Comparison
Railway vs Vercel
Overview
Railway is a developer-first cloud platform for deploying web apps, databases, and workers with instant GitHub-connected deployments, transparent usage pricing, and zero config.
Vercel is a frontend cloud platform for deploying and hosting web applications with instant global deployments, automatic preview URLs for every PR, and Edge Network delivery.
Which should you choose?
Railway is usage-based hosting built around GitHub-connected deploys plus managed databases (Postgres, MySQL, Redis, MongoDB) and persistent volumes, from $5/month — a good fit for full backend apps including their data layer. Vercel is usage-based with a free Hobby tier, centered on frontend/full-stack deploys with preview URLs per branch, an edge network CDN, and serverless/edge functions. Choose Railway if you need managed databases and long-running backend services in one place; choose Vercel if your priority is frontend deploy speed, preview environments, and edge performance.
TLDR
- —If you need managed databases and long-running backend services in one place, choose Railway.
- —If your priority is frontend deploy speed, PR previews, and edge performance, choose Vercel.
Features
- —GitHub-connected deploys
- —Managed databases (Postgres, MySQL, Redis, MongoDB)
- —Private networking
- —Horizontal scaling
- —Cron jobs
- —Persistent volumes
- —CLI
- —Team collaboration
- —Git-connected deployments
- —Preview URLs per branch/PR
- —Edge Network CDN
- —Serverless functions
- —Edge functions and middleware
- —Web analytics
- —Speed insights
- —v0 AI (component generation)
Pricing
Railway
| Plan | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Hobby | $5/mo | Includes $5 of usage credit. |
| Pro | $20/mo | Base monthly fee plus usage for higher limits and scale. |
| Enterprise | Contact sales | Custom support, security, and infrastructure options. |
Vercel
| Plan | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Hobby | Free | Free forever for personal projects. |
| Pro | $20/mo | $20/month plus additional usage; includes $20 usage credit. |
| Enterprise | Contact sales | Custom enterprise pricing with advanced controls and support. |
Company Fit
Railway
Vercel