Hosting · replacement recipe

Go from Render to Railway

The job: App hosting PaaS (Web services from Git, Managed Postgres, Custom domains and SSL). Pick where you are today and where you want to land; the move below follows your pick.

From · what you pay for now
Render
Render Pro · $25/mo
Year one+$190modeled
To · your pickBest fit
Railway
Hobby plan · $5/mo
Change where you land

The money

$25/mo today $5/mo

Render Pro

Year one, net+$190
Pays back in2.5 months

Modeled from public list prices, with your time at $50 an hour. Show the math

Does it do the job? 3 of 3 covered

  • Web services from Git
  • Managed Postgres
  • Custom domains and SSL

The work

Setup
About 1 h
Upkeep
None
Watch out
Check first: You only rely on: Web services from Git, Managed Postgres, Custom domains and SSL

Make the move in four steps

  1. Export from Render

    Render Postgres databases (logical backups). Format: Compressed archive (.dir.tar.gz)

    Export steps

  2. Set up Railway

    Railway Hobby is a $5/mo minimum that includes $5 of usage; compute beyond that is billed on top. Compare with your Render workspace fee plus instance costs…

    Details

  3. Switch links and integrations

    Point links, embeds and integrations at Railway, then send a test through every one.

  4. Cancel Render

    Turn off renewal before your renewal date, once the new setup works. Access runs until: A plan change takes effect immediately; a service stops billing once it is turned off.

    How to cancel Render
Open RailwayHow to cancel Render
Modeled, not measured. Savings use public prices and planning assumptions: the bill you stop paying, minus the new tool, your upkeep time and your setup time at $50/hour, over the first 12 months. Paths marked Tested by Stackcut were run end to end by us on our own products. They're our tests, not customer results. Check the must-haves in each recipe before you switch.

The whole recipe: 2 ways out, best first

What you use

  • Web services from Git
  • Managed Postgres
  • Custom domains and SSL

Not covered

  • Background workers
  • Cron jobs
  • Key-value (Redis)
  • Preview environments
  • Private networking

Check before switching

  • You only rely on: Web services from Git, Managed Postgres, Custom domains and SSL
  • Export your data from Render before canceling

Agents: get_recipe("replace-render") on the Stackcut MCP server.

2 ways out, best first

Switch vendorRailwaySaves $190 in year one
$25/mo today → $5/mo · setup 1 h · then $240/yr · payback 2.5 mo
Covers 100% of the core features
Railway Hobby is a $5/mo minimum that includes $5 of usage; compute beyond that is billed on top. Compare with your Render workspace fee plus instance costs, not the workspace fee alone.
How we got this
You pay now: Render Proflat price$25/mo
New cost: RailwayHobby plan$5/mo
Difference each month$25 − $5+$20/mo
Over 12 months+$20 × 12+$240
Setup, once1 h × $50/h−$50
Year one+$240 − $50+$190
  • Not counting your time (1 h in year one): saves $240 in year one.

Year one = 12 × (what you pay now − the new cost − upkeep) − setup, with your time at $50/hour. Prices are public list prices; hours are Stackcut’s planning estimates. Price it for your team

Sources: render.comrailway.com
Open sourceCoolifyCosts $1,160 more in year one
$25/mo today → $5/mo + 2 h upkeep · setup 4 h
Covers 100% of the core features
Run services and Postgres on your own VPS with Coolify; no per-service markup.
License: Apache-2.0
How we got this
You pay now: Render Proflat price$25/mo
New cost: Coolifya small server (modeled)$5/mo
Your upkeep time2 h/mo × $50/h$100/mo
Difference each month$25 − $5 − $100−$80/mo
Over 12 months−$80 × 12−$960
Setup, once4 h × $50/h−$200
Year one−$960 − $200−$1,160
  • Not counting your time (28 h in year one): saves $240 in year one.

Year one = 12 × (what you pay now − the new cost − upkeep) − setup, with your time at $50/hour. Prices are public list prices; hours are Stackcut’s planning estimates. Price it for your team

Sources: render.comcoolify.iogithub.com

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