Render vs Fly.io
Render keeps a genuine free tier (with cold starts); Fly.io moved to pay-as-you-go with no free plan. Fly.io runs full VMs across many regions; Render is a simpler single-region-style PaaS.
Key differences
- Free tier: Render has free web services (15-min sleep) and static sites; Fly.io has no free plan since late 2025.
- Architecture: Fly.io runs full Firecracker micro-VMs in 30+ regions; Render runs managed container instances.
- Multi-region: a core Fly.io strength; less of a focus on Render.
- Learning curve: Render is gentler; Fly.io expects more infra fluency.
Rights
| Key | Render | Fly.io |
|---|---|---|
commercial_use_allowed |
yes | yes |
Constraints
| Key | Render | Fly.io |
|---|---|---|
api_available |
yes | yes |
cron_available |
yes | yes |
custom_domain_available |
yes | yes |
webhook_available |
yes | yes |