Softwr

Cloud & Infrastructure · head to head

Chef vs Fly.io

Chef logo

Chef

Cloud & Infrastructure

Infrastructure automation and management

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Fly.io logo

Fly.io

Cloud & Infrastructure

Deploy web applications globally

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Chef priced per node per year, at $59 on Business and $189 on Enterprise, so cost scales with fleet size rather than with team size; 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: Chef covers Recipes, Fly.io covers Global deployment.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Chef and Fly.io actually diverge.

Attributes where Chef and Fly.io differ
AttributeChefFly.io
Pricing modelopen-sourceusage-based
PlatformsLinux, Windows, Mac, ApiWeb, Api, Docker
Founded20092020

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Cloud & Infrastructure).

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 Chef

  • Recipes
  • Cookbooks
  • Roles
  • Data bags
  • Attributes
  • Chef Server
  • Chef Infra
  • Chef Compliance

Only in Fly.io

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

Both cover

  • Docker
  • Cloud deployment
  • Api support

What people use each for

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

Chef

  • Configuration management and infrastructure automation across server fleetsnot Fly.io
  • Enforcing compliance and audit policy on managed nodesnot Fly.io

Fly.io

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

Where each one falls short

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

Chef

  • Priced per node per year, at $59 on Business and $189 on Enterprise, so cost scales with fleet size rather than with team size
  • Tripling the price between the two published tiers puts compliance and audit features well above basic automation
  • Enterprise Plus and every self managed deployment are custom quoted with no published price

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

Chef

Free
  • Open SourceFree
    • Chef Infra
    • Community support
    • Full functionality
  • Chef Automate$4000/year
    • Chef Infra
    • Compliance automation
    • Insights

Fly.io

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 3 shared-cpu-1x VMs
    • 3GB persistence storage
    • 160GB outbound data/month
  • Pay-as-you-goFree
    • Unlimited applications
    • Dedicated machines
    • Global deployment

Which should you pick?

Choose Chef if

  • You need recipes.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Windows, Mac, Api.
  • You also want cookbooks.
Chef review

Choose Fly.io if

  • You need global deployment.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Api, Docker.
  • You also want docker support.
Fly.io review

Questions people ask

Is Chef or Fly.io better?
Neither clearly leads. Chef starts at Free and Fly.io at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Chef or Fly.io?
Chef starts at Free and Fly.io at Free.
Does Chef or Fly.io run on more platforms?
Chef runs on Linux, Windows, Mac, Api. Fly.io runs on Web, Api, Docker.
Can I use Chef for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Chef best used for?
Chef is most often used for configuration management and infrastructure automation across server fleets, enforcing compliance and audit policy on managed nodes. Of those, configuration management and infrastructure automation across server fleets and enforcing compliance and audit policy on managed nodes are not what Fly.io is typically brought in for.
What can Chef do that Fly.io cannot?
Chef covers Recipes, Cookbooks, Roles, Data bags. Fly.io covers Global deployment, Docker support, Postgres databases, Redis support. Both handle Docker, Cloud deployment, Api support.
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