--- title: "Deploy Plausible CE" description: "Plausible CE - privacy-friendly web analytics" category: "Analytics" url: https://railway.com/deploy/plausible-ce --- # Deploy Plausible CE Plausible CE - privacy-friendly web analytics **[Deploy Plausible CE on Railway](https://railway.com/template/plausible-ce)** Machine-readable deploy manifest (JSON, validated by TemplateCI): https://railway.com/deploy/plausible-ce/manifest.json - **Creator:** INAPP - **Category:** Analytics - **Total deploys:** 4 ## Template content ### Postgres https://devicons.railway.app/i/postgresql.svg - **Image:** ghcr.io/railwayapp-templates/postgres-ssl:18 ### ClickHouse - **Source:** https://github.com/INAPP-Mobile/railway-plausible ### Plausible CE https://simpleicons.org/icons/plausibleanalytics.svg - **Source:** https://github.com/INAPP-Mobile/railway-plausible - **Public domain:** Yes ## Documentation
Plausible CE Logo

Plausible Community Edition

Privacy-friendly, open-source web analytics for the modern web

Deploy on Railway


# Deploy and Host **Plausible Community Edition** on Railway. Lightweight, open-source web analytics with no cookies, GDPR/CCPA/PECR compliant out of the box. This template deploys three sibling services so every marketplace deploy boots into a working state with no manual env-var hunting. ## About Plausible - **No cookies required** — no consent banners - **Lightweight script** — < 1 KB - **ClickHouse-powered** — handles millions of page views - **27.4K+ GitHub stars** — battle-tested at scale ## Services Deployed | Service | Image | Volume Mount | Notes | |---------|-------|--------------|-------| | **Plausible CE** | `ghcr.io/plausible/community-edition:v3.2.1` | — | Elixir/Phoenix app on port 8000 | | **ClickHouse** | `clickhouse/clickhouse-server:24.12-alpine` | `/var/lib/clickhouse` | Analytics event store | | **PostgreSQL** | `postgres:16-alpine` (upstream) | `/var/lib/postgresql` (parent) | Metadata + users | > **Why upstream `postgres:16-alpine` instead of the Railway `postgres-ssl:18` plugin?** The plugin forces PGDATA to match the volume mount path exactly. With the Railway volume mount default of `/var/lib/postgresql/data`, the volume's ext4 `lost+found/` directory ends up *inside* PGDATA — and `initdb` crashes with `directory exists but is not empty`. The sibling-service fix mounts the volume at the **parent** path `/var/lib/postgresql` with `PGDATA=/var/lib/postgresql/data`, so `lost+found/` lives at the volume root, outside PGDATA. See `postgres/.env.example` for the full rationale, or `.agents/skills/railway-deployment/references/plausible-ce-and-postgres-docker-patterns.md` § "Lost+Found Gotcha — Empirically Verified 2026-07-08". ## Why Deploy - **Own your analytics** — eliminate Google Analytics - **Privacy by default** — no tracking cookies, no fingerprinting - **Real-time dashboards** — see visitors as they arrive - **GDPR/CCPA compliant** out of the box ## Common Use Cases SaaS analytics (no third-party scripts), content websites (monitor traffic + referrals), e-commerce conversion analytics, personal blogs, or behind-the-firewall internal analytics. ## Quick Start ### 1. Deploy [![Deploy on Railway](https://railway.app/button.svg)](https://railway.com/new/template/plausible-1) Railway creates all three sibling services in one click and wires internal networking. Wait ~30-60 seconds for Postgres initdb (~30s) and Plausible CE DB migrations (~60s on first boot). ### 2. Configure environment variables (if any) The template ships with literal defaults that work out of the box. Most users won't need to touch anything. The variables you *can* rotate (and must keep in sync between services): - `DATABASE_URL` (Plausible CE) — credentials match the Postgres sibling tile defaults - `CLICKHOUSE_DATABASE_URL` (Plausible CE) — credentials match ClickHouse sibling tile defaults - `BASE_URL` (Plausible CE) — defaults to `https://${{RAILWAY_PUBLIC_DOMAIN}}` (auto) - `SECRET_KEY_BASE` (Plausible CE) — defaults to `${{secret(64)}}` (auto-generated) If you rotate `POSTGRES_PASSWORD` or `CLICKHOUSE_PASSWORD` on their respective tiles, update the corresponding Plausible CE URL in the same change. ### 3. Register the first user Visit `BASE_URL` (e.g. `https://plausible-ce-production-XXXX.up.railway.app`) and create your admin account. Then set `DISABLE_REGISTRATION=true` if you don't want public signups. ## Environment Variables ### Plausible CE (root) | Variable | Default | Notes | |----------|---------|-------| | `BASE_URL` | `https://${{RAILWAY_PUBLIC_DOMAIN}}` | Auto — protocol prefix required by Plausible | | `SECRET_KEY_BASE` | `${{secret(64)}}` | Auto — 64-char random | | `DATABASE_URL` | `postgresql://postgres:postgres@postgres.railway.internal:5432/plausible` | Cookie