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Render vs Fly.io: free tier and first paid price (checked 2026-10-19)
Render has a free plan that stays free; Fly.io has no lasting free plan. Render Paid instance (workspace stays Hobby) or Pro workspace: $7/month instance, or Pro workspace $25/month + compute; 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 no card is needed. Only Fly.io says it offers an EU region.
| Fact | Render | Fly.io |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Stays free | No lasting free plan |
| Card for the free plan | Unknown | Not required |
| EU region | Unknown | Yes |
| First paid plan | Paid instance (workspace stays Hobby) or Pro workspace | Pay as you go (no platform fee) |
| First paid price | $7/month instance, or Pro workspace $25/month + compute | from $2.19/month |
| Free plan includes | Hobby workspace is $0/month + compute, for personal projects and prototypes, with 5 GB bandwidth included. Free compute: web services $0/month (512 MB RAM, limitations apply), Postgres $0/month (256 MB RAM, 100 connections), Key Value $0/month (25 MB RAM, 50 connections). FAQ: free compute is for exploring, personal projects, and previews, and has usage limits. | 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 | Smallest paid web service row: less than 1 CPU, 512 MB RAM, $7/month. Pro workspace is $25/month + compute and includes 25 GB bandwidth. | 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 | Page says 'Global regions & CDN' but does not name an EU city. | Frankfurt (fra) is in a worked example: one shared-cpu-1x 1GB Machine in Frankfurt costs $7.73/month. |
| Last checked | ||
| Pricing page | render.com/pricing | fly.io/docs/about/pricing/ |
Questions
Does Render or Fly.io have a free plan?
Render has a free plan that stays free; Fly.io has no lasting free plan. Checked 2026-10-19: Render pricing, Fly.io pricing.
Which is cheaper to start paying for, Render or Fly.io?
Render Paid instance (workspace stays Hobby) or Pro workspace: $7/month instance, or Pro workspace $25/month + compute; 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: Render pricing, Fly.io pricing.
Do Render and Fly.io need a credit card for the free plan?
Render does not say whether a card is needed; Fly.io says no credit card is needed for the free plan. Checked 2026-10-19: Render pricing, Fly.io pricing.
Do Render and Fly.io offer an EU region?
Render does not state an EU region; Fly.io says it offers an EU region. Checked 2026-10-19: Render pricing, Fly.io pricing.
Sources
- Render 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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