Softwr

Cloud · head to head

Railway vs SST

Railway logo

Railway

Cloud

Ship software instantly

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
SST logo

SST

Cloud

Build full-stack apps on your own infrastructure

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: 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; SST primarily optimized for AWS with Cloudflare support
  • They diverge on capability: Railway covers Git integration, SST covers Single config file.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Railway and SST actually diverge.

Attributes where Railway and SST differ
AttributeRailwaySST
Pricing modelusage-basedUnknown
PlatformsWeb, Api, DockerAWS, Cloudflare, Node.js
Founded2021Unknown

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Cloud).

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 Railway

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

Only in SST

  • Single config file
  • Resource linking
  • Local development
  • Multi-cloud support
  • Multiple deployment stages
  • VPC tunneling

What people use each for

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

Railway

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

SST

  • Deploying Next.js frontends with serverless backendsnot Railway
  • Managing databases and storage alongside application codenot Railway
  • Creating staging environments for feature testingnot Railway

Where each one falls short

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

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

SST

  • Primarily optimized for AWS with Cloudflare support
  • Learning curve for developers unfamiliar with infrastructure concepts
  • Limited documentation for some advanced use cases

Pricing, plan by plan

Railway

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

SST

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the SST review.

Which should you pick?

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

Choose SST if

  • You need single config file.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on AWS, Cloudflare, Node.js.
  • You also want resource linking.
SST review

Questions people ask

Is Railway or SST better?
Neither clearly leads. Railway starts at Free and SST at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Railway or SST?
Railway starts at Free and SST at Free.
Does Railway or SST run on more platforms?
Railway runs on Web, Api, Docker. SST runs on AWS, Cloudflare, Node.js.
Can I use Railway for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Railway best used for?
Railway is most often used for deploying applications and databases without managing servers, running preview environments and services straight from a repository. Of those, deploying applications and databases without managing servers and running preview environments and services straight from a repository are not what SST is typically brought in for.
What can Railway do that SST cannot?
Railway covers Git integration, Zero-config deployment, PostgreSQL, MySQL. SST covers Single config file, Resource linking, Local development, Multi-cloud support.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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
SST: Is SST free?

Yes, SST is open source and free. You only pay for cloud resources from AWS and other providers.

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
SST: What cloud providers does SST support?

SST supports over 150 providers through built-in AWS and Cloudflare components, plus Pulumi and Terraform providers.

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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