Raff is the stronger DigitalOcean App Platform alternative for teams that prioritize lower fixed service prices, $0 public egress, persistent application volumes, Docker Compose imports, and a simpler managed stack. DigitalOcean App Platform is stronger for teams that need 12 deployment regions, a free static-site tier, GitLab and Bitbucket integrations, request-based autoscaling, dedicated CPU containers, and the wider DigitalOcean ecosystem. Raff Apps starts at $3/month, while DigitalOcean starts at $5/month for a dynamic 1 shared vCPU and 512 MiB container or $0 for qualifying static sites. At the matched 2 vCPU and 4 GB dynamic-service level, Raff Pro is $27.99/month and DigitalOcean's shared CPU plan is $50/month before outbound-transfer overages.
Both platforms remove server administration and can deploy source code or container images, but their product boundaries differ. DigitalOcean App Platform offers broader regional placement, multiple Git providers, strong app-spec automation, mature horizontal autoscaling, and a 99.95% App Platform SLA. Raff Apps offers lower listed prices at comparable memory tiers, $0 public egress, managed persistent volumes, full Docker Compose imports, and first-party managed PostgreSQL, MySQL, and Valkey within the same Raff workflow.
For a small SaaS team with users concentrated in or near the eastern United States, Raff is usually easier to budget. For globally distributed applications, teams already using DigitalOcean Managed Databases, or organizations that need GitLab and Bitbucket source integrations, DigitalOcean App Platform may justify the higher service price. Review Cloud VM vs App Platform for Startups before deciding whether either managed platform is the right operating model.
The practical decision is global platform breadth and autoscaling maturity versus lower fixed pricing, persistent volumes, and $0 public egress.
| Decision factor | Choose Raff Apps | Choose DigitalOcean App Platform |
|---|
| Entry dynamic price | You want a managed runtime from $3/month | You want 1 shared vCPU and 512 MiB from $5/month |
| Static sites | A low-cost paid service is acceptable | You want up to 3 qualifying static apps on a free tier |
| Geography | One managed us-east region fits the workload | You need deployment across 12 regions |
| Bandwidth | Public egress should cost $0 | Included pooled transfer is sufficient and $0.02/GiB overage is acceptable |
| Persistent files | You need application volumes attached to services | You can use object storage or databases because App Platform does not support volumes |
| Deployment definition | Docker Compose import is important | App Spec YAML, multiple Git providers, or DigitalOcean tooling is preferred |
| Scaling | Fixed service tiers and scale-to-zero fit the workload | Request-based or CPU-based horizontal autoscaling is required |
| Ecosystem | Raff Apps, managed databases, object storage, and VMs cover the stack | You already use DigitalOcean databases, Spaces, Container Registry, Functions, or DOKS |
Raff is the clearer choice for teams optimizing predictable monthly application cost. DigitalOcean App Platform is the clearer choice for teams optimizing location choice, source-provider integrations, autoscaling controls, and alignment with an established DigitalOcean account.
DigitalOcean App Platform is a fully managed Platform-as-a-Service that deploys applications from source repositories or container images. DigitalOcean builds, deploys, routes, monitors, and scales application components while abstracting the underlying servers.
Supported component types include:
- Web services
- Static sites
- Background workers
- Cron jobs
- Deployment jobs
- Functions
- Development and managed database integrations
DigitalOcean can deploy source from GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, and public Git repositories. Container deployments can use DigitalOcean Container Registry, Docker Hub, and GitHub Container Registry. Applications can be configured through the control panel, API, doctl, Terraform, or an App Spec YAML file.
The platform supports automatic builds, Dockerfiles, prebuilt images, environment variables, custom domains, automatic HTTPS, health checks, logs, deployment alerts, internal routing, rollbacks, monorepos, and branch-based deployment workflows. Static sites use DigitalOcean's CDN and can qualify for the free tier.
DigitalOcean App Platform offers shared and dedicated CPU container plans. Manual horizontal scaling is available on scalable shared and dedicated plans. Request-based autoscaling works with shared and dedicated plans, while CPU-based autoscaling requires dedicated CPU. Apps can scale to as many as 250 containers with fixed or CPU-based scaling, while request-based autoscaling supports up to 100 containers.
