Railway vs Stackhero (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Railway grades higher than Stackhero: 2.6 against 1.8 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 value for money, the free plan and ease of use. They get the same grade on features and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Railway
App and database hosting billed by the second for usage
Stackhero
Managed hosting for Node.js, Docker, databases and open-source apps
Which one is for you
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
Pick Stackhero if
- Fits if you want a managed Node.js or database instance and hourly billing
- Works for developers who deploy by git push and want backups handled
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a free plan, because none is listed
- Tight if you run a tiny static site: sizes start at 1 vCPU and 1GB RAM
- Pricey if you stack services, since each one is billed separately, such as PostgreSQL from $19 a month
- Not for you if you don't use a terminal, as deploys are by git push
How we grade them
| 2.6GPARailwayGood | 1.8GPAStackheroWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | 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. | CA Node.js instance is $15 a month, billed hourly, which sits between the $10.99 middle and the $20.83 dearer quarter. Larger sizes reach $299. |
| Free plan and trial | 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. | FNo free plan or trial. The buttons say Try now for free, but the pages read state no trial terms. |
| Features | BUsage billing, templates, volumes, object storage, replicas and regions, and sandboxes. The listing names no core gap. | BGit-push deploys, dedicated instances, daily backups kept up to 3 months, one-click updates and a 99.9% SLA across a large service catalog. Nothing in the listing is missing from the core hosting job. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. You set up projects, services and databases. | DNo store rating on record. Deploys go through a terminal, GitHub Actions or CI, so you work on the command line. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, iOS and Android, but no desktop app and no integrations listed. | BWeb console with GitHub Actions, GitLab, Docker and database integrations, in US and EU regions. No desktop or phone apps. |
| Best for | side projects billed by usage | managed app and database instances billed by the hour |
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: Railway and Stackhero. How we grade
Price against what you get
Railway starts at $5 a month and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Stackhero starts at $15 a month and scores 2.3.
Railway scores higher and starts $10 a month lower. Of the other web hosts on the chart, none scores higher than Railway for less, and 5 score higher than Stackhero 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
- Railway also covers AI agents.
- Stackhero also covers dashboards.
At a glance
| Railway | Stackhero | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Paid |
| Starts at | $5 minimum usage per month (Hobby) | $15 per month for a Node.js instance (1 vCPU, 1GB RAM), billed hourly |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 30-day trial with a one-time $5 credit, no card required. | None listed |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Railway Corp. | Stackhero |
| Price read from | railway.com | stackhero.io |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
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.
Stackhero
- Each service is priced separately: a PostgreSQL instance, for example, starts at $19 a month and a Node.js instance at $15 a month.
- Sizes start at 1 vCPU and 1GB RAM, so there is no cheaper tier for very small static sites.
- Premium support is included in every plan, and the page states a 99.9% SLA with financial compensation.
- Buttons read 'Try now for free', but the pricing pages read for this listing state no trial terms.
Key features
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.
Stackhero
- Deploy with git push
- Node.js apps are deployed from a terminal, GitHub Actions, GitLab or any CI/CD system, choosing a branch, tag or commit.
- Dedicated instances
- Each service runs on its own isolated infrastructure with NVMe or SSD disks, a dedicated IP, and TCP and UDP ports available.
- Large service catalog
- The catalog lists dozens of services, among them Docker, PHP, Python, Ruby, PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, Redis, Elasticsearch, GitLab, Nextcloud and Matomo.
- Backups and updates
- Backups are taken every 24 hours and kept for up to 3 months, restores are free, and updates are applied with one click.
- Hourly billing
- Instances can be created and deleted at any time, are billed by the hour and appear on one invoice at the end of the month.
- US and EU regions
- Servers are offered in the USA and in Europe, and the vendor says its hosting is independent of third-party clouds.
Plans
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.
Stackhero
Hobby 1 GB$15
per month for one Node.js instance, billed hourly
1 vCPU, 1GB RAM and 10GB SSD storage for a Node.js app; about $0.02 an hour.
Hobby 2 GB$29
per month for one Node.js instance, billed hourly
1 vCPU, 2GB RAM and 20GB SSD storage; about $0.04 an hour.
Startup 8 GB$59
per month for one Node.js instance, billed hourly
2 vCPUs, 8GB RAM and 50GB SSD storage; about $0.08 an hour.
Startup 16 GB$99
per month for one Node.js instance, billed hourly
4 vCPUs, 16GB RAM and 100GB SSD storage; about $0.14 an hour.
Enterprise 32 GB$159
per month for one Node.js instance, billed hourly
8 vCPUs, 32GB RAM and 200GB SSD storage; about $0.22 an hour.
Enterprise 64 GB$299
per month for one Node.js instance, billed hourly
16 vCPUs, 64GB RAM and 400GB SSD storage; about $0.42 an hour.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Railway or Stackhero?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Railway is cheaper to start with: $5 a month, against $15 a month for Stackhero. Railway starts at $5 minimum usage per month (Hobby), and Stackhero starts at $15 per month for a Node.js instance (1 vCPU, 1GB RAM), billed hourly.
Which has a free plan, Railway or Stackhero?
As of Nov 13, 2026, neither Railway nor Stackhero has a free plan. Railway has a free trial.
Which platforms do Railway and Stackhero 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.