Ionos vs Digital Ocean: Final verdict
When observing IONOS versus DigitalOcean, both hosting providers demonstrate robust features suitable for varying user needs, but they excel in different areas.
-
DigitalOcean (Overall grade: 8.3)
caters predominantly to developers and tech-savvy users with its customizable Droplets, cutting-edge security features, and high performance. Its infrastructure, marked by a 99.99% uptime SLA, extensive monitoring tools, and globally distributed data centers, highlights reliability and advanced capabilities. DigitalOcean excels in high-traffic and multimedia websites with scalable solutions, strong compliance certifications, and secure networking options. While its developer-friendly environment and advanced features make it appealing to those with technical expertise, the lack of email hosting and a built-in website builder may be a downside for novices. Despite this, DigitalOcean maintains strong customer satisfaction through its straightforward pricing, extensive support documentation, and reliable performance.
IONOS (Overall grade: 8.2)
stands out for its comprehensive set of features that cater well to small businesses and agencies. With a user-friendly interface and tools like Click & Build, free domains for the first year, and professional emails included in plans, IONOS makes hosting accessible to beginners and non-technical users. Features such as daily backups, personal consultant support, and scalable performance levels add to its appeal. The inclusion of dedicated hosting, along with advanced SSL certificates and extensive customer support, provides a reassuringly secure environment. However, the absence of a staging environment might be a limitation for users needing intricate site customizations. Overall, IONOS garners positive feedback for its affordability, ease of use, and consistent support, though some users suggest that it may struggle with handling higher traffic demands compared to DigitalOcean.
Overall grade:8.2 |
Overall grade:8.3 |
|
---|---|---|
Uptime and Availability | 9.0 | 9.2 |
Hosting Performance | 8.2 | 8.8 |
Hosting Security | 8.9 | 9.1 |
Price | 8.5 | 8.7 |
Hosting Features | 5.8 | 6.9 |
Ease Of Setup | 8.5 | 8.2 |
User Management | 7.9 | 8.0 |
Customer Support | 8.7 | 7.8 |
User feedback | 3.5/5 | 4.6/5 |
Hosting types offered
Both platforms provide a variety of hosting types, each designed to meet the different needs of users.
Shared hosting | ||
Cloud hosting | ||
WordPress hosting | ||
Ecommerce hosting | ||
VPS hosting | ||
Dedicated hosting |
Although both offer a variety of hosting plans tailored to different needs, in
certain cases, one platform may prove to be more suitable.
Detailed comparison
Uptime and availability
Evaluates the average uptime statistics, uptime guarantee and overall availability of the hosting
provider
Score Components:
- Uptime percentage (30%): evaluates the uptime statistics in given period of time
- Uptime guarantee (20%): Assesses if the platform offers an uptime guarantee and
whether the actual uptime matches the promised guarantee. - General performance (25%): Evaluates how fast is the average response time and overall
it’s stability. - Responsiveness (10%): Adaptability to different devices and screen sizes.
- Availability (25%): Reflects the total downtime and number of outages.
🏆 Winner
DigitalOcean: Offers superior uptime and comprehensive monitoring features.
IONOS provides a reliable hosting service with an uptime guarantee of 99.9%. Its georedundant infrastructure ensures data is mirrored across two centers, reducing downtime risks. Features like DDoS protection, Cloudflare CDN, and scalable performance levels make it a versatile choice. Daily backups and email alerts boost its appeal, ensuring users maintain high performance without interruptions.
DigitalOcean shows a slightly superior performance in terms of reliability and speed. Both hosting services have impressive uptimes, with DigitalOcean slightly edging out IONOS with a 99.99% uptime over a 3-month period compared to IONOS’ 99.89%. This difference in uptime is reflected in the number and duration of outages, where DigitalOcean experienced 3 outages totaling 12 minutes, while IONOS had 5 outages totaling 2h 12 minutes.
DigitalOcean’s advantage is more pronounced in terms of server response time. It boasted an average response time of 389ms, which is significantly lower than the shared hosting industry standard and faster than IONOS’ average response time of 670ms, which can peak up to 1152ms. This suggests that DigitalOcean is not only more reliable in maintaining uptime but also in delivering faster website loading speeds, making it a preferable option for users prioritizing performance.
