Koyeb vs Railway
Koyeb vs Railway compared for European indie developers and small startups. Pricing, EU jurisdiction, GDPR posture, and why Runsite (an EU-registered PaaS in Frankfurt) is worth a look.
Koyeb vs Railway: quick answer
Koyeb and Railway both offer Git-push deploy workflows, but they differ where it counts. Railway starts around $5/mo. Koyeb (a French (EU) company) and Railway (US-headquartered) sit on different sides of the data-residency question. For European teams that need GDPR-compliant hosting in Frankfurt with predictable EUR billing and a permanent free tier, Runsite is the EU-native alternative to both.
// koyeb problems → runsite solutions
Common Koyeb frustrations. Sound familiar?
Every Koyeb frustration, solved.
Koyeb problem
"Koyeb got acquired. What happens now?"
Mistral AI bought Koyeb in February 2026 to build AI infrastructure. The general-purpose PaaS roadmap is uncertain.
Runsite solution
Independent, developer-focused PaaS
Runsite is an independent EU company. Our roadmap serves web developers, not AI training pipelines.
Koyeb problem
"New signups need Pro at $29/mo"
Koyeb's free Starter tier is being restricted. New users must subscribe to Pro ($29/mo) to get started.
Runsite solution
Free tier for everyone
Sign up, deploy, no credit card. Runsite's free tier is and will remain open to all developers.
Koyeb problem
"Free PostgreSQL is only 5 hours/month"
Koyeb's free Postgres allocation runs out fast. It's not usable for any persistent application.
Runsite solution
Always-on managed PostgreSQL
Runsite's free tier includes always-on services. Paid PostgreSQL from €5/mo with auto-backups.
// comparison
Runsite vs Koyeb
Side-by-side. No marketing fluff, just facts.
| Feature | Runsite | Koyeb |
|---|---|---|
| Platform Independence | ✓ Independent company | ✗ Acquired by Mistral AI (Feb 2026) |
| Free Tier Access | ✓ Open to all, no credit card | ✗ New signups require Pro ($29/mo) |
| Free PostgreSQL | ✓ Always available | ✗ 5 hours/month only |
| EU Region | ✓ Frankfurt (EU entity) | Frankfurt (US-incorporated parent) |
| Spending Limits | ✓ Hard cap + Telegram alerts | ✗ Usage-based billing |
| Paid Entry Price | €5/mo | $29/mo (Pro) |
| Scale to Zero | Coming soon | ✓ Built-in autoscaling |
| GPU Instances | Not available | ✓ Via Mistral infrastructure |
// the other side
What about Railway?
Railway is developer-friendly but US-based. Runsite offers the same DX with EU data centers and GDPR compliance.
// railway problems → runsite solutions
Common Railway frustrations. Sound familiar?
Every Railway frustration, solved.
Railway problem
"Railway only has US servers"
All Railway deployments run in US-West-1. European users experience higher latency.
Runsite solution
EU-only Frankfurt region
Deploy to Frankfurt (eu-central) with EU data residency. Sub-20ms latency for European users.
Railway problem
"$5 free trial runs out fast"
Railway's trial credit depletes quickly. After that, you're on usage-based billing with no free option.
Runsite solution
Permanent free tier
No trial. No credit card. Build and deploy side projects forever at zero cost.
Railway problem
"No built-in object storage"
Railway offers persistent volumes but no S3-compatible object storage. You need external providers.
Runsite solution
S3-compatible storage included
Store files, assets, and backups with built-in S3-compatible object storage. No third-party setup needed.
// comparison
Runsite vs Railway
Side-by-side. No marketing fluff, just facts.
| Feature | Runsite | Railway |
|---|---|---|
| EU Data Centers | ✓ Frankfurt (eu-central) | ✗ US-West only |
| GDPR Compliance | ✓ EU entity, full compliance | ✗ US company |
| Free Tier | ✓ Permanent | ✓ $5 trial credit |
| Web Service Pricing | €5/mo | ~$5/mo (usage-based) |
| Managed PostgreSQL | ✓ From €5/mo | ✓ Usage-based |
| Deploy from Git | ✓ | ✓ |
| Spending Limits | ✓ Hard cap + alerts | ✓ Usage limits |
| Object Storage | ✓ S3-compatible | ✗ Via volumes only |
// pricing, side by side
Koyeb vs Railway: what each actually costs
No permanent free tier. A limited trial gives one-time credit; the Hobby plan is $5/mo including $5 of usage.
Railway has a great developer experience and fair per-second metering, but the lack of a permanent free tier and fully usage-based billing make costs unpredictable, exactly the problem a hard spending cap solves.
