--- title: "Deploy Tier (Open-Source Pricing, Billing & Subscription Tool)" description: "Tier [Aug ’26] (Manage Subscriptions & Pricing Models) Self Host" category: "Other" url: https://railway.com/deploy/tier --- # Deploy Tier (Open-Source Pricing, Billing & Subscription Tool) Tier [Aug ’26] (Manage Subscriptions & Pricing Models) Self Host **[Deploy Tier (Open-Source Pricing, Billing & Subscription Tool) on Railway](https://railway.com/template/tier)** - **Creator:** shinyduo's Projects - **Category:** Other - **Total deploys:** 4 ## Template content ### tier - **Image:** tierrun/tier - **Public domain:** Yes ## Documentation ![Tier open source BaaS Image](https://res.cloudinary.com/dojdzamvk/image/upload/v1761680844/68747470733a2f2f75706c6f6164732d73736c2e776562666c6f772e636f6d2f3631653039303664666232306162326231633739663661662f3633386531373561653335366335346665353761373537395f494d475f383538382e706e67_y4xdwd.png "Deploying Tier on Railway platform”) # Deploy and Host Managed Tier Service with one click on Railway Tier is a powerful, open-source billing and pricing management platform that helps developers and startups handle subscription billing, usage-based pricing, and payment integrations seamlessly. Available on GitHub, Tier provides a developer-friendly alternative to complex enterprise billing systems like Stripe Billing or Chargebee. ## About Hosting Tier on Railway (Self Hosting Tier on Railway) ## Why Deploy Managed Tier Service on Railway Deploying a managed Tier service on Railway provides an effortless experience for developers who want to run advanced billing and pricing systems without worrying about infrastructure management. With Railway’s one-click deployment, you can set up a production-ready Tier instance instantly. It combines the control and customization of Tier with Railway’s automated scaling, updates, and monitoring. ### Railway vs Linode: While Linode demands extensive setup and ongoing maintenance for running Tier, Railway automates everything from database management to SSL setup. You simply define environment variables, and Railway spins up a fully functional Tier environment, saving you time and reducing operational complexity. ### Railway vs Vultr: Vultr gives users infrastructure-level access but requires manual optimization for performance and security. Railway automates deployment and scaling for Tier, ensuring optimal performance with no manual server management. ### Railway vs AWS Lightsail: AWS Lightsail provides powerful features but involves configuring networks, instances, and storage manually. Railway abstracts this complexity, offering one-click Tier deployment and managed databases, making it ideal for developers who want simplicity and reliability. ### Railway vs Hetzner: Hetzner is known for cost-effective servers but requires complete self-management of infrastructure. Railway’s managed platform eliminates this burden, automatically handling deployment, monitoring, and scaling for your Tier billing system. ## Common Use Cases Here are five popular use cases for Tier: ### 1\. SaaS Subscription Management: Manage recurring subscriptions for your SaaS application effortlessly with Tier’s APIs. Set flexible billing cycles, discounts, and automatic renewals. ### 2\. Usage-Based Pricing: Enable metered billing for APIs, storage, compute, or any other usage metric. Tier tracks and bills customers based on real consumption. ### 3\. Revenue Analytics and Invoicing: Automatically generate invoices, collect payments, and analyze your revenue performance using integrated dashboards and reports. ### 4\. Customer Portal Integration: Allow users to manage their plans, usage, and payment history through an embedded customer portal powered by Tier. ### 5\. Developer Sandbox for Payment Testing: Run a sandbox environment for testing different pricing models and billing workflows before production deployment. ## Dependencies for Tier Hosted on Railway To host Tier on Railway, you’ll need a PostgreSQL database (for billing data), Node.js runtime (for backend services), and an HTTP server such as Express or Fastify. ### Deployment Dependencies for Managed Tier Service A managed Tier instance automatically provisions these dependencies within Railway’s ecosystem. You only need to set up your environment variables and connect your preferred payment provider (Stripe, Paddle, etc.). ### Implementation Details for Tier (Billing Automation) To deploy Tier on Railway, you’ll need to define environment variables such as: * **DATABASE\_URL** – The PostgreSQL connection string * **STRIPE\_SECRET\_KEY** – The Stripe secret API key for payment processing * **TIER\_SECRET\_KEY** – Secret key used for authentication and internal API access Once configured, Railway handles provisioning the runtime environment, networking, and persistent storage automatically. ## How Does Tier Compare to Other Billing Systems? ### Tier vs Stripe Billing Tier focuses on open-source flexibility and self-hosted control, while Stripe Billing is a cloud-based SaaS product. Stripe Billing offers a polished interface and advanced automation, but all your data resides on Stripe’s servers. Tier gives you complete control and zero vendor lock-in. ### Tier vs Chargebee Chargebee offers enterprise-grade