Compare / Railway
Peter van Doorn
A Railway alternative with a bill you can predict
Railway is easy to start with and charges for what you actually use. For a Django app that is up all day, that means a monthly bill that moves with memory and CPU use.
The short answer. Pick Railway for quick experiments and many small services. Pick Django Cloud for a steady Django app that needs a predictable bill, isolation and a way out: your own AWS account.
Why choose Django Cloud over Railway
- Run it in your own AWS account, or let us run it. On Self-hosted your app runs in your own AWS account: you pay AWS its list price directly and us $10 a month, with no markup on compute. On Fully managed we run a dedicated AWS account for you: $29 a month with a server and a database, and a bigger server or database adds the difference.
- Your own isolated environment, without cold starts. Your app is not squeezed onto servers shared with other customers' apps. It runs in an AWS environment of its own and stays on, so the first visitor after a quiet hour does not wait for a machine to wake up.
- Focused on Django, and nothing else. Static files, migrations before every release, encrypted secrets, rollbacks that warn about database changes and Postgres that connects itself. A generic platform asks you to work these out; we only do Django.
Railway and Django Cloud at a glance
| Railway | Django Cloud | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Hobby $5 or Pro $20 per workspace, plus usage: about $10 per GB of memory and $20 per vCPU per month | Fixed monthly price per server and database, with a $10 fee on Self-hosted and a $4 platform fee on Fully managed |
| Bill predictability | Varies with usage | Fixed per server and database |
| Where it runs | Railway's platform | Your own AWS account, or a dedicated AWS account we run |
| Django knowledge | General purpose templates | Static files, migrations, rollbacks and secrets for Django |
| Idle apps | You pay only for resources used | Always on, no cold start |
| Leaving | Move to another platform | Your servers and data sit in an AWS account you own |
What it costs to run a typical Django app
| Railway | Django Cloud Self-hosted | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 GB of memory and half a vCPU, all month | About $20 in usage ($10 memory + $10 CPU), covered partly by the plan's included credit | $24 Fully managed or $25 Self-hosted (Small $15 + $10), flat; the database is extra on both |
Railway can be cheaper, both when a service is mostly idle, because you pay for use, and at this size even for a busy app: about $20 in usage against a flat price a little higher here. What the difference buys is a bill that never moves, an app in an AWS account of its own and Django-specific deploys.
Start for free with AWS Activate credits
On the Self-hosted plan your app runs in your own AWS account, so AWS credits can pay for it. New AWS accounts can get up to $200 in credits, which is the amount most side projects can count on. Startups can also apply for up to $1,000 through AWS Activate, but AWS decides who qualifies and can change the terms.
Apply for AWS Activate creditsOpen an AWS account
When Railway is the better choice
- Paying only for what you use, which suits spiky and idle workloads
- A fast way to try ideas and run many small services together
- Languages and frameworks beyond Django
Questions
Is Railway cheaper than Django Cloud?
Often, yes. For an app that sits idle Railway is cheaper, and for 1 GB all month its usage is about $20 against $24 on Django Cloud Fully managed or $25 on Self-hosted. What you get for the difference is a fixed bill, isolation and Django-specific deploys.
Can I get a fixed monthly bill?
Yes. Servers and databases have a fixed monthly price, and the Self-hosted fee is $10.
Can AWS credits pay for my Django hosting?
On the Self-hosted plan your app runs in your own AWS account, so AWS credits can cover the AWS bill. New AWS accounts can get up to $200 in credits, and startups can apply for up to $1,000 through AWS Activate. AWS decides who qualifies and can change the terms. You still pay Django Cloud $10 a month, unless we sponsor you: students, open source maintainers, non-profit and scientific projects and AWS Activate startups can apply.
Get your Django project live, the easy way
One command or a git push. We host it for you on AWS, or you keep it in your own AWS account, where AWS credits can cover the AWS bill.
Prices and features were checked in October 2026 against the vendors' own pages (Railway pricing), and may have changed since. Railway is a trademark of its owner; Django Cloud is not affiliated with it. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we will fix it.