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Fly.io alternative

Aria Cloud vs Fly.io. A server, not a meter.

Fly.io runs your containers as small virtual machines close to your users and bills them by the second. Aria Cloud runs them together on one private server in a place you choose and bills once a month.

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Can Kosmaz

Head to head

Aria Cloud and Fly.io, side by side

Fly.io gives you machines in many regions, billed by the second. Aria Cloud gives you a server near your users, set up and run for you, with one monthly bill instead of machines, volumes and egress.

Aria Cloud Fly.io
What you getOne private VPS per plan, set up and run by AriaMachines you configure, in regions you pick, on Fly.io’s platform
How you payOne flat monthly price per server, £9 to £60 ex VATPer machine, per second while it runs, plus volumes, snapshots, IPs and egress
Machine sizesThe server’s CPU and memory, shared by everything on itshared-cpu-1x: $2.19 (256 MB), $3.69 (512 MB), $6.70 (1 GB); shared-cpu-2x 2 GB $13.39; performance-1x 2 GB $33
StorageThe server’s diskVolumes $0.15 per GB a month; snapshots $0.08 per GB a month after 10 GB free
EgressNo egress meter on the plan$0.02 per GB in North America and Europe; inbound free
PostgresOn the same server, included at no extra costManaged Postgres: Basic $38 (1 GB), Starter $72 (2 GB), Launch $282 (8 GB), plus $0.28 per GB of storage
RedisOn the same server, includedUpstash Redis through Fly.io, billed at Upstash’s list price
RegionsA location you choose for each serverMany regions; prices vary by region (a 1 GB shared machine is $6.70 in Ashburn, $7.73 in Frankfurt)
Free tierEvery plan is a private server that runs all the timeNo free tier for new organisations; a trial of up to 2 hours of runtime or 7 days
SupportIncludedCommunity is free; Standard is $29 a month, Premium $199
AI coding agentsAria AI built in, then MCP for your own coding agent, under approval rules enforced on Aria’s serversCLI, API and its own tooling

The reference stack

What does the same stack cost?

The reference stack is one web service (about 1 GB of memory), one background worker (about 0.5 GB), a Postgres database (about 2 GB) and Redis (about 0.25 GB), for a team of three developers with modest traffic. Fly.io does not have sizes at exactly those amounts, so each line uses the nearest listed size at or above the need, at the lowest-priced regions.

Aria Cloud

£9 a month

Starter, ex VAT. Everything on one server, with room for an estimated 3.3 GB of memory.

Fly.io

About $85 a month, plus Redis

Machines $6.70 + $3.69, Managed Postgres $72 + $2.80 storage; Redis price not listed.

Aria Cloud (£, ex VAT)Fly.io ($, ex tax)
Web service, about 1 GBOn the same servershared-cpu-1x, 1 GB: $6.70
Worker, about 0.5 GBOn the same servershared-cpu-1x, 512 MB: $3.69
Postgres, about 2 GBOn the same serverManaged Postgres Starter, 2 GB: $72, plus 10 GB of storage at $0.28 = $2.80
Redis, about 0.25 GBOn the same serverUpstash list price: not on Fly.io’s pages, so not counted
Seats for 3 developersIncludedNo per-seat charge stated
TotalStarter (4 GB), £9 a month ex VAT (estimated 3.3 GB of memory)$6.70 + $3.69 + $72 + $2.80 = $85.19 a month, plus Redis, egress and any dedicated IPv4 ($2)

Different currencies, nothing converted. Prices are for the lowest-priced regions and are higher elsewhere: a 1 GB shared machine is $7.73 in Frankfurt and $8.50 in Singapore. The Postgres line is the largest because it is a managed cluster.

How Fly.io charges

Fly.io bills for what you provision, by the second. A machine has a CPU preset and memory, with a monthly figure that assumes it runs for 30 days: a shared-cpu-1x with 1 GB is $6.70, a shared-cpu-2x with 2 GB is $13.39, and a performance-1x with 2 GB is $33. Extra memory is $6 per GB a month. A stopped machine is not free: you pay $0.15 per GB a month for its root filesystem.

Volumes are $0.15 per GB a month whether or not a machine is attached, snapshots are $0.08 per GB after the first 10 GB each month, outbound data is $0.02 per GB in North America and Europe, and a dedicated IPv4 address is $2 a month. Prices differ by region.

Fly.io has no free tier for new organisations. It offers a trial of up to two hours of machine runtime or seven days, whichever comes first, and then needs a card.

