Fly.io vs Scaleway Containers — free-tier comparison
This comparison is calculated from verified service fields. It is not presented as an editorial review and remains excluded from the index until reviewed.
At a glance
Fly.io: Most regions · Scaleway Containers: Most generous free tier
Container Hosting
7-day trial capped at 2 total VM hours; no always-free tier for new organizations
Paid from Pay as you go
- 2 total VM hours across trial machines
- Up to 10 machines
- Up to 4 GB RAM and 2 vCPUs per machine
- Runs any Docker container as fast-booting micro-VMs
- Global deployment across 18 documented regions with Anycast IPs
- The new-account trial ends after 7 days or only 2 total VM hours
Best for
- Containerized full apps and APIs deployed globally
- Latency-sensitive services running near users
Container Hosting
400,000 GB-s of memory and 200,000 vCPU-s per account per month, then pay per use
Paid from Pay per use above the free quota
- 400,000 GB-s of memory free per month
- 200,000 vCPU-s free per month
- Ingress and egress traffic free of charge
- Recurring monthly free quota, not a one-time trial
- Runs any Docker image, not only supported runtimes
- Scales to zero when idle, so the first request can be slow
Best for
- Small APIs and webhooks that must run in the EU
- Containerized side projects with spiky or low traffic
The catch?
Fly.io
- Trial that expires
- Sleeps when idle
- Some constraints remain unconfirmed
Scaleway Containers
- Scales to zero when idle
- Overage auto-bills
- Some constraints remain unconfirmed
Detailed comparison
| Fly.io | Scaleway Containers | |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier & pricing | ||
| Free tier ↑ better | 7-day / 2-hour trial | Perpetual (scales to zero) ★ |
| Paid from ↓ better | Usage-based | Usage-based |
| Regions ↑ better | 18 regions ★ | 3 EU regions |
| Container Hosting | ||
| Included RAM ↑ better | Up to 4 GB | — |
| Compute hours ↑ better | 2 total VM hours | — |
FAQ
New organizations receive a trial lasting up to 7 days or 2 total VM hours. Continuing requires a payment method and usage-based billing; some older organizations retain legacy free allowances.
Fly runs Docker images. The fly launch command can detect common stacks and generate a Dockerfile, but containers are the core model.
Each account gets 400,000 GB-s of memory and 200,000 vCPU-s per month for free. Usage above that is billed per second, and ingress and egress traffic are free.
Containers can scale to zero when they receive no traffic, which keeps them inside the free quota but adds a cold start on the next request. You can set a minimum scale to keep one instance warm, which uses quota.