vs
GitLab vs Railway
Both sit in developer tools. Here is how they differ on the things you can actually check.
On price: Railway starts $24 a month cheaper than GitLab ($5 against $29, 83% less) on its Hobby tier. Both figures were read from the vendors' own pricing pages on the dates shown below.
GitLab
about.gitlab.com
Source control plus CI/CD, security scanning, package registry and project management — self-managed or SaaS.
Free planDeveloper Tools
Visit GitLabRailway
railway.app
Container hosting with databases, environments and usage-based pricing, aimed at shipping side projects and small services quickly.
Developer Tools
Visit Railway| GitLab | Railway | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price | $29/mo | $5/mo |
| Entry plan | Premium | Hobby |
| Paid annually | $29/mo | — |
| Price checked | 21 Sept 2026 | 21 Sept 2026 |
| Pricing model | Free plan | Paid |
| Free plan | Yes | No |
| Category | Developer Tools | Developer Tools |
| Around since | 2011 | 2020 |
Every price here was read from the vendor's own pricing page, most recently on 21 Sept 2026. Entry tier only — vendors change pricing without notice.
GitLab vs Railway, answered
- Is GitLab cheaper than Railway?
- No — Railway is the cheaper entry point, at $5 a month against GitLab's $29, 83% less. GitLab's figure is its annual rate — the vendor publishes no month-to-month price we could read.
- Do GitLab or Railway have a free plan?
- GitLab publishes an ongoing free plan; Railway does not.
- What is the difference between GitLab and Railway?
- GitLab: Source control plus CI/CD, security scanning, package registry and project management — self-managed or SaaS. Railway: Container hosting with databases, environments and usage-based pricing, aimed at shipping side projects and small services quickly.
