Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

GitLab Pages VS Fly.io

Compare GitLab Pages VS Fly.io and see what are their differences

GitLab Pages logo GitLab Pages

GitLab Pages you can create static websites for your GitLab projects, groups, or user accounts. 

Fly.io logo Fly.io

Edge computing is the new frontier.
  • GitLab Pages Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-01
  • Fly.io Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-11-16

GitLab Pages features and specs

  • Integration with GitLab CI/CD
    GitLab Pages integrates seamlessly with GitLab's CI/CD pipelines, allowing for automated deployment of static sites directly from your repositories. This streamlines the development workflow by enabling continuous delivery and integration.
  • Custom Domain Support
    It offers the ability to use custom domains for your GitLab Pages, enhancing your site's professionalism and brand consistency. Setting up custom domains is straightforward and well-documented.
  • HTTPS by Default
    GitLab Pages provides free Let's Encrypt SSL certificates for custom domains, ensuring that all sites are served over HTTPS by default. This adds a layer of security without any additional cost or configuration complexity.
  • Access Control
    GitLab Pages allows you to set access controls for your static site. You can make your site public, private, or limit access to specific users, making it versatile for different use cases, from personal blogs to private documentation.
  • Free Hosting
    GitLab offers free hosting for static sites with GitLab Pages, providing an economical solution for developers and small businesses to deploy their static websites without incurring additional costs.

Possible disadvantages of GitLab Pages

  • Limited to Static Sites
    GitLab Pages is designed to host only static sites. Dynamic features like server-side processing, databases, and real-time interactions are not supported, limiting the type of applications you can deploy.
  • Learning Curve
    Setting up GitLab Pages and configuring GitLab CI/CD pipelines can be complex for new users who are not familiar with GitLab's ecosystem. This can be a barrier to entry for beginners or those looking for a simpler setup process.
  • Dependency on GitLab Infrastructure
    GitLab Pages is directly tied to GitLab's infrastructure. Any downtime or performance issues with GitLab itself can affect the availability and reliability of your deployed static site.
  • Limited Customization Options
    Customization options for the build and deployment environments are somewhat limited compared to other static site hosting solutions. Advanced users may find these limitations restrictive when trying to tailor the deployment environment to specific needs.
  • No Built-in Analytics
    GitLab Pages does not offer built-in analytics or visitor tracking. Users need to integrate third-party analytics services, which requires additional setup and may not be as tightly integrated as native solutions.

Fly.io features and specs

  • Global Deployment
    Fly.io enables developers to deploy applications geographically close to users, reducing latency and improving performance.
  • CLI and Git-based Deployment
    Fly.io offers a command-line interface and Git integration for quick and efficient application deployment.
  • Automatic SSL
    Fly.io provides automatic SSL/TLS certificates, simplifying secure traffic management.
  • Scalability
    Applications deployed on Fly.io can scale both vertically and horizontally to handle varying loads.
  • Built-in Storage
    Fly.io offers persistent storage solutions such as Fly Volumes, which seamlessly integrate with applications.
  • Integrated Monitoring
    Fly.io provides built-in monitoring tools to track application performance and health.

Possible disadvantages of Fly.io

  • Learning Curve
    New users may find the platform's concepts and deployment methods unfamiliar, requiring time to learn.
  • Documentation
    Users have reported that the documentation can sometimes be lacking in detail or difficult to navigate.
  • Cost
    While Fly.io offers a free tier, the cost can become significant as you scale your applications.
  • Limited Language Support
    Fly.io supports fewer runtime environments and languages compared to more established platforms like AWS or Azure.
  • Platform Maturity
    As a relatively new platform, Fly.io may lack some advanced features and ecosystem integrations offered by more mature competitors.
  • Debugging
    The debugging tools and processes can be less comprehensive compared to traditional cloud providers.

Analysis of GitLab Pages

Overall verdict

  • GitLab Pages is a strong choice for developers who are already using GitLab for version control and CI/CD. Its close integration with GitLab's ecosystem makes it an efficient option for projects that are already managed within GitLab. However, for users outside the GitLab environment or those requiring dynamic content handling, other platforms might be more suitable.

Why this product is good

  • GitLab Pages is a feature of GitLab that allows users to host static websites directly from their GitLab repositories. It is particularly favored due to its seamless integration with GitLab CI/CD, enabling automated deployment workflows. The platform supports a variety of static site generators and custom domain configurations, enhancing its flexibility. Additionally, it offers a robust access control mechanism, allowing users to implement different levels of visibility for their pages.

