Railway

What it does

Railway lets developers deploy backend services, databases, and containers straight from a Git repository or Docker image, billing by the second for actual CPU, memory, and storage used rather than fixed instance sizes. It positions itself as a simpler alternative to configuring AWS or Google Cloud by hand. It's often used as the backend counterpart to a Vercel- or Netlify-hosted frontend, or to run a self-hosted tool (like a self-hosted Directus or Payload CMS instance) without setting up your own server.

Who this helps

You want to deploy backend services and databases from a Git repo or Docker image.

You want to pay for the CPU, memory, and storage you actually use.

You want something simpler than configuring AWS or Google Cloud by hand.

You need a backend for a frontend hosted on Vercel or Netlify.