Railway vs. DigitalOcean

Railway is a modern, developer-centric cloud platform that streamlines the deployment process while maintaining the power and flexibility of traditional cloud providers. We focus on making infrastructure management intuitive and efficient.

Summary

Railway offers a comprehensive platform that combines the best aspects of traditional cloud providers with modern developer workflows. While DigitalOcean provides robust infrastructure, Railway simplifies the deployment and management process significantly.

Railway also offers

• Zero configuration required - We automatically detect your language and deploy your application without complex setup.

• OSS templates - Access our extensive collection of templates for popular frameworks and software.

• Zero maintenance - We handle infrastructure management, updates, and scaling automatically.

• Persistent storage - Built-in support for persistent disks and volumes.

• Universal deployment support - Deploy any type of application, from static sites to complex microservices.

• Container flexibility - Support for Dockerfiles and container images.

Railway excels with

• Resource-based pricing - Pay only for the resources you use, with no hidden fees or complex billing structures.

• Cron jobs - Built-in scheduling system that runs as a native service.

• Rich OSS ecosystem - Extensive collection of templates for popular open-source projects.

• Developer-centric experience - Intuitive interface with real-time collaboration features.

• Global distribution - Deploy your applications across multiple regions with automatic routing.

• Best in Class Support - Active community and dedicated support channels.

• Private networking - Secure, global network for service communication.

Key Differences

Developer Experience

While DigitalOcean requires extensive DevOps knowledge and manual configuration, Railway offers an intuitive interface that makes deployment and management accessible to developers at any skill level.

Our Project Canvas offers a visual representation of your connected infrastructure, making it easy to understand and manage service relationships. This modern approach stands in stark contrast to DigitalOcean's traditional dashboard.

Our real-time collaboration feature lets you see exactly who's working with you on the Project Canvas, making teamwork seamless and intuitive.

Build Process

DigitalOcean requires manual configuration of build processes and deployment pipelines. Railway's Railpack automatically detects your application's requirements and handles the build process seamlessly.

With more coming soon, we support 5+ languages out of the box, with automatic dependency detection and build optimization. This eliminates the need for complex build configurations or custom Dockerfiles that are often required with DigitalOcean.

Runtime Environment

On Railway your applications only use the resources they, your bill is based on actual resource usage, not machine size.

If they need more resources, they can scale up vertically, if they need less, they can scale down.

In contrast, DigitalOcean requires you to pay for fixed-size droplets or VMs, which often leads to overprovisioning and higher costs due to manual scaling requirements.

PR Environments

Railway's PR Environments allow you to deploy and test your code in a staging environment for each pull request.

Database Deployment

Railway offers native support for multiple database types (PostgreSQL, MySQL, Redis, MongoDB) with built-in UI. DigitalOcean requires separate setup and management of database services.

Our database UI provides direct access to your data without needing external tools, while DigitalOcean users often solely rely on third-party software.

Networking

Railway's private networking operates globally, allowing services in different regions to communicate securely. DigitalOcean's networking is more traditional and requires manual configuration for cross-region communication.

We handle SSL/TLS certificates automatically, while DigitalOcean users need to manage certificates separately.

Pricing

Railway's pricing is based on actual resource usage:

• Memory: $1.00 per 100 MB /month
• CPU: $2.00 per 0.1 vCPU /month
• Storage: $0.15 per GB/month
• Outbound Data: $0.05 per GB

DigitalOcean's pricing is based on fixed-size droplets or VMs and requires manual scaling, which will lead to overprovisioning and higher costs.

Support and Community

Railway provides immediate support through our active Discord community and Central Station. DigitalOcean's support varies by plan, with basic support limited to community forums.

Ready to Switch?

Thinking about migrating from DigitalOcean to Railway? We've created a migration guide to help you transition smoothly.

Sign up on Railway today and get $5 in free credits to explore the platform.

For companies and large organizations, we'd love to chat! Book a call with us to see how Railway will fit your needs.