How Aria Cloud charges

Aria Cloud charges for a server. A plan is one private VPS, from Starter (2 vCPU, 4 GB RAM, 40 GB disk) at £9 a month to Scale Plus (16 vCPU, 32 GB RAM, 400 GB disk) at £60 a month, ex VAT, in pounds. Disk, bandwidth, HTTPS and the MCP server are part of it, and nothing is charged per seat, per app, per database or per request.

One server runs up to 5 apps, and one aria.yaml holds up to 12 services and 6 databases.

Regions, and where your app lives

Fly.io lets you run the same app in several regions and send each visitor to the nearest. That is its main strength.

On Aria Cloud you choose where each server runs when you buy it, in Europe, the UK, North America, Asia or Australia, and each project can have its own server in a different location. One server near your users is simple, and the database sits on the same machine as the app.

Who runs the server

Fly.io gives you building blocks. You write a fly.toml, choose machine sizes, attach volumes, decide how Postgres runs, and keep the pieces working. That is powerful, and it is a lot to look after.

Aria Cloud is the opposite shape: you describe the stack in one aria.yaml and Aria sets up, hardens and runs the server for you, with nightly encrypted backups stored off the server.

Agents and approvals

Fly.io offers a CLI and an API that an agent can use. Aria AI, built into the Mac app and the web dashboard, writes aria.yaml, sets things up, reads logs and fixes things. A coding agent outside Aria connects over MCP. The same rules apply to both, and Aria enforces them on its own servers, not in a prompt. Reading (status, logs) runs straight away. With a read key, every change waits for your approval. With an operate key, routine deploys run straight away, while environment variables, launches, DNS, GitHub pushes and anything destructive always wait for you. Deleting needs your approval, or the typed name in the app.

What Fly.io does best

Fly.io is excellent at putting compute close to users. Machines are billed by the second, and a stopped machine costs only its root filesystem. Inbound data is free, regional prices are published, and the platform gives you real control: choose the CPU preset, the region and the number of machines. For global apps and for teams that want to build their own platform, it is strong.

Our recommendation

Choose Aria Cloud when

  1. You want one server near your users, in a location you choose.
  2. You want a flat monthly bill with no egress, volume or machine arithmetic.
  3. You want someone else to set up, harden and run the server.
  4. You want Postgres, Redis and Supabase on the same machine as the app.

Moving from Fly.io to Aria Cloud

  1. Describe your stack

    Ask Aria AI or your coding agent to write aria.yaml from your fly.toml and Dockerfile.

  2. See the server that fits

    Aria recommends the smallest server that fits the whole stack.

  3. Bring your data

    Move Postgres with a dump and a restore, and add your secrets once.

  4. Launch

    Launch, then point your domain.

Questions

What people ask when they compare Aria Cloud with Fly.io.

Is Aria Cloud a Fly.io alternative?

Yes. Aria runs the app, workers and databases on one private VPS at one flat price, set up and run for you.

Where does my app run on Aria?

In a location you choose when you buy the server. Each project can have its own server in a different location.

Does Aria charge for bandwidth?

There is no egress meter on an Aria plan. Fly.io charges $0.02 per GB in North America and Europe, and more elsewhere.

Is Fly.io cheaper than Aria?

It depends on what you run. A 256 MB machine is $2.19 a month. For the reference stack on this page, Fly.io comes to about $85 plus Redis, against £9 on Aria, in different currencies, mainly because of managed Postgres.

Do I need Docker to use Aria?

No. Aria builds from your repository with Railpack, or uses your Dockerfile if you have one.

How much does Aria cost compared with Fly.io?

Aria charges one flat monthly price per server, from £9 a month ex VAT, in GBP, with no charges per seat, per app, per database or per request. Fly.io’s pricing is on its own pricing page (https://fly.io/docs/about/pricing/); the figures on this page were read on 31 October 2026 and are in US dollars, while Aria’s are in pounds, so nothing is converted.

Sources and what could not be checked

Read on 31 October 2026

What could not be checked

Upstash Redis prices are not on Fly.io’s pages, so no Redis cost is counted. Fly.io’s seat pricing and the backup and high-availability terms of Managed Postgres were not stated on the pages read.

Aria Cloud publishes this page. Prices change, so check each source for current figures. Aria’s own figures come from the pricing page and its sizing estimate for the reference stack, which is an estimate and not a measurement. Logos are trademarks of their owners, shown only to name each platform.

How the price works

One server. One price.

An Aria plan is one monthly price for one private VPS. Run several apps, workers and databases on it, up to the server’s memory, and invite your agents too: there are no charges per seat, per app, per database or per request. Sending email with Aria Mail is the one usage add-on.

Your own server. Your AI runs it.

Choose Aria Cloud. Aria AI writes aria.yaml, or your coding agent does it over MCP, and you see which server fits your stack.

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