Brandwave

How popular isDigitalOcean?

In September 2026, people searched for DigitalOcean by name about 552,000 times worldwide, a 21.8% increase from the previous year. These searches made up <0.01% of all global developer hosting platform searches, placing DigitalOcean seventh out of seven platforms. When we asked both ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews about developer hosting platforms, DigitalOcean appeared in two of the five answers and was the fourth most recommended of the seven.

Search and AI answers in September 2026

DigitalOcean is the seventh most searched of 7 competitors and the fourth most recommended in AI answers.

  1. NetlifyShare of searches 49.3%Mentioned in 2 of 5 AI answersPlace in AI recommendations 5th
  2. VercelShare of searches 49.3%Mentioned in 4 of 5 AI answersPlace in AI recommendations 1st
  3. HerokuShare of searches 1.3%Mentioned in 1 of 5 AI answersPlace in AI recommendations 7th
  4. RenderShare of searches 0.1%Mentioned in 4 of 5 AI answersPlace in AI recommendations 3rd
  5. DigitalOceanShare of searches <0.01%Mentioned in 2 of 5 AI answersPlace in AI recommendations 4th

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Top developer hosting platforms in ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews

In three ChatGPT questions and two Google AI Overviews, DigitalOcean was mentioned in two out of five: in one of the three ChatGPT answers and in one of the two Google AI Overviews. DigitalOcean is the fourth most recommended of the seven.

Most recommended by AI

Brands get a higher ranking if they are mentioned earlier in the answers.

  1. Vercel1st
  2. Railway2nd
  3. Render3rd
  4. DigitalOcean4th
  5. Netlify5th
  6. Fly.io6th
  7. Heroku7th

Mentioned by AI

Each dot is one answer, filled in when that answer mentions the brand.

  • Vercel4 of 5Named in 3 of 3 ChatGPT answersNamed in 1 of 2 Google answers
  • Render4 of 5Named in 3 of 3 ChatGPT answersNamed in 1 of 2 Google answers
  • Railway4 of 5Named in 3 of 3 ChatGPT answersNamed in 1 of 2 Google answers
  • Netlify2 of 5Named in 1 of 3 ChatGPT answersNamed in 1 of 2 Google answers
  • Fly.io2 of 5Named in 2 of 3 ChatGPT answersNamed in 0 of 2 Google answers
  • DigitalOcean2 of 5Named in 1 of 3 ChatGPT answersNamed in 1 of 2 Google answers
  • Heroku1 of 5Named in 0 of 3 ChatGPT answersNamed in 1 of 2 Google answers

See every answer about developer hosting platforms

5 answers

Brands are shown in the order each answer named them. The survey took place in the United States on October 19, 2026.

Which developer hosting platforms compete with DigitalOcean?

DigitalOcean against developer hosting platforms worldwide, by month

Share of searches by month for Netlify, Vercel, DigitalOcean. The figures are in the table below the chart.

View monthly share of searches table
MonthNetlifyVercelHerokuRenderFly.ioRailwayDigitalOcean
Oct 202541.7%50.9%6.9%0.41%0.12%<0.01%<0.01%
Nov 202542.2%51.5%5.7%0.42%0.12%<0.01%<0.01%
Dec 202542.7%52.1%4.7%0.35%0.12%<0.01%<0.01%
Jan 202642.6%52.3%4.7%0.28%0.13%<0.01%<0.01%
Feb 202643.2%52.7%3.9%0.19%0.1%<0.01%<0.01%
Mar 202643.7%53.4%2.6%0.16%0.1%<0.01%<0.01%
Apr 202643.9%53.7%2.2%0.16%0.07%<0.01%<0.01%
May 202648.9%48.9%2%0.14%0.08%<0.01%0%
Jun 202648.8%48.8%2%0.26%0.08%<0.01%0%
Jul 202649.1%49.1%1.6%0.14%0.08%<0.01%<0.01%
Aug 202649.2%49.2%1.3%0.22%0.05%<0.01%0%
Sep 202649.3%49.3%1.3%0.1%0.05%<0.01%<0.01%

  1. 1.Netlify

    49.3%

    Held 1st. 2.7M estimated branded searches, 0% vs prior month. Share +0.1 points.

  2. 2.Vercel

    49.3%

    Held 2nd. 2.7M estimated branded searches, 0% vs prior month. Share +0.1 points.

  3. 3.Heroku

    1.3%

    Held 3rd. 74K estimated branded searches, 0% vs prior month. Share 0 points.

  4. 4.Render

    0.1%

    Held 4th. 5.4K estimated branded searches, -55.4% vs prior month. Share -0.1 points.

  5. 5.Fly.io

    0.05%

    Held 5th. 2.9K estimated branded searches, 0% vs prior month. Share 0 points.

  6. 6.Railway

    <0.01%

    Held 6th. 90 estimated branded searches, 0% vs prior month. Share 0 points.

  7. 7.DigitalOcean

    <0.01%

    Held 7th. 10 estimated branded searches, — vs prior month. Share 0 points.

Compare popularity between DigitalOcean and its closest rivals

Every comparison with DigitalOcean

11 comparisons

How has branded search demand for DigitalOcean changed worldwide over the last 12 months?

2 findings
  • Across the 12 months ending September 2026, estimated monthly branded searches for DigitalOcean worldwide rose from 453K to 552K.
  • Across the 12 months ending September 2026, DigitalOcean’s share of searches among developer hosting platforms worldwide held steady at <0.01%.

How did search popularity change for developer hosting platforms worldwide in September 2026?

5 changes

  1. Estimated monthly branded searches for Netlify worldwide rose 174% over 12 measured months, from 1M to 2.7M in September 2026.

  2. Estimated monthly branded searches for Vercel worldwide rose 124.6% over 12 measured months, from 1.2M to 2.7M in September 2026.

  3. Estimated monthly branded searches for Railway worldwide rose 80% over 12 measured months, from 50 to 90 in September 2026.

  4. Estimated monthly branded searches for Heroku worldwide fell 55.2% over 12 measured months, from 165K to 74K in September 2026.

  5. Estimated monthly branded searches for Render worldwide fell 45.5% over 12 measured months, from 9.9K to 5.4K in September 2026.

How are DigitalOcean’s branded searches counted?

6 search terms

Brandwave collects information about searches that people make online using DigitalOcean’s name. When viewed over time, estimated search volumes for these branded terms can be used to understand whether interest in the brand is growing, holding steady, or fading.

  • cloud storage digitalocean
  • digitalocean
  • digitalocean app
  • digitalocean cloud storage
  • digitalocean object storage
  • digitalocean spaces

Do you work for DigitalOcean? To request corrections or removal please contact us via our support page and we will be happy to assist.

How the Brand Demand Index is measured

Where does DigitalOcean compete?

DigitalOcean is ranked in six competitor sets. Each share is worked out among that set's brands, so it differs from set to set.
Competitor setRankShare of searchesRanking
Cloud hosting platforms8th of 8<0.01%Show ranking
Web hosting providers5th of 104.2%Show ranking
Cloud object storage providers3rd of 77.8%Show ranking
Cloud computing platforms5th of 5<0.01%Show ranking
Developer hosting platforms7th of 7<0.01%Shown above
VPS hosting providers7th of 7<0.01%Show ranking
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