Digital Ocean Issue with Support—Any Hourly VPS Alternatives?

I’ve been using Digital Ocean (DO) and overall, I think their service is decent—you can easily spin up a VPS and use it as needed. However, I wouldn’t host a live site on their VPS.

Recently, I had to process thousands of images using EasyOCR, and I ran a Python script on a 2-core, 8GB RAM droplet. It took quite a while to finish, but the job got done.

That said, I ran into an issue with the droplet and contacted support. Their response was alarming: they gave me information about someone else’s droplet called ‘disguise-beverage.’ This included details like IP addresses, how to connect, and ports to open. While the info wasn’t highly sensitive, it was a concerning lack of focus.

Can anyone recommend a VPS service similar to DO that allows you to install custom software and pay by the hour? I’ve heard of Vultr and Linode. Any other suggestions?

Wait, what? Did they mix up your droplet with someone else’s while trying to help? What kind of info were they sharing? (No need for specifics, just curious about the type of data.)

Almost all VPS providers let you install custom software. As for hourly billing, the big ones like AWS, GCP, and Azure do that, along with smaller providers like Linode, Vultr, and Hetzner.

Robin said:
Wait, what? Did they mix up your droplet with someone else’s while trying to help? What kind of info were they sharing? (No need for specifics, just curious about the type of data.)

Almost all VPS providers let you install custom software. As for hourly billing, the big ones like AWS, GCP, and Azure do that, along with smaller providers like Linode, Vultr, and Hetzner.

Yeah, they gave me the IP, connection details, and which ports to open for this other ‘disguise-beverage’ droplet. The info wasn’t super sensitive, but it’s worrying because what if it had been something more important like data retrieval or port access?

Vincent said:

Robin said:
Wait, what? Did they mix up your droplet with someone else’s while trying to help? What kind of info were they sharing? (No need for specifics, just curious about the type of data.)

Almost all VPS providers let you install custom software. As for hourly billing, the big ones like AWS, GCP, and Azure do that, along with smaller providers like Linode, Vultr, and Hetzner.

Yeah, they gave me the IP, connection details, and which ports to open for this other ‘disguise-beverage’ droplet. The info wasn’t super sensitive, but it’s worrying because what if it had been something more important like data retrieval or port access?

Got it. IPs and open ports aren’t super sensitive since you can get those from a port scan, but still, it’s not great that they mixed up the droplets. At least it wasn’t anything critical that got leaked.

Vincent said:

Robin said:
Wait, what? Did they mix up your droplet with someone else’s while trying to help? What kind of info were they sharing? (No need for specifics, just curious about the type of data.)

Almost all VPS providers let you install custom software. As for hourly billing, the big ones like AWS, GCP, and Azure do that, along with smaller providers like Linode, Vultr, and Hetzner.

Yeah, they gave me the IP, connection details, and which ports to open for this other ‘disguise-beverage’ droplet. The info wasn’t super sensitive, but it’s worrying because what if it had been something more important like data retrieval or port access?

Wait, so someone named their droplet ‘disguise-beverage’ and support gave you info on that by mistake?

Declan said:

Vincent said:
Robin said:
Wait, what? Did they mix up your droplet with someone else’s while trying to help? What kind of info were they sharing? (No need for specifics, just curious about the type of data.)

Almost all VPS providers let you install custom software. As for hourly billing, the big ones like AWS, GCP, and Azure do that, along with smaller providers like Linode, Vultr, and Hetzner.

Yeah, they gave me the IP, connection details, and which ports to open for this other ‘disguise-beverage’ droplet. The info wasn’t super sensitive, but it’s worrying because what if it had been something more important like data retrieval or port access?

Wait, so someone named their droplet ‘disguise-beverage’ and support gave you info on that by mistake?

Yep, exactly.

Try Hetzner. I stopped using Digital Ocean a while back when they raised their prices.

Tory said:
Try Hetzner. I stopped using Digital Ocean a while back when they raised their prices.

+1 for Hetzner. Digital Ocean is good, but Hetzner and Linode offer better value in my opinion. Hetzner especially gives unmatched bang for the buck.

Tory said:
Try Hetzner. I stopped using Digital Ocean a while back when they raised their prices.

Does Hetzner charge by the hour or only by the month?

Vincent said:

Tory said:
Try Hetzner. I stopped using Digital Ocean a while back when they raised their prices.

Does Hetzner charge by the hour or only by the month?

They charge by both. If you use it for less than a full month, you’ll be billed hourly.

I’d recommend Linode (now part of Akamai). I’ve been using it for years and have had a great experience.