Fly.io vs Heroku
Fly.io vs Heroku compared for European indie developers and small startups. Pricing, EU jurisdiction, GDPR posture, and why Runsite (an EU-registered PaaS in Frankfurt) is worth a look.
Fly.io vs Heroku: quick answer
Fly.io and Heroku both offer Git-push deploy workflows, but they differ where it counts. Heroku starts around $5/mo. Fly.io and Heroku are both US-headquartered, so neither escapes US jurisdiction or the CLOUD Act, and neither runs EU-native infrastructure or offers hard spending caps. For European teams that need GDPR-compliant hosting in Frankfurt with predictable EUR billing and a permanent free tier, Runsite is the EU-native alternative to both.
// fly.io problems → runsite solutions
Common Fly.io frustrations. Sound familiar?
Every Fly.io frustration, solved.
Fly.io problem
"Fly.io has a steep learning curve"
Machines API, fly.toml, volumes, regions. Fly.io is powerful but requires significant DevOps knowledge.
Runsite solution
Git push and done
Connect your GitHub repo, pick a region, deploy. No config files, no CLI learning curve.
Fly.io problem
"Fly.io is a US company"
Even with EU regions, Fly.io is subject to US jurisdiction and the CLOUD Act.
Runsite solution
EU-registered entity
Runsite is an EU company. Your data is governed by European law, period.
Fly.io problem
"Usage-based billing is unpredictable"
Per-second VM billing and bandwidth charges make it hard to predict monthly costs.
Runsite solution
Fixed plans + hard caps
Know exactly what you'll pay. Set a spending limit that can't be exceeded.
// comparison
Runsite vs Fly.io
Side-by-side. No marketing fluff, just facts.
| Feature | Runsite | Fly.io |
|---|---|---|
| Setup Complexity | ✓ Git push deploy | flyctl CLI + TOML config |
| EU Data Centers | ✓ Frankfurt (eu-central) | ✓ Multiple EU regions |
| GDPR Compliance | ✓ EU entity, full compliance | ✗ US company |
| Free Tier | ✓ Permanent | ✓ $5/mo free allowance |
| Managed PostgreSQL | ✓ From €5/mo | ✓ Fly Postgres |
| Docker Support | ✓ Any Dockerfile | ✓ Firecracker VMs |
| Spending Limits | ✓ Hard cap + alerts | ✗ Usage-based only |
| Learning Curve | ✓ Minimal: connect GitHub, deploy | Steep: Machines API, volumes, TOML |
// the other side
What about Heroku?
Heroku killed its free tier and raised prices. Runsite gives you EU hosting, transparent pricing, and a free tier that actually stays free.
// heroku problems → runsite solutions
Common Heroku frustrations. Sound familiar?
Every Heroku frustration, solved.
Heroku problem
"My $7/mo dyno sleeps after 30 min"
Eco dynos spin down constantly. Cold starts kill your API response times and user experience.
Runsite solution
Always-on containers, even on free tier
No sleep. No cold starts. Your app runs 24/7 on dedicated resources in EU data centers.
Heroku problem
"I got a $2,400 bill I didn't expect"
Heroku's autoscaling and add-on pricing is opaque. Surprise invoices are a rite of passage.
Runsite solution
Hard spending limits + alerts
Set a monthly cap. Get Telegram alerts at 80%. We physically cannot charge you more than your limit.
Heroku problem
"Free tier is gone. Hobby is $7/mo per app"
Heroku removed free dynos in 2022. A simple side project now costs $7+/mo minimum.
Runsite solution
Permanent free tier, no credit card
Run side projects, prototypes, and demos forever. Free means free: not "free for 90 days".
// comparison
Runsite vs Heroku
Side-by-side. No marketing fluff, just facts.
| Feature | Runsite | Heroku |
|---|---|---|
| Free Tier | ✓ Permanent | ✗ Removed in 2022 |
| Basic Web Service | €5/mo | $7.00/mo |
| Web Standard (1 vCPU, 1GB) | €12/mo | $25/mo |
| Managed PostgreSQL | €5/mo | $9/mo |
| Data Region | ✓ EU only (Frankfurt, eu-central) | US default, EU = Enterprise only |
| GDPR Compliance | ✓ EU entity, full compliance | ✗ US company (Salesforce) |
| Spending Limits | ✓ Hard cap + alerts | ✗ No built-in limits |
| Sleep / Cold Starts | ✓ Always-on | Eco dynos sleep after 30min |
// pricing, side by side
Fly.io vs Heroku: what each actually costs
No free tier at all: Heroku discontinued free dynos, Postgres and Redis in November 2022.
Heroku still has the cleanest developer experience, but its pricing punishes hobbyists and small teams: no free tier, expensive production databases, and add-ons that quietly multiply the bill.
Pricing verified June 2026. Check the official pricing page of each provider for current rates.
