Deploy apps and databases from GitHub. A one-time $5 trial grant, then $1 a month in free credit.
Sniffed 11d ago Card required#paas#deploy-from-github#databases#usage-based-pricing#docker
The $1 monthly credit covers a tiny app, and Hobby includes $5 of usage a month. Railway deploys services and databases from a Git repository and bills by resource usage. Its plans page lists a Trial, a Free plan, Hobby and Pro. New Trial accounts get a free one-time grant of $5, the Free plan is described as $1 of free credit per month for small apps with 1 replica, 0.5 GB of RAM and 1 vCPU, Hobby includes $5 of resource usage per month and Pro includes $20. Usage beyond the included amount is charged, and if you pay with credits and the balance reaches zero, the subscription is cancelled and all workloads are stopped. G2 shows 95 reviews that praise easy deploys and a good CLI, with complaints about cost predictability, and one reviewer said the free plan is very limited now. Trustpilot is split between uptime praise and angry posts about account restrictions without explanation.
Free tier quotas
Trial
Free one-time grant of $5 for new Trial accounts. Trial users cannot buy credits without upgrading to Hobby
Includes $5 of resource usage a month, up to 6 replicas, 48 GB RAM and 48 vCPU
Pro
Includes $20 of resource usage a month, up to 42 replicas, 1 TB RAM and 1,000 vCPU
Out of credits
If you pay with credits and the balance reaches zero, the subscription is cancelled and all workloads stop
Last sniffed Oct 14, 2026. Always confirm on the official pricing page.
👍 Good boy
+Deploys come straight from GitHub, and G2 reviewers say deploys are easy and call out the CLI and GraphQL API.
+Billing follows resources, not a fixed server size. A r/webdev commenter believes you pay for actual consumption, not for what you provision.
+Hobby and Pro include usage ($5 and $20) that offsets the subscription, so light projects can cost close to the base fee, per the plans page.
+A Trustpilot reviewer reported 100% uptime for a year and cutting a bill from $200 to $20 a month on Pro by tuning performance.
+A G2 reviewer self-hosts n8n on Railway and said daily backups on a paid plan were worth it.
+The plans table spells out replica, RAM and vCPU limits per plan, so you can see what Free, Hobby and Pro allow before deploying.
👎 Watch out
−Free is small. A G2 reviewer said the free plan is very limited now, and the plans page lists $1 of credit a month with 0.5 GB of RAM and 1 vCPU.
−Cost is hard to predict. G2 reviewers say costs can be difficult to predict as projects grow,.
−When credits are the payment method and the balance hits zero, the subscription is cancelled and every workload stops.
−Trustpilot has several 1-star posts from users whose workspaces were restricted without a stated reason, and one said the response was that the decision was final.
−A Trustpilot reviewer said $3.51 of their $5 included usage had been consumed by Railway Agent although they never knowingly started an agent session.
−An older r/webdev thread says Railway began requiring a credit card for its free tier, so older advice about the free tier is out of date.
The catch
The free options are small. A new Trial account gets a one-time $5 grant, and the Free plan gives $1 of credit per month with 1 replica, 0.5 GB RAM and 1 vCPU. Trial users cannot buy credits without moving to Hobby.
Once a plan's included usage runs out you are charged for the difference on Hobby and Pro, and on credit-paid accounts a zero balance cancels the subscription and stops all workloads, so keep an eye on the balance.
Pricing confuses people. G2 reviewers like the deploy flow but say costs get hard to predict as projects grow, and Trustpilot has complaints about workspace restrictions with no explanation. A Reddit commenter says the trial lasts 30 days, but I did not read the trial page, so the length is unconfirmed. Card requirement and commercial terms are unknown.
What’s included
✓Deploy from GitHub
✓CLI and GraphQL API
✓Databases and templates
✓Usage-based billing
✓Environment variables and logs in one place
✓Volumes
✓Replicas
✓Daily backups on a paid plan (per a G2 reviewer)
Free tier value
Generosity
B
Estimated value
$1 of free monthly credit, plus a one-time $5 trial grant
Feature parity
Hobby includes $5 of usage a month with up to 6 replicas, 48 GB RAM and 48 vCPU.
Screenshots
HomepagePricing plans (docs)
Paid plans
Hobby
Includes $5 of resource usage per month. If total usage is $5 or less you are not charged for usage; above $5 you pay the difference. Up to 6 replicas, 48 GB RAM and 48 vCPU.
Pro
Includes $20 of resource usage per month on the same billing logic. Up to 42 replicas, 1 TB RAM and 1,000 vCPU.
Subscription fees
The plans page shows what each plan includes, but the subscription fee amounts were not in the text I captured. Check the page before you upgrade.
Common questions
Does Railway have a free tier?
The plans page lists a Free plan with $1 of free credit per month and a Trial with a one-time $5 grant.
What happens when my credits run out?
If you use credits as the payment method and the balance reaches zero, your subscription is cancelled and all workloads stop.
How are Hobby and Pro charged?
Each includes monthly resource usage ($5 and $20). You pay only the amount above it, in addition to the subscription.
What do reviewers complain about?
Cost predictability on G2, and unexplained workspace restrictions and uptime on Trustpilot.
Do I need a card?
Not confirmed. An older Reddit post says a card became required for the free tier, so check the signup flow.
Change history
Checked October 22, 2026
Plans docs read. G2 themes and Trustpilot reviews read as excerpts (reviews dated through October 2026). Reddit threads read as excerpts; the free-tier change thread is older. The trial page and subscription prices were not read.
