Deploy and Host Medusa v2 on Railway

Medusa is the open-source headless commerce platform: a Node.js backend with a modular commerce engine (products, carts, orders, pricing, promotions, fulfillment, payments) and a built-in admin dashboard. This template runs Medusa 2.x the way its deployment guide asks for: a server instance that serves the API and admin, a separate worker instance for background jobs, Postgres, and Redis for cache, events, workflows and locks.

About Hosting Medusa v2

Four services from one repo. The Medusa image is built from a stock create-medusa-app project with a production Dockerfile, so you can fork the repo and add modules, plugins or custom API routes. On boot the server runs migrations, creates the first admin user from MEDUSA_ADMIN_EMAIL / MEDUSA_ADMIN_PASSWORD if it does not exist yet, then starts. The worker waits for those migrations and then starts in worker mode. Redis-backed caching, event bus, workflow engine and locking modules are configured so both instances share state. Uploaded files are stored on a volume at /app/static.

Common Use Cases

Headless commerce backend for a Next.js, Remix or mobile storefront
Replacing a Shopify store with an open-source, fully customisable engine
B2B commerce, marketplaces, subscriptions or digital products built on Medusa's workflows
A staging Medusa backend for a team building custom modules

Dependencies for Medusa v2 Hosting

Postgres 16 (included, with a volume)
Redis 7 (included, with a volume)

Deployment Dependencies

Medusa deployment guide
Medusa configuration reference
Template source: nomideusz/medusa-railway

Implementation Details

First use: open https:///app and log in with MEDUSA_ADMIN_EMAIL and the generated MEDUSA_ADMIN_PASSWORD (server service, Variables tab). Change the password from the admin afterwards. The API is at the same domain; /health returns OK.

Connecting a storefront: set STORE_CORS and add your storefront URL to AUTH_CORS, then create a publishable API key in the admin (Settings → Publishable API Keys) for the storefront's requests. The Medusa Next.js starter works out of the box with MEDUSA_BACKEND_URL pointed at this server.

Customising: fork the repo, edit src/ (API routes, modules, subscribers, workflows, admin extensions) and point both the server and worker services at your fork. medusa-config.ts reads everything from environment variables.

Notes and limits:

Uploads use Medusa's local file provider on the /app/static volume. For a CDN-backed store, switch to the S3 file provider with a Railway bucket.
Postgres on Railway's private network has no TLS, so the config disables SSL for the database connection. Set DATABASE_SSL=true if you point it at an external TLS database.
Give the server 1 GB of RAM or more; the worker is lighter.
Payments and email are not configured. Add the Stripe payment provider and a notification provider in medusa-config.ts when you go live.

Why Deploy Medusa v2 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 Medusa v2 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.