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Railway vs Fly.io: free tier and first paid price (checked 2026-10-19)
Neither has a lasting free plan. Railway Hobby: $5/month minimum usage; Fly.io Pay as you go (no platform fee): from $2.19/month. These first paid prices are not directly comparable from the list prices alone. Only Fly.io says it offers an EU region.
| Fact | Railway | Fly.io |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | No lasting free plan | No lasting free plan |
| Card for the free plan | Not required | Not required |
| EU region | Unknown | Yes |
| First paid plan | Hobby | Pay as you go (no platform fee) |
| First paid price | $5/month minimum usage | from $2.19/month |
| Free plan includes | Free is $0 per month to start: '30-day free trial with $5 credits, then $1 per month'. After the trial: up to 1 vCPU / 0.5 GB RAM per service and 0.5 GB volume storage. Page says 'No credit card required'. | Page FAQ: 'Is there a free tier? No. New organizations don't have a free tier or a monthly free usage allowance.' A free trial lasts up to 2 hours of Machine runtime or 7 days, and does not need a credit card. After that, organizations require a credit card on file. |
| Free limits |
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| Paid plan note | Hobby includes $5 of monthly usage credits. The Free plan itself becomes $1/month after the trial. | Cheapest always-on example: shared-cpu-1x with 256MB RAM in Ashburn or Secaucus, $2.19 per 30 days. Support plans are optional ($29/month Standard). |
| EU / data region note | Hobby lists 'Global regions'. No EU city is named on the pricing page. | Frankfurt (fra) is in a worked example: one shared-cpu-1x 1GB Machine in Frankfurt costs $7.73/month. |
| Last checked | ||
| Pricing page | railway.com/pricing | fly.io/docs/about/pricing/ |
Questions
Does Railway or Fly.io have a free plan?
Railway has no lasting free plan; Fly.io has no lasting free plan. Checked 2026-10-19: Railway pricing, Fly.io pricing.
Which is cheaper to start paying for, Railway or Fly.io?
Railway Hobby: $5/month minimum usage; Fly.io Pay as you go (no platform fee): from $2.19/month. These first paid prices are not directly comparable from the list prices alone. Checked 2026-10-19: Railway pricing, Fly.io pricing.
Do Railway and Fly.io need a credit card for the free plan?
Both say no credit card is needed for the free plan. Checked 2026-10-19: Railway pricing, Fly.io pricing.
Do Railway and Fly.io offer an EU region?
Railway does not state an EU region; Fly.io says it offers an EU region. Checked 2026-10-19: Railway pricing, Fly.io pricing.
Sources
- Railway pricing page (checked 2026-10-19)
- Fly.io pricing page (checked 2026-10-19)
Every cell is copied from the official pricing pages. The verdict is generated from those fields and makes no other claims. "Unknown" means the page did not say. Prices change: check the vendor page before you buy.
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