Deploying Node.js Apps: Comparing Railway, Render, and Fly.io

The Hosting Decision Nobody Wants to Make Heroku killed its free tier. AWS is a career. Vercel is great for frontends but awkward for long-running APIs. For a Node.js API or full-stack app, three platforms stand out in 2025: Railway, Render, and Fly.io. Railway Best for: Fast deploys, full-stack apps, teams who want zero config. npm install -g @railway/cli railway login railway init railway up That's a real deploy. Railway detects Node.js, builds it, runs it. What it handles automatically: Detects runtime from package.json Sets up SSL Provisions PostgreSQL or Redis with one click Environment variables in the dashboard GitHub integration for auto-deploys Pricing: $5/month per service (roughly). Usage-based, scales to zero when idle. Limits: Not ideal for very high traffic without custom scaling. Render Best for: Teams that need predictable pricing and built-in cron jobs. # render.yaml services: - type: web name: my-api env: node buildCommand: npm ci && npm run build startCommand