The strongest advantages are 12 available regions, multiple source providers, a mature API and App Spec workflow, autoscaling, and integration with the broader DigitalOcean catalog. The main limitations for this comparison are higher prices at comparable RAM tiers, metered outbound transfer after the included allowance, and no persistent application volumes. App Platform containers have a 4 GiB ephemeral local filesystem that is replaced during deployments, scaling, and other container lifecycle events.
Raff overview
Raff Apps is Raff's managed application platform for deploying source code, Dockerfiles, container images, buildpack applications, and Docker Compose stacks without administering a Linux server.
Raff Apps supports:
- Public web services
- Private services
- Long-running workers
- Timezone-aware cron jobs
- One-off jobs
- Pull-request preview environments
- Persistent application volumes
- Managed PostgreSQL, MySQL, and Valkey
- Private service bindings
- Object-storage integrations
- Health checks and deployment logs
- Immutable revisions and one-click rollback
- Scale-to-zero behavior
Raff publishes fixed monthly ceilings and prorates runtime by the second. Current service tiers are:
| Tier | vCPU | RAM | Ephemeral disk | Monthly ceiling |
|---|
| Micro | 0.25 | 512 MB | 2 GB | $3.00 |
| Starter | 0.5 | 1 GB | 5 GB | $6.99 |
| Standard | 1 | 2 GB | 10 GB | $16.99 |
| Pro | 2 | 4 GB | 20 GB | $27.99 |
| Pro Max | 4 | 8 GB | 40 GB | $61.99 |
| Scale | 8 | 16 GB | 80 GB | $119.99 |
Public egress, workspace access, and team seats cost $0. The spend cap is enabled by default, creating a visible billing boundary before traffic increases.
Raff currently exposes one managed public region, us-east. That is a major limitation for teams needing regional placement outside the eastern United States. Its advantage is a compact platform with lower listed service prices, persistent volumes, Docker Compose imports, $0 public egress, and direct support.
Raff reports 3,000+ customers and 15,000+ production VMs, with a 99.9% uptime SLA, a 4.4/5 Trustpilot rating, and a 4.6/5 G2 rating.
DigitalOcean bills each application component according to its container size multiplied by the number of containers. Runtime components are billed per second with a one-minute minimum. Raff also prorates runtime by the second but publishes a monthly ceiling for each service tier.
Dynamic service pricing
| Resource level | Raff Apps | DigitalOcean App Platform | Practical difference |
|---|
| 512 MB | Micro — 0.25 vCPU / 512 MB / $3.00 | 1 shared vCPU / 512 MiB / $5.00 | DigitalOcean provides more listed CPU; Raff is $2 lower |
| 1 GB fixed | Starter — 0.5 vCPU / 1 GB / $6.99 | 1 shared vCPU / 1 GiB fixed / $10.00 | DigitalOcean provides more listed CPU; Raff is $3.01 lower |
| 1 GB scalable | Starter — 0.5 vCPU / 1 GB / $6.99 | 1 shared vCPU / 1 GiB / $12.00 | DigitalOcean supports manual scaling; Raff is $5.01 lower |
| 2 GB | Standard — 1 vCPU / 2 GB / $16.99 | 1 shared vCPU / 2 GiB / $25.00 | Closely matched compute; Raff is $8.01 lower |
| 4 GB | Pro — 2 vCPU / 4 GB / $27.99 | 2 shared vCPU / 4 GiB / $50.00 | Matched CPU and RAM totals; Raff is $22.01 lower |
| 2 dedicated vCPU / 4 GB | No separately labeled dedicated Apps tier | 2 dedicated vCPU / 4 GiB / $78.00 | DigitalOcean offers a dedicated CPU option |
CPU scheduling and underlying hardware are not identical across providers, so these rows compare published resource totals and prices rather than measured performance.
Static-site pricing
DigitalOcean offers up to three apps containing only static-site components on its free tier. Each free static app includes 1 GiB of outbound transfer. Additional apps containing static components cost $3/month, and transfer above the allowance costs $0.02/GiB.
Raff does not currently publish a free static-site tier. A static application can use the $3 Micro service or Raff Object Storage and a delivery layer, depending on the architecture.
