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DigitalOcean Kubernetes costs $3.39 to $163 per month/node as of July 2026, with 6 plans available. Plans: Basic at $12/month/node, CPU-optimized at $42/month/node, NVIDIA H100 GPU at $3.39/month/node, General purpose at $63/month/node, Memory-optimized at $84/month/node, and Storage-optimized at $163/month/node. Pricing depends on your chosen tier, contract length, and negotiated discounts.

Use the interactive pricing calculator to estimate your exact cost based on team size and requirements.

  • Free tier: No free tier available

DigitalOcean Kubernetes offers 6 pricing tiers: Basic, CPU-optimized, NVIDIA H100 GPU, General purpose, Memory-optimized, Storage-optimized. Paid plans include Basic at $12/month/node, CPU-optimized at $42/month/node, NVIDIA H100 GPU at $3.39/hour/node.

Last verified: | Sources: 1 pricing pages and reviews
Know Before You Buy — See DigitalOcean Kubernetes Plans

DigitalOcean Kubernetes lists $3.39-$163/month/node, but hidden costs like implementation and support add to the total as of July 2026. Key hidden costs: worker nodes (droplets), high availability for control plane, block storage. Verified from 1 sources by CostBench.

Hidden Costs Breakdown

1

Worker Nodes (Droplets)

high implementation

The core cost comes from the Droplet nodes that power your clusters, starting at $12/month per node for Basic nodes, with other types ranging from $42/month to $3.39/hour per node, charged per second with a minimum of 60 seconds or $0.01 per node.

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Other node types, such as CPU-optimized, general-purpose, memory-optimized, storage-optimized, and NVIDIA H100 GPU nodes, have higher starting prices, ranging from $42/month to $3.39/hour per node

2

High Availability for Control Plane

medium addon

Enabling High Availability for the control plane costs an additional $40/month, prorated hourly.

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High Availability (HA) for the Control Plane: While the basic control plane is free, enabling High Availability for the control plane costs an additional $40/month, prorated hourly

3

Block Storage

medium addon

Persistent data storage for your Kubernetes clusters starts at $10/month.

industry

Block Storage: Persistent data storage for your Kubernetes clusters starts at $10/month

4

Load Balancers

medium addon

Integration with DigitalOcean Load Balancers is charged separately, starting at $12/month per node, with one source noting a small load balancer costing $10/month.

industry

Load Balancers: Integration with DigitalOcean Load Balancers is charged separately, starting at $12/month per node

5

Bandwidth Overage

low overage

DigitalOcean provides free outbound data transfer starting at 2,000 GiB/node per month for Basic nodes, with overage charges applying at $0.01/GiB.

industry

Load Balancers: Integration with DigitalOcean Load Balancers is charged separately, starting at $12/month per node

6

Backups

low addon

Automated weekly snapshots with four weeks of retention cost 20% of the Droplet's monthly price.

industry

The price increases with the number of nodes in your cluster; for example, three general-purpose nodes at $63/month each would cost $189/month

7

Container Registry Overage

low overage

The DigitalOcean Container Registry is free up to 500 MiB, implying costs beyond this limit.

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Container Registry: The DigitalOcean Container Registry is free up to 500 MiB

8

Egress and Cross-Zone Traffic

medium overage

These are often cited as hidden costs in Kubernetes deployments across cloud providers.

industry

Egress and Cross-Zone Traffic: These are often cited as hidden costs in Kubernetes deployments across cloud providers

9

Orphaned Volumes

medium overage

Unused or detached storage volumes can continue to accrue costs if not properly managed.

industry

Orphaned Volumes: Unused or detached storage volumes can continue to accrue costs if not properly managed

10

Excessive Logs/Metrics Ingestion

medium overage

High volumes of logs and metrics can lead to additional costs for storage and processing.

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Excessive Logs/Metrics Ingestion: High volumes of logs and metrics can lead to additional costs for storage and processing

11

Idle GPUs

high overage

If GPU resources are not fully utilized, they can represent an inefficient cost.

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Idle GPUs: If GPU resources are not fully utilized, they can represent an inefficient cost

12

Engineering Time

critical implementation

The time and effort required to operate and manage Kubernetes clusters, including optimization and troubleshooting, represent a significant implementation cost.

industry

Engineering Time: The time and effort required to operate and manage Kubernetes clusters, including optimization and troubleshooting, represent a significant implementation cost

13

Dedicated Egress IP (App Platform)

low addon

If an application requires a stable outbound IP for allowlisting, it costs $25 per month per app.

industry

Dedicated Egress IP (for App Platform): If an application requires a stable outbound IP for allowlisting, it costs $25 per month per app

Frequently Asked Questions

01 What hidden costs should I budget for with DigitalOcean Kubernetes?

Beyond the license fee, budget for: Worker Nodes (Droplets) ($12/month); High Availability for Control Plane ($40/month); Block Storage ($10/month); Load Balancers ($12/month); Bandwidth Overage ($0.01/GiB); Backups (20%); Dedicated Egress IP (App Platform) ($25 per month). Exact totals depend on your deployment size and negotiated terms.

02 Does DigitalOcean Kubernetes charge for implementation?

DigitalOcean Kubernetes implementation is not included in the license cost. The core cost comes from the Droplet nodes that power your clusters, starting at $12/month per node for Basic nodes, with other types ranging from $42/month to $3.39/hour per node, charged per second with a minimum of 60 seconds or $0. Estimated impact: $12/month.

03 How much does DigitalOcean Kubernetes support cost?

Premium support pricing for DigitalOcean Kubernetes depends on your tier and contract terms. See the sourced cost breakdown above for any verified figures we have.

04 Are there overage or storage costs with DigitalOcean Kubernetes?

DigitalOcean provides free outbound data transfer starting at 2,000 GiB/node per month for Basic nodes, with overage charges applying at $0.01/GiB. Estimated impact: $0.01/GiB.

05 What add-ons cost extra with DigitalOcean Kubernetes?

Add-on pricing for DigitalOcean Kubernetes varies by feature. The sourced cost breakdown above lists any verified add-on costs we have.

Now You Know the Real Cost — See DigitalOcean Kubernetes Plans

Check current DigitalOcean Kubernetes pricing

Prices and terms change; verify against the live pricing page.

See DigitalOcean Kubernetes Pricing