Softwr

AI · head to head

Arize AI vs Fly.io

Arize AI logo

Arize AI

AI

AI engineering platform for observability and evaluation of agents and LLM apps

From
Free
Rated
-
Fly.io logo

Fly.io

Cloud

Deploy web applications globally

From
$29/month
Rated
-

The short version

  • Only Arize AI has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Arize AI the free plan caps trace spans at 25,000 per month with only 15 days of retention.; Fly.io egress is priced by destination region, from $0.02 per GB in North America and Europe to $0.12 per GB for Africa and India, so the same traffic costs six times more depending on where users are
  • They diverge on capability: Arize AI covers End-to-end tracing, Fly.io covers Global deployment.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Arize AI and Fly.io actually diverge.

Attributes where Arize AI and Fly.io differ
AttributeArize AIFly.io
Starting priceFree$29/month
Pricing modelfreemiumusage-based
Free tierYesNo
Platformsweb, apiWeb, Api, Docker
CategoryAICloud
FoundedUnknown2020

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Arize AI

  • End-to-end tracing
  • Evaluation framework
  • Prompt testing and improvement
  • Alyx AI engineering agent
  • Custom dashboards
  • Data warehouse integrations

Only in Fly.io

  • Global deployment
  • Docker support
  • Postgres databases
  • Redis support
  • Auto-scaling
  • Health checks
  • Backups
  • Monitoring

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Arize AI

  • Tracing and debugging production AI agentsnot Fly.io
  • Running large-scale evaluations across traces and sessionsnot Fly.io
  • Improving prompts before production rolloutnot Fly.io
  • Storing and querying GenAI traces alongside a data warehousenot Fly.io

Fly.io

  • Deploying containerised applications close to users across regionsnot Arize AI
  • Running full stack apps and databases on managed machinesnot Arize AI

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Arize AI

  • The free plan caps trace spans at 25,000 per month with only 15 days of retention.
  • Self-hosted deployment and Data Fabric integration are restricted to the custom-priced Enterprise tier.
  • Pricing beyond the $50/month Pro plan requires a custom quote, making cost planning less transparent at scale.
  • Advanced compliance features like HIPAA are only available on Enterprise.

Fly.io

  • Egress is priced by destination region, from $0.02 per GB in North America and Europe to $0.12 per GB for Africa and India, so the same traffic costs six times more depending on where users are
  • Stopped machines still bill at $0.15 per GB of root filesystem a month, so a paused service is not a free one
  • Volumes are billed on provisioned capacity rather than usage, at $0.15 per GB a month
  • Reservation discounts of 40% require paying a year up front, from $36 to $1,440
  • Fly Kubernetes is a separate $75 a month per cluster
  • Dedicated IPv4 addresses are $2 a month each

Pricing, plan by plan

Arize AI

Free
  • AX FreeFree
    • 25k trace spans/month
    • 1 GB storage/month
    • 15-day retention
  • AX Pro$50/month
    • 50k trace spans/month
    • 10 GB storage/month
    • 30-day retention
  • AX Enterprise$undefined/mo
    • Custom trace spans, storage, and retention
    • SaaS or self-hosted deployment
    • Managed agents and Data Fabric

Fly.io

$29/month
  • Pay-as-You-Go$null/mo
    • Micro VMs and persistent storage charged by usage
    • FlyCTL CLI
    • Unlimited users and organizations
  • Serious Support$29/month
    • Access to dedicated engineering team
    • All Pay-as-You-Go features
  • Machine Reservation Blocks$null/mo
    • 40% discount on machine usage
    • Requires upfront payment for savings
  • Compliance Package$99/month
    • HIPAA compliance
    • BAAs
    • SOC2 documentation

Which should you pick?

Choose Arize AI if

  • You need end-to-end tracing.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on web, api.
  • You also want evaluation framework.

Choose Fly.io if

  • You need global deployment.
  • You work on Web, Api, Docker.
  • You also want docker support.

Questions people ask

Is Arize AI or Fly.io better?
Neither clearly leads. Arize AI starts at Free and Fly.io at $29/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Arize AI or Fly.io?
Arize AI has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Arize AI and $29/month for Fly.io.
Does Arize AI or Fly.io run on more platforms?
Arize AI runs on web, api. Fly.io runs on Web, Api, Docker.
Can I use Arize AI for free?
Yes. Arize AI has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Fly.io starts at $29/month.
What is Arize AI best used for?
Arize AI is most often used for tracing and debugging production ai agents, running large-scale evaluations across traces and sessions, improving prompts before production rollout, storing and querying genai traces alongside a data warehouse. Of those, tracing and debugging production ai agents and running large-scale evaluations across traces and sessions are not what Fly.io is typically brought in for.
What can Arize AI do that Fly.io cannot?
Arize AI covers End-to-end tracing, Evaluation framework, Prompt testing and improvement, Alyx AI engineering agent. Fly.io covers Global deployment, Docker support, Postgres databases, Redis support.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Arize AI: What does Arize AX cost?

Arize AX offers a free plan, a Pro plan at $50/month, and a custom-priced Enterprise plan, with pricing based on trace spans, storage, and retention needs.

Source
Fly.io: Is there a free tier for Fly.io?

Fly.io does not advertise a free tier. The base plan is pay-as-you-go with usage-based pricing for Micro VMs and persistent storage. All users get FlyCTL CLI, unlimited organizations, private networking, SSO, ACLs, and scoped tokens.

Source
Arize AI: Is there a free plan, and what are its limits?

The AX Free plan includes 25,000 trace spans and 1 GB of storage per month with 15-day retention, plus unlimited users, evaluations, and experiments.

Source
Fly.io: How much does Fly.io Serious Support cost?

Serious Support costs 29 USD per month and provides access to a dedicated engineering team while maintaining all pay-as-you-go features for Micro VMs and storage.

Source
Arize AI: What deployment options are available?

Free and Pro plans are SaaS-only, while Enterprise customers can choose SaaS or self-hosted deployment with custom SLAs.

Source
Fly.io: What does Fly.io Compliance Package include?

The Compliance Package is 99 USD per month and includes HIPAA compliance, BAAs, and SOC2 documentation for organizations requiring compliance certifications.

Source
Fly.io: Does Fly.io offer discounts for upfront commitment?

Yes, Fly.io offers Machine Reservation Blocks with 40% discount on machine usage. This requires upfront payment but applies savings on infrastructure costs.

Source
Share

Related pages

Other head to heads