Compare / Fly.io Machines vs Vultr Cloud Compute
Fly.io Machines vs Vultr Cloud Compute
Pre-calculated from hand-checked data — Fly.io checked 2026-09-15, Vultr checked 2026-09-15.
The short version
Fly.io Machines wins more of our comparison points, but Vultr Cloud Compute still fits if developers who want a cheap server near their users, wherever those users are describes you.
Price Fly.io Machines
Fly.io Machines is cheaper at most of the stages we model.
Ease Fly.io Machines
Fly.io Machines is easier to get running: fly launch builds the image and deploys it; configuration lives in fly.toml and the flyctl CLI.
Control Vultr Cloud Compute
Vultr Cloud Compute gives you more control over the stack — the flip side of the convenience trade.
Free tier Vultr Cloud Compute
Vultr Cloud Compute has a free tier; Fly.io Machines doesn't.
Features Fly.io Machines
Fly.io Machines comes out ahead on 5 of the 15 features we track, versus 1.
What developers say about this matchup
We couldn't find a substantive first-person discussion comparing this exact pair. We leave the section empty instead of filling it with vendor marketing or generic SEO comparisons.
At a glance
| Fly.io Machines | Vultr Cloud Compute | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Dockerized apps that want low cost, fine control, or multi-region placement. | Developers who want a cheap server near their users, wherever those users are. |
| How deploys work | fly launch builds the image and deploys it; configuration lives in fly.toml and the flyctl CLI. | You get root on a fresh Linux server; setup and deploys are yours to script. |
| The tradeoff | You operate more of the stack yourself unless you pay for Managed Postgres. | Fully self-managed, and the hour-based billing model is less forgiving than per-second rivals. |
| Free tier | None | Limited early-access plan: 1 vCPU, 512 MB RAM, and 10 GB disk in Seattle, Frankfurt, or Miami. Confirm access in your account before relying on it. |
What you'd realistically pay
| Project stage | Fly.io Machines | Vultr Cloud Compute | Cheaper |
|---|---|---|---|
| Just starting | ≈$3/mo shared-cpu-1x, 256 MB — About $2.02/month in Amsterdam if always on; less with scale-to-zero. | ≈$5/mo vc2-1c-1gb — 1 vCPU, 1 GB RAM, 25 GB SSD, 1 TB transfer. A $3.50 512 MB plan ($2.50 IPv6-only) exists for tiny workloads. | Fly.io Machines |
| Steady traffic | ≈$6/mo shared-cpu-1x, 1 GB — About $5.92/month in Amsterdam, plus egress at $0.02/GB. | ≈$5/mo vc2-1c-1gb — Fine for steady modest traffic; move up when RAM gets tight. | Vultr Cloud Compute |
| Growing | ≈$12/mo Two 1 GB Machines — Two machines for availability; databases and egress on top. | ≈$20/mo vc2-2c-4gb — 2 vCPU, 4 GB RAM, 80 GB SSD, 3 TB transfer. | Fly.io Machines |
Fly.io Machines pricing notes
- Billed per second only while Machines are started; scale-to-zero is natively supported.
- Egress: $0.02/GB in North America and Europe; more elsewhere.
- Managed Postgres (MPG): Basic $38, Starter $72, Launch $282, Scale $962, Performance $1,922 per month, plus $0.28/GB-month storage. Every plan includes HA, backups, failover, and pooling.
Vultr Cloud Compute pricing notes
- Bandwidth overage costs $0.01/GB.
- IPv4 is included on Cloud Compute plans.
Our ratings
Ease of use Fly.io Machines
Pricing clarity Vultr Cloud Compute
Free tier
Scaling Fly.io Machines
Control Vultr Cloud Compute
Feature by feature
Fly.io Machines wins 5, Vultr Cloud Compute wins 1, with 9 even.
Deploy workflow
| Fly.io Machines | Vultr Cloud Compute | |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy from Git push | Partial No native git integration; the documented path is flyctl in GitHub Actions. | No No deploy pipeline — script your own. |
| Preview deploys | Partial PR apps work via the official GitHub Action, not out of the box. | No Nothing built in. |
| Official CLI | Yes flyctl does everything: launch, deploy, scale, ssh, logs. | Yes vultr-cli manages instances, snapshots, and DNS. |
| Instant rollbacks | Partial Redeploy any previous image; no one-click dashboard rollback. | Partial Snapshots restore a machine; no deploy-level rollback. |
Platform
| Fly.io Machines | Vultr Cloud Compute | |
|---|---|---|
| Custom domains + HTTPS | Yes Custom domains with free managed certificates. | Yes Point DNS at the server; TLS via certbot or a proxy is on you. |
| Built-in CDN / edge network | Partial Anycast routing sends users to the nearest region, but there is no static-asset CDN. | Partial Vultr sells a separate CDN product; nothing is bundled with the server. |
| Serverless functions | No Machines are micro-VMs, not functions. | No Not a VPS feature. |
| Docker containers | Yes A Docker image is the deployment unit. | Yes Docker marketplace image or install it yourself. |
| SSH / shell access | Yes fly ssh console opens a shell in any running Machine. | Yes Full root SSH. |
| EU hosting region | Yes Amsterdam, Paris, Frankfurt, London, and more. | Yes Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London, Paris, and more at the same USD prices. |
Runtime & operations
| Fly.io Machines | Vultr Cloud Compute | |
|---|---|---|
| Automatic scaling | Yes Machines autostart and autostop with traffic; scale counts per region. | No Manual resizing only. |
| Scale to zero | Yes Stopped Machines cost only their storage. | No Powered-off servers still bill; destroy to stop charges. |
| Scheduled jobs | Partial Scheduled Machines run on fixed intervals; full cron needs a workaround. | Yes Classic cron on the box. |
| Managed database | Yes Managed Postgres (MPG) includes HA, backups, failover, and pooling from $38/month; unmanaged Fly Postgres is Unsupported. | Yes Vultr Managed Databases (Postgres, MySQL, Kafka) sold separately. |
| Logs & metrics built in | Yes Built-in metrics (Grafana), live logs, and log shipping. | Partial Basic usage graphs; application monitoring is yours to set up. |
Watch out for
Fly.io
- New pay-as-you-go organizations get no free allowance.
- Managed Postgres starts at $38/month (Basic) plus $0.28/GB-month storage; unmanaged Fly Postgres is labeled Unsupported on the pricing page.
- Managed Postgres still lacks security patches and version upgrades, extra third-party extensions beyond pgvector and PostGIS, customer-facing alerting, and migration tools.
- Per-second compute plus $0.02/GB egress makes bills variable; prices differ by region.
Vultr
- Billing is in one-hour units and continues while a server is powered off — only destroying it stops charges.
- Some regions (like São Paulo) carry documented higher prices.
- A $0 Cloud Compute plan appears in the public API, but access remains restricted and should not be treated as generally available.
Read the full reviews: Fly.io and Vultr. Or answer four questions to see what fits your project.