Database and network add-ons
DigitalOcean development PostgreSQL databases cost $7/month for 512 MB. Production managed databases are separate DigitalOcean resources. Dedicated App Platform egress IP addresses cost up to $25/month.
Raff managed databases are separate services integrated with Raff Apps. Public egress remains $0, and no team-seat or workspace surcharge is added to the app-platform bill.
Cost interpretation
DigitalOcean provides more listed shared CPU at the smallest 512 MB and 1 GB tiers. Raff becomes especially compelling at the directly matched 1 vCPU / 2 GB and 2 vCPU / 4 GB levels. DigitalOcean may justify the premium when 12-region placement, GitLab or Bitbucket integration, autoscaling, dedicated CPUs, or a DigitalOcean-native stack is required.
DigitalOcean App Platform pricing was verified against official documentation on July 30, 2026. Raff prices follow the current July 2026 Raff rate card.
Bandwidth and transfer policy
Each DigitalOcean App Platform plan includes a monthly outbound-transfer allowance. Usage and allowance are pooled across all App Platform apps at the team level. Additional outbound transfer costs $0.02 per GiB, while inbound transfer is free.
Raff Apps prices public egress at $0. Application responses, API traffic, downloads, and other public outbound data do not create a per-GB Raff Apps charge.
| Plan example | Raff Apps | DigitalOcean App Platform |
|---|
| 2 vCPU / 4 GB base price | $27.99/month | $50.00/month with 250 GiB included |
| 250 GiB outbound | $27.99 | $50.00 |
| 500 GiB outbound | $27.99 | About $55.00 |
| 1 TiB outbound | $27.99 | About $65.48 |
| 2 TiB outbound | $27.99 | About $85.96 |
The DigitalOcean examples assume no unused transfer allowance from other App Platform components in the same team pool. A team with several underutilized components may reduce or eliminate overage through pooled allowances.
DigitalOcean does not currently expose accrued allowance or cumulative App Platform transfer usage directly, although ingress metrics are available for individual apps. This can make mid-cycle forecasting harder for teams with many components.
Raff is easier to forecast for bandwidth-heavy APIs, file delivery, media services, and applications with unpredictable outbound traffic. DigitalOcean can remain cost-effective when included pooled transfer is sufficient or when global regional placement provides more value than the egress difference.
Compute
| Feature | Raff Apps | DigitalOcean App Platform |
|---|
| Entry dynamic plan | $3 — 0.25 vCPU / 512 MB | $5 — 1 shared vCPU / 512 MiB |
| 1 vCPU / 2 GB | $16.99 | $25 shared CPU |
| 2 vCPU / 4 GB | $27.99 | $50 shared CPU |
| Dedicated CPU containers | Not separately labeled | Available from $29/month |
| Web services | Available | Available |
| Workers | Available | Available |
| Jobs and cron | Available | Available |
Networking
| Feature | Raff Apps | DigitalOcean App Platform |
|---|
| Public regions | 1 managed us-east region | 12 regions |
| Public egress | $0 | Included allowance, then $0.02/GiB |
| Automatic HTTPS | Available | Available |
| Custom domains | Available | Up to 500 domains per app |
| Dedicated egress IP | Platform-dependent | Up to $25/month |
| CDN edge controls | Use external or integrated services | Built-in Cloudflare-backed edge features |
| Private service traffic | Managed service bindings | Internal routes and VPC-capable components |
Storage & Backups
| Feature | Raff Apps | DigitalOcean App Platform |
|---|
| Ephemeral local disk | 2–80 GB by tier | 4 GiB local filesystem limit |
| Persistent application volumes | Available | Not supported |
| Object storage | Raff S3-compatible Object Storage | DigitalOcean Spaces |
| Managed PostgreSQL | Available | Development and production options |
| Managed MySQL | Available | Production managed database |
| Redis-compatible service | Managed Valkey | Managed Valkey |
| Application backup path | Volumes, databases, and object storage require explicit recovery design | Databases and Spaces require separate backup design; local app filesystem is ephemeral |
| Feature | Raff Apps | DigitalOcean App Platform |
|---|
| Source providers | GitHub | GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, public Git |
