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Railway vs GitLab
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.
Railway
railway.app
Container hosting with databases, environments and usage-based pricing, aimed at shipping side projects and small services quickly.
Developer Tools
Visit RailwayGitLab
about.gitlab.com
Source control plus CI/CD, security scanning, package registry and project management — self-managed or SaaS.
Free planDeveloper Tools
Visit GitLab| Railway | GitLab | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price | $5/mo | $29/mo |
| Entry plan | Hobby | Premium |
| Paid annually | — | $29/mo |
| Price checked | 21 Sept 2026 | 21 Sept 2026 |
| Pricing model | Paid | Free plan |
| Free plan | No | Yes |
| Category | Developer Tools | Developer Tools |
| Around since | 2020 | 2011 |
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.
Railway vs GitLab, answered
- Is Railway cheaper than GitLab?
- Yes. Railway starts 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 Railway or GitLab have a free plan?
- GitLab publishes an ongoing free plan; Railway does not.
- What is the difference between Railway and GitLab?
- Railway: Container hosting with databases, environments and usage-based pricing, aimed at shipping side projects and small services quickly. GitLab: Source control plus CI/CD, security scanning, package registry and project management — self-managed or SaaS.
