OpenClaw on Fly.io: Deploy Your Free Cloud AI Agent in 5 Minutes (2026)

What Is Fly.io and Why Use It for OpenClaw?

Fly.io is a developer-friendly PaaS that runs your containerized applications close to your users using a global network of data centers. Unlike traditional cloud providers (AWS, GCP, Azure) which require navigating complex dashboards and billing configurations, Fly.io is designed for simplicity: one CLI tool, one configuration file, and your app is running in the cloud.

Fly.io's free tier is notably generous: you get three "shared-cpu-1x" virtual machines with 256MB RAM each, 3GB of persistent volume storage, and 160GB of monthly outbound data transfer — all at no cost. For OpenClaw, which is a relatively lightweight Node.js application that spends most of its time idle-waiting for incoming Telegram messages, the free tier is more than sufficient for a single-user personal agent.

The main advantage of deploying OpenClaw on Fly.io versus running it on your home computer or a VPS is the operational simplicity. Fly.io handles server maintenance, automatic restarts, health checks, and deployment rollbacks. You focus entirely on your OpenClaw configuration and skills — not on server administration.

Step 1 — Install flyctl (Fly.io CLI)

Everything in Fly.io is managed through the flyctl command-line tool. Install it on your local machine (the machine you will use to deploy and manage your OpenClaw agent):

macOS:

Linux:

Windows (PowerShell):

Sign up for a free Fly.io account and authenticate:

Step 2 — Create the Dockerfile for OpenClaw

Fly.io deploys containerized applications using Docker. You need to create a Dockerfile that packages OpenClaw and its dependencies. Create a new project directory on your local machine:

Create the Dockerfile:

Create a .dockerignore file to keep the image clean:

Step 3 — Initialize Your Fly.io App

Initialize a new Fly.io application from your project directory:

This creates a fly.toml configuration file. Open it and configure it for OpenClaw. The key settings are the region (choose one close to you or close to Anthropic's API servers in the US East Coast), and the machine size:

The auto_stop_machines = false setting is critical — by default Fly.io scales down idle machines to zero to save resources. For an always-on AI agent, you want this disabled so OpenClaw remains running to receive incoming Telegram messages at any time.

Step 4 — Configure Secrets (API Keys)

Never put API keys directly in your Dockerfile or fly.toml. Use Fly.io's secrets management system, which securely stores sensitive values as encrypted environment variables:

These secrets are injected as environment variables at runtime and are never visible in your code repository or deployment logs. This is a security best practice that protects your API keys even if your fly.toml file or Dockerfile is accidentally shared publicly.

Step 5 — Create a Persistent Volume for OpenClaw Memory

OpenClaw stores all its persistent data — your agent's memory, conversation history, learned preferences, and installed skills — in its data directory. On Fly.io, this directory needs to be backed by a persistent volume so the data survives container restarts and redeployments:

Without a persistent volume, every time Fly.io restarts your container (for updates, maintenance, or after a failure), OpenClaw would lose all its memory and conversation history. With the volume mounted at /data, everything persists indefinitely.

Step 6 — Deploy OpenClaw to Fly.io

You are now ready to deploy. Fly.io will build your Docker image, push it to their registry, and start your OpenClaw agent on their global infrastructure:

The first deployment takes 3–5 minutes as the Docker image is built. Watch the output — you will see the build progress, image push, and deployment status. When deployment succeeds, you will see a line like v1 deployed successfully.

Monitor your application:

Once running, you need to complete OpenClaw's initial onboarding. SSH into the container and run the wizard:

After completing onboarding, restart the app to pick up the new configuration:

Step 7 — Optimize Region Selection for Claude API Speed

One of Fly.io's great advantages for OpenClaw is the ability to run your agent in the same geographic region as the AI API servers. Anthropic's Claude API is hosted primarily on AWS US East Coast infrastructure. Running your Fly.io app in the iad (Washington, D.C.) region means your OpenClaw and Claude's API are physically close — reducing API latency to under 20ms.

Compare this to running OpenClaw on a home computer in Asia or Europe where latency to Claude's US servers might be 200–300ms. That difference adds up significantly when OpenClaw makes dozens of API calls during complex multi-step tasks.

Why Add VPN07 to Your Fly.io OpenClaw Deployment

You might wonder: if OpenClaw is already running on Fly.io's infrastructure with good connectivity, why would you need VPN07? The answer depends on your specific use case and where your users and API integrations are located.

Fly.io's IP ranges are well-known, and some services (certain enterprise firewalls, regional API providers, and even some messaging platforms) may block or rate-limit traffic from known PaaS IP ranges. VPN07 gives your Fly.io-hosted OpenClaw a clean, residential-adjacent IP reputation that bypasses these restrictions. Additionally, if your agent needs to make requests that appear to originate from a specific country — for example, accessing region-restricted APIs or services — VPN07's 70+ country server selection gives your agent that geographic flexibility.

For personal use where OpenClaw accesses Claude API from Fly.io's US East network, you may not need VPN07 for the API itself. However, VPN07 is still valuable for your local device — protecting the Telegram or WhatsApp messages you send to your agent on public Wi-Fi, and ensuring your OpenClaw management commands (fly deploy, fly logs, fly ssh) are secured. VPN07 on your local machine costs just $1.5/month and delivers 1000Mbps throughput with 70+ country coverage.

Additionally, VPN07 is invaluable when you want to interact with your Fly.io-hosted OpenClaw from different countries. If you travel internationally, your home internet access and cloud service access may be restricted in certain countries. VPN07 ensures you can always reach your Telegram bot interface, your Fly.io dashboard, and your agent's API endpoints regardless of where you are in the world. With 10 years of proven uptime history and 70+ server locations optimized for speed and reliability, VPN07 is the connectivity layer that makes your cloud OpenClaw truly global and always-accessible.

VPN07 has maintained 10 years of reliable operation and is the preferred VPN choice for developers, AI enthusiasts, and home server builders worldwide. With 1000Mbps dedicated bandwidth, you will never experience the throttling or connection drops that plague cheaper VPN services. The 30-day money-back guarantee means zero risk to try it with your new Fly.io OpenClaw deployment.

Monitoring, Updating, and Scaling on Fly.io

One of Fly.io's great advantages is how easy it is to update your OpenClaw deployment. When a new OpenClaw version is released, simply update your Dockerfile and redeploy — Fly.io handles the rolling update with zero downtime:

For monitoring, Fly.io provides built-in metrics dashboards showing CPU usage, memory consumption, and network throughput. Access them at fly.io/apps/my-openclaw-agent/monitoring. You can also set up Fly.io health checks that alert you if OpenClaw stops responding — add a health check endpoint to your fly.toml to receive automatic notifications via email if your agent goes offline.

As your OpenClaw usage grows, scaling up on Fly.io is straightforward. Upgrade from the free shared-cpu-1x to a performance-1x machine (1 dedicated CPU, 256MB RAM) for $1.94/month — still extremely affordable compared to traditional VPS providers. For power users, you can also add additional regions, running your OpenClaw agent in two geographic locations simultaneously for redundancy and lower latency to different messaging services.