signing secret | | `CLICKHOUSE_DATABASE_URL` | `http://plausible:plausible2026@clickhouse.railway.internal:8123/plausible` | Must match ClickHouse tile creds | | `DISABLE_REGISTRATION` | `false` | Flip to `true` after admin signup | | `ENABLE_EMAIL_VERIFICATION` | `false` | Optional | | `TOTP_VAULT_KEY` | (unset) | Required for 2FA | ### Postgres (`postgres/` sibling service) | Variable | Default | Notes | |----------|---------|-------| | `POSTGRES_USER` | `postgres` | Matches DATABASE_URL user portion | | `POSTGRES_PASSWORD` | `postgres` | Must match DATABASE_URL password part | | `POSTGRES_DB` | `plausible` | Initial DB; matches DATABASE_URL path component | | `PGDATA` | `/var/lib/postgresql/data` | Subpath of `/var/lib/postgresql` mount — sidesteps lost+found gotcha | | `MAX_CONNECTIONS`, `SHARED_BUFFERS` | (unset) | Optional tuning | ### ClickHouse (`clickhouse/` sibling service) | Variable | Default | Notes | |----------|---------|-------| | `CLICKHOUSE_USER` | `plausible` | Matches URL user portion | | `CLICKHOUSE_PASSWORD` | `plausible2026` | Matches URL password part | | `CLICKHOUSE_DB` | `plausible` | Matches URL path component | ### Optional (SMTP, Google Auth, GeoIP) SMTP, Google OAuth, and MaxMind GeoIP are unchanged from prior templates — see `.env.example` for the full list. Defaults auto-skip these unless you uncomment them. ## Architecture ``` ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Railway Project │ │ │ │ ┌──────────────────┐ ┌──────────────────┐ │ │ │ Plausible CE │─────▶│ ClickHouse │ │ │ │ :8000 │ │ :8123:9000 │ │ │ └────────┬──────────┘ └──────────────────┘ │ │ ▼ │ │ ┌──────────────────┐ │ │ │ PostgreSQL │ Image: postgres:16-alpine (upstream)│ │ │ (sibling) │ Volume mount: /var/lib/postgresql │ │ │ │ PGDATA: /var/lib/postgresql/data │ │ │ │ → lost+found/ stays OUTSIDE PGDATA │ │ └──────────────────┘ │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ``` All three services communicate via Railway's private network (`postgres.railway.internal`, `clickhouse.railway.internal`). ## Troubleshooting ### Postgres crashes with `directory exists but is not empty` Confirm the Volume widget on the Postgres tile is set to mount at `/var/lib/postgresql` (NOT `/var/lib/postgresql/data`). The latter traps `lost+found/` inside PGDATA. See `postgres/.env.example` for the geometry explanation. ### Volume widget settings don't survive marketplace deploy Railway's UI widget for volumeMounts may not always serialize into the `serializedConfig.services..volumeMounts` block. If a fresh marketplace deploy lacks the postgres volume, verify in the template editor's root-level Raw JSON that the postgres service has `volumeMounts: { "/var/lib/postgresql": {...} }`. If it's missing, you can either (a) inject it manually in the root Raw JSON editor, or (b) switch to IaC (`.railway/railway.ts`) for durable volumeMounts encoding. Worst case, run `railway volume add --service --mount-path /var/lib/postgresql` post-deploy. ### Connection refused Postgres on first deploy Postgres initdb runs on first boot — allow ~30 seconds. Check `railway logs --service Postgres`. ### Plausible logs show ECONNREFUSED / cannot create schema_migrations Postgres is still initializing (wait + refresh), OR Plausible CE's `DATABASE_URL` doesn't match the Postgres tile defaults (verify both via `railway variables --service --kv`). ### Health endpoint returns 502 First deploy takes 60-90 seconds while both Postgres (`initdb`) and Plausible CE (`db migrate` + Elixir release boot) initialize. If 502 persists past 2 minutes, check Postgres logs first — most failures cascade from there. ### Registration stays open after admin signup Set `DISABLE_REGISTRATION=true` on the Plausible CE tile and redeploy. ## License Plausible CE is licensed under [AGPL-3.0](https://github.com/plausible/analytics/blob/master/LICENSE.md). ## Resources - [Plausible CE Repository](https://github.com/plausible/community-edition) - [Plausible CE Wiki](https://github.com/plausible/community-edition/wiki) - [Plausible Documentation](https://plausible.io/docs) - [Railway Documentation](https://docs.railway.app) - Lost+Found gotcha reference: `.agents/skills/railway-deployment/references/plausible-ce-and-postgres-docker-patterns.md` § "Lost+Found Gotcha — Empirically Verified 2026-07-08" ## Similar templates - [Typesense PHP](https://railway.com/deploy/typesense-php) — official PHP client against Railway - [Typesense vs Meilisearch](https://railway.com/deploy/typesense-vs-meilisearch) — self-hosted Typesense vs Meilisearch - [Matomo Analytics + MariaDB](https://railway.com/deploy/matomo-analytics-mariadb) — Privacy-friendly analytics with MariaDB and persistent volumes. 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