Deploy and Host Spree eCommerce on Railway

Spree Commerce is an open-source, API-first eCommerce platform built with Ruby on Rails. It provides a complete, modular solution for building modern online stores with multi-vendor marketplace capabilities, multi-currency support, and customizable product catalogs. Trusted by major brands like New England Patriots, Craftsman, and Blue Bottle Coffee.

About Hosting Spree eCommerce

Hosting Spree eCommerce requires a Ruby on Rails environment with PostgreSQL database support and Redis for caching and background job processing. The platform is highly scalable and can handle everything from small single-store setups to large multi-tenant marketplace deployments.

Spree's modular architecture allows for easy customization and extension through gems, while its RESTful API enables headless commerce implementations. The platform includes a comprehensive admin dashboard for managing products, orders, customers, and shipping, making it production-ready out of the box with enterprise-grade security and performance optimizations.

Common Use Cases

Multi-vendor Marketplaces: Build platforms where multiple sellers can list and sell products with individual storefronts and payment processing

B2B and B2C eCommerce Stores: Create professional online stores with advanced product catalogs, customer segmentation, and custom pricing

Multi-tenant SaaS Solutions: Deploy white-label eCommerce solutions for clients with separate branding, product catalogs, and configurations per tenant

Headless Commerce: Use Spree's API-first architecture to power modern frontend frameworks like Next.js, Vue, or React

Dependencies for Spree eCommerce Hosting

PostgreSQL Database: Primary data store for products, orders, customers, and store configuration

Redis: Required for caching, session management, and background job processing via Sidekiq

Ruby 3.3+: Runtime environment for the Rails application

Rails 8+: Web application framework powering Spree

Image Processing Libraries: libvips for product image manipulation and thumbnail generation

Deployment Dependencies

• Spree Commerce Documentation
• Spree GitHub Repository
• Spree Quickstart Guide
• Spree Community Slack

Implementation Details

Enterprise-Grade Security Configuration

This template implements production-ready security best practices from day one:

• Secure Credential Management: Admin credentials must be explicitly set during deployment - no default passwords
• Deployment Validation: Container fails fast with clear error messages if required security variables are missing
• Session Management: Configurable session timeouts with secure cookie handling

Critical Variables (Must Be Set)

ADMIN_EMAIL - Your admin user email address. This account will be created automatically on first deployment

ADMIN_PASSWORD - Secure password for admin access (minimum 6 characters, recommend 12+ with mixed characters)

Recommended Production Configuration

Email Delivery (SendGrid):

• SENDGRID_API_KEY - For transactional emails (order confirmations, password resets)
• SENDGRID_DOMAIN - Your verified sender domain
• MAIL_FROM_ADDRESS - Customize the "from" address for emails

Error Monitoring (Sentry):

• SENTRY_DSN - For production error tracking and performance monitoring

Enhanced Features:

• GOOGLE_PLACES_API_KEY - Enables address autocomplete during checkout
• SCREENSHOT_API_TOKEN - Automated screenshot generation for products/pages

Auto-Configured Services

Railway automatically configures the following:

• PostgreSQL database with SSL support and connection pooling
• Redis for caching and Sidekiq background job processing
• Secrets generation for SECRET_KEY_BASE and SPREE_AUTH_SECRET_KEY
• Static asset serving optimized for production

Post-Deployment Steps

1. Access Admin Panel: Navigate to https://your-domain.railway.app/admin

2. Login: Use the ADMIN_EMAIL and ADMIN_PASSWORD you configured during deployment

3. Configure Payment Gateways:

   • Settings → Payments → Add Payment Method
   • Stripe, PayPal, and other gateways are configured here (not via environment variables)
   • This allows multi-store deployments with different payment processors per store

4. Configure Shipping Methods:

   • Settings → Shipping Methods
   • Add your shipping zones, carriers, and rates

5. Setup Tax Rates:

   • Settings → Tax Rates
   • Configure tax categories and jurisdictions

6. Customize Store Settings:

   • Settings → Stores → Edit your store
   • Set store name, URL, SEO settings, and currencies

7. Configure Email Templates:

   • Settings → Emails
   • Customize transactional email templates for your brand

8. Add Products:

   • Products → New Product
   • Add your product catalog with images, variants, and pricing

Optional Integrations

Marketing & Analytics:

• Klaviyo: Configure in Settings → Klaviyo (email marketing & automation)
• Google Analytics 4: Built-in integration for ecommerce tracking

Payment Methods:

• Stripe: Credit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Buy Now Pay Later
• PayPal Checkout: PayPal, Venmo
• Configure API keys post-deployment via admin dashboard

Why Deploy Spree eCommerce 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 Spree eCommerce 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.

Railway Advantages for Spree

Zero-Configuration Database: PostgreSQL with automatic backups and SSL encryption

Built-in Redis: Caching and background job processing without additional setup

Automatic SSL: HTTPS enabled by default with managed certificates

Environment Management: Secure secret storage and easy environment variable configuration

Persistent Volumes: Reliable file storage for product images and uploads

CI/CD Pipeline: Automatic deployments from Git with zero downtime

Monitoring Included: Built-in metrics for application performance and resource usage

One-Click Deployment: From code to production in minutes with this template

Deploy your enterprise-grade eCommerce store today with production-ready security, scalability, and all the integrations you need to succeed.