// in-depth comparison
How Fly.io and Heroku each compare to Runsite
Fly.io vs Runsite
The thing that trips people up on Fly.io is the complexity, not the capability. The fly.toml configuration, Machines API, volume management, and region-aware routing all require significant learning before you ship. Per-second billing across multiple dimensions (CPU, RAM, bandwidth, IPs) makes cost prediction difficult, and because Fly.io is a US company, even its EU regions leave your account and metadata under US jurisdiction.
None of that is a knock on the engineering. Firecracker microVMs, global edge deployment, WireGuard-based private networking, and a powerful Machines API give you fine-grained control over where and how your containers run. For developers who want infrastructure-level flexibility with some PaaS convenience, Fly.io delivers.
Runsite makes the opposite trade, swapping low-level control for simplicity: connect GitHub, pick a region, deploy. Fixed monthly pricing with hard spending caps and full EU legal compliance. If you want Docker hosting in Europe without learning a new infrastructure API, and you value predictable costs over edge computing flexibility, Runsite removes the operational overhead that Fly.io requires.
Heroku vs Runsite
Heroku is still the best-known name in deployment and one of the worst values for an indie developer. Both things are true at once. It pioneered the PaaS category and defined what developer-friendly deployment looks like: the git-push workflow, the add-on marketplace, and the buildpack system influenced every platform that followed, and the name survived even Salesforce's acquisition.
The problem is the trajectory. Free dynos were eliminated in 2022, Eco dynos sleep after 30 minutes of inactivity, and pricing has steadily increased, so a basic app with a database now costs $16+/mo minimum. Heroku is also a US company with EU data residency available only on enterprise plans. Runsite keeps always-on containers even on its free tier, runs EU-only infrastructure in Frankfurt (eu-central), and enforces hard spending limits with Telegram alerts.
If you learned to deploy on Heroku and want the same git-push simplicity with lower costs, EU data residency, and a free tier that actually persists, Runsite preserves that workflow while fixing the pain points Heroku introduced over the past few years.
// why consider runsite
Beyond Fly.io and Heroku
EU PaaS for indie developers and small European startups. One region: Frankfurt.
EU-First Infrastructure
While Fly.io and Heroku default to US markets, Runsite is built exclusively for European developers. Frankfurt (eu-central) region, EU entity, EU jurisdiction, with no transatlantic transfers.
Real GDPR Compliance
EU-registered entity. Your data is governed by European law. No US jurisdiction, no CLOUD Act.
Predictable Pricing
No per-invocation charges, no surprise bills. Fixed plans with hard spending caps and Telegram alerts.
Common Questions
FAQ
Which is better for EU hosting, Fly.io or Heroku?
Neither Fly.io nor Heroku is EU-native. Both are US-based (Fly.io: US-headquartered; Heroku: US-headquartered (Salesforce)) and route most traffic through US regions, with EU availability that is usually limited or gated behind higher tiers. Even when you can select a European region, the parent company stays subject to the US CLOUD Act, which can compel disclosure of EU customer data. For genuine EU data residency, an EU-registered platform is the safer choice: Runsite runs exclusively in Frankfurt (eu-central) under EU jurisdiction, with no transatlantic transfers and no CLOUD Act exposure — the kind of guarantee neither US provider can make.
Which has the better free tier, Fly.io or Heroku?
Free tiers on both Fly.io and Heroku change frequently and tend to share the same catch: compute that sleeps after inactivity, bandwidth or build-minute caps, or trial credits that expire after a fixed window. They are fine for quick experiments but rarely sustainable for an always-on hobby project. If a permanent free tier matters, read the current terms carefully. Limits are often buried in the pricing footnotes. Runsite takes the opposite approach: a free tier with no credit card and no expiry, designed to keep small projects online indefinitely rather than nudging you onto a paid plan.
Is Fly.io or Heroku GDPR-compliant?
Both Fly.io and Heroku can be configured to support GDPR-compliant workloads through a signed Data Processing Agreement (DPA) and EU region selection where available. However, as US-incorporated entities they remain subject to the US CLOUD Act regardless of where the data physically sits, which is a documented sticking point for European compliance and DPO review. For workloads where US jurisdiction is a hard blocker (public-sector, healthcare, or privacy-sensitive consumer apps), an EU-headquartered provider removes the ambiguity entirely. Runsite is EU-registered with data kept inside the EU, so GDPR posture is the default rather than a configuration exercise.
What is the cheapest way to deploy a side project, Fly.io or Heroku?
For a single small service, both Fly.io and Heroku can look inexpensive on paper. The headline price rarely matches the real bill. Per-service billing, metered bandwidth, build minutes, and add-ons for databases or key-value stores stack up quickly, and neither platform offers a hard spending cap to stop a surprise invoice. The cheapest predictable option is one with fixed monthly pricing and an enforced ceiling. Runsite bills in EUR from €5/month with hard spending caps and Telegram alerts, plus a permanent free tier, so a side project stays cheap by design, not by careful monitoring.
// explore alternatives
Try the European Alternative
Skip the Fly.io vs Heroku debate. Deploy on Runsite.
Start Free on Runsite →