# Scaling

Scale a service horizontally (more replicas) or vertically (more CPU/memory) with `lizard scale`. Addon storage is grown the same way.

## Scale a service

```bash
lizard scale --service api --replicas 3
lizard scale --service api --cpu 2 --memory 2048
```

| Flag | Applies to | Allowed values |
|------|-----------|----------------|
| `--replicas <n>` | apps | `1`–`10` |
| `--cpu <cores>` | apps | whole cores: `1`, `2`, `3`, `4` |
| `--memory <mb>` | apps | `128`–`8192` MB (1 MB steps) |
| `--storage <mb>` | **addons only**, grow-only | `512`, `1024`, `2048`, `4096`, `8192`, `16384` |

You can combine flags in a single command. Replica changes roll out without a rebuild.

## Horizontal scaling

Run multiple replicas of an app behind the load balancer:

```bash
lizard scale --service api --replicas 5
```

Each replica is its own pod. Make sure your app is stateless (store state in [Postgres](https://lizard.build/docs/addons/postgres), [Redis](https://lizard.build/docs/addons/redis), or [S3](https://lizard.build/docs/addons/storage)) so replicas are interchangeable.

## Vertical scaling

Give a single replica more resources:

```bash
lizard scale --service api --cpu 4 --memory 8192
```

## Growing addon storage

Addon data volumes are **grow-only** — you can increase storage but not shrink it:

```bash
lizard scale --service postgres --storage 8192
```

## Verifying

```bash
lizard ps                 # replica status + URL
lizard events             # per-replica deploy/scale history
lizard metrics            # live CPU / memory / network / disk
lizard metrics --cost     # include cost
```

## See also

- [Observability → Metrics](https://lizard.build/docs/observability/metrics) — resource and cost monitoring.
- [`lizard scale`](https://lizard.build/docs/cli/scale) — the full command reference.
- [What CaaS providers charge in 2026](https://lizard.build/blog/container-as-a-service#what-caas-providers-charge-in-2026) — per-vCPU, per-GB and egress rates across nine platforms, for sizing a bill before you scale.