Which one has better hosting performance?
Score Components:
- Hosting speed (30%): This includes SSD quality, Load times, PageSpeed score ranges,
additional information on website speed, built-in plugins for performance enhancement, available caching
methods, and CPU/RAM options - CDN (20%): Considers whether CDN is available or not, whether it’s free or paid, and
the quality of the CDN service - Available data centers (30%): Evaluates the number of data centers and their locations
globally. - Scalibility (20%): Looks at whether elastic scaling is available, the process required
to scale (manual upgrade vs. automatic scaling), the presence of dedicated servers, and the costs
associated with scaling.
🏆 Winner DigitalOcean: Performance power for developers, featuring a highly customizable environment.
Comparing IONOS and DigitalOcean in terms of general performance, DigitalOcean offers slightly better overall results. Both utilize SSD storage for quick read/write speeds. DigitalOcean’s Droplets can be customized for performance, while IONOS offers dual platform technology and PHP 8.2 with JIT compiler. For caching, DigitalOcean employs various mechanisms, whereas IONOS uses HTTP/2. Both offer a content delivery network (CDN): Cloudflare for IONOS covering over 60 data centers, compared to DigitalOcean’s own CDN to improve load times. IONOS ensures data is georedundant with its mirrored data centers, while DigitalOcean has 14 globally distributed data centers.
Website Speed
Both providers offer features designed to speed up website performance but DigitalOcean holds a slight edge. With CDNs and SSDs in place, both achieve quick load times. DigitalOcean’s caching mechanisms extend further with page and object caching. Their real-time uptime alerts, coupled with load balancing, ensure minimal latency and optimal response times. On IONOS, features like HTTP/2 protocol and PHP 8.2 with JIT compiler make pages load swiftly, and their Cloudflare CDN ensures fast global access.
Scalability
DigitalOcean provides elastic scaling through customizable Droplets, allowing quick adjustments to traffic and resource needs. However, detailed cost breakdowns for these scaling features aren’t provided. IONOS enables scalable performance management with plan upgrades; each level costs an additional $2/month with email alerts for performance limits. Both providers offer solutions for scaling, but DigitalOcean’s flexibility in server customization and resource adjustments is a standout feature.
Which one has better security features?
and regulatory requirements
Score Components:
- Technical security measures (40%): This includes encryption, firewalls, DDoS
protection, secure configurations, server monitoring, access control and availability of security addons
(e.g Sitelock security). - Operational security measures (30%): Encompasses data privacy, backups and data
redundancy. - Compliance and certifications (20%): Adherence to legal and regulatory requirements
(e.g., GDPR, HIPAA) and possession of certifications (e.g., ISO 27001, SOC 2). - Business and reliability (10%): Factors in the provider’s reputation, uptime
guarantees, and customer support.
🏆 Winner
DigitalOcean: Offers extensive certifications and strong security features for web hosting.
Both IONOS and DigitalOcean, have notable differences in their approaches to technical and operational
security, as well as in their compliance with regulations.
Technical security measures:
IONOS provides a range of SSL certificates with up to 256-bit encryption, site seals, and anti-phishing protection. PHP versions supported include the latest as well as extended support for older versions, and features like JIT compiler and OPcache. DigitalOcean also offers SSL certificates and supports multiple PHP versions, but adds advanced encryption at rest and in transit. Both offer DDoS protection, but IONOS also includes customizable firewall rules and georedundant data centers for additional security.
Operational security measures:
IONOS offers daily backups, malware scanning, automatic malware removal, and has georedundant data centers for reliability. DigitalOcean counters with automated backups and snapshots, Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) for secure networking, and a web application firewall. Both providers support secure protocols such as SSH access and provide DDoS protection, but DigitalOcean also adds load balancers and managed databases with SSL/TLS.
Compliance and certifications:
IONOS complies with GDPR but does not specify PCI compliance. DigitalOcean not only complies with GDPR but has multiple additional certifications such as PCI-DSS, SOC 2 Type II, SOC 3 Type II, ISO/IEC 27001:2013, CSA STAR Level 1, and APEC CBPR PRP, making it highly certified for various regulatory requirements.
