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DigitalOcean vs Joyent
March 20, 2025 | Author: Michael Stromann
13★
Cloud computing platform for developers. Allows easily build, test, manage, scale applications of any size and also build, train and deploy AI apps and AI agents.
3★
Joyent is the high-performance cloud computing infrastructure and big data analytics platform, offering organizations of any size the best public and hybrid cloud infrastructure for today's demanding real-time web and mobile applications.
DigitalOcean and Joyent both exist to provide cloud computing, which, in layman's terms, means they rent out tiny, invisible computers floating in the ether for people who don’t want to deal with real ones. They let you store things, run programs and generally avoid thinking about physical hardware, which is a relief because nobody really enjoys thinking about physical hardware unless they work in IT or have an unusual fascination with blinking lights. Both companies also happen to hail from the United States, presumably because that’s where most people thought cloud computing should be invented.
DigitalOcean, the younger of the two, sprang into existence in 2011 with a singular goal: to make cloud hosting so simple that even a confused hamster could deploy a server. It quickly became the darling of startups, indie developers and anyone who prefers friendly-looking dashboards over cryptic command-line incantations. It offers things like managed databases, serverless functions and Kubernetes, all of which sound deeply technical but really just mean “we’ll handle it, don’t worry.” Its headquarters are in New York, which means its employees have an excellent selection of bagels but a terrible time finding parking.
Joyent, on the other hand, has been around since 2004, making it old enough to have been skeptical about "this whole cloud thing" before deciding to pioneer parts of it anyway. It’s a bit more eccentric, specializing in SmartOS (which is a bit like Linux but more opinionated) and Triton (which makes running containers faster but is not, sadly, an actual sea god). Rather than catering to starry-eyed indie developers, it focused on enterprises that need serious computing muscle. Samsung bought it in 2016, possibly in an attempt to future-proof itself against an AI uprising or just because everyone was buying cloud companies at the time.
See also: Top 10 Private Cloud platforms
DigitalOcean, the younger of the two, sprang into existence in 2011 with a singular goal: to make cloud hosting so simple that even a confused hamster could deploy a server. It quickly became the darling of startups, indie developers and anyone who prefers friendly-looking dashboards over cryptic command-line incantations. It offers things like managed databases, serverless functions and Kubernetes, all of which sound deeply technical but really just mean “we’ll handle it, don’t worry.” Its headquarters are in New York, which means its employees have an excellent selection of bagels but a terrible time finding parking.
Joyent, on the other hand, has been around since 2004, making it old enough to have been skeptical about "this whole cloud thing" before deciding to pioneer parts of it anyway. It’s a bit more eccentric, specializing in SmartOS (which is a bit like Linux but more opinionated) and Triton (which makes running containers faster but is not, sadly, an actual sea god). Rather than catering to starry-eyed indie developers, it focused on enterprises that need serious computing muscle. Samsung bought it in 2016, possibly in an attempt to future-proof itself against an AI uprising or just because everyone was buying cloud companies at the time.
See also: Top 10 Private Cloud platforms
