Compare / Cloudflare Workers vs Fly.io Machines
Cloudflare Workers vs Fly.io Machines
Pre-calculated from hand-checked data — Cloudflare checked 2026-08-01, Fly.io checked 2026-08-01.
The short version
Cloudflare Workers wins more of our comparison points, but Fly.io Machines still fits if dockerized apps that want low cost, fine control, or multi-region placement describes you.
Price Cloudflare Workers
Cloudflare Workers is cheaper at every stage we model — about $10/mo even for a growing project.
Ease Cloudflare Workers
Cloudflare Workers is easier to get running: deploy from Git or with the wrangler CLI; framework adapters handle SSR apps.
Control Fly.io Machines
Fly.io Machines gives you more control over the stack — the flip side of the convenience trade.
Free tier Cloudflare Workers
Cloudflare Workers has a free tier; Fly.io Machines doesn't.
Features Cloudflare Workers
Cloudflare Workers comes out ahead on 6 of the 15 features we track, versus 4.
What developers say about this matchup
We couldn't find a substantive first-person discussion comparing this exact pair. We leave the section empty instead of filling it with vendor marketing or generic SEO comparisons.
At a glance
| Cloudflare Workers | Fly.io Machines | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Static sites and JS/TS apps where bandwidth costs matter or a global edge is a plus. | Dockerized apps that want low cost, fine control, or multi-region placement. |
| How deploys work | Deploy from Git or with the wrangler CLI; framework adapters handle SSR apps. | fly launch builds the image and deploys it; configuration lives in fly.toml and the flyctl CLI. |
| The tradeoff | More platform-specific setup than the git-push hosts — adapters, wrangler config, and Workers-flavored storage. | You operate more of the stack yourself — especially the database. |
| Free tier | Free: unlimited static requests and bandwidth, 100,000 Worker requests per day, 3,000 build minutes per month. | None |
What you'd realistically pay
| Project stage | Cloudflare Workers | Fly.io Machines | Cheaper |
|---|---|---|---|
| Just starting | Free Free | ≈$3/mo shared-cpu-1x, 256 MB | Cloudflare Workers |
| Steady traffic | ≈$5/mo Workers Paid | ≈$6/mo shared-cpu-1x, 1 GB | Cloudflare Workers |
| Growing | ≈$10/mo Workers Paid + usage | ≈$12/mo Two 1 GB Machines | Cloudflare Workers |
Our ratings
Ease of use Cloudflare Workers
Pricing clarity Cloudflare Workers
Free tier Cloudflare Workers
Scaling Cloudflare Workers
Control Fly.io Machines
Feature by feature
Cloudflare Workers wins 6, Fly.io Machines wins 4, with 5 even.
Deploy workflow
| Cloudflare Workers | Fly.io Machines | |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy from Git push | Yes Workers Builds deploys on push from GitHub or GitLab. | Partial No native git integration; the documented path is flyctl in GitHub Actions. |
| Preview deploys | Yes Preview URLs per version and non-production branch builds. | Partial PR apps work via the official GitHub Action, not out of the box. |
| Official CLI | Yes wrangler handles dev, deploys, logs, and storage. | Yes flyctl does everything: launch, deploy, scale, ssh, logs. |
| Instant rollbacks | Yes Versioned deployments with one-command rollback. | Partial Redeploy any previous image; no one-click dashboard rollback. |
Platform
| Cloudflare Workers | Fly.io Machines | |
|---|---|---|
| Custom domains + HTTPS | Yes Custom domains with automatic TLS on Cloudflare’s network. | Yes Custom domains with free managed certificates. |
| Built-in CDN / edge network | Yes The platform is Cloudflare’s CDN — static assets are free and cached globally. | Partial Anycast routing sends users to the nearest region, but there is no static-asset CDN. |
| Serverless functions | Yes Workers are the compute model, running in 300+ locations. | No Machines are micro-VMs, not functions. |
| Docker containers | Partial Cloudflare Containers run alongside Workers but are newer and more limited than a real container host. | Yes A Docker image is the deployment unit. |
| SSH / shell access | No No servers to shell into. | Yes fly ssh console opens a shell in any running Machine. |
| EU hosting region | Partial Code runs everywhere by default; you can restrict data (not compute) to EU jurisdiction. | Yes Amsterdam, Paris, Frankfurt, London, and more. |
Runtime & operations
| Cloudflare Workers | Fly.io Machines | |
|---|---|---|
| Automatic scaling | Yes Scales per request across the whole network with no knobs. | Yes Machines autostart and autostop with traffic; scale counts per region. |
| Scale to zero | Yes Workers bill per request — idle costs nothing. | Yes Stopped Machines cost only their storage. |
| Scheduled jobs | Yes Cron Triggers run Workers on a schedule, including on the free plan. | Partial Scheduled Machines run on fixed intervals; full cron needs a workaround. |
| Managed database | Partial D1 (SQLite), KV, and R2 are managed but Cloudflare-flavored; classic Postgres means an external provider. | Partial Fly Postgres is automated-but-unmanaged; managed options come from partners like Supabase and Upstash. |
| Logs & metrics built in | Partial Live tail and Workers analytics included; persistent logs need Logpush or a third party. | Yes Built-in metrics (Grafana), live logs, and log shipping. |
Watch out for
Cloudflare
- Server-side frameworks (Next.js, Astro SSR, SvelteKit) run through adapters, which have more rough edges than Vercel or Netlify.
- The runtime is Workers-specific: Node.js compatibility is good but not total, and storage means D1, KV, and R2 rather than a classic server.
- The free plan enforces 100,000 Worker requests per day — static requests stay unlimited.
Fly.io
- New pay-as-you-go organizations get no free allowance.
- Fly Postgres is explicitly unmanaged: automated but not a managed database service — backups and failover are your responsibility.
- Per-second compute plus $0.02/GB egress makes bills variable; prices differ by region.
Read the full reviews: Cloudflare and Fly.io. Or answer four questions to see what fits your project.