SSL certificate |
Domain Validated, Organization Validated, Extended Validation |
Available |
Additional security features |
Site seal, malware scanning, daily backups, customized firewall, anti-phishing, anti-spam filters, CDN |
DDoS protection, cloud firewalls, VPC, WAF, load balancers, managed databases |
PHP versions |
4.0 and up, including latest like 8.2 and 8.3, extended support for older versions |
Various versions supported |
GDPR compliance |
Yes |
Yes |
HIPAA compliance |
Not specified |
Not specified |
PCI compliance |
Not specified |
Yes |
Hosting features
Score Components:
- Domains (20%): Assesses the availability of a free domain, domain purchase options, and
pricing - Email (15%): Considers if the provider offers full email hosting, or is reselling
third-party service, and if the email is only transactional or not - Website builder (15%): Checks if website builder is available, and it’s user
friendliness and overall the level of customization allowed. - Staging environment (20%): Determines if a staging environment is available, allowing
for testing changes before going live. - FTP & SFTP accounts (10%): Evaluates if and how easily users can access FTP and
SFTP accounts - Git and SSH access (20%): Assess whether Git is integrated into the hosting service and
if SSH access is provided
🏆 Winner: DigitalOcean: Superior reliability and versatile hosting solutions.
When comparing IONOS and DigitalOcean, one immediately notices differences in their feature sets and unique offerings. IONOS stands out with its comprehensive website solutions, making it user-friendly for beginners due to its Click & Build feature that supports many popular content management systems like WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal. IONOS also offers a free domain for the first year, professional email, and a Wildcard SSL certificate with each plan, which is beneficial for small businesses and personal projects. Its daily backups, easy scalability, and plentiful customer support options, including a personal consultant, are also notable perks. However, IONOS lacks a built-in staging environment, which might be a consideration for users needing complex site customizations and testing setups.
DigitalOcean, on the other hand, excels in providing a developer-friendly environment with high customization capabilities. This provider is well-suited for tech-savvy users, offering advanced features such as SSH access, SSD storage, and a high-speed network. DigitalOcean’s robust security features, high uptime guarantee, and globally distributed data centers highlight its commitment to performance and reliability. While it does not offer a free domain, its infrastructure includes VPS hosting, dedicated hosting, and various managed services like Kubernetes and databases. Moreover, its ticket-based support system ensures that developers can easily resolve issues. Though lacking a traditional website builder, DigitalOcean offers tools and additional services like Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) and load balancers, making it a powerful choice for comprehensive web application deployment.
Free domain |
Yes, for the first year |
No |
Free SSL |
Yes |
Yes |
Email hosting |
Yes |
Yes |
Website builder |
Yes |
No |
Staging environment |
No |
No |
FTP & SFTP accounts |
Yes |
Yes |
Git and SSH access |
Yes |
Yes |
Free backup |
Yes |
Yes |
Money back guarantee |
Yes, 30 days |
No |
a location.
As a result in rare cases the features mentioned here can differ from the ones you see on their websites.
Email services:
IONOS provides robust email hosting directly within its plans, featuring professional email and spam protection, suitable for businesses looking to manage their email campaigns in-house. DigitalOcean, however, does not feature built-in email hosting but allows users to configure transactional emails via third-party services or their own SMTP solutions, favoring those who prefer or require custom setups.
Price
Score Components:
- Plan value (40%): What each pricing tier offers.
- Transparency and clarity (30%): Clearness of pricing structures.
- Flexibility of plans (20%): Range of options to suit different budgets.
- Hidden costs (10%): Additional expenses not included in the plan.
🏆 Winner
DigitalOcean: Renowned for its reliable performance and advanced features, DigitalOcean stands out in the web hosting industry.
Evaluating the pricing of plans among various hosting providers can be complex due to their differing pricing and renewal strategies. Additionally, certain plans require annual commitments, which adds to the difficulty of making comparisons. The prices listed are based on monthly commitments; plans requiring annual commitments are indicated. Additionally, although some providers offer identical plans for WordPress and shared hosting, we have created separate tables for each to enhance clarity.
When comparing the plans of IONOS and DigitalOcean, IONOS offers low-cost options with various features beneficial for small businesses, including free domains and professional emails. Plan prices for IONOS start as low as $4/month with strong introductory offers. DigitalOcean presents a range of options beginning at $4/month, emphasizing high-performance capabilities and extensive features like two-factor authentication and scalable performance. While IONOS provides more straightforward shared hosting and WordPress plans with solid features, DigitalOcean excels with versatile VPS and cloud hosting solutions, ensuring robust security measures.
