Fly.io Machines vs Fly.io Sprites

Fly.io Machines and Fly.io Sprites are closely matched on cold start and headline price. The decision comes down to isolation, session limits and ecosystem. Below: every spec that moves the decision, verified 2026-07-26.

	Fly.io Machines	FLFly.io Sprites
Isolation	microVM	Firecracker microVM
Cold start	300ms	n/a
Price / vCPU-hr	$0.07	$0.07
GPU	GPUs available	No
Session limit	Persistent	Persistent (pauses when idle)
Persistence	Persistent ext4 filesystem, checkpoints	Persistent ext4 (NVMe + object storage), roughly 300ms checkpoint/restore
MCP support	Yes	n/a
Free tier	Pay-as-you-go	n/a
Best for	Teams wanting a low-level, MCP-native VM primitive with zero idle cost.	Agents and dev workflows that need a persistent, resumable Linux environment with fast checkpoints.

The verdict

Choose Fly.io Machines for teams wanting a low-level, MCP-native VM primitive with zero idle cost. Choose Fly.io Sprites for agents and dev workflows that need a persistent, resumable Linux environment with fast checkpoints.

Headline rates rarely equal your bill. Idle time, session length, creation fees and GPU minutes dominate. Model your actual workload in the cost calculator.

FAQ

Fly.io Machines vs Fly.io Sprites: which is better?

It depends on your priority. Fly.io Machines is best for teams wanting a low-level, MCP-native VM primitive with zero idle cost. Fly.io Sprites is best for agents and dev workflows that need a persistent, resumable Linux environment with fast checkpoints.

Is Fly.io Machines or Fly.io Sprites cheaper?

Fly.io Machines and Fly.io Sprites list the same headline rate ($0.07 per vCPU-hour). Total cost depends on idle time, session length and creation fees. Model your workload in the cost calculator.

Still choosing between Fly.io Machines and Fly.io Sprites?

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