Fly.io vs Coolify

At a Glance

Fly.io

Coolify

Fly.io

Pros

Run any Docker container globally close to users with Anycast routing — true multi-region with just a fly.toml config file+163
Persistent volumes and long-running processes make it suitable for stateful apps that serverless platforms can't handle+148
Machines API lets you spin up ephemeral containers programmatically — great for running user-submitted code safely+127
The free allowance is enough to run two small apps indefinitely, which is great for hobby projects and side businesses+112

Cons

The CLI-first experience has a steep learning curve compared to Vercel or Railway — the mental model of machines and apps takes time to internalize

Hosting

Render vs Fly.io

Hosting

Railway vs Fly.io

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Coolify

Pros

Completely self-hosted on your own VPS — you pay $5/mo for a Hetzner server instead of Vercel's $20/mo for the same capability+178
Supports deploying Docker containers, static sites, databases, and any Nixpacks-compatible framework with a single UI+154
Automatic SSL certificate management with Let's Encrypt means you don't need to configure Nginx or Certbot manually+131
One-click deployment for popular open source tools like Plausible, Gitea, and n8n saves hours of server configuration+118

Cons

Being self-hosted means you're responsible for server maintenance, uptime, and security patching — it's not hands-off like managed platforms+152
Some advanced features have rough edges and the documentation doesn't always match the current UI after updates+127
No built-in global CDN — if you need edge distribution you still need Cloudflare in front of your self-hosted server+98
Database backups are configurable but require manual setup — there's no one-click automated backup with retention policies+79