Start Plan $6
1 website, 25 GB SSD storage, 9 GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 1 email address, free domain, free SSL, SiteAnalytics, SSH, SFTP, WP-CLI access, malware scanning, $55 credit for Fiverr Value for price:8.6
|
Basic Droplet $4
1 website, shared CPU, 25 GB SSD storage, automatic backups, free SSL, DDoS protection Value for price:8.8
|
Grow Plan $10
1 website, 50 GB SSD storage, 15 GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 5 email addresses, free domain, free SSL, SiteAnalytics, SSH, SFTP, WP-CLI access, malware scanning, caching plugin, Jetpack Backup, $55 credit for Fiverr Value for price:8.7
|
Cloudways managed WP hosting $100 credits
1 website, managed WordPress hosting, no plugin restrictions, free SSL, automatic backups, DDoS protection with Cloudflare Value for price:9.0
|
Boost Plan $15
1 website, 75 GB SSD storage, 20 GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 10 email addresses, free domain, free SSL, SiteAnalytics Plus, SSH, SFTP, WP-CLI access, malware scanning & repair, caching plugin, Jetpack Backup Value for price:8.7
|
N/A |
Essential Plan $6
1 website, 10 GB storage, free domain for 1 year, professional email, free Wildcard SSL, daily backup, free 24/7 support Value for price:8.4
|
Basic Droplet $4
1 website, shared CPU, 25 GB SSD storage, automatic backups, free SSL, DDoS protection Value for price:8.8
|
Starter Plan $8
10 websites, 100 GB storage, free domain for 1 year, professional email, free Wildcard SSL, daily backup, free 24/7 support Value for price:8.6
|
Premium Shared CPU Droplet $7
1 website, enhanced memory performance, NVMe SSDs, 25 GB storage Value for price:8.7
|
Plus Plan $12
Unlimited websites, unlimited storage, enhanced CPU & MEM, free domain for 1 year, professional email, free Wildcard SSL, daily backup, free 24/7 support Value for price:8.9
|
N/A |
Ultimate Plan $16
Unlimited websites, unlimited storage, maximum CPU & MEM, free domain for 1 year, professional email, free Wildcard SSL, daily backup, free 24/7 support Value for price:9.0
|
N/A |
Boost Plan $15
1 website, 75 GB SSD storage, 20 GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 10 email addresses, free domain, free SSL, SiteAnalytics Plus, SSH, SFTP, WP-CLI access, malware scanning & repair, caching plugin, Jetpack Backup Value for price:8.7
|
Dedicated CPU Droplet $42
4GB memory, 25GB SSD, 4TB transfer, SSL certificates, DDoS protection, automatic backups Value for price:8.9
|
N/A |
Memory-Optimized Droplets $84
16GB memory, 2vCPUs, 50GB SSD, 4TB transfer, SSL certificates, DDoS protection, automatic backups Value for price:8.8
|
N/A |
Storage-Optimized Droplets $131
16GB memory, 300GB SSD, 4TB transfer, SSL certificates, DDoS protection, automatic backups Value for price:8.6
|
As a result in rare cases the prices displayed here can differ from the ones you see on their websites.
Enterprise plans
For enterprise-level hosting, DigitalOcean offers high-performance solutions with dedicated or memory-optimized droplets starting at $42/month, ideal for resource-heavy applications. IONOS, while providing robust shared and WordPress hosting, offers the Ultimate Plan at $16/month, which includes maximum resources but doesn’t reach the specialization level of DigitalOcean’s advanced droplets.
Ionos vs Digital Ocean: Ease of setup
platform.
Score Components:
- Site migration (25%): Assesses whether the provider offers tools for site migration,
either automated or manual, and whether these services are free or require a fee. - Admin panel usability (35%): Evaluates the type of admin panel provided, such as the
standard cPanel or a custom solution, focusing on its accessibility and user-friendliness for both
technical and non-technical users. - Setup features (20%): Examines the availability and ease of use of various setup
features, including FTP accounts, file managers, email account setup, PHPMyAdmin, and easy CDN
configuration. - Help center quality (20%): Measures the quality and accessibility of the provider’s
help center resources, including articles and tutorials.
