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Railway vs Supabase
Side-by-side comparison of Railway and Supabase.
Quick summary
Railway — Infrastructure, instantly. Railway is a platform for deploying apps, databases, and services with usage-based pricing and great developer experience.
Supabase — The open source Firebase alternative. Supabase is an open-source backend-as-a-service built on PostgreSQL. It provides authentication, realtime subscriptions, storage, edge functions, and a hosted database.
Feature comparison
| Feature | Railway | Supabase |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Paid | Freemium |
| Starting price | $5/mo + usage | $25/mo |
| Free tier | No | Yes |
| Open source | No | Yes |
| Edge Network | No | — |
| Custom Domains | Yes | — |
| Edge Functions | No | Yes |
| Bandwidth (free) | N/A | — |
| Databases Included | Yes | — |
| Preview Deployments | Yes | — |
| Serverless Functions | No | — |
| Auth | — | Yes |
| Storage | — | Yes |
| Database | — | PostgreSQL |
| Realtime | — | Yes |
| Free Tier | — | 500MB DB + 1GB storage |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Row Level Security | — | Yes |
Railway
Infrastructure, instantly
Pros
- Runs real servers, not just serverless
- Easy Postgres/Redis/Mongo provisioning
- Pay for what you use
Cons
- No free tier anymore
- Fewer global regions
- Cold starts if idling
Supabase
The open source Firebase alternative
Pros
- Open source and self-hostable
- Standard PostgreSQL — no vendor lock-in
- Generous free tier
- Great DX with auto-generated APIs
Cons
- Cold starts on free tier
- Edge function ecosystem still maturing
Which should you choose?
Choose Railway if you need production-grade features and are ready to pay. Choose Supabase if you value open source and want the option to self-host, and a free tier is important for your stage.
Frequently asked questions
Which is better, Railway or Supabase?
There is no universal “better.” For most teams, Supabase is the safer default because Supabase is open source, which means you can self-host and avoid vendor lock-in. Railway is proprietary. For edge cases, the comparison table above highlights where each tool wins.
Is Railway cheaper than Supabase?
Railway starts at $5/mo + usage, while Supabase starts at $25/mo. Exact costs depend on usage — check both vendors' calculators before committing.
Can I migrate from Railway to Supabase?
Migration difficulty depends on how deeply Railway-specific features (APIs, SDK conventions, data schemas) are baked into your app. Most hosting & deployment migrations take days to weeks. Both vendors typically publish migration guides — check their docs.
Is Railway or Supabase open source?
Supabase is open source; Railway is a proprietary managed service.
Does Railway or Supabase have a free tier?
Supabase has a free tier; Railway does not.
Which is best for startups and indie hackers?
Startups usually optimize for the lowest friction to ship and the cheapest possible free tier. The one with the most generous free tier here is Supabase. For production workloads, revisit the trade-offs in the feature table above.