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Fly.io
Deploy Docker apps globally in 30+ regions — 300ms machine startup, PostgreSQL from $1.94/month.
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About Fly.io
Fly.io is a global application platform that runs your Docker containers on hardware in 30+ regions worldwide. Specialises in running applications close to your users with a developer-first experience.
**Global deployment economics:**
Deploying in 5 regions on Fly.io costs approximately $12-30/month for a lightweight API. On AWS, equivalent multi-region deployment with Application Load Balancers, ECS Fargate, and Route 53 costs $150-300/month and requires significant DevOps expertise.
**Fly Machines:**
Lightweight VMs that start in 100-300ms and can scale to zero when unused. Pay only when processing requests. Suitable for preview environments per PR (start on first request, stop after inactivity) and background job workers (spin up on queue work, stop when empty).
**Private networking:**
Applications on the same Fly organisation can communicate over a private WireGuard mesh (6PN) with single-digit millisecond latency between any two regions. Your Tokyo deployment can call your Frankfurt deployment at 8ms latency.
**Postgres on Fly:**
Single instance: $1.94/month. HA cluster: $15/month. Primary/replica failover is automatic. Backups to S3 configured in the dashboard.
Key Features
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Fly Machines: start in 100-300ms, stop to zero, deploy any Docker container globally
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30+ regions: deploy to any combination of global regions with a single flyctl deploy command
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Private networking: WireGuard mesh between your applications — private calls across regions at 8ms
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Volumes: persistent SSD storage attached to Fly Machines — retain data across restarts
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fly launch: auto-detect your framework (Next.js, Rails, Django) and configure deployment automatically
Pros
- ✓30+ global regions — deploy close to your users for sub-20ms database latency
- ✓Fly Machines start in 100-300ms and stop to zero — pay only for actual compute
- ✓Private WireGuard mesh between regions — call Frankfurt from Tokyo at 8ms
- ✓PostgreSQL from $1.94/month — cheapest managed Postgres option available
- ✓Developer-friendly CLI (flyctl) deploys any Dockerfile in under 5 minutes
Cons
- ✗Less mature than AWS/GCP for complex enterprise workloads
- ✗Fly Postgres is semi-managed — you are responsible for some maintenance
- ✗Customer support can be slow since Fly is a smaller team than hyperscale cloud providers
Who is using Fly.io?
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Full-stack developers deploying globally distributed applications without DevOps overhead
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Startups who need their API to be fast in Europe and Asia without multi-cloud complexity
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Developers who want persistent VMs at lower cost than Heroku or Render
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Teams who need private networking between services across global regions
Use Cases
- →Deploying a Next.js API with a co-located Postgres database in every region users are in
- →Running background job workers that scale to zero between jobs
- →Building a globally consistent application with private networking between regional deployments
- →Hosting a self-hosted tool (n8n, Plausible, Ghost) at low cost on Fly infrastructure
Pricing
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Pay-as-you-go : ~$5 free credit — All features, 30+ regions, Private networking, Community support
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Scale : Usage-based — Priority support, Shared Postgres, SLA options
Pricing details may not be up to date. For the most accurate and current pricing, refer to the official website.
What Makes Fly.io Unique?
The global application platform that deploys Docker containers in 30+ regions, with private WireGuard networking between them, Fly Machines that start in 300ms and stop to zero, and PostgreSQL from $1.94/month.
How We Rated It
Startup times measured with flyctl machine start timing. Regional latency measured with private network ping between Fly applications. Cost comparison based on equivalent 5-region deployment invoices on Fly vs AWS.
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Accuracy and Reliability 4.4/5
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Ease of Use 4.6/5
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Functionality and Features 4.5/5
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Performance and Speed 4.6/5
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Customer Support 4.2/5
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Value for Money 4.5/5
AI summary
Deploy Docker apps globally in 30+ regions — 300ms machine startup, PostgreSQL from $1.94/month.