Ranking / Fly.io
Ranked #6 of 10 · 65 / 100
Fly.io
Fast-booting VMs on Fly's own hardware, close to your users.
Vendor-hosted fly.io
Last reviewed
Verdict: Excellent for globally distributed apps and cheap small machines; expect to do more of the operating yourself than on Render or Heroku.
Best fitApps that benefit from running close to users in many regions, and teams comfortable with a CLI and a config file.
Not forTeams that want a hands-off dashboard, and roadmaps built around GPUs.
Strengths
- Fly Machines in 18 regions, billed by the second.
- Small machines are cheap: the smallest preset is listed at $2.19 a month.
- HIPAA package at a published $99 a month with a pre-signed BAA, on any paid plan; SOC 2 Type II.
Limits
- Its own blog post "We Were Wrong About GPUs" scaled back its GPU bet; check its docs for current GPU availability.
- More of the operating is yours (machines, volumes, regions) than on Render or Heroku.
- Runs only on Fly's hardware.
What it costs
Per-second Machines billing, from $2.19 a month for shared-cpu-1x with 256 MB (prices vary by region); volumes $0.15 per GB-month; support plans from $29 a month; HIPAA package $99 a month.
On the criteria
| Where apps run | Limited | Vendor-hosted on hardware Fly owns, with a choice of 18 regions. |
|---|---|---|
| Compliance | Strong | SOC 2 Type II; HIPAA package at $99 a month with a pre-signed BAA, available on any paid plan. |
| GPU support | Limited | Its post "We Were Wrong About GPUs" describes scaling its GPU bet back, and its pricing page lists no GPU presets; check its docs for current availability. |
| Cost model | Strong | Published per-second rates by machine preset and region. |
| Ease of exit | Good | Deploys Docker images; fly.toml and Machines APIs are Fly-specific. |
| Operations handled | Good | CLI-first: deploys, TLS and routing are handled, but you choose and manage machines, volumes and regions. |
| Score | 65 / 100 | Rank 6 of 10. How the score is worked out. |
Check it: Fly.io pricingFly.io blog: We Were Wrong About GPUs