🏆 Winner IONOS: Offers a user-friendly setup process with a variety of tools and extensive support.
IONOS provides a custom admin panel designed to be accessible for both technical and non-technical users. With its user-friendly interface, even beginners can manage their hosting needs without difficulty. The WP Assistant helps users set up WordPress sites effortlessly, while the Click & Build feature allows for the easy installation of various apps such as TYPO3, Joomla, and Drupal. Moreover, the managed WordPress hosting solution offers customizable updates and numerous free plugins and themes, ensuring a smooth and efficient site management experience.
DigitalOcean, on the other hand, offers a different type of admin experience through its Droplets and App Platform. The interface is more geared toward developers and tech-savvy users who appreciate full control and customization. The 1-Click Apps provide quick setups for popular CMS and developer tools, but the overall experience might be slightly less intuitive for non-technical users. Cloudways offers managed hosting options for those who seek a simpler approach, but it still comes with a level of complexity compared to IONOS’s straightforward admin panel.
IONOS provides tools for seamless site migration with a comprehensive guide in their Help Center and personalized assistance from a dedicated consultant. These migration services are often included in the hosting packages at no extra cost. DigitalOcean, through Cloudways, also offers migration tools, including automated and manual options. Cloudways generally includes this service in their package, providing a straightforward migration process for users.
The help centers of both hosting providers offer a range of resources. IONOS has an accessible Help Center with detailed articles and 24/7 customer support via phone, chat, and email. Each customer also gets a personal consultant for additional tailored support. DigitalOcean boasts extensive documentation and tutorials, along with community support and 24/7/365 assistance through their ticket system and Cloudways’ live chat support. Both providers ensure users have substantial resources at their disposal.
User management
accessibility.
Score Components:
- Role customization (40%): Flexibility in creating and defining user roles and
permissions. - Ease of management (30%): User interface and tools for managing users.
- Access control (20%): Effectiveness of access control measures for different user
levels. - Scalability (10%): Ability to manage a growing number of users efficiently.
🏆 Winner DigitalOcean: Efficient team management with flexible roles and seamless member invitations.
IONOS and DigitalOcean offer distinct approaches to managing user roles and permissions. IONOS provides a flexible system where roles can be created, cloned, or deleted. Each role can have customizable permissions, which can be tailored by assigning specific permission groups. Conversely, DigitalOcean offers predefined roles, such as Owner, Biller, and Member, each with set access levels. While IONOS allows for greater customization in role definitions, DigitalOcean’s predefined roles simplify the process but lack some flexibility in customization seen in IONOS.
Both hosting platforms offer practical interfaces for managing users. IONOS lists roles in a table format, displaying critical information such as role names, statuses, and assigned users. The permissions for each role can be modified through detailed pages. DigitalOcean allows team owners to invite members through an intuitive “Invite Members” feature, managing team roles and viewing membership statuses easily. DigitalOcean provides additional visibility into members’ sign-in methods, which is a useful feature for enhancing security.
Assessing the effectiveness of access control measures and the platforms’ capabilities to manage users, DigitalOcean supports unlimited team members and roles, making it highly scalable. Team owners can handle invitations, role changes, and removals with ease. IONOS also offers robust access control through customizable roles and permission groups, allowing precise control over user actions. However, the predefined roles in DigitalOcean simplify user management and reduce the complexity that might arise with extensive role customization in IONOS.
DigitalOcean user roles table:
Role | Description | Access highlights |
---|---|---|
Owner | Full access to shared resources, billing, and settings | Can manage all aspects of the team, including billing and resources |
Biller | Access to billing information only | Can view and manage billing details but cannot access resources or settings |
Member | Access to shared resources | Can manage resources but cannot access billing information or settings |
IONOS user roles table:
Role | Description | Access highlights |
---|---|---|
Administrator | All permissions, default role | Full access to all areas of the Cloud Panel |
Customer support
hosting provider.