| Buildpacks | Available | Available |
| Dockerfile | Available | Available |
| Prebuilt images | Available | DOCR, Docker Hub, and GHCR |
| Docker Compose import | Full stack import | No native Compose import; components use App Spec or control panel configuration |
| App specification | Managed visual workflow | YAML App Spec, API, doctl, Terraform |
| Pull-request previews | Available | Available through GitHub Actions and app workflows |
Pricing & Billing
| Feature | Raff Apps | DigitalOcean App Platform |
|---|
| Dynamic entry price | $3/month | $5/month |
| Free static tier | No published free tier | Up to 3 qualifying static apps |
| Runtime billing | Per-second prorating with monthly ceiling | Per second with one-minute minimum |
| Public egress overage | $0 | $0.02/GiB after pooled allowance |
| Team seats | $0 | DigitalOcean team model |
| Dedicated egress IP | Platform-dependent | Up to $25/month |
| Spend boundary | Default spend cap and published ceiling | Estimated component cost based on size and replica count |
Scaling & Releases
| Feature | Raff Apps | DigitalOcean App Platform |
|---|
| Scale to zero | Available | Available as Inactivity Sleep where enabled |
| Manual horizontal scaling | Platform service controls | Available on scalable shared and dedicated plans |
| Request-based autoscaling | Not presented as a public Raff feature | Available on shared and dedicated services |
| CPU-based autoscaling | Not presented as a public Raff feature | Dedicated CPU plans only |
| Maximum replicas | Platform-defined | Up to 250 fixed/CPU-based; 100 request-based |
| Health checks | Available | Available |
| Rollback | Immutable revisions and one-click rollback | Deployment history and rollback workflows |
Trust & Operations
| Feature | Raff Apps | DigitalOcean App Platform |
|---|
| Public scale signal | 3,000+ customers; 15,000+ production VMs | DigitalOcean is a public developer-cloud company |
| Review signal | Trustpilot 4.4/5; G2 4.6/5 | Broader DigitalOcean public review and operating history |
| App-platform SLA | 99.9% Raff SLA | 99.95% per App Platform component instance |
| Platform maintenance | Managed by Raff | Managed by DigitalOcean |
| Included support | Direct Raff support | DigitalOcean support model and plans |
| Best fit | Cost-conscious teams centered on us-east | Multi-region teams in the DigitalOcean ecosystem |
Infrastructure
| Feature | Raff Apps | DigitalOcean App Platform |
|---|
| Region selection | us-east | NYC, AMS, SFO, SGP, LON, FRA, TOR, BLR, SYD, ATL, RIC, MKC |
| Underlying server access | No | No SSH or SFTP access to App Platform containers |
| Container architecture | Managed Raff runtime | Linux AMD64 images in a gVisor sandbox |
| Multi-component apps | Web, private, worker, cron, jobs, databases | Service, static site, worker, job, function, database components |
| Wider cloud products | VMs, Kubernetes, databases, storage, networking | Droplets, DOKS, databases, Spaces, registry, Functions, networking |
| Best architecture fit | Managed apps needing predictable cost and persistent volumes | Globally placed, autoscaled apps using DigitalOcean services |
DigitalOcean wins on regions, source-provider breadth, dedicated CPU choices, free static sites, App Spec automation, and autoscaling. Raff wins on listed prices at the 1 vCPU / 2 GB and 2 vCPU / 4 GB levels, persistent application volumes, Docker Compose imports, and $0 public egress.
This comparison does not declare a performance winner. Raff and DigitalOcean App Platform have 0 controlled head-to-head benchmarks using the same application image, region, CPU class, memory allocation, request profile, database topology, and repeated test window.
DigitalOcean publishes shared and dedicated CPU plans. Raff publishes service vCPU and memory tiers without presenting the same shared-versus-dedicated labels for Apps. A valid benchmark would need to control for CPU scheduling, region, runtime, build output, connection reuse, CDN behavior, and database placement.
Reliability commitments
DigitalOcean commits to 99.95% monthly uptime for each App Platform component instance. Raff publishes a 99.9% uptime SLA. On the stated platform commitment alone, DigitalOcean has the stronger numerical SLA.
