Fly.io vs Zeabur (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Fly.io and Zeabur share a 2.2 GPA, and only Zeabur has a free plan.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Fly.io grades higher on features and platforms. Zeabur grades higher on value for money and ease of use. They get the same grade on the free plan.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Fly.io
Virtual machines and databases in 18 regions, billed per second
Zeabur
Deployment platform with a dashboard for apps and servers
Which one is for you
Pick Fly.io if
- Fits if you want machines near users in several regions and are fine on the command line
- Works for apps that stop when idle and pay by the second
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a free plan, as the trial is $1 for 7 days
- Not for you if you don't like a command line
- Pricey if you add a database: Managed Postgres starts at $38 a month
- Watch out: the prices quoted are for Ashburn and Secaucus, the cheapest regions, and a dedicated IPv4 is $2 a month
- Watch out: data out costs $0.02 per GB in North America and Europe and $0.12 in Africa and India
Pick Zeabur if
- Fits if you want one dashboard over several servers you own
- Works for small teams on the $79 plan with 3 seats
Look elsewhere if
- Watch out: the plan price covers the dashboard, so servers and running costs are extra
- Tight if you stay free, with 1 manageable server and no advanced Agent messages
- Too light for a fast-answer support need: standard tickets target a first reply within 4 working days
- Pricey if you grow a team, as extra seats are $24 a month each past 3
How we grade them
| 2.2GPAFly.ioFair | 2.2GPAZeaburFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | C$2.19 a month buys a 256MB machine, but the vendor's own example of a small app with Managed Postgres is about $44 a month, and Postgres starts at $38. | BDev is $5 a month after a 14-day trial, inside the cheaper quarter of web hosting. The price is for the dashboard, and server costs are separate. |
| Free plan and trial | CNew accounts get $1 of credit for 7 days with no card. That's a taste, not a plan. | CFree plan has dashboard basics, community support and 48 hours of logs. The 14-day trial on Dev and Pro is the way to try more. |
| Features | BMachines in 18 regions, launch from a repo, Managed Postgres, volumes, snapshots and free shared IPv4. The listing names no gap in the core job. | CServices and servers, monitoring, backups, logs, email and team roles. Advanced-model Agent messages are not on Free, and running costs sit outside the plan. |
| Ease of use | DNo store rating on record. The flow is built around its command line and a Dockerfile. | CDeploying services means choosing servers and setup, and the listing shows a learning curve with no store rating. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, with GitHub, Slack, Tigris and Upstash and a CLI. | CWeb dashboard only, with a single integration on the listing. |
| Best for | small servers in many regions, billed by the second | deploying apps with an AI build planner |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Fly.io and Zeabur. How we grade
Price against what you get
Fly.io starts at $2.19 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Zeabur starts at $5 a month and scores 2.0.
Fly.io scores higher and starts $2.81 a month lower. Of the other web hosts on the chart, 1 scores higher than Fly.io for less, and 13 score higher than Zeabur for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Fly.io also covers AI agents.
At a glance
| Fly.io | Zeabur | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | $2.19 per month for the smallest Machine, pay as you go | $5 per month (Dev plan, after a 14-day free trial) |
| Free plan | None | Dashboard basics, community support, 1 manageable own server, a 2C4G build machine and 48 hours of log retention. |
| Free trial | New accounts get $1 of credit for 7 days, no card required. | 14 days free on the Dev and Pro plans |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Fly.io | Zeabur Inc. |
| Price read from | fly.io | zeabur.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Fly.io
- There is no free plan; the trial is a $1 credit that lasts 7 days or until it is used up.
- Machine prices quoted are for Ashburn and Secaucus, the lowest-priced regions, and vary by region.
- Outbound data costs $0.02 per GB in North America and Europe and $0.12 per GB in Africa and India.
- A dedicated IPv4 address is $2 a month, and a small web app with Managed Postgres is about $44 a month by the vendor's own example.
Zeabur
- The plan price covers dashboard features; the pricing page has a server and cluster selector, so the cost of running services is separate.
- Advanced-model Agent messages are not included on the Free plan (0 a month).
- Standard support tickets target a first response within 4 working days; faster replies use limited express passes.
- Extra Team seats cost $24 per seat per month beyond the 3 included.
Key features
Fly.io
- Fly Machines
- Fast-booting VMs for production apps, run in 18 regions, billed by the second while running and at a lower rate when stopped.
- Launch from GitHub or the CLI
- fly launch deploys an app from a repo or folder and generates a Dockerfile for many popular frameworks when none exists.
- Managed Postgres
- A managed database service, or you can run your own datastore on Machines with attached volumes.
- Sprites
- Hardware-isolated sandboxes that start quickly, stay on and scale to zero when idle, aimed at agents and untrusted code.
- Volumes and snapshots
- Persistent volumes cost $0.15 per GB a month and snapshots $0.08 per GB, with the first 10GB of snapshots free.
- Free shared IPv4 and certificates
- Apps get a shared IPv4 address and IPv6 addresses free, and the first 10 single-hostname SSL certificates are free.
Zeabur
- Dashboard for services and servers
- Manage services, plus servers you bought and own elsewhere, from the Zeabur dashboard.
- AI build planner and agent
- zbplan reads your code to generate a build, and the Zeabur Agent has a monthly quota of advanced-model messages: 30 on Dev, 200 on Pro, 600 on Team.
- Monitoring, backups and logs
- Dev and above add monitoring and backups; log retention runs from 48 hours on Free to 90 days on Team.
- Email service and domains
- Paid plans can send email through Zeabur and buy domains from the dashboard, with daily send quotas that grow by plan.
- Team roles
- The Team plan adds project collaboration and role and permission management for its 3 included seats.
Plans
Fly.io
Pay As You Go$2.19
per month for a 256MB Machine, billed by the second
No platform fee. 512MB is $3.69, 1GB is $6.70 and 2GB is $13.39 a month in Ashburn and Secaucus; other regions cost more.
Managed Postgres$38
per month for the Basic cluster, plus $0.28/GB storage
Managed database clusters run from $38 a month (Basic) to $1,922 a month (Performance).
Standard support$29
per month
Optional paid support. Premium is $199 a month and Enterprise starts at $2,500 a month; community support is free.
Zeabur
Free$0
per month
Dashboard basics, 1 manageable own server, 48-hour log retention and community support.
Dev$5
per month, after a 14-day free trial
Adds monitoring and backups, 3 own servers, 7-day logs, a Zeabur Agent quota and email.
Pro$19
per month, after a 14-day free trial
Adds 10 own servers, a 4C8G build machine, 30-day logs, log search and forwarding, priority support.
Team$79
per month, 3 seats included, +$24 per extra seat
Everything in Pro with unlimited own servers, team collaboration, roles and 90-day log retention.
EnterpriseCustom
Custom usage limits, dedicated technical resources and custom contracts, sold through sales.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Fly.io or Zeabur?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Fly.io is cheaper to start with: $2.19 a month, against $5 a month for Zeabur. Fly.io starts at $2.19 per month for the smallest Machine, pay as you go, and Zeabur starts at $5 per month (Dev plan, after a 14-day free trial).
Which has a free plan, Fly.io or Zeabur?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Zeabur has a free plan. Fly.io does not, though it has a free trial.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.