Score Components:
- Support communication channels (30%): Measures the variety of customer support types
provided (live chat, chatbot, email, phone, etc.) - Availability (20%): Assesses the availability hours for each channel, including 24/7
support options. - Technical support quality (30%): Assesses whether the provider offers comprehensive
technical support, including hardware upgrades (e.g., HDD to SSD), software installations, and web
server configuration changes. - Enterprise support (20%): Checks if there are dedicated or priority support services
for enterprise-level customers.
🏆 Winner
IONOS: A dependable choice for consistent and readily accessible customer support.
Phone support |
||
Live chat support |
||
Chatbot |
||
Email/ticket support |
||
Enterprise support (dedicated agent, priority support) |
IONOS and DigitalOcean both offer 24/7 customer support, but their services differ in several ways. IONOS provides chat and phone support for general inquiries, with designated hours for account verification, renewals, and cancellations. Technical assistance is available from 7 a.m. to midnight EST, via phone or a Help Ticket for email support. They have separate contact numbers for US and international customers. However, some users have reported issues such as slow response times and communication difficulties, often attributed to outsourcing.
On the other hand, DigitalOcean also offers round-the-clock support via live chat, phone, and tickets, with a notable emphasis on providing comprehensive tech support across all plans. On higher-tier plans, DigitalOcean offers advanced technical support, assisting with significant hosting changes like server configurations and software installations. While DigitalOcean generally receives positive feedback, some complaints highlight longer wait times for resolving complex issues, a challenge common in the hosting industry.
Ionos vs Digital Ocean: User feedback
The user feedback on the hosting provider is highly mixed. Some customers appreciate the affordability and ease of use, particularly for startups, and praise the good customer support and convenient packages. However, many others criticize the company’s unreliable service, outdated user interface, and poor handling of issues, including severe downtime and inadequate customer support. There are also concerns about deceptive business practices and difficulty with account management, leading to significant dissatisfaction among long-term users.
DigitalOcean consistently garners praise for its simplicity, user-friendly interface, and transparent pricing, making it ideal for both beginners and experienced developers. Users appreciate the straightforward setup, reliable performance, and excellent customer support, highlighting features like one-click deployment and robust documentation. However, there are some minor criticisms, including a limited variety of server configurations compared to larger providers and occasional slow customer support response times. Despite these drawbacks, DigitalOcean is highly regarded for its cost-effectiveness, ease of use, and overall reliability, particularly for small to medium-sized businesses and startups.
Ionos vs Digital Ocean: FAQ
Which platform is better suited for hosting WordPress websites?
Both IONOS and DigitalOcean are well-suited for hosting WordPress websites, each offering comprehensive managed WordPress hosting services with essential features like SSL, backups, and updates. IONOS includes additional benefits such as free domains and professional emails, making it more beginner-friendly. DigitalOcean, however, provides scalable solutions and high customization, appealing to tech-savvy users.
Are both platforms suitable for beginners?
IONOS is highly suitable for beginners due to its user-friendly interface, tools like Click & Build, and comprehensive customer support, including personal consultant services. It also offers free domains for the first year and professional emails within its plans. DigitalOcean, while powerful and customizable, is more geared toward developers and tech-savvy users, making it less ideal for complete novices.
Which hosting service offers better security features?
DigitalOcean offers superior security features, including advanced encryption at rest and in transit, support for multiple PHP versions, DDoS protection, cloud firewalls, VPC, WAF, load balancers, and managed databases with SSL/TLS. IONOS provides robust security measures, such as SSL certificates, malware scanning, and customizable firewall rules, but DigitalOcean’s extensive certifications and compliance measures give it an edge in security.
Which platform offers better customer support?
IONOS offers better customer support with 24/7 availability via phone, chat, email, and a personal consultant for tailored assistance. It also boasts a help center with detailed articles and community resources. DigitalOcean relies more on its comprehensive documentation, community support, and premium live chat, which might not be as immediate or direct as IONOS’s support options.
Which service is more suitable for hosting a high-traffic website?
DigitalOcean is more suitable for hosting high-traffic websites, providing high performance with scalable resources and a 99.99% uptime SLA. Its infrastructure is designed to handle high-traffic and multimedia websites efficiently. While IONOS offers scalable performance levels and reliable uptime, it may struggle with higher traffic demands compared to DigitalOcean.
The making of this blog
We followed a clear, step-by-step process to write and research this article.