Fly.io Machines vs Google Cloud Run: pricing
Google Cloud Run prices per request while Fly.io Machines bills by resource-time, so they are hard to compare head-to-head. Fly.io Machines is micro-vms (per-second, scale-to-zero) (Not request-priced) and Google Cloud Run is serverless containers (vcpu-s + gib-s + request) ($0.40 / 1M). Snapshot June 2026 — verify on the vendor's pricing page.
Data as of June 2026.
Fly.io Machines vs Google Cloud Run side by side
| Cost factor | Fly.io Machines | Google Cloud Run |
|---|---|---|
| Vendor | Fly.io | Google Cloud |
| Pricing model | Micro-VMs (per-second, scale-to-zero) | Serverless containers (vCPU-s + GiB-s + request) |
| Per 1M requests | Not request-priced | $0.40 / 1M |
| Per GB-second | n/a | $0.0000025 / GB-s |
| Free tier | No free allowance since 2024. Smallest shared-cpu-1x / 256 MB Machine ~$1.94/month always-on (~$0.0027/hr). Per-second billing; stopped Machines cost $0 (volumes still bill at $0.15/GB-mo). RAM ~$5 per GB per 30 days. | 180,000 vCPU-seconds + 360,000 GiB-seconds + 2,000,000 requests per month free (in free-tier regions). Bills CPU and memory separately. |
| Scale to zero | Yes | Yes |
| Egress | $0.02/GB | varies |
| Regions | 35+ regions worldwide. | 40+ Google Cloud regions; free tier in us-central1/us-east1/us-west1. |
Sources: Fly.io pricing · Google Cloud pricing.
Sample monthly cost
A rough monthly total for a sample workload: 5,000,000 requests/month, each ~150 ms at 256 MB of memory, plus 25 GB of egress. Computed after each platform's free tier; excludes platform minimums and regional variation, so treat it as a starting point:
| Component | Fly.io Machines | Google Cloud Run |
|---|---|---|
| Compute (after free tier) | Usage-based | $15 |
| Egress (25 GB) | $0.50 | varies |
| Estimated total / month | Usage-based | $15 |
Verdict
On cost for this sample workload, Google Cloud Run prices per request while Fly.io Machines bills by resource-time, so they are hard to compare head-to-head. But price is not the only factor: Fly.io Machines (true micro-vms with scale-to-zero (stopped = $0 compute)) versus Google Cloud Run (run any container, scale to zero, no per-cluster fee). Read each platform's full breakdown — Fly.io Machines and Google Cloud Run — and model your own workload in the calculator.
Frequently asked questions
Is Fly.io Machines or Google Cloud Run cheaper?
For a sample workload of 5M requests/month at 256 MB, 150 ms each plus 25 GB egress, Google Cloud Run prices per request while Fly.io Machines bills by resource-time, so they are hard to compare head-to-head. This is illustrative and after each platform's free tier; your real cost depends on memory, duration, egress and region. snapshot captured June 2026.
How do Fly.io Machines and Google Cloud Run price requests?
Fly.io Machines: Per-second billing of CPU/RAM presets; shared-cpu-1x/256 MB ~$0.0027/hr (~$1.94/mo). Extra RAM ~$5/GB per 30 days. Scale-to-zero supported (stopped Machines bill $0 for compute; attached volumes bill $0.15/GB-mo). Outbound egress from ~$0.02/GB. Google Cloud Run: Request-based billing (Tier 1): $0.000024/vCPU-s + $0.0000025/GiB-s + $0.40 per 1M requests. CPU only billed during request processing (or always-on for instance-based billing). Cloud Run functions (former 2nd-gen Cloud Functions) now bill on this model. Snapshot June 2026 — verify on the vendor's pricing page.
Do Fly.io Machines and Google Cloud Run scale to zero?
Fly.io Machines: yes, no charge when idle. Google Cloud Run: yes, no charge when idle. Scale-to-zero saves money for spiky traffic but adds cold-start latency on the first request.
Which has the better free tier, Fly.io Machines or Google Cloud Run?
Fly.io Machines: No free allowance since 2024. Smallest shared-cpu-1x / 256 MB Machine ~$1.94/month always-on (~$0.0027/hr). Per-second billing; stopped Machines cost $0 (volumes still bill at $0.15/GB-mo). RAM ~$5 per GB per 30 days. Google Cloud Run: 180,000 vCPU-seconds + 360,000 GiB-seconds + 2,000,000 requests per month free (in free-tier regions). Bills CPU and memory separately.
More comparisons
Last updated: 2026-06-21