PocketBase Cloud vs Fly.io
Fly.io runs your containers as lightweight VMs (“Machines”) close to your users, billed per second with no subscription. PocketBase Cloud is a specialized app platform — database, auth, realtime, file storage, frontends, and backends for a flat monthly price. This page compares Fly.io’s build-it- yourself, pay-as-you-go model against one predictable bill.
Prices below are as of September 2026 — check the Fly.io pricing page and the PocketBase Cloud pricing page for current numbers.
Summary
| PocketBase Cloud | Fly.io | |
|---|---|---|
| Model | App platform (DB + auth + frontend + backend) | Pay-as-you-go container VMs |
| Base fee | $0 / $5 / $20 flat per plan | None — pure usage |
| Compute price | Included in the plan | shared-cpu-1x ≈ $2–6/mo per Machine by RAM, billed per second |
| Free tier | Free plan (limited requests/storage) | Short trial only; all usage metered after |
| Database | Built in — included | Run Postgres on your own Machines, or a managed partner (extra) |
| Auth / realtime / file storage | Built in | Compose yourself |
| Frontend hosting | Included static hosting | Serve from an app Machine or bring a CDN |
| Global / edge | Cloudflare anycast in front; compute in one region | Native multi-region Machines, run close to users |
| 10 small apps | $20/mo flat (one Pro compute) | Sum of every Machine + volume + bandwidth |
Pricing: metered Machines vs flat
Fly.io has no subscription. You pay per second for each started Machine (shared-cpu-1x runs roughly $2–6/mo continuous depending on RAM), plus persistent volumes at $0.15/GB and outbound bandwidth. Stopped Machines cost only storage. It is cheap for something small and idle, and flexible for spiky or global workloads — but you provision and pay for the database, and you assemble auth, storage, and the frontend yourself.
PocketBase Cloud charges per plan. Pro is a flat $20/mo for a dedicated 2 vCPU compute hosting effectively unlimited PocketBase instances, frontends, and Node/Deno/Bun backends, database included. The bill does not move with traffic.
What you get out of the box
On Fly.io you assemble: app Machine + a Postgres cluster you operate (or a
managed one) + object storage + a CDN + secrets + monitoring, expressed in a
fly.toml and Docker image.
On PocketBase Cloud you inherit one PocketBase binary — database, auth, realtime
(SSE), file storage, admin UI, JavaScript hooks, custom domains, logs/metrics —
plus static frontend hosting and container backends on the same compute. No
Dockerfile required; pbc deploy detects the project type.
When to choose which
Choose Fly.io when:
- You need real multi-region deployment with compute near your users
- You want full control of the container image and the networking
- Your stack is not PocketBase-shaped and you are comfortable operating your own database
Choose PocketBase Cloud when:
- Your app fits PocketBase — CRUD, auth, files, realtime
- You want the database and the rest of the stack managed, not assembled
- You prefer a fixed monthly cost to a metered bill across Machines, volumes, and bandwidth
The honest bottom line
- Global, containerized, you want the controls — Fly.io’s model fits.
- A standard app you want managed on a predictable budget — PocketBase Cloud’s $20 flat is simpler and usually cheaper once the database and the supporting services are counted.