Heroku vs Fly.io
Detailed comparison to help you choose the right tool for your needs
Quick Comparison
Rating
4.3
vs4.4
Starting Price
$5
vsFree
Pricing Model
paid
vsfreemium
Feature
Heroku
Fly.io
Git-based deployment
Managed Postgres
Add-ons marketplace
Auto-scaling
CI/CD pipelines
Review apps
Edge deployments
Firecracker VMs
Fly Postgres
GPU machines
Private networking
Anycast routing
Heroku Pros
- Simplest deployment workflow with git push
- Mature add-ons ecosystem
- Good for prototyping and MVPs
- Managed Postgres is reliable
- Review apps for PR environments
- Well-documented with strong community
Heroku Cons
- No free tier since November 2022
- Expensive at scale compared to alternatives
- Performance concerns with shared dynos
- Limited regions US and EU only
- Salesforce ownership creates uncertainty
- Many developers have migrated to Railway or Render
Fly.io Pros
- Deploy anywhere in 30+ global regions
- Great for latency-sensitive applications
- Firecracker VMs are fast and secure
- Excellent for running databases at the edge
- Good free tier for hobby projects
- Innovative approach to multi-region deployments
Fly.io Cons
- Steeper learning curve than Render or Railway
- CLI-focused workflow with less UI
- Pricing can be unpredictable
- Managed database reliability concerns reported
- Support response times vary
- Platform complexity for simple deployments