- Price
- Pay per second; smallest machine about $2.19/month
- Free plan
- No
- Setup
- Needs a developer
- Up and running
- 1 to 2 hours if you know Docker; a day if it's your first time.
What Fly.io is for
Fly.io runs your app as small virtual machines in the regions you choose, from Virginia to Frankfurt to Sydney, so the server sits close to your users. You package the app with Docker and publish from the command line. You pay per second for each machine, with no free tier.
How it plugs into your product
- 1Create an account and install the flyctl command-line tool.
- 2Run fly launch in the project folder; it creates the Dockerfile and the config file.
- 3Pick the region (iad is Ashburn, Virginia; fra is Frankfurt), set the secrets and run fly deploy.
- 4Add a card before the trial ends, or the machines stop.
Does it fit your idea?
It fits if
- A SaaS whose users are mostly in one area, like the US East Coast, that wants the back end running right next to them.
- An app that needs servers on several continents, like a real-time chat or a game.
- A team comfortable with Docker and the terminal that wants control over each machine.
Look elsewhere if
- You want a free plan to keep a side project online.
- You prefer clicking in a dashboard over writing commands and Dockerfiles.
- You need a managed database on a tight budget, since Managed Postgres starts at $38/month.
What people only find out after building
Read this before you build on it. Each item links to the official page that says so.
New organizations have no free tier or monthly allowance. The trial lasts 2 hours of machine time or 7 days, whichever comes first; after that you need a card.
Official source: docs.fly.ioManaged Postgres starts at $38/month, several times the price of the app machine itself.
Official source: docs.fly.ioOutbound traffic from South America costs $0.04 per GB, double the $0.02 in North America and Europe.
Official source: docs.fly.ioStopped machines still cost $0.15 per GB a month for their disk, and a dedicated IPv4 address is $2/month.
Official source: docs.fly.io
Price
Pay per second; smallest machine about $2.19/month
No free tier; a trial of up to 2 machine hours or 7 days, no card needed.
- Free tier
- No free tier (short trial)
- First paid plan
- From $2.19/month (shared CPU, 256 MB)
- Best for
- Docker apps, Elixir, multi-region
Checked on Oct 28, 2026 · official pricing
What it costs in practice
One shared-cpu-1x machine with 1 GB in Ashburn ($6.70) + 50 GB of outbound traffic (50 × $0.02 = $1) ≈ $7.70/month. Adding Managed Postgres Basic ($38) brings it to about $46/month. Estimate.
Estimate from the official price. Check it before you decide.
At a glance
- Free plan: no
- Open source: no
“Not stated” means the official site doesn’t say.
Alternatives
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