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Pulumi vs Railway: Pricing Comparison 2026

Side-by-side pricing comparison of Pulumi and Railway. See all plans, features, and costs at a glance.

Bottom line: Railway starts at $5/mo, making it $35/mo cheaper than Pulumi ($40/mo). Pulumi offers a free plan.

Last updated: March 16, 2026

Data compiled by Arthur Jacquemin
Updated March 16, 2026

Pulumi vs Railway: Quick Pricing Facts

FeaturePulumiRailway
Starting Price$40/mo$5/mo
Number of Plans42
Free TierYesNo
Pricing Modelusage-basedusage-based
Annual DiscountN/AN/A

Railway is the more affordable option, starting at $5/mo compared to Pulumi's $40/mo. Both are Dev Tools with 6 combined pricing plans and 46 features compared.

Pulumi stands out with a free plan for getting started.

Review the detailed tier-by-tier comparison above to see exactly which features are included at each price point and find the best fit for your Dev Tools needs.

Pricing Plans
Tier 1
Individual
$0/monthCheapest
Includes
  • IaC state management
  • Unlimited projects, stacks, and environments
  • Unlimited updates and history
  • 500 free deployments minutes
Start with Individual
Hobby
$5/month
Includes
  • Includes $5 of monthly usage credits
  • After credits are used, you'll only be charged for extra resource usage
  • Up to 48 vCPU / 48 GB RAM per service
  • Up to 6 replicas, at 8 vCPU / 8 GB RAM per replica
  • Up to 5 GB storage
  • Single developer workspace
  • Community support
  • 7-Day Log History
  • Global regions
Start with Hobby
Tier 2
Team
$40/month
Includes
  • Up to 10 users
  • Secure collaboration and CI/CD
  • AI assistance with Pulumi Neo
  • Resource search
  • OIDC and Org Access Tokens
  • Webhooks
  • Automatic secrets rotation
  • Community support
Start with Team
Pro
$20/monthCheapest
Includes
  • Includes $20 of monthly usage credits
  • After credits are used, you'll only be charged for extra resource usage
  • Up to 1,000 vCPU / 1 TB RAM per service
  • Up to 50 replicas, at 32 vCPU / 32 GB RAM per replica
  • Up to 1 TB storage
  • Unlimited workspace seats included
  • Railway Support
  • 30-Day Log History
  • Concurrent global regions
Start with Pro
Tier 3
Enterprise
$400/monthCheapest
Includes
  • Unlimited users
  • SAML/SSO and RBAC
  • Internal developer platform (IDP)
  • Audit logs
  • Drift detection and remediation
  • Time-to-live stacks
  • Customer Managed Keys
  • Priority feature requests
  • 12x5 Enterprise Support available
Start with Enterprise
Tier 4
Business Critical
Custom pricing
Includes
  • Self-hosting available
  • Built-in compliance (NIST, PCI, and more)
  • Automatic group & user sync (SCIM)
  • Audit logs export
  • Volume pricing and invoicing
  • Private Slack and Professional Services
  • 24x7 Enterprise Support available
Start with Business Critical

Swipe to compare plans →

Pulumi

Infrastructure as code using real programming languages

View all Pulumi plans

Railway

Infrastructure platform for deploying apps with usage-based pricing

View all Railway plans

What Reviewers Say

Our Pick

Pulumi

Pulumi offers a free plan, offers 4 tiers vs 2.

Based on pricing data only. Review the full comparison below for your specific needs.

Best value: Pulumi

Try Pulumi free

Which Should You Choose?

Choose Pulumi if:

  • You need a free plan with IaC state management, Unlimited projects, stacks, and environments—Pulumi offers no-cost access with no credit card required
  • You need 4 pricing tiers for flexible team sizing—more options mean less overpaying for features you don't need
  • You want more features built-in—Pulumi offers 10 additional features across its plans
  • Your team needs custom enterprise pricing—Pulumi offers negotiated terms for large deployments

Choose Railway if:

  • You want lower per-user costs—Railway starts at $5/mo, saving $35/mo compared to Pulumi at $40/mo
  • Railway's usage-based pricing lets you match exact team size without tier gaps
  • Railway's focused feature set keeps your team in control without tool bloat

Pulumi offers a free plan [1], eliminating the cost barrier for evaluation, while Railway requires paid subscription from the start. This gives Pulumi a significant advantage for teams with budget constraints or extended trial periods. Once you outgrow Pulumi's free tier, upgrading to a paid plan at approximately $40/mo provides substantial additional functionality. Compare this pricing path against Railway's tiering starting at $5/mo to assess total cost of ownership over 12 months. Pulumi's 4 tiers provide flexibility at different budgets, while Railway's 2 tiers structure may force you into higher-cost plans than necessary for your use case. If evaluation cost matters to your decision, Pulumi is the obvious starting point with zero financial commitment. Use the free tier to validate core functionality before committing to paid plans from either tool.

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Frequently Asked Questions: Pulumi vs Railway

Which is cheaper, Pulumi or Railway?
As of March 2026, Railway starts at a lower price point. Pulumi starts at $40/mo while Railway starts at $5/mo. However, the best value depends on the features you need at each tier.
How many pricing plans does Pulumi have vs Railway?
Pulumi offers 4 pricing plans, while Railway offers 2 plans. More plans typically means more flexibility to match your exact needs and budget.
Does Pulumi or Railway offer a free plan?
Pulumi offers a free plan, while Railway does not. If budget is a concern, Pulumi lets you get started at no cost.
Does Pulumi or Railway offer custom enterprise pricing?
Pulumi offers a custom-priced enterprise tier for larger teams. Railway lists all its pricing publicly.
How do Pulumi and Railway compare for Dev Tools?
Both Pulumi and Railway are Dev Tools. Pulumi offers 4 plans starting at $40/mo, while Railway offers 2 plans starting at $5/mo. Review the feature breakdowns above to see which better fits your Dev Tools needs.

Sources

  1. Pulumi Official PricingVendor pricing page
  2. Railway Official PricingVendor pricing page

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