Softwr

Cloud & Infrastructure · head to head

Fly.io vs Pulumi

Fly.io logo

Fly.io

Cloud & Infrastructure

Deploy web applications globally

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Pulumi logo

Pulumi

Cloud & Infrastructure

Modern infrastructure as code using programming languages

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; Pulumi the free Individual plan allows one user and one concurrent stack update
  • They diverge on capability: Fly.io covers Global deployment, Pulumi covers Multi-language support.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Fly.io and Pulumi differ
AttributeFly.ioPulumi
Pricing modelusage-basedfreemium
PlatformsWeb, Api, DockerLinux, Windows, Mac, Api
Founded20202017

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 Fly.io

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

Only in Pulumi

  • Multi-language support
  • Multi-cloud
  • State management
  • Secrets management
  • RBAC
  • Stacks
  • Automation API
  • Policy as Code

Both cover

  • GitHub
  • 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 Pulumi
  • Running full stack apps and databases on managed machinesnot Pulumi

Pulumi

  • Defining cloud infrastructure as code in TypeScript, Python, Go, C# or Java rather than a DSLnot Fly.io
  • Managing Pulumi state and secrets in a hosted backend instead of self-managed storagenot Fly.io
  • Policy, drift detection and deployment workflows for platform engineering teamsnot 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

Pulumi

  • The free Individual plan allows one user and one concurrent stack update
  • The Team plan is $40 per month base including 40 credits, and caps the organisation at 10 users
  • SAML/SSO, RBAC, audit logs and drift detection require the Enterprise plan at $400 per month base
  • The per-resource rate rises from $0.1825 per resource per month on Team to $0.365 on Enterprise, so upgrading raises the unit price as well as the base fee
  • Managed secrets are billed separately at $0.50 per secret per month on Team and $0.75 on Enterprise
  • Self-hosting, SCIM user sync, audit log export and 24x7 support are only in Business Critical, which is custom priced with no published rate
  • Team includes up to 500 resources and Enterprise up to 2,000, with everything beyond billed on demand as credits

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

Pulumi

Free
  • Pulumi CommunityFree
    • Open source
    • Community support
    • Self-hosted
  • Pulumi Cloud$10/month
    • Hosted backend
    • Team collaboration
    • RBAC

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 Pulumi if

  • You need multi-language support.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Windows, Mac, Api.
  • You also want multi-cloud.
Pulumi review

Questions people ask

Is Fly.io or Pulumi better?
Neither clearly leads. Fly.io starts at Free and Pulumi at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Fly.io or Pulumi?
Fly.io starts at Free and Pulumi at Free.
Does Fly.io or Pulumi run on more platforms?
Fly.io runs on Web, Api, Docker. Pulumi runs on Linux, Windows, Mac, Api.
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 Pulumi is typically brought in for.
What can Fly.io do that Pulumi cannot?
Fly.io covers Global deployment, Docker support, Postgres databases, Redis support. Pulumi covers Multi-language support, Multi-cloud, State management, Secrets management. Both handle GitHub, Cloud deployment.
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