Northflank vs Railway
Northflank 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.
// northflank problems → runsite solutions
Sound Familiar?
Every Northflank frustration, solved.
Northflank problem
"$12/mo for 0.5 vCPU is expensive"
Northflank's smallest paid compute is $12/mo for half a vCPU and 1GB RAM. Side projects and MVPs don't need that.
Runsite solution
Start at €5/mo
Get a web service with compute, SSL, and monitoring for €5/mo. Scale up when you need to.
Northflank problem
"UK is not EU post-Brexit"
Northflank is London-based. While UK has GDPR adequacy, it's not an EU entity and could diverge from EU privacy law.
Runsite solution
EU entity, EU jurisdiction
Runsite is registered in the EU. Full GDPR compliance under EU supervisory authority, not UK ICO.
Northflank problem
"Billing has too many line items"
Northflank charges separately for compute, storage, egress, and log ingestion. Predicting your bill requires a spreadsheet.
Runsite solution
Fixed plans, one line
Web service: €5/mo. PostgreSQL: €5/mo. One invoice, no calculator needed.
// comparison
Runsite vs Northflank
Side-by-side. No marketing fluff — just facts.
| Feature | Runsite | Northflank |
|---|---|---|
| Entry Price | €5/mo | $12/mo (0.5 vCPU, 1GB) |
| EU Entity | ✓ EU-registered | ✗ UK company (post-Brexit) |
| Spending Limits | ✓ Hard cap + Telegram alerts | Cost visibility, no hard cap |
| Free Tier | ✓ Permanent, no credit card | ✓ Sandbox (2 services, 2 DBs) |
| Billing Model | ✓ Fixed plans | Compute + storage + egress separate |
| Managed PostgreSQL | ✓ From €5/mo | ✓ Usage-based |
| BYOC | Not available | ✓ AWS, GCP, Azure, bare metal |
| GPU Support | Not available | ✓ L4, A100, H100, H200 |
// 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
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 |
// why consider runsite
Beyond Northflank and Railway
EU PaaS for indie developers and small European startups. One region: Frankfurt.
EU-First Infrastructure
While Northflank and Railway default to US markets, Runsite is built exclusively for European developers. Frankfurt (eu-central) region, EU entity, EU jurisdiction — 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, Northflank or Railway?
Neither Northflank nor Railway is EU-native. Both are US-headquartered and route the majority of traffic through US data centers. For genuine EU data residency, an EU-registered platform like Runsite is the safer choice — a Frankfurt (eu-central) region under EU jurisdiction, no transatlantic transfers, no CLOUD Act exposure.
Which has the better free tier, Northflank or Railway?
Free tiers on both Northflank and Railway change frequently and often include compute or bandwidth caps that expire after a trial period. If a permanent free tier matters, evaluate the current terms on each provider before committing.
Is Northflank or Railway GDPR-compliant?
Both can be configured to support GDPR-compliant workloads via Data Processing Agreements (DPAs), but as US entities they remain subject to the CLOUD Act. For workloads where US jurisdiction is a hard blocker, an EU-headquartered provider is required.
What is the cheapest way to deploy a side project — Northflank or Railway?
Pricing on both Northflank and Railway can scale unpredictably with traffic or build minutes. Hard spending caps are not available on either platform. Predictable monthly pricing with usage caps is a differentiator to look for elsewhere.
// explore alternatives
Try the European Alternative
Skip the Northflank vs Railway debate. Deploy on Runsite.
Start Free on Runsite →