Railway
Instant deployment infrastructure for developers — popular across European teams.
Overview
Railway is a London, United Kingdom-based European company building cloud infrastructure and developer tools software since 2020. As an EU-headquartered provider, Railway operates under GDPR and is outside the reach of the US CLOUD Act, making it a privacy-friendly alternative to AWS, Google Cloud, and Azure for European teams.
Why European teams pick Railway
Teams in Europe pick Railway when they want a cloud infrastructure provider that bills in EUR, supports their local data-protection officer requirements, and keeps customer data under United Kingdom law, operating since 2020. Compared with AWS, Google Cloud, and Azure, Railway avoids cross-border data transfers under Schrems II and the US CLOUD Act, which is often the deciding factor for European procurement and legal teams.
See more EU cloud infrastructure tools or browse other startups from United Kingdom.
About
Railway is a cloud application deployment platform that provides a Heroku-like experience for deploying web apps, APIs, cron jobs, and databases. It supports EU region deployments on Google Cloud (EU-West) for teams requiring EU data residency. Railway connects to GitHub and deploys on push, handles environment variables, scaling, and database provisioning automatically. It is popular among EU indie developers and startups as a simple, low-ops deployment platform while they evaluate fully EU-sovereign alternatives like Coolify (self-hosted) or Scaleway.
Details
- Founded
- 2020
- Headquarters
- London, United Kingdom
Categories
Other EU startups like Railway
- FjordIDNorway — Managed OIDC/OAuth2 identity platform hosted on Hetzner in Germany. Drop-in Auth0 replacement with EU data residency and zero US subprocessors.
- LiveblocksFrance — APIs for adding collaborative real-time features to your app — a French alternative to Firebase Realtime.
- PocketbaseBulgaria — Open-source backend in a single file — a European alternative to Firebase.
- NocoDBGermany — Open-source Airtable alternative that turns databases into smart spreadsheets.
- PortainerNew Zealand — Container management UI for Docker and Kubernetes — a New Zealand/European alternative to Rancher.
- NetdataGreece — Open-source real-time infrastructure monitoring — an alternative to Datadog.
Frequently asked questions
What is Railway?
Railway is a cloud application deployment platform that provides a Heroku-like experience for deploying web apps, APIs, cron jobs, and databases. It supports EU region deployments on Google Cloud (EU-West) for teams requiring EU data residency. Railway connects to GitHub and deploys on push, handles environment variables, scaling, and database provisioning automatically. It is popular among EU indie developers and startups as a simple, low-ops deployment platform while they evaluate fully EU-sovereign alternatives like Coolify (self-hosted) or Scaleway.
What does Railway do?
Railway is instant deployment infrastructure for developers — popular across european teams. It is listed under cloud infrastructure and developer tools on EU Alts because its core functionality serves teams looking for a European cloud infrastructure tool with EU data residency, typically as a switch away from AWS, Google Cloud, and Azure.
Is Railway a good European cloud infrastructure alternative?
Railway is a fit for European businesses evaluating cloud infrastructure options where data residency and GDPR alignment matter — typical buyers include EU-based SaaS teams, public-sector projects, regulated industries (healthcare, finance, legal), and any organisation that needs to demonstrate that customer data does not leave the EU. It also overlaps with developer tools use cases.
Is Railway GDPR compliant?
Railway is headquartered in London, United Kingdom and falls under EU jurisdiction, so it processes user data under the GDPR by default. Because the company is not US-incorporated, it is not subject to the US CLOUD Act — meaning US authorities cannot compel Railway to disclose customer data the way they can with AWS, Google Cloud, and Azure. For European buyers, that often simplifies DPIA paperwork and standard contractual clauses.
How do teams switch from AWS to Railway?
Most teams move to Railway from AWS, Google Cloud, and Azure because they want EU data residency without giving up the core cloud infrastructure workflow. Railway's United Kingdom base means a single jurisdiction for both the company and (typically) its hosting infrastructure, so you can drop Schrems II transfer impact assessments for this part of your stack. Plan the migration in stages: export your data from the US incumbent, pilot Railway with a small team, then move the rest once the integration coverage you need is confirmed.
Where is Railway based?
Railway is headquartered in London, United Kingdom. The company was founded in 2020. Its main website is https://railway.app.