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How does DigitalOcean compare to Linode these days? One thing I noticed off the bat is that Linode still offers phone and email support, versus just a ticketing

by kodah 5y ago

How does DigitalOcean compare to Linode these days? One thing I noticed off the bat is that Linode still offers phone and email support, versus just a ticketing system interface.

Macha 5y ago
Linode has better support, DigitalOcean is a lot closer to a cloud-lite setup with better APIs for automation etc.
lukeqsee 5y ago
And they answer the phone. I've called their support line many times to report business-impacting issues, and they always answer within seconds (literally), provide competent support, follow-up, and genuinely care. Linode support may be better than Amex Platinum Card support. :-)
- silisili 5y ago
  > Linode support may be better than Amex Platinum Card support. If talking about today, almost assuredly given your description. This is pretty offtopic to the OP but I felt compelled to chime in as it really irritates me, that Amex support has gone into the toilet over the past 2 years or so. I remember a time when you called, and someone would just answer "hello mr xxx" if it was the number on file. Now it's phone menus, typing in your card number, other details, hold times, etc...even on Platinum support.
  - lukeqsee 5y ago
    Huh…I haven’t had a Platinum Card for a few years (some other cards provided better value), but that’s disappointing.
  - robbiet480 5y ago
    If you start the call via the app it adds a PIN code onto the phone number which will automatically bypass all the menus/identification stuff and take you directly to a person.
- Y-bar 5y ago
  I use DO and have no plans of moving away from there, because on a technical and cost level I am happy with their offering, but I can agree that their customer service is not at all good.
- BenjiWiebe 5y ago
  They answer the phone at 11pm central (USA) time, with a human who speaks good English, even when the customer (me) pays them ~$15 per month.
  - Throwawayaerlei 5y ago
    It should go without saying the word of mouth advertising they get from people like you, as well as how we in aggregate influence purchasing decisions makes your account significantly more valuable. Compare to how word of mouth of Google horror stories is part of why their market share in cloud computing is running even with Alibaba's based on what I just found for 2021.
istjohn 5y ago
I tried DO after using Linode for a few years, and DO felt more polished and streamlined. DO's docs are great, too. But I honestly have no complaints with Linode. Note that I'm just running Nginx on a $5/mo VPS.
- prirun 5y ago
  I've had a Linode for many years with no problems, and have had to use their excellent phone service once. I tried DO and hated it because they used a zillion 3rd-party services on all their internal web pages (after being signed in) so I was in a constant battle enabling things with NoScript. I have a small Vultr VM I use for testing. Their site didn't require enabling a bunch of 3rd-party domains. They've been rock solid as well, like Linode, and cheap as dirt: I have a small VM with IP4 from years ago for $2.50/mo
  - seanw444 5y ago
    You may have convinced me to move over to Vultr.
    - ipaddr 5y ago
      That doesn't include a ip4 address and you can't point a domain to it. I have two grandfathered 2.50 packages with an ip (no domain pointing).. no issues ever but it's a playground not a production box for me.
      - bombcar 5y ago
        How can you have an ip that can’t be pointed to by a domain?
        seanw444 5y ago
        I'm curious about this too. Just... point to it on Namecheap's DNS configurator page?
      - 5y ago
systemvoltage 5y ago
I wonder if Cloudflare is thinking about acquiring DO to round up their next-gen cloud. DO's UI has gone downhill since 2017. It is so bloated and large. Used to be very compact. Folks from Cloudflare if you're reading this - please keep your UI compact. Your main UI (Dashboard) looks more compact that the docs[1] which are too sparse and terrible for developers who are not average consumers. They can handle the complexity. They also appear to be designed by two separate UI design teams. You guys need an authoritarian designer at the top. [1] https://developers.cloudflare.com/ https://developers.cloudflare.com/
- technofiend 5y ago
  Their website is more complex, but they offer many more services than before. Not sure what else they could to do streamline things? Prices have gone up a bit as well, but to be expected to a certain degree. Still, I like them for their fixed pricing and no surprise bills at the end of the month. My only complaint is they have a tendency to kill some processes with no warning and no ticket. I'd be fine if they created a ticket to say "Hey, we're killing this process because we're not sure you want to run it, if you do click here to add it to an exclusion list" rather than silently killing it.
- ipaddr 5y ago
  Digital ocean makes a hundred fifty million more in revenue and 50 million more in profits. I don't think digital ocean will acquire them or merge.
  - lucb1e 5y ago
    What are you comparing? Surely DigitalOcean isn't bigger than Cloudflare or do I have my perception entirely backwards? Guessing that you're comparing DigitalOcean to Linode instead, 50M seems like a very small difference actually. Btw I find the large split words as numbers ("makes 150M more" -> "makes a hundred fifty million more") quite hard to read, but maybe that's just me.
    - ac29 5y ago
freedomben 5y ago
Pricing and offering is near identical. The biggest difference is the customer support, and the fact that Linode doesn't immediately lock accounts when the algorithm thinks something is fishy. DO really screwed me a few years back with that. There are some smaller differences. DO has more managed DB offerings, but Linode is catching up quickly. I really like Linode's Lish tool. I also like Linode's Green Light Program.

by kodah 5y ago

How does DigitalOcean compare to Linode these days? One thing I noticed off the bat is that Linode still offers phone and email support, versus just a ticketing system interface.

