The matchup desk
DigitalOcean App Platform or Koyeb
Two tools, read side by side from their own public pages.
This week’s matchup
DigitalOcean App Platform suits teams that want Git push-to-deploy web hosting with a $0/month starting point, sitting in the same account and bill as DigitalOcean's databases, storage and inference. Koyeb is aimed more directly at AI workloads, with per-second GPU billing, scale-to-zero, serverless Postgres and isolated sandboxes for AI-generated code. Its paid plans start at $29/mo plus compute. Koyeb has also announced it is joining Mistral AI.
The case for DigitalOcean App Platform
You want a managed web app host that starts at $0/month. You already use DigitalOcean databases, storage or inference and want one bill. You want automatic HTTPS, automatic OS patching and deployment rollbacks handled for you. You may later move to Droplets or managed Kubernetes inside the same provider.
DigitalOcean App Platform on file
Hosting
A fully managed PaaS for building, deploying, and scaling web applications, APIs, and static sites.
- Git-based deployments
- Built-in CI/CD
- Horizontal scaling
- CPU-based autoscaling
- Automatic HTTPS
- Custom domains
- Automatic OS patching
- Application metrics
The case for Koyeb
You need to serve models on GPUs, from RTX-4000-SFF-ADA up to 8x H200, billed per second. You want autoscaling with scale-to-zero for apps or inference endpoints. You are building agent products that need isolated sandboxes for AI-generated code. You want compute and a serverless Postgres database on one platform.
Hosting
Koyeb is a serverless infrastructure platform for deploying and scaling AI applications across CPUs, GPUs, and accelerators.
- Serverless containers
- Autoscaling
- Scale-to-zero
- GPU compute
- CPU compute
- Accelerator support
- Global deployments
- Managed Postgres
At a glance
| Aspect | DigitalOcean App Platform | Koyeb |
|---|---|---|
| Focus | Managed platform-as-a-service for building, deploying and scaling apps, part of DigitalOcean's Core Cloud. | Serverless platform for applications and AI workloads on CPUs, GPUs and accelerators, positioned around generative AI and agentic workloads. |
| Deployment | Git-based deployments with built-in CI/CD and deployment rollbacks. | Deploys from a GitHub repository, a pre-built container or the Koyeb CLI, with native support for popular languages and Docker. |
| Scaling | Horizontal scaling and CPU autoscaling. | Autoscaling with scale-to-zero, which Koyeb says has sub-200ms cold starts, plus placement across global locations. |
| AI workloads | Runs in the same account as DigitalOcean's inference endpoints, GPUs and data services, connected over private networking within a region. | Serverless GPUs for inference endpoints and fine-tuning, plus Koyeb Sandboxes for running AI-generated code in isolation. |
| Databases | Managed databases are a separate DigitalOcean product starting at $15/month, covering MongoDB, Kafka, PostgreSQL, MySQL, Caching, Valkey and OpenSearch. | Serverless Postgres with a Free 5h tier and a Small tier at $0.04/hr, available in Washington, D.C., Frankfurt and Singapore. |
| Pricing | App Platform starts at $0/month. | Usage billed by the second. Pro is $29/mo plus compute, Scale is $299/mo plus compute, and Enterprise starts at $1000/mo plus compute. |
Reader mail
Which one has a lower entry price?
DigitalOcean App Platform starts at $0/month. Koyeb's paid plans start with Pro at $29/mo plus compute, and its serverless Postgres has a Free 5h tier at $0.
Which is better for running AI models on GPUs?
Koyeb offers serverless GPU instances from RTX-4000-SFF-ADA at $0.50/hr up to 8x H200 at $24.0/hr, with autoscaling inference endpoints. App Platform itself is a general app host, while DigitalOcean offers GPUs and inference as separate services under the same account.
Can either platform be self-hosted?
DigitalOcean App Platform is not self-hostable. Koyeb is offered as a managed serverless platform, with private locations available on its Enterprise plan.
What is happening with Koyeb and Mistral AI?
Koyeb's site announces that the company is joining Mistral AI to build AI infrastructure.