Kubernetes Pricing

DigitalOcean Kubernetes (DOKS) is a managed Kubernetes service that lets you deploy Kubernetes clusters without the complexities of handling the control plane and containerized infrastructure. Clusters are compatible with standard Kubernetes toolchains and integrate natively with DigitalOcean Load Balancers and volumes.

The total cost of a DOKS cluster is calculated based on the configuration and usage of its node pools throughout the month. Note that node pools can have a variable number of nodes over the course of a month due to auto-scaling or manual changes. For more information, see Detailed Node Pool Pricing.

The control plane is fully managed by DigitalOcean and included at no cost. High availability (HA) for the control plane costs $40 per month, prorated hourly.

Surge upgrades, which create duplicate nodes during upgrades, are available at no additional cost.

Integration with DigitalOcean Load Balancers is charged at the same rate as DigitalOcean Load Balancers. Similarly, integration with volumes is charged at the same rate as volumes.

All charges for Kubernetes clusters appear in the Kubernetes section of monthly invoices.

Detailed Node Pool Pricing

• Worker nodes are built on Droplets and are charged at the same rate as Droplets. Billing starts when the node in the node pool is ready, even if it is unhealthy. However, you are not charged for created nodes that do not join the cluster.

• The per-hour price of the worker node is capped at 28 days (672 hours). If a node pool remains active for more than 672 hours in a month, you are only billed for 672 hours.

  Example

  If a worker node costs $100/month, its hourly price is $100 / 672 = $0.1488/hour.

  If a cluster with three of these worker nodes and no autoscaling runs for 27 days (648 hours), the total cost is $0.1488 * 648 * 3 = $289.2672.

  If the cluster runs for 29 days (696 hours), it is still only billed for 28 days (672 hours).

• A node pool’s monthly bill is calculated based on the highest usage for 4 weeks. If a node pool remains active for more than 672 hours in a month, you are billed for the highest 672 hours of usage.

  Example

  In a 31-day month, the number of nodes in the node pool varies between 10 and 25 nodes. The node pool starts with 10 nodes for 100 hours and scales up and down. If a worker node costs $100/month, its hourly price is $100/672 = $0.1488/hour. To calculate the total cost, node pool spans with the same number of nodes over the month are aggregated and sorted in descending order, as shown in the following table. The node pool’s fixed size over a time is called a span.

  Number of Nodes	Node Span (Hours)	Span Costs ($)
  25	100	$0.1488 * 25 * 100 hours= $372
  20	100	$0.1488 * 20 * 100 hours = $297.60
  15	100	$0.1488 * 15 * 100 hours= $223.20
  15	100	$0.1488 * 15 * 100 hours = $223.20
  15	100	$0.1488 * 15 * 100 hours = $223.20
  10	100	$0.1488 * 10 * 100 hours = $148.80
  10	100	$0.1488 * 10 * 72 hours = $223.20* 672 hours billing cap reached, 28 hours in span are unbilled.
  10	44	44 hours in span are unbilled

  The 672 hours billing cap is reached in the second span with 10 nodes. While the usage is for a total of 744 hours (31 days), we bill you only for 672 hours (28 days). Thus, the total node pool cost is $372 + $297.60 + $223.20 + $223.20 + $148.80 = $1595.14.

• Node pools have a minimum bill of either 60 seconds of usage or $0.01 * n, where n is the number of nodes in the node pool. If a node lasts less than a minute, then you are billed for at least 60 seconds of usage. If the amount is less than $0.01 * n, then the bill is rounded up to $0.01 * n.

  Example

  If a worker pool has 3 nodes which spanned 30 seconds, the usage is rounded up to 60 seconds. If the amount billed is not at least $0.01 * 3 ($0.03), the bill is rounded up to $0.03.

  If a worker pool has 5 nodes with 40 seconds of usage earlier in the month, then 20 seconds of usage later in the month, the total usage is aggregated together to 60 seconds.

  For node pools with varying number of nodes with different time spans, the usage is aggregated first, and only if the aggregated usage is less than 60 seconds, the bill is rounded up to 60 seconds. Further, if the resulting usage is less than $0.01 * n, then the bill is rounded up to $0.01 * n.

Bandwidth

Starting on 1 July 2022, a DOKS cluster will accrue free bandwidth based on the worker pool’s largest sizes within 28 days of usage. For example, if your worker pool has Droplets with a monthly bandwidth quota of 5TB, then you will accrue free bandwidth at the rate of 5TiB/(24*28) * worker_pool_size = 7.44 GiB/hr * worker_pool_size. Note that, for autoscaling clusters, the size of the worker pools vary.

Prior to 1 July 2022, you may have been receiving a slightly higher free bandwidth on 30 and 31-day months. Individual worker nodes were billed per hour, up to a maximum of 744 hours per month (31 days * 24 hours). As a result, they could accrue extra bandwidth allowance beyond the advertised monthly allowance for the corresponding Droplet plan. If your bandwidth consistently exceeds the accrued bandwidth, review your usage.