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Developer Tools · head to head

RAD Studio vs Railway

RAD Studio logo

RAD Studio

Developer Tools

Cross-platform native app development with Delphi and C++Builder

From
$2000/perpetual
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite
Railway logo

Railway

Cloud

Ship software instantly

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Railway has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: RAD Studio professional edition costs $2,000 for the perpetual license plus $599 for year one maintenance, totaling $2,599 before tax; Railway plan fees are usage credits rather than allowances, so the $5 Hobby and $20 Pro fees are spent on compute and anything beyond is billed on top
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which RAD Studio and Railway actually diverge.

Attributes where RAD Studio and Railway differ
AttributeRAD StudioRailway
Starting price$2000/perpetualFree
Pricing modelone-timeusage-based
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWebWeb, Api, Docker
CategoryDeveloper ToolsCloud
FoundedUnknown2021

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in RAD Studio

Nothing recorded that Railway does not also cover.

Only in Railway

  • Git integration
  • Zero-config deployment
  • PostgreSQL
  • MySQL
  • Redis
  • Environment variables
  • Custom domains
  • Monitoring

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

RAD Studio

  • Building Windows desktop applications with VCL componentsnot Railway
  • Creating iOS and Android apps from shared Delphi codebasenot Railway
  • Connecting to Oracle databases through FireDAC connectivitynot Railway
  • Building REST web services that run on Linux serversnot Railway

Railway

  • Deploying applications and databases without managing serversnot RAD Studio
  • Running preview environments and services straight from a repositorynot RAD Studio

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

RAD Studio

  • Professional edition costs $2,000 for the perpetual license plus $599 for year one maintenance, totaling $2,599 before tax
  • Enterprise edition steps up to $3,400 license plus $1,199 maintenance, and Architect edition to $4,416 license plus $2,183 maintenance
  • The perpetual license only entitles the buyer to updates for one year; continued access to new updates and upgrades requires an annually renewable Update Subscription

Railway

  • Plan fees are usage credits rather than allowances, so the $5 Hobby and $20 Pro fees are spent on compute and anything beyond is billed on top
  • The free plan carries $1 of monthly credit and caps a service at 1 vCPU and 0.5 GB
  • Compute is metered per second for both memory and CPU, so cost tracks uptime rather than traffic and an idle service still bills
  • Egress is $0.05 per GB on top of compute
  • The Pro fee is per workspace rather than per user or per project

Pricing, plan by plan

RAD Studio

$2000/perpetual
  • Professional Edition$2000/perpetual
    • Perpetual License
    • First year maintenance $599
    • Total $2,599 + Tax
  • Enterprise Edition$3400/perpetual
    • Perpetual License
    • First year maintenance $1,199
    • Total $4,599 + Tax
  • Architect Edition$4416/perpetual
    • Perpetual License
    • First year maintenance $2,183
    • Total $6,599 + Tax

Railway

Free
  • FreeFree
    • $5 credit/month
    • Community support
    • Unlimited projects
  • Pro$20/month
    • Private repos
    • Priority support
    • Advanced monitoring

Which should you pick?

Choose RAD Studio if

Nothing in the data separates RAD Studio from Railway on the points above - pick on price and on how each one feels to use.

RAD Studio review

Choose Railway if

  • You need git integration.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Api, Docker.
  • You also want zero-config deployment.
Railway review

Questions people ask

Is RAD Studio or Railway better?
Neither clearly leads. RAD Studio starts at $2000/perpetual and Railway at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, RAD Studio or Railway?
Railway has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $2000/perpetual for RAD Studio and Free for Railway.
Does RAD Studio or Railway run on more platforms?
RAD Studio runs on Web. Railway runs on Web, Api, Docker.
Can I use Railway for free?
Yes. Railway has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. RAD Studio starts at $2000/perpetual.
What is RAD Studio best used for?
RAD Studio is most often used for building windows desktop applications with vcl components, creating ios and android apps from shared delphi codebase, connecting to oracle databases through firedac connectivity, building rest web services that run on linux servers. Of those, building windows desktop applications with vcl components and creating ios and android apps from shared delphi codebase are not what Railway is typically brought in for.
What can RAD Studio do that Railway cannot?
Railway covers Git integration, Zero-config deployment, PostgreSQL, MySQL.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

RAD Studio: How much does RAD Studio cost?

RAD Studio uses perpetual licensing: Professional Edition $2,000 perpetual license + $599 first year maintenance ($2,599 total + tax). Enterprise Edition $3,400 license + $1,199 maintenance ($4,599 total + tax). Architect Edition $4,416 license + $2,183 maintenance ($6,599 total + tax).

Source
Railway: How much does Railway cost?

Railway's Hobby plan is $5 per month and includes $5 of monthly usage credit. Pro is $20 per month per workspace with $20 of credit included. Enterprise is quoted. Usage beyond the included credit is billed per second.

Source
RAD Studio: What is the difference between RAD Studio editions?

Professional Edition ($2,599 total + tax) targets individual developers. Enterprise Edition ($4,599 total + tax) adds multi-tier app capabilities. Architect Edition ($6,599 total + tax) includes advanced database and cloud features. All three include perpetual licenses.

Source
Railway: Does Railway have a free tier?

Yes, two. A one-time Free Trial gives $5 of credit valid for 30 days, and an ongoing Free plan includes $1 per month with 1 vCPU and 0.5 GB per service, 1 replica and 3 days of log history.

Source
RAD Studio: Does RAD Studio offer Kai AI integration and discounts?

Yes, adding Kai AI to any edition provides discounts: 25% off Professional ($2,136 + tax), 30% off Enterprise ($3,394 + tax), and 40% off Architect ($4,109 + tax). This promotion is active through August 31, 2026.

Source
Railway: What are Railway's resource limits per plan?

The Free plan allows 1 vCPU and 0.5 GB per service with 1 replica. Hobby raises that to 48 vCPU and 48 GB with 6 replicas. Pro allows 1,000 vCPU and 1 TB per service with 42 replicas and 30 days of log history.

Source
Railway: How does Railway bill usage above the included credit?

Railway charges memory at $0.00000386 per GB per second and CPU at $0.00000772 per vCPU per second, with storage volumes at $0.00000006 per GB per second, plus separate egress and object storage fees.

Source
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