Deploy and Host PDF Editor on Railway

PDF Editor - 50+ Tools - Self Host is a powerful web-based application for viewing, editing, converting, organizing, and securing PDF documents. It provides over 50 built-in PDF tools, including merging, splitting, compressing, signing, watermarking, page management, metadata editing, and file conversion, making it an ideal self-hosted solution for individuals, businesses, and privacy-focused teams.

About Hosting PDF Editor

Hosting PDF Editor - 50+ Tools - Self Host on Railway allows you to deploy a fully featured PDF processing platform without managing servers or infrastructure. The application runs inside a Docker container while Railway automatically handles deployments, HTTPS, networking, logging, and monitoring. It can operate as a standalone service for most deployments, with optional support for authentication and advanced features through additional configuration. Railway Volumes can be attached to retain application data and backups across deployments when needed. With automatic domain generation and scalable infrastructure, Railway makes it simple to host a secure, self-hosted PDF editor that is accessible from anywhere.

Common Use Cases

Self-hosted PDF editing with 50+ built-in document tools.
Secure document conversion, compression, and file management.
Internal document processing for businesses, organizations, and teams.

Dependencies for PDF Editor

Railway Volume (Recommended for persistent configuration and data)
Database (Optional for authentication, backups, and advanced features)

Deployment Dependencies

Resource	Link
Official Documentation	https://docs.stirlingpdf.com
GitHub Repository	https://github.com/Stirling-Tools/Stirling-PDF
Docker Image	https://hub.docker.com/r/stirlingtools/stirling-pdf

Implementation Details

Docker

Deploy using the official Docker image:

stirlingtools/stirling-pdf:latest-ultra-lite

Railway pulls the image directly, so no custom build or start commands are required.

Public Networking

Setting	Value
Proxy Type	HTTP Proxy
Target Port	8080

Generate a public domain from Railway → Service → Settings → Networking → Generate Domain.

Environment Variables

Memory Configuration (Recommended)

Allocate sufficient memory for PDF processing by configuring Java heap limits:

JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS=-Xms512m -Xmx4g

Variable	Description
`JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS`	Sets the JVM heap size. Starts with 512 MB and allows up to 4 GB RAM for PDF processing.

Application Configuration

Variable	Required	Description
`UI_APPNAME`	No	Application name displayed throughout the interface.
`UI_APPNAMENAVBAR`	No	Name displayed in the navigation bar.
`METRICS_ENABLED`	No	Enables application metrics.
`SYSTEM_MAXFILESIZE`	No	Maximum upload size in MB.
`SYSTEM_DEFAULTLOCALE`	No	Default application language.
`DOCKER_ENABLE_SECURITY`	Recommended	Enables additional security features.
`SECURITY_ENABLELOGIN`	No	Enables user authentication.
`SECURITY_INITIALLOGIN_USERNAME`	Required when login is enabled	Initial administrator username.
`SECURITY_INITIALLOGIN_PASSWORD`	Required when login is enabled	Initial administrator password.
`SECURITY_CUSTOMGLOBALAPIKEY`	Optional	Global API key for securing API access.

Example configuration:

JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS=-Xms512m -Xmx4g

UI_APPNAME=PDF Editor
UI_APPNAMENAVBAR=PDF Editor
METRICS_ENABLED=true
SYSTEM_MAXFILESIZE=100
SYSTEM_DEFAULTLOCALE=en-US

DOCKER_ENABLE_SECURITY=true
SECURITY_ENABLELOGIN=false

SECURITY_INITIALLOGIN_USERNAME=admin
SECURITY_INITIALLOGIN_PASSWORD=your-secure-password

SECURITY_CUSTOMGLOBALAPIKEY=your-random-api-key

Replace the example password and API key with secure values before deploying to production.

Persistent Storage

Persistent storage is recommended for retaining configuration files, user data, logs, and backups across deployments.

Create one Railway Volume and mount it at:

/stirling-data

Stirling PDF automatically creates and manages its required subdirectories within this mount point. You do not need to create separate Railway Volumes for individual folders.

Typical directories created automatically include:

/stirling-data
├── configs
├── customFiles
├── logs
├── pipeline
├── tessdata
├── trainingData
└── backups

Using a single mounted volume simplifies management while ensuring all persistent application data survives redeployments and restarts.

Database

A database is not required for standard deployments. If you enable authentication, backups, or other advanced features, add the appropriate database service to your Railway project and configure the required connection variables using Railway Reference Variables.

Accessing the Application

After deployment, generate a Railway Domain from Settings → Networking and open the generated URL in your browser.

If login is enabled, sign in using the administrator credentials configured through the environment variables.

Why Deploy PDF Editor 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 PDF Editor 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.