OpenClaw on Railway
One-click deploy from GitHub. Perfect for developers who want speed.
Why Railway?
Railway is a modern platform-as-a-service (PaaS) that makes deployment incredibly simple. Connect your GitHub repo, and Railway handles the rest โ no Dockerfiles, no server management, no DevOps required.
It's popular among developers for side projects and small-scale production deployments because of its developer experience and fair pricing.
โ What's Great
One-Click Deploy
Deploy from GitHub in seconds. No server configuration required.
Usage-Based Pricing
Pay only for what you use. Start at ~$5/month for light usage.
Auto-Deploy
Push to GitHub, Railway auto-deploys. Continuous deployment built-in.
Built-in Monitoring
Logs, metrics, and deployment history in a clean dashboard.
โ ๏ธ Limitations
Execution Limits
Free tier has limits. Production needs paid plan.
Ephemeral Storage
File storage isn't persistent by default. Need volumes for data.
Cold Starts
Idle services may have startup delay. Keep-alive helps.
Deploy in 3 Steps
Get OpenClaw running on Railway in under 5 minutes.
Click Deploy Button
The easiest way to deploy OpenClaw on Railway is using the one-click deploy button:
This will create a new Railway project with OpenClaw pre-configured.
Configure Environment Variables
After deployment, go to your service's Variables tab and add:
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY Your Claude API key OPENAI_API_KEY Optional: for GPT models TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN If using Telegram ๐ก Get API keys from Anthropic Console
Test Your Bot
Once deployed, Railway will show your service URL. Test it by:
- Sending a message to your Telegram bot
- Checking the Railway logs for activity
- Accessing the health endpoint at
/health
If everything works, you're live! ๐
Alternative: Manual Deploy
Prefer more control? Deploy from your own fork.
1. Fork the Repository
Fork openclaw/openclaw on GitHub.
2. Create Railway Project
Sign in to Railway and create a new project from your fork.
3. Configure Build
Railway should auto-detect the Dockerfile. If not, set the build command:
docker build -t openclaw .4. Add Variables
Set your environment variables in the Railway dashboard.
5. Deploy
Railway will automatically build and deploy. Watch the logs for any issues.
Railway Pricing
Hobby
Includes $5 in usage credits. Good for light use.
Pro
No cold starts, better limits. Includes $20 in credits.
Enterprise
SLAs, dedicated support, compliance.
Usage-Based Billing
Railway charges for CPU, RAM, and network usage. A typical OpenClaw deployment uses ~$5-15/month in resources depending on activity.
+ AI API costs ($10-40/month typical)
Railway Tips for OpenClaw
Add a Volume
Attach a Railway volume to /data for persistent storage.
Without this, data is lost on redeployments.
Set Up Alerts
Configure Discord/Slack notifications for deployment status and resource usage alerts.
Prevent Cold Starts
Use a service like UptimeRobot to ping your health endpoint every few minutes, keeping the service warm.
Use Preview Environments
Railway creates preview deployments for PRs. Great for testing changes before merging.
Is Railway Right for You?
โ Choose Railway If...
- You want the fastest possible setup
- You're comfortable with usage-based pricing
- You prefer GitHub-based workflows
- You're a developer who values DX
- Your usage is moderate (not 24/7 heavy)
โ Consider VPS Instead If...
- You want predictable monthly costs
- You need full server access
- You're running multiple services
- You expect heavy/constant usage
- You need more than basic storage
Ready to Deploy?
Get OpenClaw running on Railway in minutes.