# Railway alternative for PHP hosting

Source: https://www.fortrabbit.com/alternatives/railway
Created: 2026-05-12
Reviewed: 2026-05-28


## Why pick fortrabbit over Railway for PHP hosting?

**fortrabbit is a managed PaaS built exclusively for PHP.** [Railway](https://railway.com/) is a polyglot deployment platform — a modern take on Heroku that runs PHP, Python, Ruby, Node, and more via buildpacks and containers. The UI is slick, but [pricing is usage-based](https://railway.com/pricing) and can surprise at scale, and PHP is just one supported runtime among many.

If you're hosting PHP — Laravel, Symfony, Statamic, Craft CMS, Kirby, or plain PHP — fortrabbit gives you a focused environment: tuned PHP runtime, integrated MySQL, atomic deploys, persistent storage, and EU data residency. Pricing is per-app and predictable; no per-second metering. Plans start at €2.50 per month; the trial doesn't require a credit card.

::ContentButton{property="dashboard" text="Start a free trial — no credit card" route="/signup"}

## How does fortrabbit compare to Railway?

| Feature          | Railway                | fortrabbit                |
| ---------------- | ---------------------- | ------------------------- |
| Focus            | Polyglot, buildpacks   | PHP only                  |
| Deployment       | git + Dockerfile       | git push                  |
| Managed MySQL    | As a service           | Native                    |
| Managed Postgres | Yes                    | —                         |
| File storage     | Paid volumes           | Persistent app storage    |
| SSH access       | Limited                | Full SFTP + SSH           |
| Region           | Global                 | EU (Ireland)              |
| Pricing model    | Usage-based per-second | Per-app, monthly          |
| Free tier        | [$5 trial credit](https://railway.com/pricing) | 7-day trial, no card     |
| Support          | Community, paid fast   | Human chat, all plans     |
| Company          | Venture-backed         | Independent, bootstrapped |

## Pricing comparison

| Use case         | Railway                                              | fortrabbit                          |
| ---------------- | ---------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------- |
| Small site / dev | Hobby $5 base + usage ≈ **$10–$20 / mo**             | **€5 / mo**                         |
| Production app   | Pro $20 base + compute + DB ≈ **$50–$100 / mo**      | **€30 / mo**                        |
| Scaled app       | Pro tier with sustained usage ≈ **$150+ / mo**       | **€60–€120 / mo** depending on tier |

Numbers are illustrative — Railway's usage-based billing varies a lot with traffic, compute time, and add-ons. See :ContentLink{href="/pricing" text="fortrabbit pricing"} for the current matrix.

## Migrating from Railway to fortrabbit

1. **Provision the app on fortrabbit.** Pick a region (EU) and a plan. The free trial is enough to validate the move.
2. **Add the MySQL component.** If you ran MySQL on Railway, take a `mysqldump` and import via fortrabbit's SSH tunnel — see :ContentLink{href="/guides/general/mysql-import" text="MySQL import guide" prefix="docs"}. If you used Postgres, plan a schema port.
3. **Connect your git provider.** Install the fortrabbit GitHub App (or connect GitLab / Bitbucket) and link your existing repo to the new fortrabbit app — see :ContentLink{href="/platform/deployment/intro" text="deployment intro" prefix="docs"}. Pushes to your branch trigger an automatic deploy; Composer install runs as part of it.
4. **Drop the Dockerfile.** fortrabbit deploys PHP source directly; no container image to maintain.
5. **Move environment variables.** Railway variables map 1:1 to fortrabbit env vars — set in the dashboard or via the CLI.
6. **Move volumes.** rsync from Railway volumes into your fortrabbit app's persistent storage via SFTP / SSH.
7. **Cut over DNS.** Add the domain in the fortrabbit dashboard, update the CNAME, and watch the certificate issue automatically via Let's Encrypt.

## Why teams switch

- **Predictable bills.** Per-app monthly pricing, no per-second compute math.
- **PHP-first ergonomics.** Composer, OPcache, PHP version pinning, integrated MySQL.
- **Owner-run support.** You talk to the engineers who run the platform.
- **No buildpacks, no Dockerfile.** Push PHP source, get a running app.

For background on Railway itself, see our :ContentLink{href="/hosting-guide/providers/paas/railway" text="hosting guide entry"}.

::ContentButton{property="dashboard" text="Start a free trial — no credit card" route="/signup"}

::ContentButton{property="www" text="See pricing" route="/pricing" variant="secondary"}

## FAQ

### Does fortrabbit have usage-based pricing like Railway?

**No** — fortrabbit pricing is a flat monthly plan per app — the PHP runtime, MySQL component, SSL, and storage are included. There is no per-second machine billing or egress meter to model. The invoice in month two looks like the invoice in month one, unless you change plan.

### Why pick fortrabbit over Railway for a PHP-only stack?

**PHP-only focus** — Railway is a polyglot deployment platform — PHP runs as one of several supported runtimes through buildpacks and containers. fortrabbit has only ever hosted PHP, so the defaults are PHP-shaped: opcache, version pinning, Composer cache, atomic releases, integrated MySQL. If your stack is PHP only, the PHP-only platform tends to fit better.

### How do I move my PHP app from Railway to fortrabbit?

**Self-service** — Push your repo to the new fortrabbit app for git-push deploys, transfer environment variables, and import your database from a dump via the SSH tunnel into the MySQL component. Files on a Railway volume map to fortrabbit's persistent storage — rsync them across. No Dockerfile or buildpack config to translate.

### Is fortrabbit a better fit than Railway for EU projects?

**Often** — For projects that need EU jurisdiction, fortrabbit runs in AWS EU (Ireland) and the company is registered in Berlin, so both the operational entity and the infrastructure sit inside EU jurisdiction. Railway is US-based and runs in cloud regions globally; EU residency is available but the company and support sit in the US.

### Can the bill be predicted ahead of time on fortrabbit?

**Yes** — Pricing is component-based and billed in arrears, with a one-day minimum and pro-rating, and no per-second metering. To cap spend, disable autoscaling and pick a specific plan. There are no setup fees, hidden costs, or annual commitments.

---

- [About Railway](/hosting-guide/providers/paas/railway)
- [All alternatives](/alternatives)