Fly.io vs Cloudflare Pages
Compare Fly.io and Cloudflare Pages side by side. Features, pricing, pros and cons to help you choose the right hosting platform.
🏆 Quick Verdict
Fly.io runs persistent Docker applications globally. Cloudflare Pages serves static sites and JAMstack frontends. They solve different problems — one for backend services, one for frontend hosting.
Overall Scores
Fly.io
Cloudflare Pages
Feature Comparison
Fly.io Advantages
- ✓ Docker Support
Both Have
- = Free Tier
- = Custom Domain
- = Free SSL
- = Edge Functions
- = Auto Deploy from Git
- = Global CDN
- = Team Collaboration
- = Environment Variables
Cloudflare Pages Advantages
- ✓ Serverless Functions
- ✓ Preview Deployments
- ✓ Built-in Analytics
Pricing Comparison
Fly.io
Free starting
- free: Available
- pay-as-you-go: Available
- starter: $5/mo
- enterprise: custom
Cloudflare Pages
Free starting
- free: Available
- pro: $20/mo
- business: $200/mo
- enterprise: custom
Pros & Cons
Pros
- + Run VMs close to users in 30+ regions
- + Persistent volumes for stateful apps
- + Phoenix/Elixir optimized
- + Excellent for containerized full-stack apps
- + Pay-per-use pricing
Cons
- − Steeper learning curve (CLI-first)
- − No GUI-friendly dashboard
- − Credit card required even for free tier
- − No built-in preview deployments
Pros
- + Fastest global CDN (Cloudflare network)
- + Unlimited sites, bandwidth, requests on free tier
- + Workers integration for server-side logic
- + Best free tier in the industry
- + Built-in DDoS protection
Cons
- − Smaller plugin/integration ecosystem
- − Workers have memory/CPU limits
- − Less mature than Vercel/Netlify
- − Build plugin ecosystem limited
In-Depth Analysis
Cloudflare Pages is a frontend hosting platform optimized for static assets and JAMstack architectures. Content served from 300+ PoPs globally, zero-config framework detection, preview deployments for pull requests, and Cloudflare Workers for edge logic. For delivering a React, Vue, Astro, or Next.js static site to users worldwide, Cloudflare Pages is one of the best options available.
Fly.io runs persistent Docker applications — it's a compute platform, not a static site host. If you're running a Rails API, a WebSocket server, a Postgres database, or any service that needs to run continuously and maintain state, Fly is the right tool. Fly's global routing puts your backend close to users in 30+ regions.
These tools are highly complementary. A common architecture: Cloudflare Pages serves the frontend (React, Next.js, Astro), while Fly.io runs the backend API. Each handles what it's designed for — Cloudflare Pages excels at CDN delivery, Fly.io excels at persistent compute.
Cost comparison: Cloudflare Pages is free for unlimited static hosting, making it zero-cost for frontend deployment. Fly.io charges for compute time — small VMs start around $2/month. The combination of free frontend hosting (Cloudflare Pages) with low-cost backend compute (Fly.io) is a cost-effective full-stack architecture for many projects.
Who Should Choose What?
Choose Fly.io if:
Cloudflare Pages: Static frontends, JAMstack sites, and CDN-served web applications
Choose Cloudflare Pages if:
Fly.io: Persistent backend services, Docker applications, APIs, and anything needing continuous uptime
Ready to Get Started?
Try both platforms free and see which one feels right.