How do I deploy Sanic WebSocket Chat on Railway?

You can deploy Sanic WebSocket Chat on Railway by clicking the "Deploy Now" button on this page. Railway will automatically set up all the necessary services and configurations for you.

What are the system requirements?

Railway handles all the infrastructure requirements. You only need a web browser to deploy and manage your application.

Is this template free to use?

Yes, this template is free to use within your existing Railway account.

Can I customize this template?

Yes, you can fully customize this template. After deployment, you will have full control of what you've deployed in your Railway project.

How do I get support for this template?

You can get support through our community forum: sanic-web-socket-chat-7bcccf6f, or click "Get template help" for this template for more assistance.

Deploy and Host Sanic WebSocket Chat on Railway

Hello, this is a real-time multi-user chat application built with Python's Sanic framework and native WebSockets. App's features include color-coded usernames, typing indicators, auto-reconnect, chat history persistence, and a responsive dark-themed UI — all in a single file.

About Hosting Sanic WebSocket Chat

Hosting a WebSocket chat app requires a platform that supports persistent, long-lived connections rather than just traditional HTTP request-response cycles. Sanic's async architecture handles thousands of concurrent WebSocket connections efficiently on a single process. Railway simplifies deployment by auto-detecting the Python runtime, injecting the PORT environment variable, and providing a public HTTPS domain with automatic WSS (secure WebSocket) upgrade support — no reverse proxy or TLS configuration needed. Push your repo, and Railway handles the rest.

Common Use Cases

Live group chat rooms for communities, classrooms, or team collaboration
Learning resource for students exploring WebSocket protocols and async Python
Foundation for real-time features like notifications, live dashboards, or multiplayer game lobbies

Dependencies for Sanic WebSocket Chat Hosting

Python 3.10+
Sanic 23.12.1
websockets 12.0

Deployment Dependencies

Sanic Documentation

Implementation Details

The entire application is a single app.py file with the frontend HTML/CSS/JS embedded inline. The server manages connected clients via an in-memory dictionary and broadcasts messages through asyncio.gather. The entry point reads Railway's PORT environment variable:

port = int(os.environ.get("PORT", 8080))
app.run(host="0.0.0.0", port=port, auto_reload=False)

Why Deploy Sanic WebSocket Chat 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 Sanic WebSocket Chat 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.