DigitalOcean MicroVMs vs ix

DigitalOcean MicroVMs costs $0.022 per vCPU-hour and ix costs $0.0288 per vCPU-hour. DigitalOcean MicroVMs runs Firecracker microVMs. ix runs full VMs.

Updated Oct 15, 2026

DigitalOcean MicroVMs

Lightweight virtual machines that run a container image in their own kernel and pause when idle.

Isolation: Firecracker microVM
Free tier: Not listed
Max session: Not listed

Visit site DigitalOcean MicroVMs profile

ix

Cloud VMs with up to 100 vCPUs, billed by usage.

Isolation: Full VM
Free tier: Not listed
Max session: Not listed

Visit site ix profile

What is different

6 fields differ. The rest are the same or not listed.

Field

DigitalOcean MicroVMs

vCPU, per hour: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: $0.022; ix: $0.0288
RAM, per GiB-hour: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: $0.0085; ix: $0.0108
Storage: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: $0.05 per GiB per month, charged when running or paused. Checkpoints are charged until deleted.; ix: $0.101 per GiB-month stored
Billing: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: Per second; ix: Active CPU time only
Largest sandbox: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: 16 vCPU · 32 GiB; ix: 100 vCPU · 256 GiB
Isolation: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: Firecracker microVM; ix: Full VM

Full comparison

18 fields, at each provider's list price

DigitalOcean MicroVMsdocs.digitalocean.com/products/microvms/details/pricingdocs.digitalocean.com

ixix.dev/docs/pricingix.dev

Pricing

vCPU, per hour: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: $0.022; ix: $0.0288
RAM, per GiB-hour: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: $0.0085; ix: $0.0108
Storage: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: $0.05 per GiB per month, charged when running or paused. Checkpoints are charged until deleted.; ix: $0.101 per GiB-month stored
Free tier: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: Not listed; ix: Not listed
Paid plan from: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: Not listed; ix: Pay as you go
Billing: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: Per second; ix: Active CPU time only

Limits

Max session: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: Not listed; ix: Not listed
Idle stop: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: After 5 minutes; ix: Not listed
Largest sandbox: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: 16 vCPU · 32 GiB; ix: 100 vCPU · 256 GiB
Concurrent sandboxes: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: Not listed; ix: Up to 100

Platform

Isolation: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: Firecracker microVM; ix: Full VM
GPU: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: Not listed; ix: Not listed
Snapshots: DigitalOcean MicroVMs:; ix:
Pause and resume: DigitalOcean MicroVMs:; ix: Not listed

Developer

SDKs: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: Not listed; ix: Python, TypeScript, Rust
Integrations: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: Not listed; ix: MCP

Trust

License: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: Not listed; ix: Not listed
BYOC: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: Not listed; ix: Not listed

Hourly cost

One sandbox running for one hour

Size

DigitalOcean MicroVMs

1 vCPU · 2 GiB: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: $0.039; ix: $0.050
2 vCPU · 4 GiB: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: $0.078; ix: $0.101
4 vCPU · 8 GiB: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: $0.156; ix: $0.202

Compute only, at list rates.

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Which one fits

Based on the fields above

DigitalOcean MicroVMs fits when

You want each sandbox in its own microVM.
You want the lower list price: $0.078 against $0.101 an hour for 2 vCPU and 4 GiB.
You need pause and resume.

ix fits when

You want each sandbox to be a full VM.
You use MCP.
Your code waits a lot: CPU is billed only while it is in use.
You need a sandbox larger than 16 vCPU · 32 GiB.

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DigitalOcean MicroVMs

ix

What is different

Full comparison

Pricing

Limits

Platform

Developer

Trust

Hourly cost

Which one fits

DigitalOcean MicroVMs fits when

ix fits when

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