Fly.io Machines logo

Fly.io Machines

Raw Firecracker microVMs with a REST API, durable volumes and 35+ regions.

fly.io/docs/machinesfly.io/docs/machines/api
Overall in sandbox providers
1of 19 · score 80.3
Data coverage
96%
25 of 26 fields sourced

Best for

  • •You need Australian or multi-region placement
  • •Cost per sandbox-hour matters more than SDK ergonomics
  • •You already run on Fly and can reuse the networking

Strong on

  • +Idle cost free-when-stopped 1/19
  • +Sydney region Yes 1/18
  • +GPU Yes 1/15
  • +Funding series-c-plus 1/15
  • +Price / hour $0.031/hr 3/17
  • +Concurrent limit 500 sandboxes 3/15

Weak on

  • −Runtimes any-oci-image 11/18
    Better: boat: python, javascript-typescript, bash, go, rust, java, ruby, php, any-oci-image
  • −Streaming output Partial 13/17
    Better: E2B: Yes
  • −Preview URLs Partial 15/19
    Better: E2B: Yes
  • −Shipped 2022 12/16
    Better: Daytona: 2025

vs exe.dev

  • •Ahead on Meter: per-second vs subscription
  • •Ahead on Custom images: Yes vs Partial
  • •Behind on Preview URLs: Partial vs Yes
  • •Behind on MCP server: Partial vs Yes

How Fly.io Machines scores among 19 sandbox providers25 of 26 fields known

Runtime13

Cold start
900ms
9/16
Leader: Riza · 120ms
Cold start (claimed)
300ms
6/12
Leader: Blaxel · 25ms
fly.io · 2026-01-15
Max runtime1st
24h
1/18
Persistent FS1st
Yes
1/19
fly.io · 2026-01-15
Snapshot & fork
Partial
6/19
Leader: Daytona · Yes
Custom images1st
Yes
1/19
fly.io · 2026-01-15
GPU1st
Yes
1/15
fly.io · 2026-01-15
Runtimes
any-oci-image
11/18
Leader: boat · python, javascript-typescript, bash, go, rust, java, ruby, php, any-oci-image
Preview URLs
Partial
15/19
Leader: E2B · Yes
Browser inside3rd
Partial
3/18
Leader: E2B · Yes
File up/download
Partial
11/19
Leader: E2B · Yes
Sydney region1st
Yes
1/18
fly.io · 2026-01-15
Concurrent limit3rd
500 sandboxes
3/15
Leader: Vercel Sandbox · 2,000 sandboxes

Isolation & network3

Isolation1st
microvm
1/19
fly.io · 2026-01-15
Root in guest1st
Yes
1/19
fly.io · 2026-01-15
Egress control1st
allowlist
1/19

Agent integration3

MCP server
Partial
6/18
Leader: Daytona · Yes
SDKs
rest-api, cli
11/19
Leader: Runloop · python, typescript, rest-api, cli
Streaming output
Partial
13/17
Leader: E2B · Yes

Pricing3

Price / hour3rd
$0.031/hr
3/17
Leader: boat · $0.018/hr
fly.io · 2026-07-23
Meter2nd
per-second
2/19
Leader: Cloudflare Sandbox · per-10ms
fly.io · 2026-01-15
Idle cost1st
free-when-stopped
1/19
fly.io · 2026-01-15

Traction2

GitHub stars
—
Funding1st
series-c-plus
1/15

Positioning1

Positioning
Hardware-virtualised containers that run anywhere, started and stopped over an API.

Timeline1

Shipped
2022
12/16
Leader: Daytona · 2025

Alternatives8

Compare

Sources5

Fly.io Machines logo & brand colours

Logo assets

LogoSVG
Download
MonochromeSVG
Fly logo

Flattened to currentColor, what Toolweight renders in tables and nav.

Download

Fly brand colours

#FFFFFF
#BA7BF0
#996BEC
#5046E4