GitHub vs Railway: Pricing Comparison (2026)
GitHub starts at $4/mo. Railway starts at $5/mo. GitHub is $1/mo cheaper on the entry tier than Railway.
The dominant developer platform (source control + code review + CI/CD + package registry), owned by Microsoft ($7.5B acquisition, 2018). Positioned as the alternative to GitLab and Bitbucket for the vast majority of open-source and enterprise software teams. Distinctive for its Copilot AI product ($10-$39/user/mo) that became Microsoft's fastest-growing AI SKU. Priced free (unlimited public + private repos) up to $21/user/mo Enterprise. Real cost bloat: GitHub Actions minutes and Copilot seats scale with team activity.
Modern PaaS positioned as the alternative to Heroku for developers who want git-push-to-deploy simplicity plus per-resource billing. Distinctive for its usage-based pricing (compute per GB-hour, RAM per GB-hour) versus flat dyno pricing at Heroku. Free trial credits give hobby projects room; production apps typically $20-$500/mo. YC-backed, popular with indie hackers and Series A/B startups.
All plans compared
| # | Plan | GitHub monthly | GitHub annual | Railway monthly | Railway annual |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Free / Free Trial | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2 | Team / Hobby | 4 | 4 | 5 | — |
| 3 | Enterprise / Pro | 21 | 21 | 20 | — |
| 4 | Enterprise | — | — | custom | custom |
What each is best for
The dominant developer platform (source control + code review + CI/CD + package registry), owned by Microsoft ($7.5B acquisition, 2018). Positioned as the alternative to GitLab and Bitbucket for the vast majority of open-source and enterprise software teams. Distinctive for its Copilot AI product ($10-$39/user/mo) that became Microsoft's fastest-growing AI SKU. Priced free (unlimited public + private repos) up to $21/user/mo Enterprise. Real cost bloat: GitHub Actions minutes and Copilot seats scale with team activity.
Modern PaaS positioned as the alternative to Heroku for developers who want git-push-to-deploy simplicity plus per-resource billing. Distinctive for its usage-based pricing (compute per GB-hour, RAM per GB-hour) versus flat dyno pricing at Heroku. Free trial credits give hobby projects room; production apps typically $20-$500/mo. YC-backed, popular with indie hackers and Series A/B startups.
At a glance
| GitHub | Railway | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Entry price | $4/mo | $5/mo |
| Enterprise available | Yes | Yes |
| Pricing model | Per Seat | Hybrid |
| Last verified | July 23, 2026 | July 26, 2026 |
| Full pricing | View full pricing | View full pricing |
Pricing last verified July 26, 2026. Tracked daily.