Cloud & Infrastructure · head to head
DeepInfra vs Fly.io
DeepInfra
Cloud & Infrastructure
Low-cost cloud API for running open-source AI models
- From
- $0.08/month
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Only Fly.io has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: DeepInfra focuses on inference hosting rather than fine-tuning or full training pipelines that competitors like Fireworks AI offer.; 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: DeepInfra covers Open model hosting, Fly.io covers Global deployment.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which DeepInfra and Fly.io actually diverge.
Identical on both: pricing model (usage-based), 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 DeepInfra
- Open model hosting
- Pay-per-token pricing
- Long context support
- DeepCluster
- Zero retention policy
- Real-time metrics
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.
DeepInfra
- Running open-source LLM inference without managing GPUsnot Fly.io
- Serving speech and image generation models via APInot Fly.io
- Cost-sensitive production inference at scalenot Fly.io
- Reserved GPU capacity via DeepCluster for steady workloadsnot Fly.io
Fly.io
- Deploying containerised applications close to users across regionsnot DeepInfra
- Running full stack apps and databases on managed machinesnot DeepInfra
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
DeepInfra
- Focuses on inference hosting rather than fine-tuning or full training pipelines that competitors like Fireworks AI offer.
- Model selection is limited to what DeepInfra chooses to host, unlike self-managed platforms.
- No published free tier; usage is billed from the first token.
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
DeepInfra
$0.08/month- Pay-as-you-go$undefined/mo
- Per-model token pricing from $0.08 to $2.85 per million input tokens
- No long-term contract
- DeepCluster$1.98/month
- Dedicated NVIDIA B300 GPU clusters at $1.98/GPU-hour
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 DeepInfra if
- You need open model hosting.
- You work on web, api.
- You also want pay-per-token pricing.
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.
Questions people ask
- Is DeepInfra or Fly.io better?
- Neither clearly leads. DeepInfra starts at $0.08/month and Fly.io at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, DeepInfra or Fly.io?
- Fly.io has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $0.08/month for DeepInfra and Free for Fly.io.
- Does DeepInfra or Fly.io run on more platforms?
- DeepInfra runs on web, api. Fly.io runs on Web, Api, Docker.
- Can I use Fly.io for free?
- Yes. Fly.io has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. DeepInfra starts at $0.08/month.
- What is DeepInfra best used for?
- DeepInfra is most often used for running open-source llm inference without managing gpus, serving speech and image generation models via api, cost-sensitive production inference at scale, reserved gpu capacity via deepcluster for steady workloads. Of those, running open-source llm inference without managing gpus and serving speech and image generation models via api are not what Fly.io is typically brought in for.
- What can DeepInfra do that Fly.io cannot?
- DeepInfra covers Open model hosting, Pay-per-token pricing, Long context support, DeepCluster. Fly.io covers Global deployment, Docker support, Postgres databases, Redis support.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
DeepInfra: Is there a free tier on DeepInfra?
No free tier is published; usage is billed pay-as-you-go from the first token, though a credit card or pre-payment is required before you can send requests.
SourceDeepInfra: How is usage priced?
Language models are billed per million input/output tokens, other models by inference execution time, and audio models per minute of audio processed, with no minimum commitment.
SourceDeepInfra: What are the Standard, Priority, and Flex tiers?
Standard is default best-effort pricing at 1x, Priority costs 1.5x for faster time-to-first-token during peak demand, and Flex costs 0.8x for non-production or asynchronous workloads.
SourceDeepInfra: How does billing scale with spend?
Accounts advance through usage tiers as cumulative payments cross $20, $100, $500, $2,000, and $10,000 thresholds, with invoices generated monthly or at each threshold.
SourceDeepInfra: Is there a limit on concurrent requests?
Yes, accounts are limited to 200 concurrent requests by default, though spending limits can also be configured to prevent unexpected charges.
SourceRelated pages
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