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DigitalOcean vs Fastly

Based on 6 and 355 real audits

View DigitalOcean details | View Fastly details
MetricDigitalOceanFastlyWinner
Performance7845DigitalOcean
Accessibility8090Fastly
Best Practices9189DigitalOcean
SEO9292Tie
Security6365Fastly
TTFB311ms152msFastly
Composite7474Tie
Performance
DigitalOcean
78
Fastly
45
Accessibility
DigitalOcean
80
Fastly
90
Security
DigitalOcean
63
Fastly
65
SEO
DigitalOcean
92
Fastly
92
Composite
DigitalOcean
74
Fastly
74

Fastly outperforms DigitalOcean in 3 of 7 categories, with a stronger composite score (74 vs 74). DigitalOcean leads in performance, best practices.

When to choose DigitalOcean

Choose DigitalOcean when your primary concern is performance and best practices. Its audit data shows consistent strength in these areas across the sampled sites.

When to choose Fastly

Choose Fastly when your primary concern is server response time and accessibility. Its audit data shows consistent strength in these areas across the sampled sites.

How this comparison was built

Scores are medians across 6 audited DigitalOcean sites and 355 audited Fastly sites in the BeaverCheck database. Every audit runs the same 100+ checks — Lighthouse performance, security headers, accessibility, SEO, server response time — against a real URL. No vendor input, no sponsorship, no affiliate links. Read the full methodology →

Small sample: one or both technologies have fewer than 10 audited sites. Treat these numbers as directional — medians stabilize around 20–30 audits per side.

FAQ

Which is faster, DigitalOcean or Fastly?
Based on real BeaverCheck audits, DigitalOcean sites score higher on Lighthouse performance (78 vs 45 on average).
Which has better security, DigitalOcean or Fastly?
Fastly sites score higher on security analysis (65 vs 63 on average).
Which has better accessibility, DigitalOcean or Fastly?
Accessibility scores measured by Lighthouse WCAG 2.1 checks favor Fastly (90 vs 80). Both technologies can be made fully accessible with care — the difference reflects common patterns in the sampled sites, not inherent platform limits.
Which is better for SEO, DigitalOcean or Fastly?
DigitalOcean sites score higher on Lighthouse SEO signals (92 vs 92 on average), which cover meta tags, crawlability, mobile friendliness, and structured data. Content strategy and backlinks still matter more than platform choice for ranking.
Which has faster server response (TTFB), DigitalOcean or Fastly?
Fastly sites show lower Time to First Byte (152 ms vs 311 ms on average). TTFB depends heavily on hosting and CDN setup rather than the technology itself, but the sampled sites suggest a meaningful difference in common deployment patterns.
Should I choose DigitalOcean or Fastly for my website?
Both platforms have trade-offs. DigitalOcean scores higher on overall composite score while DigitalOcean may excel in metrics you care about most. Run a free BeaverCheck audit on a real site using each to compare the metrics relevant to your use case.
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