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Running Drupal on DigitalOcean seems simple—until you realize just how many hosting paths exist. From droplets and marketplace apps to Kubernetes, Docker, and fully managed platforms, the choices quickly form a maze that’s difficult to navigate.

In this episode, we distill those nine possible approaches into two fundamental strategies: do it all yourself or use a managed service. You’ll learn why DIY hosting appears cheap but often carries a heavy operational burden, and why labor—not server cost—usually drives your real spending.

We examine the hidden costs teams overlook, compare total cost of ownership across different models, and give practical recommendations for solo developers, agencies, and teams without dedicated DevOps staff.

If you're trying to figure out the smartest, safest, and most cost-effective Drupal hosting approach on DigitalOcean, this episode will help you make that decision with confidence.

What You’ll Learn

• Why DigitalOcean offers too many hosting paths for beginners
• The difference between DIY and managed approaches
• What “operational burden” actually includes
• Why cheap infrastructure often costs more overall
• How to evaluate the true total cost of ownership
• Which hosting model best fits your team structure and risk tolerance
• The key strategic question that determines the right path

Watch Video: https://youtu.be/frzMn1dyndY

Credits: 

Video Sponsors:  https://www.drupalforge.org/
Infrastructure, tooling, and AI provider by https://devpanel.com/

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This episode of DrupalBrief is sponsored by DrupalForge.org

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