Fly.io vs LucidLink
A detailed comparison to help you choose between Fly.io and LucidLink.
Quick Verdict
4.0/5
Fly.io
0 reviews
4.0/5
LucidLink
0 reviews
Both Fly.io and LucidLink 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. LucidLink turns S3 object storage into a shared, streaming cloud filesystem for teams working with large files.
Fly.io Deploy apps globally with sub-50ms latency | LucidLink Cloud file streaming for teams: a shared filesystem on top of S3 object storage | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Rating | 4.0 (0 reviews) | 4.0 (0 reviews) |
| Pricing model | usage-based | paid |
| Starting price | From $2.19/mo✓ | From $7/mo |
| 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 | Creative and production teams (video, audio, VFX, design) with large shared files and distributed members who need one live filesystem without syncing or shipping drives. |
| 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 | — |
| Visit Fly.io → | ||
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
LucidLink
Pros
- + Streams large shared files on demand — no full downloads before work starts
- + Zero-knowledge encryption: the vendor cannot read customer content
- + Transparent published per-member pricing with included storage per seat
- + Built on S3, with bring-your-own-S3 on Enterprise for storage-substrate flexibility
- + 30-day free trial without a credit card; desktop, mobile and web clients
- + TeamCache add-on brings cloud files to on-prem users at LAN speed
Cons
- - Storage overage of $7-8 per 100 GB is roughly $70-80 per TB per month — far above raw S3
- - Starter tier is tightly capped: 10 members, 1 filespace, 1 TB, and no snapshot recovery
- - Specialized for file-streaming workloads; wrong shape for databases or block storage
- - No published region list or public uptime SLA outside Enterprise discussions
- - Client and control-plane dependency on a mid-size specialist vendor
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