Deploy and Host OpenTickly on Railway

OpenTickly is a free, private-first, and AI-friendly alternative to the Toggl time tracker. It bypasses strict API rate limits to enable seamless integration with AI agents while maintaining full compatibility with Toggl, allowing you to own your productivity data without sacrificing your existing workflows.

About Hosting OpenTickly

Deploying OpenTickly on a platform like Railway involves provisioning a containerized environment to support its backend operations and web interface. The application requires persistent data storage via a PostgreSQL database and relies on Redis for caching and background processes. To host it successfully, you must deploy these companion database services alongside the main application and link them using the appropriate environment variables (DATABASE_URL and REDIS_URL). Once hosted, the web UI functions as a fully installable Progressive Web App (PWA), meaning a standard cloud deployment will allow you to install and use it directly on iOS and Android devices just like a native app.

Common Use Cases

• Privacy-focused time tracking for individuals or teams wanting complete ownership of their data without ongoing subscription fees.
• AI-driven productivity analysis, allowing AI agents and CLI tools to log and query time without hitting the restrictive API limits of standard commercial platforms.
• Seamless migration from Toggl, providing a drop-in replacement that retains your existing tracking habits, reports, and workflows.

Dependencies for OpenTickly Hosting

• PostgreSQL
• Redis
• Docker-compatible container environment

Deployment Dependencies

• OpenTickly GitHub Repository
• Self-Hosting Documentation
• Toggl-CLI (for AI and terminal integration)

Implementation Details

Why Deploy OpenTickly 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 OpenTickly 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.