Cheap. With actual .NET support.
DO App Platform competes on price and the rest of the DO ecosystem. It's not built for .NET; your options are buildpack-with-caveats or BYO Dockerfile. Velixir is .NET-native and matches DO at the low end with a much stronger upgrade ladder.
Why teams switch from DigitalOcean App Platform to velixir
The specific reasons, not generic ones.
- .NET-native build pipeline. DO's buildpacks work for .NET but require careful project layout and break on major releases.
- First-party managed Postgres + Valkey with point-in-time recovery. DO Managed Database is solid but priced higher than DO App Platform tiers suggest.
- Personal support from the .NET founder, not a generic VPS-shop ticket queue.
- First month on us: real budget to deploy and run an app, not just play in a sandbox.
Side-by-side
Pricing checked May 2026. Specs reflect the closest equivalent plan in each direction.
| Dimension | velixir | DigitalOcean App Platform |
|---|---|---|
|
Smallest production tier
DO is cheapest at the floor; Velixir wins on .NET DX.
|
€6.95/mo (Spark - 0.25 vCPU / 512 MB) | $5/mo (Basic XXS - 0.5 vCPU / 512 MB) |
|
1 vCPU / 2 GB equivalent
Comparable price; we trade RAM for managed services.
|
€24.95/mo (Elixir) | $25/mo (Pro M - 1 vCPU / 4 GB) |
|
.NET build path
DO buildpacks for .NET require specific structure.
|
First-party | Buildpack (caveats) or Dockerfile |
|
Managed Postgres
DO's managed DB tier starts higher than its App Platform tier.
|
Built-in (€4.95+/mo) | DO Managed Database ($15+/mo) |
|
Managed Redis / Valkey
Same story: managed cache prices climb fast on DO.
|
Valkey, built-in (€2.45+/mo) | DO Managed Redis ($15+/mo) |
|
Sign-up trial
Both substantial; ours is geared at deploying a real app.
|
First month on us, up to €14.99 | $200 / 60-day credit |
|
Cross-region HA
Velixir bundles HA; DO leaves it to you.
|
One-toggle warm-standby | Manual via Load Balancer |
|
Founder & support
Direct line to someone who wrote a lot of C#.
|
.NET founder | Standard DO support |
|
Pricing model
Predictable EUR billing for EU customers.
|
Hourly EUR | Monthly USD |
Same workload, both sides
App + Postgres + Redis on DigitalOcean.
DO: Pro M App ($25/mo) + Managed Postgres Basic ($15/mo) + Managed Redis Basic ($15/mo) = $55/mo.
Velixir: Elixir app (€24.95) + Postgres Hobby (€4.95) + Valkey Hobby (€2.45) = €32.35/mo.
~35% lower bill, fully-managed data services.
Move from DO App Platform to a .NET-first host.
Push your code via Git or CLI. velixir builds, publishes, and deploys it to the region you pick - EU, US, or Asia-Pacific - in under two minutes. No Docker, no YAML soup - and your first month's on us, up to €14.99.
No credit card to sign up. Add a payment method only when you're ready to deploy.