Deploy and Host InstantDB on Railway

InstantDB is a modern realtime database for building collaborative and local-first applications. It provides client-friendly data sync, permissions, auth, and backend infrastructure so teams can build reactive apps without manually stitching together databases, APIs, websockets, and sync logic.

About Hosting InstantDB

Hosting InstantDB on Railway runs the InstantDB backend, dashboard, Postgres database, and object storage in one Railway project. Postgres stores application data and WAL history, while Railway Bucket provides S3-compatible object storage for files and backend storage needs. The backend service exposes the InstantDB API, and the dashboard service provides the web UI for managing apps, auth, schema, permissions, and runtime settings.

Common Use Cases

• Build realtime collaborative apps with synced client state
• Self-host InstantDB for more control over infrastructure and data residency
• Prototype full-stack apps quickly with auth, permissions, storage, and database sync included

Dependencies for InstantDB Hosting

• Railway Postgres-compatible database service
• Railway Bucket for S3-compatible object storage
• InstantDB server and dashboard container images

Deployment Dependencies

• InstantDB self-hosting docs: https://www.instantdb.com/docs/self-hosting
• InstantDB GitHub: https://github.com/instantdb/instant
• Railway Buckets: https://docs.railway.com/storage-buckets
• Railway Templates: https://docs.railway.com/templates/create

Implementation Details

This template deploys three services and one Railway Bucket:

• server: InstantDB backend API
• dashboard: InstantDB dashboard UI
• postgres: Postgres with InstantDB-compatible settings
• instantdb-storage: Railway Bucket used through S3-compatible environment variables

The server is configured with Railway reference variables for Postgres and Bucket credentials, including DATABASE_URL, AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID, AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY, AWS_REGION, S3_ENDPOINT, S3_PUBLIC_ENDPOINT, and S3_BUCKET.

Why Deploy InstantDB on Railway?

Railway is a singular platform to deploy your infrastructure stack. Railway will host your infrastructure so you don't have to deal with configuration, while allowing you to vertically and horizontally scale it.

By deploying InstantDB on Railway, you are one step closer to supporting a complete full-stack application with minimal burden. Host your servers, databases, AI agents, and more on Railway.