Dokploy vs Railway (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Railway grades higher than Dokploy: 2.6 against 2.2 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Railway grades higher on features and ease of use. They get the same grade on value for money, the free plan and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Dokploy
Open-source platform to deploy apps and databases on your own servers
Railway
App and database hosting billed by the second for usage
Which one is for you
Pick Dokploy if
- Fits if you want to run apps on your own servers with a dashboard
- Works for solo developers on the Hobby plan
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you want a team: Hobby allows 1 user, 1 organization and 2 environments
- Watch out: you bring the servers, and extra ones are $4.50 a month each
- Skip it if you need roles, 2FA or chat support, which start on Startup
- Not for you if you need SSO, SCIM or audit logs, which need Enterprise
Pick Railway if
- Fits if you run side projects that only run part of the time
- Works for teams that want unlimited seats on the $20 plan
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you stay on Free: 1 project, 3 services, 0.5 GB RAM
- Watch out: usage above the included credit is billed on top of the minimum
- Watch out: Hobby has community support, and support and the 99.99% target start on Pro
- Not for you if you need SSO, RBAC or HIPAA BAAs, as those are Enterprise
How we grade them
| 2.2GPADokployFair | 2.6GPARailwayGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BHobby is $4.50 per server a month, inside the cheaper quarter, and you bring the servers. | BHobby is $5 minimum usage a month, inside the cheaper quarter ($5.28), but usage above the credit is on top and egress is $0.05 per GB. Pro is $20. |
| Free plan and trial | CA 7-day trial with no card. After that, nothing free on Cloud, though the software is described as open source. | CA 30-day trial with $5 and no card, then a Free plan at $1 a month, limited to 1 project, 3 services and 0.5 GB RAM a service. |
| Features | CBuilds, multi-server deploys, backups, templates, monitoring, API, CLI and MCP. Hobby is limited to 1 user, 2 environments and 1 backup per database. | BUsage billing, templates, volumes, object storage, replicas and regions, and sandboxes. The listing names no core gap. |
| Ease of use | DYou connect and run your own servers, which takes command-line and server skills. | CNo store rating on record. You set up projects, services and databases. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb dashboard with an API, CLI, MCP server and several integrations. | BWeb, iOS and Android, but no desktop app and no integrations listed. |
| Best for | self-hosted deploys with a cloud option | side projects billed by usage |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Dokploy and Railway. How we grade
Price against what you get
Dokploy starts at $4.50 a month and scores 2.0 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Railway starts at $5 a month and scores 2.7.
Railway scores higher, and starts $0.50 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other web hosts on the chart, 11 score higher than Dokploy for less, and none scores higher than Railway for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Dokploy is open source and self-hostable, according to its own site.
- Railway also covers AI agents.
At a glance
| Dokploy | Railway | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $4.50 per server / month on the Cloud Hobby plan | $5 minimum usage per month (Hobby) |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 7-day free trial on Dokploy Cloud, no credit card required. | 30-day trial with a one-time $5 credit, no card required. |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Dokploy | Railway Corp. |
| Price read from | dokploy.com | railway.com |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Dokploy
- The Cloud plans are priced per connected server, and you bring the servers; extra servers cost $4.50 a month each.
- The Hobby plan allows 1 user, 1 organization, 2 environments, 1 backup per database and 1 scheduled job per application.
- Role-based permissions, 2FA and email and chat support start on the Startup plan; SSO, SCIM and audit logs need Enterprise.
- The yearly toggle shows a 20% discount but only monthly figures are in the page text; a self-hosted Enterprise option is listed, and the docs call the software free and open source
Railway
- Egress is $0.05 per GB, and usage above the included credit is charged on top of the minimum.
- After the trial, the Free plan allows 1 project, 3 services and 0.5 GB of RAM per service.
- Hobby is a single developer workspace with community support; support and a 99.99% target begin on Pro.
- SSO, role-based access control and HIPAA BAAs are Enterprise only.
Key features
Dokploy
- Flexible builds
- Applications can be built with Nixpacks, Heroku Buildpacks or a custom Dockerfile, and Docker Compose is supported natively.
- Multi-server deployment
- Applications can be deployed to remote servers, and Docker Swarm clusters are supported for multi-node setups.
- Databases with backups
- MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, MariaDB and Redis can be managed and backed up from the dashboard.
- Templates
- Open-source templates deploy popular apps such as Supabase, Cal.com and PocketBase in one click.
- Monitoring and notifications
- CPU, memory and network usage are shown in real time, with alerts sent to channels such as Slack, Discord, Telegram and email.
- API, CLI and MCP
- A REST API and a command-line tool are included, and AI tools can connect to Dokploy through MCP.
Railway
- Usage-based billing
- Memory costs $0.00000386 per GB-second and CPU $0.00000772 per vCPU-second, so an idle service costs little.
- Templates
- The templates page offers ready-made setups for apps and databases that deploy to a project in a few steps.
- Volumes and object storage
- Persistent volumes are billed per GB-second and object storage is $0.015 per GB-month with free egress.
- Sandboxes and VMs
- Isolated Linux VMs for agents, builds and untrusted code, billed for CPU used and memory held, at about $50 per vCPU-month.
- Replicas and regions
- Services can run up to 5 replicas on Hobby and 42 on Pro, across concurrent global regions.
- Mobile app
- The site lists a Railway app for iOS and Android.
Plans
Dokploy
Hobby$4.50
per server / month
Unlimited deployments, databases and applications on 1 server, with 1 user, 1 organization and 2 environments. Community support on Discord.
Startup$15
per month, starting at, with extra servers at $4.50 each
Up to 3 servers, 3 organizations, unlimited users and environments, basic roles (Admin, Developer), 2FA, and email and chat support.
EnterpriseCustom
Unlimited servers, fine-grained roles, SSO/SAML, SCIM, audit logs, white labeling and priority support, available hosted or self-installed. Sold through sales.
Railway
Free$0
per month, after the trial
After a 30-day trial with $5 in credits, $1 per month. Up to 1 vCPU and 0.5 GB RAM per service, 0.5 GB volume.
Hobby$5
minimum usage per month, includes $5 of usage
Includes $5 of monthly usage credit, up to 48 vCPU and 48 GB RAM per service, a single developer workspace and 7-day logs.
Pro$20
minimum usage per month, includes $20 of usage
Includes $20 of monthly usage credit, unlimited workspace seats, up to 1,000 vCPU per service and a 99.99% availability target.
EnterpriseCustom
Single sign-on, role-based access control, HIPAA BAAs, dedicated VMs, bring-your-own-cloud and a 99.999% availability target.
Ways to pay less
Dokploy
- Annual discount
20% off with yearly billing
The pricing page's billing toggle labels yearly billing as a 20% discount; the yearly figures are not shown in the page text.
Railway
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Dokploy or Railway?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Dokploy is cheaper to start with: $4.50 a month, against $5 a month for Railway. Dokploy starts at $4.50 per server / month on the Cloud Hobby plan, and Railway starts at $5 minimum usage per month (Hobby).
Which has a free plan, Dokploy or Railway?
As of Nov 13, 2026, neither Dokploy nor Railway has a free plan. Both have a free trial.
Which platforms do Dokploy and Railway run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Railway lists iOS and Android apps. Both list a web app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.