Medusa vs Fly.io
Open-source commerce engine — build custom storefronts with Next.js + Node
vs. Run your app close to users, globally
Pricing tiers
Medusa
OSS (self-host)
$0. MIT license. Run Medusa backend + admin on your infra.
$0 base (usage-based)
Medusa Cloud Free
$0. Hobby projects. Shared infra. Community support.
Free
Medusa Cloud Pro
$99/mo. Production support. Dedicated DB. Priority.
$99/mo
Enterprise
Custom. SSO, SLA, dedicated cluster, PCI.
Custom
Fly.io
Pay-as-you-go
No monthly fee. Machines billed per second. Free allocations: ~3 small shared machines + 3 GB volumes.
$0 base (usage-based)
Shared CPU 1x — 256 MB
Entry VM. 1 shared vCPU, 256 MB RAM. ~$2.02/month continuously on.
$2/mo
Performance 1x — 2 GB
Dedicated 1 vCPU, 2 GB RAM.
$32/mo
Reservation — Shared (1 yr)
$36/year for $5/mo credit (40% savings).
$36/mo
Shared CPU 8x — 16 GB
8 shared vCPU, 16 GB RAM.
$89/mo
Performance 16x — 128 GB
Dedicated 16 vCPU, 128 GB RAM.
$1014/mo
Enterprise
Custom. Dedicated capacity, SLA.
Custom
Free-tier quotas head-to-head
Comparing oss on Medusa vs pay-as-you-go on Fly.io.
| Metric | Medusa | Fly.io |
|---|---|---|
| No overlapping quota metrics for these tiers. | ||
Features
Medusa · 16 features
- Admin Dashboard — React-based admin UI.
- Auth — Customer + admin auth with JWT.
- Cart — Multi-region carts with tax/pricing logic.
- Checkout — Multi-step checkout flow.
- Customers + Groups — Customer records + B2B groups.
- Dynamic Pricing — Price lists, rules, customer-specific.
- Event Bus — Async events via Redis / RabbitMQ.
- File Service — Pluggable storage (S3, local).
- Gift Cards — Native gift-card support.
- Inventory + Multi-warehouse — Stock tracking across locations.
- Next.js Starter — Production-ready Next.js storefront.
- Orders + Fulfillment — Full order lifecycle (edits, returns, exchanges).
- Products + Variants — Products with options, variants, images.
- Promotions + Discounts — Rule-based promos, campaigns.
- Tax Providers — Pluggable tax calculation.
- Workflows Engine — Durable saga-style business logic.
Fly.io · 14 features
- Auto Stop/Start — Machines auto-stop when idle, start on request (like scale-to-zero).
- Certs — Let's Encrypt + wildcard certs managed.
- Fly GPU — A100/L40S/A10 on-demand GPU machines.
- Fly Kubernetes (FKS) — Managed Kubernetes on Fly machines.
- Fly Machines — Firecracker microVMs. Start in <1s. Run any Docker image.
- Fly Postgres — Managed Postgres via Supabase partnership (2024). Also legacy self-run Postgres …
- fly-replay headers — Route request to another region at app level.
- Fly Volumes — Persistent SSD attached to a Machine. Encrypted at rest.
- Global Anycast — Single IP routes to the closest region automatically.
- LiteFS — Distributed SQLite with primary/replica across regions.
- Private Networks — 6PN WireGuard mesh. Connect machines across regions privately.
- Secrets — Encrypted env vars propagated to all regions.
- Tigris (partner) — S3-compatible storage for Fly apps. By partner.
- Upstash Redis (partner) — Managed Redis via Upstash.
Developer interfaces
| Kind | Medusa | Fly.io |
|---|---|---|
| CLI | medusa CLI | flyctl CLI |
| SDK | @medusajs/js-sdk | — |
| REST | Medusa Admin API, Medusa Store API | Machines API |
| GRAPHQL | — | Fly GraphQL API |
| MCP | Medusa MCP | — |
| OTHER | Medusa Admin UI, Next.js Starter | Fly Postgres (wire) |
Staxly is an independent catalog of developer platforms. Outbound links to Medusa and Fly.io are plain references to their official websites. Pricing is verified against vendor pages at publication time — reconfirm before buying.
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