DigitalOcean Spaces vs IDrive e2
Neither wins outright: DigitalOcean Spaces is cheaper for 2 of 3 workloads and IDrive e2 for the rest.
List prices checked
Rate cards side by side
Only the axes at least one of them bills on. A dash means that provider does not charge for it.
| Billing axis | DigitalOcean Spaces | IDrive e2 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry plan | $5.00/mo | — | — |
| Storage | $0.020/GB-mo | $0.0060/GB-mo | 3.3× IDrive e2 |
| Data transfer out | $0.010/GB | $0.010/GB | Same |
| Free tier | No | Yes | — |
Source: DigitalOcean pricing (May 2026) · IDrive pricing (August 2026). Published list prices only — committed-use discounts, regional variation, and per-request charges are not included. Not yet independently re-checked against the vendor’s page.
Monthly cost for three real workloads
The rate cards applied to identical usage. This is where the winner changes.
| Workload | DigitalOcean Spaces | IDrive e2 | Cheaper |
|---|---|---|---|
| Side projectA personal site or small app with modest traffic, a few gigabytes of assets, and one small always-on process. | $0.40 | $1.12 | DigitalOcean Spacessaves $0.72/mo (64%) |
| Growing SaaSA funded product serving a few thousand daily users, with an image-heavy frontend and two application servers. | $10 | $13 | DigitalOcean Spacessaves $3.00/mo (23%) |
| Media-heavy siteA publisher or video product where delivery dominates the bill and compute is almost an afterthought. | $130 | $112 | IDrive e2saves $18/mo (14%) |
Workload definitions are identical on every comparison page, so figures here can be read against any other pair in the same category.
What each one is for
DigitalOcean Spaces
by DigitalOcean
A flat $5 per month covers 250 GB of storage and 1 TB of transfer, which makes small buckets cost nothing extra and large ones uncompetitive.
IDrive e2
by IDrive
Among the lowest published storage rates of any S3-compatible service, with egress free up to three times stored volume and $0.01/GB beyond it. A newer platform with a shorter durability track record than its rivals.
Free tier: 10 GB free, with egress included up to 3x stored data
Common questions
- Is DigitalOcean Spaces or IDrive e2 cheaper in 2026?
- It depends on volume — DigitalOcean Spaces wins 2 of the 3 modelled workloads and IDrive e2 wins 1. The scenario table above shows where the crossover falls.
- Which has the better free tier, DigitalOcean Spaces or IDrive e2?
- IDrive e2 does — 10 GB free, with egress included up to 3x stored data. DigitalOcean Spaces bills from the first unit of usage.
- What do these estimates not include?
- Committed-use and reserved discounts, regional price variation, per-request API charges, support plans, and minimum retention periods. All of those move real invoices, sometimes by a lot. These figures compare published list prices for the same workload, which is the comparison the rate cards alone cannot give you.