Fly.io vs CapRover
A detailed comparison to help you choose between Fly.io and CapRover.
Quick Verdict
4.0/5
Fly.io
0 reviews
4.0/5
CapRover
0 reviews
Both Fly.io and CapRover are equally rated at 4.0/5. Fly.io runs Docker containers on bare metal in 35+ cities globally. Machines run close to users — sub-50ms latency from most locations. Supports any language and framework. CapRover is a free, open source PaaS that runs on your own server. Deploy apps via CLI, dashboard, or GitHub Actions. One-click app templates for WordPress, Ghost, Mattermost, Nextcloud, and 100+ more.
Fly.io Deploy apps globally with sub-50ms latency | CapRover Self-hosted app deployment — free open source PaaS | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Rating | 4.0 (0 reviews) | 4.0 (0 reviews) |
| Pricing model | usage-based | free |
| Starting price | From $2.19/mo | Free✓ |
| Best for | Latency-sensitive applications — APIs, real-time apps and globally distributed backends — run by teams comfortable with a CLI-first platform and pay-as-you-go pricing | Developers and small teams wanting a free, self-hosted Heroku-style PaaS with one-click apps on their own VPS |
| Specifications (entry plan) | ||
| CPU cores | 1 vCPU | — |
| RAM | 0 GB | — |
| Storage | 0 GB | — |
| Bandwidth | 0 TB/mo | — |
| SLA uptime | 99.9% | — |
| Data-center count | 17 | — |
| €/vCPU/mo | €2.19 | — |
| Features | ||
| IPv6 | ✓ | |
| DDoS protection | ✓ | |
| Automated backups | ||
| Snapshots | ||
| Managed option | ||
| Bare metal | ||
| GPU available | ||
| S3-compatible | ||
| Hourly billing | ✓ | |
| Free tier | ||
| Data-center locations | ||
| Regions | Netherlands, Sweden, France, Germany, UK, US, Canada, Brazil, South Africa, Japan, Singapore, Australia | — |
| Tags | ||
| Tags | free tiermanaged optionipv6eu datacenterus datacenterapac datacenterapi accessprivate networking | free tieropen sourceself hostable |
| Visit Fly.io → | Visit CapRover → | |
Fly.io
Pros
- + Fully published pricing for every billed resource, with worked example bills
- + Cheap always-on compute — $2.19/30 days for the smallest Machine in the cheapest regions
- + 17 regions on Fly's own hardware with Anycast routing and per-second billing
- + Strong ecosystem: Managed Postgres, Fly Kubernetes, Tigris S3-compatible object storage, Upstash extensions on one invoice
- + Concrete Enterprise SLA terms (99.9%, 15-minute urgent response) published openly
Cons
- - Free tier replaced by a tight trial (2 VM hours or 7 days)
- - Managed Postgres starts at $38/month — services are priced like a managed PaaS, not like the VMs
- - CLI-first workflow with real conceptual overhead (Machines, Apps, fly-replay, 6PN networking)
- - Uptime SLA only covers Enterprise plans; SLA downtime definition excludes hacking and virus attacks
- - Region count has shrunk from the widely quoted 35+ to 17, and prices vary by region
CapRover
Pros
- + Free forever, Apache 2.0, no feature gating or license keys
- + One-click app catalog (WordPress, MySQL, MongoDB, and more) deploys in minutes
- + Automatic Let's Encrypt HTTPS with one-click redirects
- + Deploys from dashboard, CLI, webhook, or Git; runs on any VPS you choose
- + Docker-native: any language or service that runs in a container
Cons
- - Largely solo-maintained — feature development has slowed and the bus factor is low
- - You own server ops: patching, backups, monitoring, and build sizing
- - Rougher edges and docs than commercial PaaS; support is community-only with no SLA
- - No autoscaling, managed backups, or Kubernetes-grade orchestration
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