Netlify vs Fly.io
Compare Netlify and Fly.io side by side. Features, pricing, pros and cons to help you choose the right hosting platform.
🏆 Quick Verdict
Netlify is a JAMstack hosting platform for static sites and serverless functions. Fly.io is a container runtime for running persistent backend services globally. They serve fundamentally different use cases.
Overall Scores
Netlify
Fly.io
Feature Comparison
Netlify Advantages
- ✓ Serverless Functions
- ✓ Preview Deployments
- ✓ Built-in Analytics
Both Have
- = Free Tier
- = Custom Domain
- = Free SSL
- = Edge Functions
- = Auto Deploy from Git
- = Global CDN
- = Team Collaboration
- = Environment Variables
Fly.io Advantages
- ✓ Docker Support
Pricing Comparison
Netlify
Free starting
- free: Available
- pro: $19/mo
- business: $99/mo
- enterprise: custom
Fly.io
Free starting
- free: Available
- pay-as-you-go: Available
- starter: $5/mo
- enterprise: custom
Pros & Cons
Pros
- + Generous free tier with 300 build minutes
- + Built-in form handling
- + Split testing (A/B) built in
- + Identity (auth) included
- + Excellent JAMstack support
Cons
- − Slower cold starts than Vercel
- − Build minutes cap on free plan
- − Analytics costs extra
- − No Next.js ISR/RSC support as strong as Vercel
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
In-Depth Analysis
Netlify's serverless functions are optimized for short-lived, stateless request handling — exactly what you need for a JAMstack API layer. Lambda-backed functions handle API routes, webhooks, and light backend logic with zero server management. Netlify's build pipeline and deploy previews make this frontend-first workflow seamless.
Fly.io is built for persistent processes that need to run continuously. WebSocket servers, real-time APIs, scheduled background jobs, stateful services, and anything that can't fit into a 10-second serverless execution window lives on Fly.io. The global routing means your persistent backend service is served from the PoP nearest to each user.
The architecture pattern where both make sense: Netlify hosts your statically generated frontend (Next.js, Astro, SvelteKit), and Fly.io runs your persistent backend API or WebSocket server. The frontend CDN (Netlify) and the backend runtime (Fly) are each doing what they're optimized for.
Pricing: Netlify's free tier is generous for static sites with limited function invocations. Fly.io's pricing is per-VM-hour — you pay for the compute time your apps consume. A small Fly app running 24/7 costs around $2-5/month. Fly's free allowance covers small hobby projects, but production workloads have predictable per-hour costs.
Who Should Choose What?
Choose Netlify if:
JAMstack sites, static frontend deployments, and build pipeline automation with serverless API routes
Choose Fly.io if:
Persistent backend services, WebSocket servers, and any Docker workload needing continuous global uptime
Ready to Get Started?
Try both platforms free and see which one feels right.