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Comparison

HostStack vs Fly.io

A flat-priced EU PaaS for teams that want managed databases that are actually managed — not a Postgres cluster you operate yourself.

By Michael Michelsen, Founder of HostStack · Updated May 2026

Why developers choose HostStack

Fully-managed PostgreSQL with daily backups, S3 off-site copies, and version upgrades handled for you. Fly's "Postgres" is an unmanaged cluster you operate via flyctl
Real EU data residency in Nuremberg or Helsinki with a DPA at signup. Fly has EU regions but is US-incorporated (Schrems II territory)
Predictable per-resource pricing — Pico €1, Micro €5, Standard €20, DB Micro €4. Pay for what you provision, prorated to the hour. Fly bills per-machine + per-second usage, with separate line items for shared CPU, dedicated CPU, RAM, storage, and bandwidth
Managed MySQL, MariaDB, MongoDB, and Redis included. Fly only ships unmanaged Postgres, Upstash Redis (third party), and Tigris object storage (third party)
TypeScript SDK and Terraform provider — first-party, not community-maintained
Cron jobs, background workers, and queues bundled. Fly Machines can run them but you wire the scheduling yourself

Feature comparison

FeatureHostStackFly.io
Web services
Background workers
DIY on Fly Machines
Cron jobs
DIY scheduler
Static sites
Fully-managed PostgreSQL
Unmanaged cluster
Managed MySQL / MariaDB / MongoDB
Managed Redis
Upstash (3rd party)
Object storage
Connect your own S3 bucket
Tigris (3rd party)
Custom domains + SSL
GitHub auto-deploy
GitHub Actions setup required
Docker runtime
CLI tool
TypeScript SDK
Multi-region apps
EU data residency
DE, FI
Region-pinned, US-incorporated
DPA included
Enterprise only
Flat pricing
Per-machine + per-second

Pricing comparison

TierHostStackFly.io
Free tier1 Nano + 1 Starter Postgres — €0/mo, no cardLegacy free tier discontinued for new signups
Cheapest always-on€1/mo Pico (128 MB)$2.02/mo shared-cpu-1x 256 MB (US/Amsterdam only)
512 MB always-on service€5/mo Micro~$3.32/mo shared-cpu-1x
2 GB service€20/mo Standard~$11/mo shared-cpu-1x (1× shared vCPU, fewer guarantees)
Cheapest managed Postgres€4/mo Micro (256 MB / 1 GB, managed)$2/mo dev single-node (unmanaged) or $82+/mo HA cluster
Bandwidth overage200 GB free, €0.01/GB — half of Fly$0.02/GB NA/EU, $0.04 APAC/SA, $0.12 AF/IN
Volume storage€0.10/GB-month$0.15/GB-month

When NOT to choose HostStack

Fly.io is the better fit in some cases. Here's when we'd tell you so.

You actually need a multi-region app with low-latency reads everywhere. Fly's anycast routing across 30+ regions is purpose-built for that; we run single-region per project.
You want bare Fly Machines to script your own runtime / orchestrator on top. We're an opinionated PaaS; if you're looking for "raw VMs with TLS" Fly is closer.
You're happy operating your own Postgres cluster (HA failover, version upgrades, backup verification). That hands-on workflow is fine — it just isn't what a "managed" PaaS gives you, and our pricing assumes you don't want to do it.
You depend on Fly's GPU machines. We don't offer GPU instances yet.

Migrate from Fly.io

1

Open a HostStack account

Sign up with an email at hoststack.dev — no card during migration. Create a project in Nuremberg or Helsinki.

2

Connect your repo

Install the HostStack app on the GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket repo you deploy from Fly. Framework auto-detection fills in build and start commands; your fly.toml structure carries over conceptually.

3

Import your services and env vars

Export Fly secrets (fly secrets list -a APP) and push them with hoststack env bulk svc_… KEY=VAL KEY=VAL …. The [services] block in fly.toml maps to a single HostStack service.

4

Move your Postgres

Provision a fully-managed PostgreSQL on HostStack and stream a pg_dump from your Fly Postgres cluster directly into it. Compare Postgres options in our managed PostgreSQL Europe 2026 buyer's guide.

5

Cut over DNS

Point your A/AAAA records (or CNAME) at HostStack and wait for the Let's Encrypt cert to provision. Rotate any Fly-issued credentials and decommission the Fly app.

Frequently asked questions

Is HostStack cheaper than Fly.io?

For always-on workloads, yes. HostStack's cheapest persistent service is Pico at €1/month (128 MB), under Fly's smallest shared-cpu-1x at about $2.02/month. Bandwidth is €0.01/GB versus Fly's $0.02/GB in NA/EU (and up to $0.12/GB in Africa/India), and managed Postgres starts at €4/month. Fly's per-machine, per-second billing can be cheaper for bursty or scale-to-zero workloads, but it is harder to predict.

Does Fly.io offer fully-managed PostgreSQL?

No. Fly's Postgres is an unmanaged cluster you operate yourself with flyctl — you handle failover, version upgrades, and backup verification. HostStack's managed PostgreSQL includes daily snapshots, off-site S3 backups, and version upgrades handled for you, plus an optional 3-node Patroni HA cluster with ~5-second automatic failover.

Is HostStack GDPR-compliant and Fly.io not?

Both can run in the EU, but Fly.io is US-incorporated and therefore exposed to the US CLOUD Act regardless of region — which is the core Schrems II problem for European procurement. HostStack is operated by the Danish company MICCI with data resident in Germany (Nuremberg) or Finland (Helsinki) and a DPA available at signup, so it gives a clean EU-incorporation answer that Fly cannot.

How hard is it to migrate from Fly.io to HostStack?

Most apps move in well under an hour. You connect your GitHub/GitLab/Bitbucket repo, push your Fly secrets as env vars with the HostStack CLI, stream a pg_dump from your Fly Postgres into a managed HostStack database, and cut over DNS once the Let's Encrypt certificate provisions. The [services] block in fly.toml maps to a single HostStack service.

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