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Fly.io vs Railway
A detailed comparison to help you choose between Fly.io and Railway.
| Feature | Fly.io | Railway |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing Model | Freemium | Freemium |
| Free Tier | Yes | Yes |
| Monthly Cost (Solo) | $0 | $5 |
| Target Audience | developers | solopreneurs, developers, startups |
| Verified | No | Yes |
| Solo-Friendly | Yes | Yes |
| Open Source | No | No |
| Editorial Rating | 4.2/5 | 4.3/5 |
| Categories | Developer Tools | Developer Tools |
| Key Features | Global edge deployment (30+ regions), Dockerfile-based deployment, Built-in Postgres and Redis, Volume storage, Private networking | Instant deployment, Database hosting, Automatic scaling, Preview environments, Team collaboration |
| Free Tier Quality | good | good |
Pricing Breakdown
Fly.io
Free: 3 shared VMs (256MB each), 3GB storage, 160GB transfer. Shared VM: ~$1.94/month. Dedicated VM: ~$29/month. Postgres: from $1.94/month.
Railway
Hobby: $5 free usage/month (512MB RAM). Pro: $20/month (8GB RAM, team features). Usage-based: $0.000231/min vCPU, $0.000231/min per 1GB RAM.
Integration Overlap
Shared Integrations (3)
Only in Fly.io (4)
Only in Railway (7)
Use Case Fit
Fly.io
- * Global edge application hosting
- * Full-stack app deployment
- * Real-time application hosting
- * Multi-region database deployment
- * Docker container hosting
Railway
- * Full-stack application deployment
- * Database hosting (PostgreSQL, MySQL, Redis)
- * Backend API hosting
- * Cron job and worker management
- * Quick prototype deployment
Fly.io
Pros
- + Deploy anywhere globally with one command
- + Generous free tier (3 shared VMs)
- + Run any Docker container
- + Built-in managed databases
Cons
- - Steeper learning curve than Vercel/Railway
- - CLI-centric (less visual dashboard)
- - Pricing can be unpredictable
- - Documentation could be better
Railway
Pros
- + Fastest deployment experience
- + Built-in databases (Postgres, Redis, MongoDB)
- + Excellent DX
- + Generous free tier ($5 credit/mo)
Cons
- - $5 credit goes fast for always-on services
- - Less mature than Vercel/Heroku
- - Limited regions
Editorial Verdict
For solo founders on a budget, Fly.io wins with solo-friendly pricing and a good free tier. For the highest-rated experience, Railway edges ahead with a 4.3/5 editorial rating.
Sarah Chen
Editor-in-Chief