Ample vs DigitalOcean App Platform: which is better for agent-built apps? | Ample

The short version

DigitalOcean App Platform is the better choice when you want 13 regions, Docker images, autoscaling and the rest of DigitalOcean's cloud next to your app. Ample is the better choice when a coding agent deploys on its own: free backend hosting with no card, a hard spending cap, persistent volumes and databases created automatically.

Before you choose

Both build apps from a repository and run web services and workers with managed databases nearby. They differ in the free tier (DigitalOcean's covers static sites only), in persistent disks, in how spending stops, and in whether an agent can sign up.

Ample and DigitalOcean App Platform side by side

Ample DigitalOcean App Platform
Free plan $0 with no card. 2 apps running at once, 2 vCPU, 2 GB memory, 3 GB volumes, 1 GB bucket storage, 2 buckets. Static sites only: up to 3 apps with 1 GiB transfer each. Backends start at $5 a month.
Paid plans Custom plans priced on volume (number of apps, limits, spending caps). No public list price; see pricing. Containers from $5 a month (1 vCPU shared, 512 MiB, one instance); autoscaling starts at $29 a month on dedicated CPU.
Spending limit Free has a hard budget ($5 a month, $2 a day). At the cap, apps stop serving until the account is back under budget; nothing is deleted and nothing is billed. None. Spend alerts email you; DigitalOcean says a spend alert budget is not a spending cap.
How apps run Each app runs as a normal long-running process in its own microVM with its own kernel. Containers on shared or dedicated CPU; isolation technology not documented.
Long-running servers and workers Yes. Web services and background workers (--kind worker) run as ordinary processes. Yes: services, workers, jobs and functions; WebSockets work on services.
Languages Node, Python, Go, Ruby, PHP, Java, .NET, Elixir, Rust and static sites, detected from the repository. Buildpacks for Go, Node.js, PHP, Python, Ruby, Rust, .NET and Bun, or any Dockerfile.
Docker images No. Ample builds from source; Dockerfile build steps are not run. Yes, from a Dockerfile or a registry image.
Databases Managed Postgres, MySQL, Redis and MongoDB, each in its own microVM, created automatically when the code needs one. A $7 dev Postgres per app (no default backups), or separate managed Postgres, MySQL, MongoDB and Valkey from about $15 a month.
Object storage S3-compatible buckets, optionally published through Ample's CDN. Spaces, S3-compatible, from $5 a month.
Persistent disk Persistent volumes attached to the app. None: App Platform does not support volumes; the filesystem is ephemeral and capped at 4 GiB.
Custom domains and TLS Custom domains with automatic TLS. Custom domains with automatic certificates.
Regions No region choice. 13 regions.
Scheduled jobs Scheduled jobs: a command or HTTP request on a cron schedule (any time zone) or interval, with retries and run history (ample job create). Scheduled jobs, at most every 15 minutes.
Agent access CLI, remote MCP server (OAuth), A2A endpoint and agent skills. Deploys are synchronous and return JSON with an exit code: 0 live, 1 failed, 2 needs input. Official remote MCP servers (App Platform at apps.mcp.digitalocean.com) and 12 App Platform agent skills.
Agent signup without a person Yes. ample auth signup creates an account with no browser, card or CAPTCHA; a person claims it by email within 48 hours. No. A payment method is required before creating anything.

Which one fits

Choose Ample when

Choose DigitalOcean App Platform when

Move a DigitalOcean App Platform app to Ample

  1. 1

Read the app spec

Export it with doctl apps spec get <app-id> and note each service's build command, run command, environment and any jobs.

  1. 2

Plan and deploy

Buildpack apps usually build unchanged. Pre-deploy jobs become --release-command, workers become worker services, and scheduled jobs become Ample jobs.

ample plan --write && ample up
  1. 3

Move data

Dev databases are destroyed with the app, so run pg_dump first. Managed databases and Spaces can stay where they are: pass their connection strings and keys as environment variables.

  1. 4

Point your domain

Add the domain to the app, update DNS to the target Ample prints, and keep the old app running until the new one answers on the domain.

ample domain add <app-name> www.example.com

Frequently asked questions

Does DigitalOcean App Platform have a free tier for backends?

No. Its free tier covers up to three static sites; containers start at $5 a month. Ample's Free plan runs two apps, backends included, with a managed database and no card.

Can an agent use DigitalOcean's MCP server to deploy?

Yes, once a person has created the account and added a payment method. DigitalOcean's App Platform MCP server deploys apps and manages databases. On Ample the agent can also create the account itself.

Where these facts come from