Deploy and Host OpenProject on Railway

OpenProject is open-source project management software, often used instead of Jira, MS Project or Asana. It covers work packages (tasks, bugs, features), Gantt charts, agile boards, backlogs, time and cost tracking, meetings, wikis and roadmaps. It is GPLv3 and has been developed since 2012.

About Hosting OpenProject

This template runs OpenProject 17.9.2 from the official slim image, split the way upstream's production setup splits it:

Service	What it does
OpenProject	The web app and API. Before each deploy it runs OpenProject's seeder, which migrates the database and creates the admin account and demo projects on first boot.
Worker	Background jobs: notifications, emails, attachment processing, recurring tasks.
Postgres	PostgreSQL 17 on a volume.
Files	A Railway bucket for attachments. Web and worker both read it, which a single-service volume can't do.

What's set up for you:

A real admin password. Other OpenProject templates leave the default admin / admin login, so anyone who finds the URL first can take over. Here the admin account gets a generated password, and you aren't forced to change it on first sign-in.
A real secret key. SECRET_KEY_BASE is generated. A common mistake is setting OPENPROJECT_SECRET_KEY_BASE, which OpenProject ignores, so it falls back to a placeholder.
Pinned version. Both services run openproject/openproject:17.9.2-slim, so a redeploy never upgrades you by surprise.
No SMTP needed to start. You can sign in, create projects and add users without email set up.

Common Use Cases

Classic and agile project management for teams: Gantt timelines, Scrum backlogs, Kanban boards
Replacing Jira or MS Project with a self-hosted tool your data stays on
Time and cost tracking, meeting agendas and minutes, and project wikis in one place

Dependencies for OpenProject Hosting

PostgreSQL 17 and a Railway bucket (both included)
SMTP credentials (optional) for email notifications and password resets

Deployment Dependencies

Implementation Details

Sign in. The first deploy takes a few minutes while the seeder sets up the database. Then open the OpenProject service's Railway domain and sign in as admin, with the OPENPROJECT_SEED__ADMIN__USER__PASSWORD value from the service's Variables tab. The variable is only used to create the account, so change the password afterwards under My account. Two sample projects ("Demo project" and "Scrum project") are included to explore. Delete them whenever you like.

Add users. Go to Administration → Users and permissions → Users → + User. Without email set up, open the new user and set a password in the Authentication section of their General tab. The Create a new account link on the sign-in page is also on, but new registrations stay locked until an admin activates them. You can turn self-registration off under Administration → Authentication → Login and registration.

Use the API. Create a token under My account → Access tokens → API, then:

curl -u "apikey:" "https://.up.railway.app/api/v3/projects"

Email (optional). Add these to both services, then deploy:

OPENPROJECT_EMAIL__DELIVERY__METHOD=smtp
OPENPROJECT_SMTP__ADDRESS, OPENPROJECT_SMTP__PORT
OPENPROJECT_SMTP__USER__NAME, OPENPROJECT_SMTP__PASSWORD
OPENPROJECT_SMTP__AUTHENTICATION=login, OPENPROJECT_SMTP__ENABLE__STARTTLS__AUTO=true
OPENPROJECT_MAIL__FROM

Custom domain. Add it to the OpenProject service, then set OPENPROJECT_HOST__NAME to the new host name (without https://) on both services and deploy.

Upgrade. Change the image tag on both OpenProject and Worker to the same new version, for example openproject/openproject:17.10.0-slim. The seeder runs the migrations before the new web version starts. Read the release notes first.

Not included. Real-time collaborative editing of documents (it needs OpenProject's separate hocuspocus server), creating work packages from incoming email, and the BIM edition. Enterprise features show an "Enterprise edition" badge and need a license.

Variables you might change.

SECRET_KEY_BASE: never change it after the first deploy.
OPENPROJECT_WEB_WORKERS (default 0, a single process with 8 threads): raise it to 2 or more on bigger plans for more throughput.
OPENPROJECT_DEFAULT__LANGUAGE: the default language, for example de or fr.

Memory. Measured on Railway: about 1.65 GB idle in total (web about 800 MB, peaking near 1.4 GB right after a deploy; worker about 750 MB; Postgres about 80 MB). Use the Hobby plan or above.

Why Deploy OpenProject 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 OpenProject 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.