Deploy and Host Automatisch on Railway

Deploy Automatisch on Railway to self-host your own workflow automation platform — a privacy-first, open-source alternative to Zapier. This template provisions the Automatisch web app, a background worker for executing automations, PostgreSQL for workflow storage, and Redis for the job queue — all connected and ready to use.

Self-host Automatisch on Railway with zero DevOps overhead and full control over your automation data.

Getting Started with Automatisch on Railway

After deployment completes, visit your Automatisch URL. Log in with the default credentials: email [email protected] and password sample. Change these immediately in Settings > Profile.

Navigate to "Flows" in the left sidebar to create your first automation. Click "Create Flow" to build a new workflow. Automatisch supports triggers and actions from services like Slack, GitHub, Google Sheets, Twitter, and many more. Connect your first app by going to "Connections" and authenticating with the service you want to automate.

Set the Webhook URL in your connected apps to your Railway public domain so external events can trigger your flows.

About Hosting Automatisch

Automatisch is an open-source workflow automation platform built for teams who need Zapier-like functionality without sending data to third-party clouds. It runs entirely on your infrastructure, keeping automation data under your control.

Key features:

• Visual flow builder — drag-and-drop interface for building multi-step automations without code
• 200+ app integrations — Slack, GitHub, Google Workspace, Stripe, Notion, and more
• Webhook triggers — receive events from any service that supports webhooks
• Scheduled triggers — run automations on cron schedules
• Data privacy — all credentials and execution data stay on your server
• Multi-user — team access with role-based permissions (Enterprise)

The architecture uses a main app service (web UI + API) and a separate worker process for executing automations asynchronously via BullMQ/Redis.

Why Deploy Automatisch on Railway

• Zero infrastructure management — Railway handles containers, networking, TLS
• One-click deploy with PostgreSQL and Redis pre-configured
• Persistent storage for uploaded files and automation assets
• Private networking between services — database never exposed publicly
• Scale worker independently from the web interface

Common Use Cases for Self-Hosted Automatisch

• Internal workflow automation — connect Slack, Jira, and GitHub to automate team notifications and task management
• Data pipeline triggers — sync data between CRM, spreadsheets, and databases on schedule or on event
• GDPR-compliant automation — European companies requiring data residency run automations without sending data offshore
• Developer tooling — automate CI/CD notifications, deployment webhooks, and monitoring alerts across tools

Dependencies for Automatisch on Railway

• Automatisch — automatischio/automatisch:0.15.0 — Web UI, API server, flow editor
• Automatisch-Worker — automatischio/automatisch:0.15.0 (with WORKER=true) — Background job processor
• PostgreSQL — Railway-managed — Stores workflows, credentials, execution history
• Redis — Railway-managed — BullMQ job queue and cache layer

Environment Variables Reference for Automatisch

Deployment Dependencies

• Runtime: Node.js 22 (Alpine-based image)
• Docker Hub: automatischio/automatisch
• GitHub: automatisch/automatisch
• Docs: docs.automatisch.io

Hardware Requirements for Self-Hosting Automatisch

These estimates cover the main app + worker. PostgreSQL and Redis add approximately 256 MB RAM each.

Self-Hosting Automatisch with Docker

Run Automatisch locally using Docker Compose. Create a docker-compose.yml:

version: "3.8"
services:
  main:
    image: automatischio/automatisch:0.15.0
    ports:
      - "3000:3000"
    environment:
      - APP_ENV=production
      - ENCRYPTION_KEY=your-32-char-hex-key-here
      - APP_SECRET_KEY=your-app-secret-key-here
      - WEBHOOK_SECRET_KEY=your-webhook-secret-here
      - POSTGRES_HOST=postgres
      - POSTGRES_PORT=5432
      - POSTGRES_DATABASE=automatisch
      - POSTGRES_USERNAME=automatisch
      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=your-db-password
      - REDIS_HOST=redis
      - REDIS_PORT=6379
    depends_on:
      - postgres
      - redis
  worker:
    image: automatischio/automatisch:0.15.0
    environment:
      - WORKER=true
      - APP_ENV=production
      - ENCRYPTION_KEY=your-32-char-hex-key-here
      - APP_SECRET_KEY=your-app-secret-key-here
      - WEBHOOK_SECRET_KEY=your-webhook-secret-here
      - POSTGRES_HOST=postgres
      - POSTGRES_PORT=5432
      - POSTGRES_DATABASE=automatisch
      - POSTGRES_USERNAME=automatisch
      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=your-db-password
      - REDIS_HOST=redis
      - REDIS_PORT=6379
    depends_on:
      - postgres
      - redis
  postgres:
    image: postgres:14.5
    environment:
      - POSTGRES_DB=automatisch
      - POSTGRES_USER=automatisch
      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=your-db-password
    volumes:
      - postgres_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
  redis:
    image: redis:7.0.4
    volumes:
      - redis_data:/data
volumes:
  postgres_data:
  redis_data:

Start all services:

docker-compose up -d

Access Automatisch at http://localhost:3000. Default login: [email protected] / sample.

Is Automatisch Free to Self-Host?

Automatisch is open-source under the AGPL-3.0 license. The community edition is completely free with unlimited workflows and no per-task pricing. Enterprise features (forms, granular RBAC) require a commercial license from AB Software GmbH. When self-hosting on Railway, you only pay for infrastructure — typically $5–15/month depending on workflow volume.

Automatisch vs Zapier vs n8n

Automatisch targets teams who need Zapier's ease-of-use with n8n's self-hosting capability — prioritizing data sovereignty over integration breadth.

FAQ

What is Automatisch and why self-host it? Automatisch is an open-source workflow automation platform that lets you connect apps and build automations via a visual no-code builder. Self-hosting gives you full control over your automation data, eliminates per-task pricing, and ensures GDPR compliance since all data stays on your infrastructure.

What does this Railway template deploy for Automatisch? This template deploys four services: the Automatisch web application (UI + API), a background worker for executing automations, PostgreSQL for persistent data storage, and Redis for the job queue. All services are connected via Railway's private networking.

Why does Automatisch need PostgreSQL and Redis on Railway? PostgreSQL stores workflows, encrypted credentials, execution history, and user accounts. Redis powers BullMQ — the job queue system that schedules and executes automation steps asynchronously. Both are required for Automatisch to function.

How do I connect apps to self-hosted Automatisch on Railway? Navigate to Connections in the left sidebar, select the app you want to connect, and follow the OAuth flow. For apps requiring webhook URLs, use your Railway public domain (e.g., https://automatisch-production.up.railway.app). Some apps require registering a developer application to get API credentials.

Can I migrate from Zapier to self-hosted Automatisch? Automatisch does not offer a direct Zapier import tool. You'll need to recreate your workflows manually using Automatisch's visual builder. The concepts are similar (triggers → actions), so most Zapier workflows can be rebuilt. Your data remains portable since it's stored in PostgreSQL.

How do I change the default admin password in Automatisch? After first login with [email protected] / sample, go to Settings > Profile and update your email and password. The default credentials are only used for initial access — all changes persist in the database.