HostDC vs Railway
Railway is a general app platform billed by usage, with a $5 Hobby plan that includes $5 of usage, while HostDC has a free plan and flat prices from $1.69 a month for Discord bots only.
Facts about Railway were checked on 2026-09-24 on railway.com and can change without notice, so confirm on their site before you buy. HostDC figures on this page come from our live settings, so they are always current.
Side by side
| HostDC | Railway | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes: 256 MB RAM pool, 0.5 CPU, 512 MB storage | One-time $5 trial credit |
| Keeping a free bot online | Reactivate once a week from the dashboard or the reminder email | Runs until the trial credit is used up |
| Cheapest paid plan | Lite, $1.69 a month: 1 GB RAM, 1 CPU, 5 GB storage | Hobby, $5 a month including $5 of usage |
| Next plan up | Pro, $2.49 a month: 2 GB RAM, 2 CPU, 10 GB storage, a public web address | Usage above the credit: $10 per GB of RAM and $20 per vCPU a month |
| Languages | Node.js, Bun, Deno, Python, Go, Java, Rust, .NET and PHP | Any language that builds into a container |
| Panel | Our own dashboard: live console, file editor, health card that shows the gateway connection | Project canvas with deploys from Git, logs and metrics |
| Backups | Free: weekly, kept 1 day; Mini, Lite, Pro and Max: daily snapshots | Not stated on the pricing pages |
| Databases | Hosted (Postgres, Redis or FerretDB) from Mini up | Managed databases you add to a project |
| Music and voice bots | Hosted on Pro and Max, a paid add-on on Lite; external on Free and Mini | Possible with enough resources |
| Locations | Our servers in Europe | Not stated on the pricing pages |
| Ads | Google ads on Free; sponsored ads on every plan | No |
| Refunds | Consumers can withdraw within 14 days of a subscription's first payment and get the unused days back | Not stated on the pricing pages |
Where HostDC is the better fit
- There is a free plan with no end date, not a one-time credit.
- Prices are flat, so a busy month never costs more than $2.49.
- The console, health card and templates are built for Discord bots.
Where Railway is the better fit
- It runs any language or Docker image and adds managed databases next to your bot.
- Hobby resource limits go far beyond HostDC's plans.
- A small bot often fits inside the $5 of included usage.
Next steps
Compare every host on one page in the overview, see HostDC's plans on the pricing page, or pick your runtime: Node.js, Python or Go.
Sources, checked 2026-09-24:
Last updated 2026-09-24