DigitalOcean Postgres alternative
DigitalOcean Managed Postgres, or a whole machine for the same money.
DigitalOcean's managed PostgreSQL is a database node sized by memory, with storage priced by the GiB and standby nodes as an option. Lathe prices the whole machine instead: at the entry plan, about what the smallest node costs, you get a dedicated machine with more memory and storage, and your app and a cache can run on it beside the database.
What each price buys.
- DigitalOcean: a node, plus storage
- The smallest PostgreSQL node is $15.15 a month for 1 GiB of memory and 1 vCPU, with storage from 10 GiB, added in 10 GiB steps at $0.215 per GiB a month. The next size is $30.45 for 2 GiB. Standby nodes for failover are added on top.
- Lathe: the machine
- The entry plan is $15 a month for 1 vCPU, 2 GB of memory and 20 GB of NVMe storage, with 20 TB of traffic a month. Postgres gets a memory budget out of that, which you set; the rest runs whatever else you switch on.
- Pooling and extensions
- PgBouncer on port 6432 for many short connections, direct Postgres on 5432 for migrations and sessions. pgvector, pg_stat_statements, pg_trgm and pgcrypto from the start, more from the allowed list per database.
- Backups
- A daily backup, 7 kept, restored in place with the same address, and the latest one restored and checked every month.
- What you give up
- Standby nodes and automatic failover, read-only replicas, and a large provider's range of regions and products. A Lathe instance is one machine.
- When to stay
- If your stack already lives on DigitalOcean and you want a standby node, stay. If you run one small node and pay separately for the server your app runs on, one machine holding both is the simpler bill.
Good for
- A small app paying for a database node and a server separately
- A database that has outgrown 10 GiB and is paying for storage by the GiB
- Putting a cache beside the database without a second node
- Moving to one flat bill you can read off the pricing page
Questions
How do I move from DigitalOcean Managed Postgres?
pg_dump against the node's connection string, pg_restore --no-owner --no-privileges into the Lathe instance's direct port, then change the connection string in your app. The pooled port 6432 takes the place of a connection pool.
Is the entry plan really comparable?
The machine has more memory and storage than the $15.15 node, but it runs everything you switch on, not only Postgres. Compare the memory budget you give Postgres with the node's memory.
Can my app stay on DigitalOcean?
Yes. It connects over TLS like any client. Choose a Lathe location near the app, since every query crosses the distance between them.
Are the DigitalOcean numbers on this page current?
They were checked against DigitalOcean's managed database pricing page on September 23, 2026. Check them again before quoting them - pricing pages change.
Every number on this page comes from the pricing page's facts.
A whole machine, from $15 a month.
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