Application architecture still determines end-user reliability. DigitalOcean notes that high availability requires two or more containers so its load balancer has a failover target. A one-container app remains a single application-instance failure point even when the platform SLA applies.
Raff services also require an appropriate replica, database, storage, and recovery design. A managed platform removes server administration; it does not automatically make application code, migrations, third-party APIs, or stateful dependencies highly available.
Persistent state
The clearest product-level reliability difference is persistent storage. DigitalOcean App Platform does not support volumes, and its 4 GiB local filesystem is ephemeral. Production applications must put durable files in Spaces, managed databases, or an external storage system.
Raff Apps supports persistent application volumes. This is useful for applications that cannot immediately externalize every file. Persistent volumes still require backup and restore planning and may constrain horizontal scaling if several instances need shared access.
Scaling behavior
DigitalOcean has stronger documented horizontal-scaling controls. Request-based autoscaling can use requests per second or P95 response time on shared and dedicated services. CPU-based autoscaling is available on dedicated CPU plans. Fixed and CPU-based configurations can reach 250 containers, while request-based scaling can reach 100.
Raff's simpler model is easier to understand for small teams but exposes fewer public autoscaling controls. Teams with large or sharply variable request loads should treat DigitalOcean's autoscaling as a meaningful advantage.
Deployment and recovery
Both platforms support health checks, deployment history, logs, environment variables, and managed rollbacks. Raff emphasizes immutable revisions and one-click rollback. DigitalOcean supports App Spec configuration, API automation, deployment jobs, GitHub Actions, and force-rebuild workflows.
A safe production design on either platform needs database-native backups, object-storage protection, secret ownership, migration compatibility, and a tested rollback process.
Choose DigitalOcean App Platform when:
- You need 12 regions — DigitalOcean offers application placement across North America, Europe, Asia, India, and Australia.
- A free static-site tier matters — up to three qualifying static apps can run free with 1 GiB outbound data per app.
- You use GitLab or Bitbucket — DigitalOcean supports both directly in addition to GitHub and public Git.
- Autoscaling is a core requirement — request-based scaling works on shared and dedicated services, and CPU-based scaling is available on dedicated CPU.
- Dedicated CPU containers are required — DigitalOcean provides dedicated plans from 1 vCPU upward.
- You already use DigitalOcean products — App Platform connects naturally with Managed Databases, Spaces, Container Registry, Functions, and DOKS.
- App Spec and
doctl fit your workflow — DigitalOcean provides a mature declarative YAML, API, CLI, and Terraform path.
- A 99.95% App Platform SLA matters — DigitalOcean's numerical service commitment is higher than Raff's 99.9% SLA.
The broader DigitalOcean versus Raff provider comparison covers Droplets, bandwidth, infrastructure regions, backups, and the full cloud catalog rather than only the PaaS layer.
Choose Raff Apps when:
- Lower fixed service prices matter — Raff is $16.99 versus $25 at 1 vCPU / 2 GB and $27.99 versus $50 at 2 vCPU / 4 GB.
- Public egress is significant — Raff Apps prices public outbound transfer at $0.
- Persistent application volumes are required — DigitalOcean App Platform does not support volumes.
- Docker Compose is the deployment source — Raff can import a full Compose stack instead of translating it into separate App Spec components.
- A default spend boundary is valuable — Raff publishes service ceilings and enables a spend cap by default.
- GitHub is sufficient — teams that do not require GitLab or Bitbucket lose little from Raff's narrower source integration.
- The workload is centered on
us-east — one Raff region is sufficient and DigitalOcean's geographic advantage would be unused.
- A compact provider relationship is preferred — Raff Apps, VMs, managed databases, object storage, and Kubernetes use one smaller workflow and support relationship.
For nearby PaaS decisions, compare Render and Raff, Fly.io and Raff, and Coolify and Raff.
:::cluster
A DigitalOcean App Platform migration is primarily a component-definition, data, networking, and source-integration project.
- Inventory the DigitalOcean app. Export the App Spec and record services, static sites, workers, jobs, functions, databases, source repositories, branches, build commands, run commands, environment-variable scopes, domains, routes, health checks, replica counts, autoscaling rules, region, egress IPs, log destinations, and alerts.
