Cloud infrastructure / DigitalOcean Droplets alternative

DigitalOcean Droplets alternative for persistent agents

DigitalOcean Droplets are cloud VMs with persistent operating-system storage. Bundled plans and newer v5 configurations have different resource and billing structures. For agents that idle between tasks, compare retained disk state with compute reservations and the procedure used to grow the boot disk.

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Reviewed 2026-10-19 · Published by the Sandbox0 team

When DigitalOcean Droplets fits

Choose Droplets for direct VM administration, DigitalOcean networking and platform integrations. Persistent boot storage already retains installed tools and system configuration; dedicated versus shared CPU choices affect performance.

When to consider Sandbox0

Consider Sandbox0 for an integrated persistent Linux agent runtime that releases compute on pause and grows its whole RootFS online. Assess kernel compatibility and preserve any DigitalOcean-specific application or network services you need.

Capabilities

DigitalOcean Droplets and Sandbox0: what persists?

Feature comparison with documentation and verification status
Environment and runtime lifetimeDigitalOcean DropletsNot established in this reviewSandbox0ttl and hard_ttl default to 0 (disabled). Configure idle pause and deletion policies for the same persistent sandbox identity; an idle running sandbox still accrues compute charges.Read documentation →
Persistent filesDigitalOcean DropletsPersistent boot storage retains VM files; additional volumes have separate ownership.View evidence ↗Sandbox0The writable RootFS survives successful checkpoints, including software, system configuration, dependencies, and user data.Read documentation →
Whole RootFSDigitalOcean DropletsThe boot disk retains the installed operating system beyond a workspace directory.View evidence ↗Sandbox0Persistence extends beyond /workspace to paths such as /usr/local, /etc, and /home. Runtime tmpfs and virtual filesystems are excluded.Read documentation →
Release compute, keep stateDigitalOcean DropletsOrdinary powered-off bundled plans remain billed; no general memory-preserving compute release contract is established.View evidence ↗Sandbox0Pause compute between tasks; resume on available capacity. Default resume starts fresh processes from the saved filesystem.Read documentation →
Memory and process stateDigitalOcean DropletsDisk/VM lifecycle documentation does not establish arbitrary RAM checkpoint recovery.View evidence ↗Sandbox0Experimental memory checkpoints can preserve compatible process state. Use memory: true on both pause and resume on a compatible deployment. A filesystem checkpoint alone does not preserve running processes.Read documentation →

Online RootFS growth

On growth-enabled images, Sandbox0 automatically expands the writable RootFS as free space runs low, within a configured sparse logical ceiling up to 64 TiB. Agent processes keep running. Growth is enabled in the qualified Cloud region; confirm activation for other regions. Existing images and snapshots retain their captured storage geometry. The ceiling is logical capacity, not preallocated host disk.

Droplets already retain the whole boot disk and support explicit larger configurations. The documented boot-disk resize powers down the VM, which differs from Sandbox0’s automatic online RootFS expansion while agent processes keep running.

Files while compute is paused

Sandbox0's Files API reads persistent files without resuming compute. Filesystem-only pauses also permit edits; retained-memory pauses are read-only and reject mutations with 409. SSH, SFTP, file watching, and runtime-only mounts require running compute.

Snapshots and separately managed block volumes can retain data without a live original application. The reviewed Droplet interfaces do not establish a complete paused-RootFS file API; SSH and guest file tools need a running environment.

See paused file operations →

Bundled and v5 billing have different monthly behavior

Both use per-second billing with a minimum of 60 seconds or $0.01, whichever is higher. Bundled CPU usage is capped at 672 hours per month. v5 configurations combine CPU, RAM and boot-disk resource rates and have no monthly usage cap, so a full month’s hours change the total.

Source 1 ↗

Powering off a bundled Droplet does not release its bill

Bundled-plan resources remain reserved on the hypervisor when powered off, and billing continues until destruction. Preserving data through a snapshot and recreating compute is a different workflow with separate retention, identity and storage considerations.

Source 1 ↗

Boot disks persist, but resizing requires shutdown

v5 configurations explicitly include a persistent NVMe boot disk; bundled plans also preserve the VM’s system files through ordinary lifecycle operations. The resize guide requires powering off; API resizing powers the Droplet down first. Increasing disk capacity also limits later downsize options.

Source 1 ↗Source 2 ↗

Pricing

Compare billing models, then price your workload

CPU allocation, memory, billing minimums, disk, plan fees, and supported workload differ. These meters are not equal-performance machine quotes. Confirm region, resource units, and included allowances before estimating a total.

DigitalOcean Droplets

Pricing reviewed 2026-10-19

Bundled Basic 1 GiB / 1 vCPU reference
$0.00893/hour; $6 monthly cap
Regular CPU, 25 GiB SSD reference; minimum billing and effective regional availability apply.
Rate source ↗
v5 Shared CPU
$0.0158219 per vCPU-hour
Resource component of a configured v5 instance, not a standalone VM quote.
Rate source ↗
v5 memory
$0.0040411 per GiB-hour
Rate source ↗
v5 boot disk
$0.000137 per GiB-hour
v5 has no monthly usage cap; other resources/networking remain separate.
Rate source ↗

Do not apply the bundled monthly cap to v5 or compare shared CPU as dedicated throughput. v5 configurations are available only in supporting datacenters; rates, public IPv4 terms, backups, snapshots, block volumes and transfer can affect the full bill.

Check current DigitalOcean Droplets pricing ↗

Sandbox0

$0.015/GiB-hour compute (billed by the second at approximately $0.000004167/GiB-second), plus $0.02/GiB-month of retained incremental RootFS and memory checkpoint data. Shared base images and platform recovery retention are excluded; paused sandboxes accrue storage charges only.

Compute / GiB-hour
$0.015
Retained data / GiB-month
$0.02
Paused compute
$0.00

A 4 GiB agent, 100 running hours

$6.00 compute

4 GiB × 100 hours, billed by the second. Keeping 20 GiB of billable incremental data for a full billing month adds $0.40. CPU is derived from memory by the platform; choose a tier that fits your workload.

Understand storage billing →

Before migrating from DigitalOcean Droplets

  1. Identify bundled versus v5, shared/dedicated CPU, boot disk, attached volumes, billing minimums and snapshot/backups.
  2. Export consistent system and user files and port compatible agent setup to Sandbox0; retain required DigitalOcean integrations.
  3. Test complete toolchain retention, online growth, paused files and total compute reservations, snapshots, volumes and network costs.

Common questions

Is Sandbox0 a drop-in DigitalOcean Droplets replacement?

Evaluate API compatibility and product scope. These products serve different core workflows, so a change may require a different architecture.

Does keeping files also keep a running agent?

Filesystem state and volatile process state are separate. Sandbox0 requires explicit compatible memory checkpoints to preserve running processes; its default filesystem resume starts fresh processes.

Sources and review scope

The Boat team's Battleships directory is the discovery source. References below describe the product and plan discussed on this page. Check current availability, regional terms and billing units before migrating. Where the cited material does not establish a capability or price, the comparison identifies that uncertainty.

Battleships research record ↗docs.digitalocean.com/products/droplets/details/pricing/ ↗docs.digitalocean.com/products/droplets/concepts/choosing-a-plan/ ↗docs.digitalocean.com/products/droplets/how-to/resize/ ↗www.digitalocean.com/pricing/droplets ↗Sandbox0 RootFS capacity →

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