That's pretty much it. They give you a server you can do whatever you want with.

The 'droplets' are billed by the hour so you could try it for a few pennies. I don't think you even need to spend any of your own money. I've seen referrals that give you credit for signing up.

> Would you recommend them?

I would. The only thing you should watch out for is not going over your bandwidth limit, which only applies to outbound traffic.