- Map components to Raff services. Move public HTTP components to web services, internal APIs to private services, queue consumers to workers, schedules to cron jobs, and administrative commands to one-off jobs. Decide whether functions remain functions or become services.
- Choose a portable build source. Use GitHub, a Dockerfile, a prebuilt image, a buildpack, or Docker Compose. GitLab and Bitbucket repositories may need a GitHub mirror or an external build pipeline that publishes a container image Raff can deploy.
- Move databases and durable files. Export development or managed databases with native tools. Copy Spaces objects to Raff Object Storage or another S3-compatible target. Do not expect meaningful state in the App Platform local filesystem because it is ephemeral.
- Recreate configuration and test. Add variables, secrets, routes, domains, health checks, managed databases, private bindings, persistent volumes, object-storage credentials, and external allowlists. Test on temporary hostnames and perform a restore rehearsal.
- Cut over with rollback. Lower DNS TTL, freeze writes where necessary, perform the final database and object sync, update DNS and callback URLs, monitor the Raff deployment, and keep the DigitalOcean app available until the rollback window closes.
Operational gotchas:
- App Spec is not Docker Compose. Translate DigitalOcean component definitions into Raff services or create a Compose stack that models the application correctly.
- GitLab and Bitbucket are not direct Raff sources. Mirror the repository to GitHub or deploy a container image from an external CI pipeline.
- Autoscaling rules are not portable. Re-evaluate replicas, service size, scale-to-zero behavior, and traffic assumptions on Raff.
- Dedicated egress IPs change. Update database trusted sources, SaaS allowlists, SMTP relays, payment systems, and partner firewalls.
- Static-site CDN behavior changes. Review cache rules, redirects, custom headers, and domain configuration after migration.
- Database regions matter. Keep applications and databases close enough to avoid latency and cross-provider reliability issues.
- Local files should not contain state. DigitalOcean's filesystem is ephemeral, but verify that the application has not accidentally relied on temporary files or generated assets.
The application code is usually portable. The largest migration risks are source-provider assumptions, App Spec configuration, managed database state, object storage, autoscaling behavior, and network allowlists.
<a href="https://www.digitalocean.com/products/app-platform" rel="external noopener">DigitalOcean App Platform</a> is DigitalOcean's fully managed PaaS for deploying source code, static sites, workers, jobs, functions, and container images. It handles builds, deployments, routing, scaling, monitoring, and underlying infrastructure across 12 regions.
DigitalOcean App Platform supports GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, public Git, DigitalOcean Container Registry, Docker Hub, and GitHub Container Registry. Its current pricing, transfer allowances, regional availability, scaling behavior, storage limits, and SLA were checked against official DigitalOcean sources on July 30, 2026.
The decision resolves across six practical axes:
- Price: Raff starts at $3/month and is $27.99 at 2 vCPU / 4 GB; DigitalOcean starts at $5 for dynamic apps and is $50 at 2 shared vCPU / 4 GiB.
- Static sites: DigitalOcean offers a free tier for up to three qualifying static apps; Raff does not publish an equivalent free tier.
- Geography: DigitalOcean offers 12 regions; Raff Apps currently offers
us-east.
- Bandwidth: Raff public egress is $0; DigitalOcean includes plan allowances and charges $0.02/GiB above the pooled amount.
- Storage: Raff supports persistent application volumes; DigitalOcean App Platform provides only a 4 GiB ephemeral filesystem and does not support volumes.
- Scaling: DigitalOcean offers mature request-based and CPU-based autoscaling; Raff provides a simpler fixed-tier and scale-to-zero model.
Choose DigitalOcean App Platform when regions, multiple Git providers, autoscaling, dedicated CPU, a free static tier, or DigitalOcean ecosystem integration outweigh the higher dynamic-service price. Choose Raff when lower fixed prices, persistent volumes, Docker Compose imports, $0 public egress, and predictable us-east deployment matter more.
Raff supports 3,000+ customers and 15,000+ production VMs, with a 4.4/5 Trustpilot rating and a 4.6/5 G2 rating. Start with Raff Apps when the goal is a managed application platform with a tighter monthly cost boundary.