Recommended for

    GitLab Pages is best recommended for users who are already leveraging GitLab for source control and CI/CD and are in need of a straightforward solution for hosting static sites. It's particularly appealing to developers building personal portfolios, project documentation sites, or simple marketing sites that don't require dynamic server-side processing.

Analysis of Fly.io

Overall verdict

  • Fly.io is a strong choice for developers looking to enhance application performance through global deployment without the complexities often associated with managing multiple infrastructure locations. Its ease of use and robust features make it a competitive option in the edge computing space.

Why this product is good

  • Fly.io is known for its edge computing solutions that allow developers to deploy applications closer to users, resulting in reduced latency and improved performance. It supports a wide range of programming languages and frameworks, and offers a straightforward platform for deploying full-stack applications globally. Fly.io's pay-as-you-go pricing model can also be cost-effective for projects of various sizes.

Recommended for

  • Developers looking to deploy applications globally with minimal latency.
  • Teams needing a scalable and flexible infrastructure that can grow with their needs.
  • Projects that benefit from a serverless approach without sacrificing control over the code and environment.
  • Applications that require rapid deployment and ease of management.

GitLab Pages videos

How to Publish a Website with GitLab Pages

More videos:

  • Review - Commit London 2019: Front page of Hacker News with GitLab Pages
  • Review - Froont + GitLab Pages

Fly.io videos

We FLY a SPACESHIP! Video Game FLY.io Computer App with HobbyKidsTV

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to GitLab Pages and Fly.io)
Cloud Computing
6 6%
94% 94
Developer Tools
8 8%
92% 92
Static Site Generators
100 100%
0% 0
Cloud Infrastructure
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare GitLab Pages and Fly.io

GitLab Pages Reviews

Top 10 Netlify Alternatives
GitLab Pages doesn’t own any specific pricing model. Many premium properties could only be accessed under GitLab pricing. With monthly 10 GB transfer and 5 GB storage, it is free to use GitLab. However, Premium and Ultimate plans of GitLab bill $19/user and $99/user per month, respectively.

Fly.io Reviews

5 Free Heroku Alternatives with Free Plan for Developers
Fly.io is one the best free alternatives to Heroku that you can use. It’s designed for developers and students to run small applications for free and scale costs affordably as you grow. Just like Heroku it comes with CLI applications and there are other tools in it that you can use to easily deploy your apps. For advanced users, it has premium plans but for now, due to its...

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Fly.io seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 463 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

GitLab Pages mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of GitLab Pages yet. Tracking of GitLab Pages recommendations started around Mar 2021.

Fly.io mentions (463)

  • Litestream: Revamped
    The landing page shows all logos of small companies, including one that is migrating away from them (Turso) https://fly.io/. - Source: Hacker News / 9 days ago
  • How to Host a Mongoose-Powered App on Fly.io
    One increasingly popular answer is Fly.io—a global application hosting platform that makes it surprisingly simple to deploy backend services close to your users. Fly.io gives you speed, scalability, and even stateful service support (hello, databases!) without the DevOps headache. - Source: dev.to / 9 days ago
  • Why we broke up with kubernetes and found happiness in simplicity
    Fly.io Deploy apps globally without Kubernetes. - Source: dev.to / 12 days ago
  • How to Set Up CI/CD for a Python Backend Application on Fly.io Using GitHub Actions
    If you haven't already signed up for Fly.io, go to Fly.io and create an account. Once you have an account, sign in to the Fly.io dashboard. - Source: dev.to / 17 days ago
  • Why devs are quitting aws and what they’re choosing instead
    A dev on Hacker News once shared how their tiny API hosted on Lambda and fronted by API Gateway was costing them over $70/month. They moved it to Fly.io, rewrote it in Go, and now run it for $2/mo and that includes logging, metrics, and backups. - Source: dev.to / 21 days ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing GitLab Pages and Fly.io, you can also consider the following products

GitHub Pages - A free, static web host for open-source projects on GitHub

Render - Render is a unified platform to build and run all your apps and websites with free SSL, a global CDN, private networks and auto deploys from Git.

Netlify - Build, deploy and host your static site or app with a drag and drop interface and automatic delpoys from GitHub or Bitbucket

Railway - Made for any language, for projects big and small.

surge.sh - Static website hosting for front-end developers.

Heroku - Agile deployment platform for Ruby, Node.js, Clojure, Java, Python, and Scala. Setup takes only minutes and deploys are instant through git. Leave tedious server maintenance to Heroku and focus on your code.