Fly.io runs your app as lightweight VMs called Machines in 17 regions and bills for exactly what runs. EthioDeploy builds your GitHub repo into a container in one region, with a free plan and a database included in every plan. The trade-off is reach and flexibility against price and simplicity.
Last checked
Competitor details were checked against Fly.io's official pages on 2026-10-23. Plans and prices change, so confirm on their site before you decide.
| EthioDeploy | Fly.io | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | 1 project, sleeps after 30 minutes idle | No free tier for new organizations. Trial: 2 hours of machine runtime or 7 days, whichever comes first |
| Pricing shape | Plans: Free, Pro $10, Business $30 a month, with a usage quota | Pay per machine, billed by usage, no platform fee |
| About 1 GB of memory | Pro $10/month: 1 GB per container, plus a database and custom domains | shared-cpu-1x with 1 GB: $6.70/month. Extra RAM $6/GB/month |
| Managed Postgres | Included: 512 MB on Free, 5 GB on Pro, 20 GB on Business | Managed Postgres from $38/month (Basic, 1 GB RAM) plus $0.28/GB storage |
| Redis | Redis addon included in the plan | Upstash Redis: $0.20 per 100k requests, or fixed plans from $10/month |
| Idle behavior | Free sleeps after 30 minutes. Paid plans are always on | Configurable auto-stop or suspend; a stopped machine pays only for its root filesystem |
| Regions | One region | 17 regions with Anycast routing and private networking |
| Build setup | Auto-detected from your repo. No Dockerfile or config file | fly launch generates a Dockerfile and fly.toml |
| Payment methods | Card in USD, or bank transfer in Birr | Card through Stripe; prepaid credits from $25 |
| Built-in AI | Coding agent in a live sandbox: diff, apply, PR and branch preview. Plans from $5/month | fly mcp server lets Claude or Cursor manage apps, logs and secrets (marked experimental) |
| Domains | Buy domains in the dashboard | Bring your own domain; certificates via fly certs, first 10 free |
Does Fly.io have a free tier?
Not for new organizations. Fly.io's pricing docs say new organizations don't get a free tier or a monthly free usage allowance. They get a trial of up to 2 hours of machine runtime or 7 days. EthioDeploy's Free plan runs one project at no cost and sleeps after 30 minutes idle.
Is Fly.io cheaper than EthioDeploy?
For the app alone, it can be: a 1 GB shared machine is $6.70 a month, against $10 for EthioDeploy Pro. Add a managed database and it flips, since Fly's Managed Postgres starts at $38 a month while EthioDeploy includes a 5 GB Postgres, MySQL or Redis in Pro.
Do I need a Dockerfile?
Not on EthioDeploy: it detects Node.js, Python, Go, Ruby, PHP and static sites from your repo. Fly.io's fly launch generates a Dockerfile for you, which you then maintain.
Can I run a background worker or bot?
Yes on both. On Fly.io any process can run on a machine. On EthioDeploy, set the project's service type to Background Worker, which skips the HTTP health check and is never put to sleep.
Which is better for users in Africa?
Fly.io has a region in Johannesburg, so an app there is close to southern African users, though its Managed Postgres isn't offered in that region. EthioDeploy runs in one region and doesn't claim edge performance. Its advantage for African teams is billing: you can pay in Ethiopian Birr by bank transfer.
Fly.io facts come from these official pages, read on 2026-10-23:
EthioDeploy details are on our pricing and docs pages. Spot a mistake? Tell us via Contactand we'll fix it.
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