Hosting and deploy · ranked 03
Railway
Deploy a service from a repo without writing a platform file first.
Best for A long-running service without becoming a platform engineer
Railway is an app platform for running services, databases, and workers from a repo. Use it when the thing you are shipping is a long-running server, not a pure frontend, and you want less ceremony than a hyperscaler. Pricing has changed more than once. Check site.
Best use cases
- Hosting an API server or worker
- Attaching a database next to the app
- Shipping something that does not fit a short serverless function
Pros
- + Less YAML than a hyperscaler
- + Services and databases live in one project
- + Fits backends that Vercel's function limits annoy
Cons
- − Not the default for a pure Next.js frontend
- − Pricing: check site
Pricing
Usage-based plans. Current prices and whether a free allowance exists: check site.
Alternatives
Hosting and deploy
7.2
Render
Web services, static sites, cron, and databases on one platform.
Best for Web services and cron without AWS
Hosting and deploy
8.2
Vercel
Push a frontend or Next.js app and get a URL.
Best for Deploying a Next.js app with preview URLs
Hosting and deploy
7.2
Netlify
Git-based hosting for web apps, with functions and forms.
Best for Git-push hosting that is not Vercel