billing management but comes with higher costs and limited customization. Tier, being open-source, allows total flexibility and is perfect for startups or developers who prefer building custom workflows. ### Tier vs Recurly Recurly provides a powerful subscription management platform but is entirely cloud-hosted. Tier is lightweight, open-source, and self-hosted, making it ideal for developers who want simplicity and independence. ### Tier vs Paddle Paddle simplifies SaaS billing for global payments but offers limited customization for unique pricing models. Tier is API-first and designed for flexible usage-based pricing, making it better suited for technical teams. ## How to Use Tier 1. **Deploy Tier on Railway:** Click the **Deploy Now** button and connect your GitHub repository. 2. **Configure Environment Variables:** Set up your database and payment provider credentials. 3. **Access the Tier Dashboard:** Once deployed, open the Railway-generated URL to access the Tier interface. 4. **Integrate the API:** Connect Tier’s REST API to your application backend for billing operations. 5. **Go Live:** Start collecting payments, tracking usage, and managing billing with full control. ## How to Self Host Tier on Other VPS ### Clone the Repository Clone Tier from GitHub using `https://github.com/tierrun/tier.git`. ### Install Dependencies Make sure your VPS has Node.js, PostgreSQL, and an HTTP server like Nginx installed. ### Configure Environment Variables Set environment variables such as DATABASE\_URL, STRIPE\_SECRET\_KEY, and PORT for your application. ### Start the Tier Application Run the server with `npm start` or `yarn start`. Then, configure Nginx to route incoming requests to your Tier instance. ### Access the Tier Dashboard Open your VPS’s public IP in a browser, complete the setup wizard, and start managing your billing logic. With Railway, this entire process is automated — you can self-host Tier in one click. ## Features of Tier * **Open Source and Developer Friendly:** Full control and transparency with a modern API-based design. * **Customizable Pricing Models:** Supports flat-rate, tiered, and usage-based billing structures. * **Real-Time Usage Tracking:** Tracks and bills based on API usage, storage, or any metric you define. * **Automated Invoicing and Payments:** Generates invoices and integrates with payment gateways. * **Scalable and Secure:** Deployed in managed containers on Railway with automatic scaling. ## Official Pricing of Tier Cloud Service Tier is free to self-host. However, if you use Tier Cloud, pricing plans depend on API usage and the number of managed customers. As of **October 2025**, the Tier Cloud starter plan begins at around **$15/month**, scaling with your usage volume. All plans support API access, integrations, analytics, and real-time monitoring.. ### Monthly Cost of Self Hosting Tier on Railway Self-hosting Tier on Railway generally costs **$5–$10 USD per month** for the main app instance, plus additional fees for a managed PostgreSQL database. This makes it extremely affordable compared to traditional SaaS billing platforms. ### System Requirements for Hosting Tier * Node.js (v18+) * PostgreSQL Database * 512 MB+ RAM * 1 vCPU minimum * * * ## FAQs ### What is Tier? Tier is an open-source billing and pricing management platform that enables developers to automate billing workflows and manage subscriptions with full data control. ### How do I self host Tier? You can self-host Tier by deploying it on Railway or your VPS. Simply configure environment variables and connect your preferred payment gateway. ### What are the key features of Tier? Tier supports recurring billing, usage-based pricing, invoicing, and revenue analytics, with a modern API and privacy-first architecture. ### How do I deploy Tier on Railway? Click the **Deploy Now** button, connect your GitHub repo, and Railway will automatically provision and deploy your Tier instance. ### What are the dependencies for Tier hosting? Tier requires Node.js, PostgreSQL, and a web server (like Express or Nginx) to run successfully. ### What are the common use cases for Tier? Tier is used for subscription management, API monetization, SaaS billing automation, and payment analytics. ### How does Tier deployment on Railway compare to other VPS providers? Railway automates setup, scaling, and updates for Tier, unlike other VPS services that require manual configuration and maintenance. ### What is the difference between self-hosting Tier and using Tier Cloud? Self-hosting Tier is free and private, while Tier Cloud offers managed hosting, updates, and technical support for a subscription fee. ### Where can I find the official Tier source code? You can access Tier’s source code on [GitHub](https://github.com/tierrun/tier) to explore or contribute. ## Similar templates - [Rocky Linux](https://railway.com/deploy/rocky-linux) — [Jul'26] Hosted Rocky Linux 9 workspace with SSH and persistent storage. 🚀 - [Foundry Virtual Tabletop](https://railway.com/deploy/X5tR6G) — A Self-Hosted & Modern Roleplaying Platform - [Letta Code Remote](https://railway.com/deploy/letta-code-remote) — Run a Letta Code agent 24/7. No inbound ports, just deploy. Open this page in a browser: https://railway.com/deploy/tier