Railway Free Plan 2026: What's Included & What's Not
Honest breakdown of the free tier limits and features
Railway costs $5 to $2K per month as of March 2026. Pricing depends on your chosen tier, contract length, and negotiated discounts.
Use the interactive pricing calculator to estimate your exact cost based on team size and requirements.
- Free tier: No free tier available
Yes, Railway offers a free trial plan as of March 2026. The free tier includes 6 features with limits on usagecredits and creditexpiry. Paid plans start at $5/month (Hobby). Pricing verified from 4 sources by CostBench.
Railway's free offering is a time-limited trial to test the full product.
What's Included in the Free Plan
- One-time $5 usage credit (expires in 30 days)
- Access to all platform features
- GitHub integration
- Automatic deployments
- Public and private networking
- Community support
What's NOT Included (Paid Only)
- $5 included usage credit per month
- Usage-based billing beyond included credit
- GitHub integration and automatic deployments
- Custom domains (up to 2 per service)
- Private networking
- Built-in database provisioning (Postgres, MySQL, Redis, MongoDB)
- Single-developer workspace
Free Plan Limits
| Limit | Free Plan | Paid Plans |
|---|---|---|
| usageCredits | $5 one-time | Unlimited/Higher |
| creditExpiry | 30 days | Unlimited/Higher |
You'll Need to Upgrade When...
- You exceed the user limit
- You need features like $5 included usage credit per month or Usage-based billing beyond included credit
- You require premium support or SLA guarantees
- You need to remove branding or watermarks
- You need advanced integrations or API access
Hidden Restrictions on Free Plan
- Credits expire after 30 days
- One-time grant — does not renew monthly
- Must upgrade to Hobby or Pro to continue after credits are exhausted
Free vs Paid: Which Do You Need?
Free Plan is Enough If...
- You're an individual or very small team
- You need only basic features
- You don't mind usage limits
- Branding on output is acceptable
- Community support is sufficient
You Need Paid If...
- Your team is growing beyond limits
- You need advanced features
- Professional branding is required
- You need priority support
- Integrations/API access is critical
Free vs Hobby Plan Comparison
| Trial $0 | Hobby $5/month | |
|---|---|---|
| Features | 6 included | 8+ included |
| Support | Community/Email | Priority Support |
| Branding | Railway branding | Your branding |
| Best For | Evaluating Railway before committing to a paid plan | Individual developers building and deploying personal projects |
Frequently Asked Questions
01 Is Railway free?
Yes, Railway offers a free trial plan with 6 core features included. However, there are limits on usagecredits, creditexpiry that may require upgrading.
02 What's included in Railway's free plan?
Railway's free plan includes: One-time $5 usage credit (expires in 30 days), Access to all platform features, GitHub integration, Automatic deployments, Public and private networking, and 1 more features. Key limits include usageCredits: $5 one-time, creditExpiry: 30 days.
03 What's NOT included in Railway's free plan?
The free plan excludes: $5 included usage credit per month, Usage-based billing beyond included credit, GitHub integration and automatic deployments, Custom domains (up to 2 per service), Private networking. You'll also have Railway branding and limited support options.
04 When should I upgrade from Railway's free plan?
Consider upgrading when: you hit user or storage limits, need features like $5 included usage credit per month or Usage-based billing beyond included credit, require premium support, or want to remove branding. The cheapest paid plan starts at $5/month.
05 Is Railway's free plan really free forever?
Railway's free offering is actually a time-limited trial, not a forever-free plan. After the trial period, you'll need to subscribe to a paid plan to continue using the service.