Pricing verified June 2026. Check the official pricing page of each provider for current rates.
// in-depth comparison
How Koyeb and Railway each compare to Runsite
Koyeb vs Runsite
In February 2026, Mistral AI acquired Koyeb to build AI infrastructure. That single move changed what the platform is for.
Koyeb had been a promising serverless PaaS with a developer-friendly approach to global deployment. Autoscaling, scale-to-zero, and Docker-based deployments gave you serverless convenience without the cold-start penalties of pure function platforms, and the accessible free tier plus a Frankfurt region served EU users well. The trouble is the new owner's priorities. The roadmap now answers to AI training and inference needs, the free tier is being restricted so new signups require Pro at $29/mo, and Koyeb's independence as a developer-first PaaS is gone.
Runsite is an independent EU company focused exclusively on web developers, with a permanent free tier open to everyone, hard spending limits, and a roadmap driven by indie-dev needs rather than AI-infrastructure pivots. If you chose Koyeb for its indie PaaS character and worry about the post-acquisition direction, that uncertainty is exactly what Runsite is built to remove.
Railway vs Runsite
You probably picked Railway for its DX, and it earns that reputation. The dashboard is clean, deployments are fast, and the usage-based pricing model is straightforward once you understand it. As a modern PaaS without legacy baggage, it is a strong contender.
Where it leaves you exposed is geography. Railway runs exclusively in US-West-1, with no European regions, which means higher latency for your EU users and no option for EU data residency. The $5 trial credit also depletes quickly, dropping you onto pure usage-based billing with no free fallback. Runsite runs in Frankfurt (eu-central), a fully EU-jurisdictional region, is incorporated as an EU legal entity, and includes built-in S3-compatible object storage that Railway lacks.
If you are building products for European markets, or you want a permanent free tier for side projects instead of a trial credit, Runsite is worth a look. The developer experience is comparable, but the infrastructure is EU-native from the ground up.
// why consider runsite
Beyond Koyeb and Railway
EU PaaS for indie developers and small European startups. One region: Frankfurt.
EU-First Infrastructure
While Koyeb and Railway default to US markets, Runsite is built exclusively for European developers. Frankfurt (eu-central) region, EU entity, EU jurisdiction, with no transatlantic transfers.
Real GDPR Compliance
EU-registered entity. Your data is governed by European law. No US jurisdiction, no CLOUD Act.
Predictable Pricing
No per-invocation charges, no surprise bills. Fixed plans with hard spending caps and Telegram alerts.
Common Questions
FAQ
Which is better for EU hosting, Koyeb or Railway?
Koyeb (a French (EU) company) has the stronger EU-residency story here, while Railway is US-headquartered and stays subject to the US CLOUD Act even in its European regions. If jurisdiction is your deciding factor, that gap matters. Runsite is EU-native as well, running exclusively in Frankfurt (eu-central) under an EU entity, and adds fully managed deploys, predictable EUR billing, and a permanent free tier — so you get European residency without giving up developer experience.
Which has the better free tier, Koyeb or Railway?
Free tiers on both Koyeb and Railway change frequently and tend to share the same catch: compute that sleeps after inactivity, bandwidth or build-minute caps, or trial credits that expire after a fixed window. They are fine for quick experiments but rarely sustainable for an always-on hobby project. If a permanent free tier matters, read the current terms carefully. Limits are often buried in the pricing footnotes. Runsite takes the opposite approach: a free tier with no credit card and no expiry, designed to keep small projects online indefinitely rather than nudging you onto a paid plan.
Is Koyeb or Railway GDPR-compliant?
Koyeb (a French (EU) company) can keep data under European jurisdiction, whereas Railway, as a US-incorporated provider, remains subject to the US CLOUD Act regardless of the region you pick — a common sticking point in DPO review. For workloads where EU jurisdiction is a hard requirement, an EU-registered provider removes the ambiguity. Runsite keeps data in Frankfurt under an EU entity, so GDPR posture is the default rather than a per-region configuration exercise.
What is the cheapest way to deploy a side project, Koyeb or Railway?
For a single small service, both Koyeb and Railway can look inexpensive on paper. The headline price rarely matches the real bill. Per-service billing, metered bandwidth, build minutes, and add-ons for databases or key-value stores stack up quickly, and neither platform offers a hard spending cap to stop a surprise invoice. The cheapest predictable option is one with fixed monthly pricing and an enforced ceiling. Runsite bills in EUR from €5/month with hard spending caps and Telegram alerts, plus a permanent free tier, so a side project stays cheap by design, not by careful monitoring.
// explore alternatives
Try the European Alternative
Skip the Koyeb vs Railway debate. Deploy on Runsite.
Start Free on Runsite →