Macha 5y ago

Linode has better support, DigitalOcean is a lot closer to a cloud-lite setup with better APIs for automation etc.

lukeqsee 5y ago

And they answer the phone. I've called their support line many times to report business-impacting issues, and they always answer within seconds (literally), provide competent support, follow-up, and genuinely care. Linode support may be better than Amex Platinum Card support. :-)

silisili 5y ago
> Linode support may be better than Amex Platinum Card support. If talking about today, almost assuredly given your description. This is pretty offtopic to the OP but I felt compelled to chime in as it really irritates me, that Amex support has gone into the toilet over the past 2 years or so. I remember a time when you called, and someone would just answer "hello mr xxx" if it was the number on file. Now it's phone menus, typing in your card number, other details, hold times, etc...even on Platinum support.
- lukeqsee 5y ago
  Huh…I haven’t had a Platinum Card for a few years (some other cards provided better value), but that’s disappointing.
- robbiet480 5y ago
  If you start the call via the app it adds a PIN code onto the phone number which will automatically bypass all the menus/identification stuff and take you directly to a person.
Y-bar 5y ago
I use DO and have no plans of moving away from there, because on a technical and cost level I am happy with their offering, but I can agree that their customer service is not at all good.
BenjiWiebe 5y ago
They answer the phone at 11pm central (USA) time, with a human who speaks good English, even when the customer (me) pays them ~$15 per month.
- Throwawayaerlei 5y ago
  It should go without saying the word of mouth advertising they get from people like you, as well as how we in aggregate influence purchasing decisions makes your account significantly more valuable. Compare to how word of mouth of Google horror stories is part of why their market share in cloud computing is running even with Alibaba's based on what I just found for 2021.

istjohn 5y ago

I tried DO after using Linode for a few years, and DO felt more polished and streamlined. DO's docs are great, too. But I honestly have no complaints with Linode. Note that I'm just running Nginx on a $5/mo VPS.

prirun 5y ago
I've had a Linode for many years with no problems, and have had to use their excellent phone service once. I tried DO and hated it because they used a zillion 3rd-party services on all their internal web pages (after being signed in) so I was in a constant battle enabling things with NoScript. I have a small Vultr VM I use for testing. Their site didn't require enabling a bunch of 3rd-party domains. They've been rock solid as well, like Linode, and cheap as dirt: I have a small VM with IP4 from years ago for $2.50/mo
- seanw444 5y ago
  You may have convinced me to move over to Vultr.
  - ipaddr 5y ago
    That doesn't include a ip4 address and you can't point a domain to it. I have two grandfathered 2.50 packages with an ip (no domain pointing).. no issues ever but it's a playground not a production box for me.
    - bombcar 5y ago
      How can you have an ip that can’t be pointed to by a domain?
      - seanw444 5y ago
        I'm curious about this too. Just... point to it on Namecheap's DNS configurator page?
    - 5y ago

systemvoltage 5y ago

I wonder if Cloudflare is thinking about acquiring DO to round up their next-gen cloud. DO's UI has gone downhill since 2017. It is so bloated and large. Used to be very compact. Folks from Cloudflare if you're reading this - please keep your UI compact. Your main UI (Dashboard) looks more compact that the docs[1] which are too sparse and terrible for developers who are not average consumers. They can handle the complexity. They also appear to be designed by two separate UI design teams. You guys need an authoritarian designer at the top. [1] https://developers.cloudflare.com/ https://developers.cloudflare.com/

technofiend 5y ago
Their website is more complex, but they offer many more services than before. Not sure what else they could to do streamline things? Prices have gone up a bit as well, but to be expected to a certain degree. Still, I like them for their fixed pricing and no surprise bills at the end of the month. My only complaint is they have a tendency to kill some processes with no warning and no ticket. I'd be fine if they created a ticket to say "Hey, we're killing this process because we're not sure you want to run it, if you do click here to add it to an exclusion list" rather than silently killing it.
ipaddr 5y ago
Digital ocean makes a hundred fifty million more in revenue and 50 million more in profits. I don't think digital ocean will acquire them or merge.
- lucb1e 5y ago
  What are you comparing? Surely DigitalOcean isn't bigger than Cloudflare or do I have my perception entirely backwards? Guessing that you're comparing DigitalOcean to Linode instead, 50M seems like a very small difference actually. Btw I find the large split words as numbers ("makes 150M more" -> "makes a hundred fifty million more") quite hard to read, but maybe that's just me.
  - ac29 5y ago

freedomben 5y ago

Pricing and offering is near identical. The biggest difference is the customer support, and the fact that Linode doesn't immediately lock accounts when the algorithm thinks something is fishy. DO really screwed me a few years back with that. There are some smaller differences. DO has more managed DB offerings, but Linode is catching up quickly. I really like Linode's Lish tool. I also like Linode's Green Light Program.