Which is cheaper, Railway Hobby or Render Hobby workspace?

Render Hobby workspace, at free against $5/mo, both excluding tax and read on 17 Sept 2026. Over a year that is $0 against $60, before anything either platform meters on top.

Which gives you more memory?

Neither states a size: both are subscriptions with the compute metered on top, so the memory row is blank for each.

Does either one stop when the app is idle?

Railway Hobby: always on. Render Hobby workspace: sleep not stated.

What does the monthly price leave out?

Railway Hobby: transfer none · metered per GB included and $0.05 per GB beyond it, builds not stated, disk not stated, 1 seat. Render Hobby workspace: transfer 5 GB included and $0.15 per GB beyond it, builds 500 min, disk not stated, members not charged.

Railway Hobby vs Render Hobby workspace.

plan vs plan · prices as of 17 Sept 2026

Two subscriptions at the same step of their ladders, which is the only honest way to hold a tier beside a tier: neither price buys a runtime of a stated size, and both meter the compute on top. Render Hobby workspace takes 2 of 4 rounds against Railway Hobby. It is also the cheaper of the two, at free against $5/mo.

Railway

Hobby

$5/mo

$60 a year · no size to divide by

compute metered · always on · Subscription

Railway ↗

Renderwins 2 rounds

Hobby workspace

free

$0 a year · no size to divide by

compute metered · sleep not stated · Subscription

Render ↗

Monthly price (lower wins)

$5/mo

free

Price per GB of RAM (lower wins)

no size to divide by

Memory

no size, the compute is metered

vCPU

not stated

Transfer included (more included is better)

none · metered per GB

5 GB

Build minutes included (more included is better)

not stated

500 min

Stops when idle (staying on wins)

always on

sleep not stated

Members covered (more members covered is better)

1 seat

members not charged

What the invoice adds

A gigabyte of transfer$0.05 per GB vs $0.15 per GB
Transfer includednone vs 5 GB
Build minutes includednot stated vs 500 min
A year at this price$60 vs $0

Railway then Render, at the published rates; a rate nobody publishes is not a rate of zero

Go further

open in the compare tool →everything Railway charges everything Render charges

Add a third or fourth plan, or switch the weighting, in the tool.

Frequently asked

Which is cheaper, Railway Hobby or Render Hobby workspace?: Render Hobby workspace, at free against $5/mo, both excluding tax and read on 17 Sept 2026. Over a year that is $0 against $60, before anything either platform meters on top.
Which gives you more memory?: Neither states a size: both are subscriptions with the compute metered on top, so the memory row is blank for each.
Does either one stop when the app is idle?: Railway Hobby: always on. Render Hobby workspace: sleep not stated.
What does the monthly price leave out?: Railway Hobby: transfer none · metered per GB included and $0.05 per GB beyond it, builds not stated, disk not stated, 1 seat. Render Hobby workspace: transfer 5 GB included and $0.15 per GB beyond it, builds 500 min, disk not stated, members not charged.

Every price is one month in the provider's own currency converted to dollars, read 17 Sept 2026 from each provider's own page, excluding tax. Transfer, build minutes, disks and members are metered on top wherever a platform says so, and none of those rates is folded into the figures above. Bars are scaled to the larger value in each row.