Cloud hosting · October 2026 Edition
Amazon Web Services vs DigitalOcean Droplets
Eight of fourteen models named Amazon Web Services first on the direct prompt; one named DigitalOcean Droplets. Both were named by all fourteen models and Amazon Web Services carries 59 labels and DigitalOcean Droplets 45, so the shares are not directly comparable.
Named in three categories this edition.
Named in one category this edition.
First-choice share32%12%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate20%9%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#1#3A position in a field of 12; printed, not drawn.
Labels5945A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, Amazon Web Services reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.Google Cloud was named alongside these two in eleven of the fourteen direct answers. Amazon Web Services vs Microsoft Azure · Amazon Web Services vs Hostinger · Amazon Web Services vs Vultr
Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all fourteen models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category; every quote names the model and the prompt it came from. Both figures come from the cloud hosting page.
By framing
How many of the fourteen models made each the first choice, per way of asking, and how many argued against it.
Amazon Web ServicesFirst choices, of fourteen modelsDigitalOcean Droplets
Direct811 against Amazon Web Services
Paraphrase801 against Amazon Web Services · 3 against DigitalOcean Droplets
Comparative100
Budget-constrained054 against Amazon Web Services
Scale-constrained00
Negative106 against Amazon Web Services · 1 against DigitalOcean Droplets
Bars are first choices, 0 to 14 each sideModels that argued againstA model can name both, so the two sides of a row do not sum to fourteen.
Across every category in the October 2026 Edition, Amazon Web Services and DigitalOcean Droplets were named in the same answer ninety-seven times, of the 190 answers naming Amazon Web Services and the 118 naming DigitalOcean Droplets. In those answers DigitalOcean Droplets took the first choice thirty times and Amazon Web Services twenty-eight.
Every model, every framing
The eighty-four answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where Amazon Web Services and DigitalOcean Droplets stood in it.
| Model | Direct | Paraphrase | Comparative | Budget-constrained | Scale-constrained | Negative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | | | | |||
| GPT-5.4 mini | | | | | | |
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | | | | | ||
| Perplexity Sonar | | | | |||
| Grok 4.1 Fast | | | | | | |
| Mistral Small | | | | | ||
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | | | | | | |
| Llama 4 Maverick | ||||||
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | | | | | | |
| Kimi K2 | | | | | | |
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | | | ||||
| MiniMax M2.5 | | | | | ||
| GPT-6 Luna | | | | | | |
| Muse Glimmer 30B | | | |
Amazon Web Services DigitalOcean Droplets first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, Amazon Web Services on the left and DigitalOcean Droplets on the right.The direct prompt
The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where Amazon Web Services and DigitalOcean Droplets stood in it.
Amazon Web Services first, DigitalOcean Droplets an alternative
8 of 14 modelsDigitalOcean Droplets was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.GPT-5.4 miniAmazon Web Services alternatives: Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure
Gemini 3.5 FlashAmazon Web Services alternatives: Akamai Connected Cloud, Cloudways, DigitalOcean Droplets, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, Render
Perplexity SonarAmazon Web Services alternatives: Atlantic.Net, Google Cloud, Hostinger
Grok 4.1 FastAmazon Web Services alternatives: Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure
Mistral SmallAmazon Web Services, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure
MiniMax M2.5Amazon Web Services, Azure
GPT-6 LunaAmazon Web Services alternatives: Azure, Google Cloud
Muse Glimmer 30BAmazon Web Services alternatives: Azure, DigitalOcean Droplets, Google Cloud, InMotion Hosting, Kamatera, Liquid Web
DigitalOcean Droplets first, Amazon Web Services an alternative
1 of 14 modelsAmazon Web Services was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.Kimi K2DigitalOcean Droplets, Vultr alternatives: Amazon Web Services, Atlantic.Net, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure
Neither was the first choice, one was named
3 of 14 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.DeepSeek V4 FlashMicrosoft Azure alternatives: Amazon Web Services, DigitalOcean Droplets, Google Cloud, Liquid Web
Qwen 3.7 FlashMicrosoft Azure alternatives: Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud
GLM 4.7 FlashXMicrosoft Azure alternatives: Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud
Neither was named
2 of 14 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.Claude Haiku 4.5Hyve Managed Hosting alternatives: Atlantic.Net, Kamatera
Llama 4 Maverickno first choice
Bold names in an answer are the products the judge labeled a first choice; a model naming several gives each of them that label. The full answer text for every row is in the record.
By buyer segment
The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment and they are never added together. The figures above are the mid-market standing, which is the one the category orders by.
Small business
DigitalOcean Droplets leads by twenty points.
DigitalOcean Droplets34%#1 of 14Amazon Web Services14%#2 of 14Mid-marketThe figures above
The order flips: Amazon Web Services leads at mid-market.
Amazon Web Services32%#1 of 12DigitalOcean Droplets12%#3 of 12Enterprise
Amazon Web Services leads by forty points.
Amazon Web Services42%#1 of 8DigitalOcean Droplets2%#5 of 8What the models said about Amazon Web Services
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of eight in this category shown.
“Avoid AWS and Azure for limited budgets” Kimi K2 · budget prompt · hard negative
“Raw hyperscalers like AWS, Google Cloud, and Azure if you want simple hosting for a small site or startup, because they are often too complex” Perplexity Sonar · negative prompt · soft negative
“AWS and Google Cloud both had multiple outages affecting core services and authentication/infrastructure components in recent history.” GPT-5.4 mini · negative prompt · soft negative
“As the first mover in the industry, AWS holds the largest market share. It offers the broadest selection of services and the most mature global infrastructure.” Qwen 3.7 Flash · comparative prompt · first choice
“the best cloud hosting providers for a mid-market B2B company are typically Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP)” Mistral Small · direct prompt · first choice
“Broadest services (240+), massive ecosystem, mature scalability/security. Pioneer/leader (30-31% market share). ... AWS wins most new workloads for breadth” Grok 4.1 Fast · direct prompt · first choice
What the models said about DigitalOcean Droplets
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of eight in this category shown.
“Budget cloud providers with limited features such as DigitalOcean or Vultr if you need advanced managed services” Perplexity Sonar · negative prompt · soft negative
“these are generally better suited to: Smaller teams (fewer managed services), Less demanding compliance requirements” DeepSeek V4 Flash · paraphrase prompt · soft negative
“They lack the deep compliance certifications ... that large B2B clients often demand during security audits.” Gemini 3.5 Flash · paraphrase prompt · soft negative
“For most small businesses on a tight budget, DigitalOcean or Vultr at the $5–6/month tier offers the best balance” DeepSeek V4 Flash · budget prompt · first choice
“For most mid-market B2B companies, DigitalOcean or Vultr provide excellent value with simpler management” Kimi K2 · direct prompt · first choice
“Start with DigitalOcean ($4-6/month) if you want the easiest experience with room to grow” Kimi K2 · budget prompt · first choice
Also compared
Amazon Web Services vs Microsoft AzureAmazon Web Services vs HostingerAmazon Web Services vs VultrAmazon Web Services vs AzureAmazon Web Services vs Google CloudMicrosoft Azure vs DigitalOcean DropletsDigitalOcean Droplets vs HostingerDigitalOcean Droplets vs VultrDigitalOcean Droplets vs AzureDigitalOcean Droplets vs Google CloudAll twenty-one head-to-head pages and the full cloud hosting standing
Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category, each against each. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.