---
title: Templates & Open Source
description: Everything you need to know about Railway templates and the open source partner program.
---
Templates provide a way to jumpstart a project by packaging a service or set of services into a reusable, distributable format.

As a Railway user, you can create and publish templates for others to use, or deploy templates from the [template marketplace](https://railway.com/templates).

Templates are the foundation of Railway's [Open Source Partner Program](/templates/partners). If you maintain an open source project, you can use templates to manage and monetize your technology on Railway.

## For template users

|                                                  |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      |
| ------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Bootstrap projects**                           | Deploy a service or set of services in a few clicks. Choose a template from the marketplace, or create your own from a personal scaffold. |
| **Reuse service configurations**                 | Save your project setup as a template to replicate it across environments or share with your team. |
| [**Template updates**](/templates/updates)       | Receive notifications when templates you've deployed have been updated by their maintainers. |

## For open source maintainers

|                                                  |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      |
| ------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| [**Commission via kickbacks**](/templates/kickbacks)            | Earn commission from template usage, up to 25% as part of the partner program with active community support. |
| [**Private Docker images**](/templates/private-docker-images) | Distribute proprietary code without exposing your source. Monetize premium versions or hosted-only editions of your open source project. |
| **Community management**                         | Answer user questions through your [Template Queue](https://station.railway.com/my-template-queue) in Central Station. Help users succeed and get valuable product feedback. |
| [**Metrics**](/templates/metrics)                | Track deployments, earnings, and support health for your published templates. |

See the [Open Source & Technology Partners](/templates/partners) page for details on becoming a partner.