Deno Deploy vs DigitalOcean App Platform
Pricing
Deno Deploy: Free tier (1M requests/mo), Pro from $20/mo
DigitalOcean App Platform: Free for static sites, from $5/mo for apps
Description
Deno Deploy: Serverless platform for JavaScript and TypeScript apps, with Node and npm compatibility and built-in Deno KV
DigitalOcean App Platform: Simple cloud hosting with managed infrastructure: deploy from GitHub without touching servers
Pros
- Runs code in lightweight V8 isolates, with faster cold starts than Lambda-style functions
- Free tier includes 1 million requests and 20 GiB of egress a month, plus 5 custom domains
- Deploys from GitHub automatically and supports Next.js, Astro, SvelteKit, Nuxt and other frameworks
- Predictable pricing with no surprise bandwidth bills: $5/month gets you a real server
- Free static site hosting with 3 static sites included
- Backed by a public company (since 2021): low risk of shutting down
Cons
- Only runs JavaScript and TypeScript: no support for Python, Go, or other runtimes
- Vendor-specific KV database creates lock-in if you build on Deno KV
- Logs and traces are kept for one day on the free tier
- App Platform is less polished than Vercel or Railway for developer experience
- Fewer framework auto-detections: you often need to configure build commands manually
- Scaling is manual unless you set up additional configuration
Details
Deno Deploy hosts JavaScript and TypeScript applications on Deno’s runtime, which Deno says has full Node and npm compatibility. Connect a GitHub repository and each push deploys automatically, with support for most popular frameworks. You can link an existing Postgres database or provision one from the dashboard, and the built-in Deno KV store gives you persistent data without a separate database.
The current platform, at console.deno.com, replaced Deno Deploy Classic, which shut down on 20 July 2026. The free tier includes 1 million requests and 20 GiB of egress a month. Pro costs $20 a month for 5 million requests, then $2 per extra million, and Builder costs $200 a month. If your stack is TypeScript-first and you want serverless hosting with little configuration, Deno Deploy fits. If you need other runtimes, Fly.io is a safer bet.
DigitalOcean has been around since 2011 and went public in 2021. The App Platform is their answer to Heroku and Render: connect a GitHub repo, pick your runtime, deploy. It is not the slickest developer experience, but it is reliable and the pricing is transparent. A $5/month Basic instance runs a small app without the billing surprises that come with usage-based platforms.
The sweet spot for solo founders is pairing App Platform with DigitalOcean’s managed databases ($15/month for Postgres). You get a production-grade setup for $20/month total with clear, fixed pricing. The downside is less magic: where Vercel auto-detects your Next.js settings and Railway auto-provisions databases, DigitalOcean expects you to configure things yourself. If you value predictability over convenience, that is a reasonable trade.
Deno Deploy verified
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