Amazon Web Services (AWS) vs Fly.io Comparison
Compare Amazon Web Services (AWS) vs Fly.io features, pricing, and more.
Last updated: November 2026
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
7.9/10
Amazon's public cloud platform, with over 200 pay-as-you-go services for compute, storage, databases, networking and AI, used by startups through large enterprises and governments.
Fly.io
5.9/10
Fly.io is a developer cloud that runs containerized apps as fast-booting Machines in regions worldwide, billed by usage, with managed Postgres and object storage.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | | |
|---|---|---|
| Scores | ||
| Overall Rating | 7.9/10 | 5.9/10 |
| Analytics | 8/10 | 5/10 |
| Cost | 5/10 | 7/10 |
| Customization | 10/10 | 8/10 |
| Ease of Use | 4/10 | 6/10 |
| Integration | 10/10 | 6/10 |
| Reliability | 9/10 | 4/10 |
| Scalability | 10/10 | 7/10 |
| Security | 9/10 | 6/10 |
| Support | 6/10 | 5/10 |
| Pricing | ||
| Free plan | Yes | No |
| Cheapest paid plan | Contact for pricing | $2/mo Pay-as-you-go (Machines) |
| Estimated cost for 10 users | Free Free plan | $2/mo Pay-as-you-go (Machines) |
| Features | ||
| API and CLI | ||
| Cloud Compute | ||
| Managed Databases | ||
| Multiple Regions | ||
| Object Storage | ||
| Uptime SLA | ||
| Automatic Backups | Not listed | |
| Content Delivery Network | Not listed | |
| Managed Kubernetes | Not listed | |
| Serverless Functions | Not listed | |
| VPS Hosting | Not listed | |
Amazon Web Services (AWS) vs Fly.io cost by team size
Amazon Web Services (AWS) costs less at every team size we checked.
| Team size | Amazon Web Services (AWS) | Fly.io |
|---|---|---|
| 1 user | FreeFree plan | $2/moPay-as-you-go (Machines) |
| 5 users | FreeFree plan | $2/moPay-as-you-go (Machines) |
| 10 users | FreeFree plan | $2/moPay-as-you-go (Machines) |
| 25 users | FreeFree plan | $2/moPay-as-you-go (Machines) |
| 50 users | FreeFree plan | $2/moPay-as-you-go (Machines) |
The plan that fits each team size, billed monthly, before add-ons and usage charges. Each cost opens that tool's pricing calculator for the team size.
Which One Should You Choose?
Why choose Amazon Web Services (AWS)
- Has a free plan (Fly.io does not)
- Lower estimated cost for 10 users: Free vs $2/mo
- Higher Reliability score (9/10 vs 4/10)
- Higher Integration score (10/10 vs 6/10)
- Better fit for enterprise (10/10 vs 5/10)
Why choose Fly.io
- Higher Cost score (7/10 vs 5/10)
- Higher Ease of Use score (6/10 vs 4/10)
Pros & Cons
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Pros
- The service catalogue is unusually broad, with over 200 services across 38 regions, so most infrastructure needs can be met on one platform.
- EC2 has a 99.99% region-level SLA with credits of up to 100%, and instances unavailable for more than six minutes in an hour are not billed for that hour.
- The free plan gives up to $200 in credits, and more than 30 always-free services let new teams experiment at low cost.
- Support scales from a $29 minimum up to dedicated Enterprise and Unified Operations tiers for mission-critical workloads.
- G2 rates it 4.4 across more than 17,000 reviews, and reviewers praise its scalability and global reach.
Cons
- Reviewers widely cite a steep learning curve across the console and services.
- Usage pricing is complex and can produce unexpected bills unless spend is monitored closely.
- Paid support is billed as a percentage of total AWS spend, so support costs rise with usage.
- A July 2025 billing console bug showed customers estimated charges in the billions, which hurt trust in its cost tooling.
Fly.io
Pros
- Very low entry cost: a small shared Machine is about $2.19 a month, and invoices under $5 are waived.
- Apps can run in many regions with Anycast routing and global load balancing included at no extra cost.
- Per-hour billing and one-year reserved blocks that save 40 percent give flexible ways to manage cost.
- Managed Postgres plans include high availability, automated backups and connection pooling.
- A HIPAA package with a pre-signed BAA costs $99 a month on any paid plan.
Cons
- Status trackers show recurring network and API incidents through 2025 and 2026, and the CEO admitted reliability problems in 2023.
- The 99.9% uptime SLA is available only with Enterprise support, which starts at $2,500 a month.
- Bills spread across Machines, volumes, egress, IPs and support, which makes costs harder to predict.
- Apps need a Dockerfile and a fly.toml, which adds setup work compared with buildpack-style PaaS products.
- Compute costs more in some regions, up to 1.615 times in Sao Paulo.
Not sold on either?
Frequently Asked Questions
Amazon Web Services (AWS) scores higher on our Hosting & Infrastructure criteria: 7.9/10 against 5.9/10 for Fly.io. The largest gap is in Reliability: 9/10 for Amazon Web Services (AWS) and 4/10 for Fly.io.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) costs less for 10 users: free on its Free plan, against about $2/mo on its Pay-as-you-go (Machines) plan for Fly.io, billed monthly.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) has a free plan; Fly.io does not list one.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the better fit for enterprise: we rate it 10/10 for them, against 5/10 for Fly.io.
