | Backups in plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| SpinupWP | Essentials, $12 per month | 1 server, unlimited sites | 1 daily backup per site |
| SpinupWP | Advanced, $19 per month | 1 server, unlimited sites | Up to 4 daily, 4 weekly and 4 monthly per site |
| Ploi | Basic, $10 per month | Up to 5 servers | Automatic database and file backups not included |
| Ploi | Pro, $16 per month | Up to 10 servers | Automatic database and file backups included |
| Ploi | Unlimited, $36 per month | Unlimited | Automatic database and file backups included |
Monthly cost math for one course site
Using list prices above for one site on a 2 GiB Droplet: $12 Droplet plus $3.60 for DigitalOcean daily backups (30%) plus $12 for SpinupWP Essentials is $27.60 per month. With Ploi Pro instead, $12 plus $16 is $28 before any off-server backup storage. Taxes, a premium DNS or email service, and off-site storage are extra.
This is the comparison to put next to a managed plan, but it is not like for like: a managed host's price includes support staff and platform-level responsibilities that move to you on a VPS. Our total hosting cost guide covers how to add your own time to the comparison.
What you remain responsible for
DigitalOcean's Droplet policies state that Droplets are completely unmanaged and that DigitalOcean does not have direct access to user Droplets. The panel takes on part of the work, and the vendors are explicit about the rest.
| Task | Who handles it, per published documentation |
|---|---|
| Security updates to server software | SpinupWP configures servers to install software security updates automatically; Ploi lists Automatic Server Updates on paid plans |
| Non-security server updates | You; SpinupWP says it is your responsibility to SSH in and install non-security updates |
| Theme and plugin updates | You; SpinupWP states themes and plugins are not updated automatically |
| Firewall | SpinupWP allows only incoming SSH, HTTP and HTTPS through the firewall it configures |
| Malware cleanup, scaling, custom server configs, speed work | Not covered; SpinupWP lists these as things it will not do |
| Backups of the Droplet | Optional DigitalOcean add-on, priced as a percentage of the Droplet |
Who this setup is for, and who should skip it
- Good fit: a course business with a developer or technical co-founder who can respond to an outage, and a budget where $30 per month matters.
- Good fit: agencies running several small sites, where one panel subscription covers multiple servers.
- Poor fit: a solo creator whose renewals and lesson access must keep working while they are teaching or travelling, with nobody to SSH in.
- Poor fit: sites already struggling with logged-in performance; a bigger Droplet helps, but diagnosing slow plugins is still your job.
- Before choosing, decide who patches, who restores, and who answers when MemberPress renewals stop at 2am. If the answer is nobody, budget for a managed host instead; our shared host or cloud VM guide walks through that choice.
Questions before you decide
Does the panel price include the server?
No. Ploi states its pricing does not include server fees, and SpinupWP is used with your own provider account such as DigitalOcean, which bills separately.
Will DigitalOcean fix my WordPress site if it breaks?
DigitalOcean describes Droplets as completely unmanaged with no direct access to user Droplets, so site and server repair is your responsibility or your panel's within its stated scope.
Sources & verification
Product details and prices can change. Check the linked provider before buying.
- DigitalOcean: Droplet pricing Accessed 13 Oct 2026
- DigitalOcean: Droplet policies Accessed 13 Oct 2026
- SpinupWP: Pricing Accessed 13 Oct 2026
- SpinupWP: Server and site security Accessed 13 Oct 2026
- Ploi: Pricing Accessed 13 Oct 2026
- RunCloud: Updating your subscription Accessed 13 Oct 2026
Sources link directly to providers. Product buttons may use separately labeled affiliate links. Read our disclosure.