Does shutting down a DigitalOcean Basic Droplet stop billing?
The short answer
No. A powered-off Basic Droplet continues to incur charges because its resources remain reserved. Destroying the Droplet ends its instance charges; retained storage and other resources need a separate review.
In more detail
A shutdown is useful for maintenance, but it is not a cost-saving pause for a DigitalOcean Basic Droplet. The bundled instance remains allocated to you. If a development server will be unused for a long period, compare the cost of keeping it with the work needed to recreate it safely later.
Before destroying it, make a recoverable copy of required files and databases, and record the installation steps, secrets locations and DNS configuration. Check the copy by restoring a small test environment. Destruction is permanent, so a backup that has never been tested is a weak basis for deleting your only working server.
Review associated snapshots, volumes and other paid services separately. A saved snapshot can be useful for rebuilding, but keeping it is not the same as ending every charge on the account. Use the resource list and billing page to confirm what remains.
Our selection advice: a Basic Droplet fits teams comfortable rebuilding and maintaining a server. If you need an environment that pauses automatically, check that specific product's billing rules before choosing it; do not infer them from a power button.