DigitalOcean MicroVMs vs Modal

DigitalOcean MicroVMs costs $0.022 per vCPU-hour and Modal costs $0.070956 per vCPU-hour. DigitalOcean MicroVMs runs Firecracker microVMs. Modal runs gVisor, offers GPUs and limits a session to 24 hours.

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

Modal

Serverless compute with sandboxes and GPUs.

Isolation: gVisor
Free tier: $30 credit every month
Max session: 24 hours

Visit site Modal profile

What is different

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

Field

DigitalOcean MicroVMs

Modal

vCPU, per hour: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: $0.022; Modal: $0.070956
RAM, per GiB-hour: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: $0.0085; Modal: $0.024012
Isolation: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: Firecracker microVM; Modal: gVisor

Full comparison

18 fields, at each provider's list price

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

Modalmodal.com/pricing

Pricing

vCPU, per hour: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: $0.022; Modal: $0.070956
RAM, per GiB-hour: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: $0.0085; Modal: $0.024012
Storage: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: $0.05 per GiB per month, charged when running or paused. Checkpoints are charged until deleted.; Modal: Not listed
Free tier: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: Not listed; Modal: $30 credit every month
Paid plan from: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: Not listed; Modal: Pay as you go
Billing: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: Per second; Modal: Per second

Limits

Max session: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: Not listed; Modal: 24 hours
Idle stop: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: After 5 minutes; Modal: Not listed
Largest sandbox: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: 16 vCPU · 32 GiB; Modal: Not listed
Concurrent sandboxes: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: Not listed; Modal: Not listed

Platform

Isolation: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: Firecracker microVM; Modal: gVisor
GPU: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: Not listed; Modal:
Snapshots: DigitalOcean MicroVMs:; Modal:
Pause and resume: DigitalOcean MicroVMs:; Modal: Not listed

Developer

SDKs: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: Not listed; Modal: Python, JavaScript / TypeScript, Go
Integrations: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: Not listed; Modal: Claude Agent SDK, Claude Code

Trust

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

Hourly cost

One sandbox running for one hour

Size

DigitalOcean MicroVMs

Modal

1 vCPU · 2 GiB: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: $0.039; Modal: $0.119
2 vCPU · 4 GiB: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: $0.078; Modal: $0.238
4 vCPU · 8 GiB: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: $0.156; Modal: $0.476

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 $0.238 an hour for 2 vCPU and 4 GiB.
You need pause and resume.

Modal fits when

You need GPUs.
You use the Claude Agent SDK or Claude Code.
You need a desktop in the sandbox.
You need SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA and GDPR.

More comparisons

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DigitalOcean MicroVMs

Modal

What is different

Full comparison

Pricing

Limits

Platform

Developer

Trust

Hourly cost

Which one fits

DigitalOcean MicroVMs fits when

Modal fits when

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