Your infrastructure, not a proprietary runtime
Fly.io runs your code on their hardware, in their data centers, on their proprietary runtime. Skyhook runs your code on Kubernetes in your cloud account - full data sovereignty, no vendor runtime lock-in, and a complete developer platform with preview environments and production readiness built in.
How Skyhook compares
| Dimension | Skyhook | Fly.io |
|---|---|---|
| Core approach | Kubernetes-native developer platform. Skyhook provisions clusters for you or connects to existing ones. Full K8s API access, Helm support, and standard resources. | Container platform with hardware-virtualized Machines. Proprietary runtime with CLI-driven deployment and global edge network. |
| Infrastructure ownership | Your clusters, your cloud account. Full control over compute, networking, and data residency. | Runs on Fly.io's global infrastructure. No access to underlying servers or your own cloud account. |
| Deployment strategies | Canary with traffic splitting, blue-green with cutover, progressive delivery with auto-rollback. | Rolling, canary, and blue-green strategies available in fly.toml. Canary deploys a single Machine to verify health before proceeding. No progressive delivery with metric-based auto-rollback. |
| Multi-region | Any cloud, any region. Mix clusters across AWS, GCP, Azure, OCI, on-prem. Manage all from one dashboard. | 30+ regions on Fly.io's global network. Multi-region deployment built in, but limited to their infrastructure locations. |
| Scaling model | Kubernetes-native auto-scaling with scale-to-zero support. Always-on or scale-to-zero per service. Scale based on CPU, memory, or custom metrics. | Machines start fast enough to handle requests. Scale-to-zero capability. Pay only for CPU/memory consumed per second. |
| Kubernetes access | Full kubectl, Helm charts, custom operators, CRDs, and direct K8s API access. Standard Kubernetes throughout. | No Kubernetes access. Proprietary Machine API. Fly-specific configuration and networking model. |
| Vendor lock-in | Standard K8s resources. Leave anytime - workloads are vanilla Kubernetes. | Fly-specific configuration (fly.toml), networking, and Machine API. Migrating requires rebuilding deployment and infrastructure. |
| Pricing | Generous free tier (3 users, 3 services, 1 cluster) with no credit card required. You pay cloud provider directly for compute - pair with their free credits for a zero-cost start. | Pay-per-second for CPU and memory consumption. Managed Postgres available. SOC 2 attested. |
Feature-by-feature comparison
Why teams choose Skyhook over Fly.io
Full Kubernetes power
Fly.io has its own runtime and API. Skyhook gives you the full Kubernetes ecosystem - Helm charts, operators, CRDs, sidecars, and the entire CNCF landscape. No proprietary runtime to learn or lock into.
Your cloud account, your control
With Fly.io, your workloads run on their hardware in their data centers. With Skyhook, everything runs in your AWS, GCP, or Azure account. Full compliance control, no compute markup.
Advanced deployment strategies
Fly.io gives you rolling deploys. Skyhook gives you canary rollouts that gradually shift traffic, blue-green with instant cutover, and progressive delivery with automatic rollback when error rates spike.
Any cloud, any region
Fly.io limits you to their 18 regions. Skyhook works with any Kubernetes cluster in any cloud provider's region - including on-premise. Need a cluster in a region Fly.io doesn't serve? No problem.
Frequently asked questions
Fly.io has great latency with edge deployment. Can Skyhook match that?
Skyhook deploys to your Kubernetes clusters, which can be in any region your cloud provider supports. For low latency, deploy clusters in multiple regions and use a global load balancer - full control over where your workloads run.
Fly.io's scale-to-zero saves money. Does Skyhook support that?
Kubernetes supports scale-to-zero through KEDA or Knative, which work with Skyhook. However, Skyhook's primary model is always-on pods for production workloads where cold starts aren't acceptable.
Can I migrate from Fly.io to Skyhook?
Yes. Your Docker containers work as-is. Skyhook can provision Kubernetes clusters for you - no infrastructure setup required. Configure your services in Skyhook, and you're running. The fly.toml configuration won't transfer, but Skyhook's service configuration is straightforward.
Fly.io has managed Postgres. What about databases with Skyhook?
Skyhook focuses on the deployment layer. For databases, use your cloud provider's managed services - RDS, Cloud SQL, Azure Database. These offer more configuration options and are typically more cost-effective at scale.
Last updated: April 2026
Why Choose Skyhook?
Best Practices Out-of-the-Box
Start strong with monitoring, rollout strategies, ephemeral environments and secret management.
No Lock-in
Stay in control without being dependent on specific cloud providers or third-party tools. Unlike PaaS, you can easily migrate away.
Start and scale quickly
Get started in minutes, not days, with our fully configured environment. Grows with your needs, regardless of engineering group size.
Kubernetes based
Simplify Kubernetes for developers and make management easy for DevOps.
The Best tools
Skyhook has built-in support for the top tools in the Kubernetes ecosystem, such as ArgoCD, Kyverno, Grafana and many more.
Flexible
With Kubernetes under the hood, all the ecosystem and advanced functionality is readily available when you need it.
Ready to roll?
It's quick and easy to get started.
No credit card required.