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Fly.io vs Vercel
Vercel focuses on frontend deployments and serverless functions, not persistent Linux VMs.
Which to pick
Pick Fly.io if you want…
- Hardware-isolated edge VMs for agents
- Edge-proximate compute
- Integrations with OpenRouter, Slack or any HTTP API (on Fly.io's list, not Vercel's)
Pick Vercel if you want…
- Full-stack frontend hosting with serverless functions
- Frontend hosting
- The lower starting price: $20/month against $29/month
- Integrations with GitLab, Bitbucket or Google (on Vercel's list, not Fly.io's)
Fly.io runs full-stack apps close to users with VM-based containers; Vercel is serverless-first with edge CDN.
Side by side
- What it is
- Fly.io:Fly.io provides hardware-isolated Linux VMs (Sprites and Machines) that run close to users for AI agents and full-stack apps.
- Vercel:Vercel is a cloud platform for building, deploying and scaling frontend web apps and AI agents.
- Best for
- Fly.io:Hardware-isolated edge VMs for agents
- Vercel:Full-stack frontend hosting with serverless functions
- Who it’s for
- Fly.io:Developers building AI agents, personal assistants, or apps that need low-latency edge compute.
- Vercel:Frontend developers, teams building web apps or AI-enabled services.
- Pricing
- Fly.io:Freemium
- Vercel:Freemium
- Plans
- Fly.io:Machines shared-cpu-1x $0.0027 per hour · Machines performance-2x $0.0861 per hour · Sprites compute $0.07 / CPU-hour · Support Standard $29 per month · Support Premium $199 per month
- Vercel:Hobby $0/mo. · Pro $20/mo. per month
- Works with
- Fly.io:OpenRouter, GitHub, Slack, any HTTP API
- Vercel:GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, Google, Vercel CLI
Fly.io features
- Sprites. Sleep-aware VMs that checkpoint filesystem and services, allowing instant wake-up and rollback.
- Machines. Fast-booting, hardware-isolated VMs that scale to tens of thousands of users.
- Block Device Storage. Object-storage backed block device with automatic checkpointing and unlimited scaling.
- Connectors. Configure a credential once and share it across all Sprites with granular permissions and auto-rotation.
- Zero-Management Disk. Disk grows automatically up to 100 GB per Sprite, billed only for used bytes.
- Global Edge Network. Deploy in 18+ regions with <1 s boot time and 99.9 % SLA.
Vercel features
- Global Delivery. Ultra-fast, secure CDN with automatic routing and TLS encryption.
- Serverless Functions. Dynamic, scalable functions with fluid compute pricing.
- AI Model Gateway. Secure inference and token-based pricing for AI features.
- Sandboxed Environments. Isolated compute sandboxes for agents and custom workloads.
- Preview URLs. Instant preview deployments for every git branch.
- Custom SSL & Domain Management. Automatic certificates and domain handling per project.
- Spend Management. Usage budgets, alerts and auto-pause to control costs.
- Team Collaboration. Roles, MFA, SSO and viewer seats for shared development.
Fly.io vs Vercel FAQ
Is Fly.io or Vercel free?+
Fly.io has a free plan; paid plans start at $29/month (Support Standard). Vercel has a free plan (Hobby); paid plans start at $20/month (Pro).
Which is cheaper, Fly.io or Vercel?+
Vercel is cheaper to start with: Vercel's Pro plan ($20/month) against Fly.io's Support Standard plan ($29/month).
Do Fly.io and Vercel integrate with the same tools?+
Partly. Both list GitHub. Fly.io also lists OpenRouter, Slack and any HTTP API; Vercel also lists GitLab, Bitbucket, Google and Vercel CLI.
On DevHunt
Based on each tool's website and DevHunt data. Details may change; check the official sites.