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Software · head to head

Fly.io vs Google Cloud Platform

Fly.io logo

Fly.io

Software

Deploy web applications globally

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Google Cloud Platform logo

Google Cloud Platform

Software

Trusted by millions of enterprises

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: 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; Google Cloud Platform the $300 Free Trial credit expires 90 days from signup, whichever comes first with spending it
  • They diverge on capability: Fly.io covers Global deployment, Google Cloud Platform covers Compute Engine.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Fly.io and Google Cloud Platform actually diverge.

Attributes where Fly.io and Google Cloud Platform differ
AttributeFly.ioGoogle Cloud Platform
PlatformsWeb, Api, DockerWeb, Api, Cli
Founded20202008

Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (usage-based), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown).

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 Fly.io

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

Only in Google Cloud Platform

  • Compute Engine
  • App Engine
  • Cloud Run
  • Cloud Storage
  • Cloud SQL
  • BigQuery
  • Dataflow
  • Cloud Pub/Sub

Both cover

  • Docker
  • Git
  • Cloud deployment

What people use each for

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

Fly.io

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

Google Cloud Platform

  • Running compute, storage and managed data services on Google's cloudnot Fly.io
  • Hosting Kubernetes workloads on GKE alongside BigQuery analyticsnot Fly.io

Where each one falls short

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

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

Google Cloud Platform

  • The $300 Free Trial credit expires 90 days from signup, whichever comes first with spending it
  • Free Tier Compute Engine is limited to one non-preemptible e2-micro instance per month and only in the us-west1, us-central1 or us-east1 regions
  • Free Tier Compute Engine includes only 30 GB-months of standard persistent disk and 1 GB of outbound North America data transfer per month
  • Free Tier Cloud Storage covers 5 GB-months of regional storage in US regions only, 5,000 Class A and 50,000 Class B operations per month
  • Free Tier outbound data transfer allowances exclude destinations in China and Australia
  • Compute Engine resources are governed by allocation quotas that require a quota increase request to exceed

Pricing, plan by plan

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

Google Cloud Platform

Free
  • Free TierFree
    • Compute Engine 744 hours/month
    • Cloud Storage 5GB
    • Cloud SQL 250MB storage

Which should you pick?

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

Choose Google Cloud Platform if

  • You need compute engine.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Api, Cli.
  • You also want app engine.
Google Cloud Platform review

Questions people ask

Is Fly.io or Google Cloud Platform better?
Neither clearly leads. Fly.io starts at Free and Google Cloud Platform at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Fly.io or Google Cloud Platform?
Fly.io starts at Free and Google Cloud Platform at Free.
Does Fly.io or Google Cloud Platform run on more platforms?
Fly.io runs on Web, Api, Docker. Google Cloud Platform runs on Web, Api, Cli.
Can I use Fly.io for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Fly.io best used for?
Fly.io is most often used for deploying containerised applications close to users across regions, running full stack apps and databases on managed machines. Of those, deploying containerised applications close to users across regions and running full stack apps and databases on managed machines are not what Google Cloud Platform is typically brought in for.
What can Fly.io do that Google Cloud Platform cannot?
Fly.io covers Global deployment, Docker support, Postgres databases, Redis support. Google Cloud Platform covers Compute Engine, App Engine, Cloud Run, Cloud Storage. Both handle Docker, Git, Cloud deployment.
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Related pages

More on Fly.io

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