---
title: "Deploy WooCommerce"
description: "Online store software for selling products on your own website"
category: "CMS"
url: https://railway.com/deploy/woocommerce-store
---

# Deploy WooCommerce

Online store software for selling products on your own website

**[Deploy WooCommerce on Railway](https://railway.com/template/woocommerce-store)**

- **Creator:** A3A
- **Category:** CMS
- **Total deploys:** 1

## Template content

### woocommerce https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/homarr-labs/dashboard-icons/svg/woocommerce.svg

- **Source:** https://github.com/gridalpha/woocommerce-railway
- **Health check:** /
- **Public domain:** Yes

### Redis https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/homarr-labs/dashboard-icons/svg/redis.svg

- **Image:** redis:8.2
- **Start command:** `/bin/sh -c "rm -rf $RAILWAY_VOLUME_MOUNT_PATH/lost+found/ && exec docker-entrypoint.sh redis-server --requirepass $REDIS_PASSWORD --save 60 1 --dir $RAILWAY_VOLUME_MOUNT_PATH"`

### mailpit https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/homarr-labs/dashboard-icons/svg/mailpit.svg

- **Image:** axllent/mailpit:latest
- **Health check:** /livez
- **Public domain:** Yes

### MySQL https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/homarr-labs/dashboard-icons/svg/mysql.svg

- **Image:** mysql:9.4
- **Start command:** `docker-entrypoint.sh mysqld --innodb-use-native-aio=0 --disable-log-bin --performance_schema=0 --innodb-buffer-pool-size=1G`

## Documentation

# Deploy and Host WooCommerce on Railway

WooCommerce is the open-source e-commerce platform built on WordPress, and it powers more online stores than anything else on the web — roughly a third of all stores whose platform can be identified. It turns a WordPress site into a full shop: catalogue, cart, checkout, orders, customer accounts, coupons, tax and shipping rules, and transactional email. Because it is a plugin rather than a hosted service, you own the database, the media and the customer records outright.

Deploy WooCommerce on Railway and you get a store already trading, not an installer. The template runs WordPress with WooCommerce activated, a managed MySQL database holding products and orders, a managed Redis object cache, and Mailpit capturing the order email the store sends. On first boot the container installs WordPress, creates a database-scoped MySQL account, seeds a sample catalogue with images, enables a shipping and a payment method, and starts a scheduler loop so background jobs fire without waiting for traffic.

![Diagram of the WooCommerce, MySQL, Redis and Mailpit services on Railway](https://res.cloudinary.com/rroe4rtk/image/upload/v1787433602/woocommerce-architecture.png)

## Getting Started with WooCommerce on Railway

Set `WORDPRESS_ADMIN_USER`, `WORDPRESS_ADMIN_PASSWORD` and `WORDPRESS_ADMIN_EMAIL` before you deploy — they are read once, while the installer runs, and afterwards the password is a hash only WordPress can change. Every other variable has a working default.

When the deploy finishes, open the public URL. You should land on a live storefront, not a setup wizard. Visit `/shop/`, add a product to the cart, and go to `/checkout/`. Cash on delivery is enabled and free shipping covers every region, so you can complete a real order without connecting a gateway — the fastest way to confirm the stack is healthy, since it writes to MySQL, reads through the cache and sends two emails.

Sign in at `/wp-admin/` and open **WooCommerce → Orders**; your test order will be there. Mailpit's public URL — protected by `MP_UI_AUTH` — holds the customer confirmation and the new-order notice. Then make it yours: delete the sample products, set your address and currency under **WooCommerce → Settings**, and add a gateway under **WooCommerce → Payments**.

![WooCommerce shop page listing six coffee products with prices](https://res.cloudinary.com/rroe4rtk/image/upload/v1787433604/woocommerce-shop-catalogue.png)

![WooCommerce block checkout with order summary and cash on delivery](https://res.cloudinary.com/rroe4rtk/image/upload/v1787433606/woocommerce-checkout.png)

![WooCommerce admin orders list showing one completed order](https://res.cloudinary.com/rroe4rtk/image/upload/v1787433610/woocommerce-orders-admin.png)

![Mailpit inbox holding the WooCommerce order confirmation emails](https://res.cloudinary.com/rroe4rtk/image/upload/v1787433612/woocommerce-mailpit-order-emails.png)

## About Hosting WooCommerce

Hosting WooCommerce yourself means running WordPress with PHP, a MySQL database, persistent storage for media, and something that reliably runs scheduled work. Teams choose it to keep customer data in their own infrastructure, avoid per-transaction fees, or build on WordPress content they already publish.

Key features:

- Simple, variable, grouped, downloadable and virtual products, with stock management
- A block-based cart and checkout that works in any modern WordPress theme
- Orders, refunds, coupons, tax classes, shipping zones and guest checkout
- A REST API and a public Store API for headless frontends

The Railway architecture is four services. **WooCommerce** is the WordPress container serving HTTP, keeping `wp-content` — uploads, plugins, themes — on a persistent volume. **MySQL** stores products, orders, customers and settings. **Redis** backs the object cache, which matters more here than on a content site because WooCommerce is unusually heavy on option and meta queries. **Mailpit** gives the store somewhere to send mail, so order confirmations exist and are readable from day one.

## Why Deploy WooCommerce on Railway

Railway removes the server administration a self-hosted store usually needs.

- MySQL, Redis and volumes are provisioned with the app, already networked
- HTTPS and a public domain are issued automatically, with no certificates to manage
- Private networking keeps the database, cache and SMTP listener off the internet
- Scaling CPU and memory is a slider; logs, metrics and rollbacks are built in

## Common Use Cases

- A direct-to-consumer storefront for a brand that also publishes on WordPress
- Digital downloads and licence keys, using virtual products with no shipping
- A headless commerce backend, with a custom frontend on the WooCommerce Store API

## Dependencies for WooCommerce

- **WooCommerce** — `wordpress:7.0-php8.4-apache`, extended by [gridalpha/woocommerce-railway](https://github.com/gridalpha/woocommerce-railway), which adds WP-CLI, configures the store at boot and ships the SMTP and hardening must-use plugins
- **MySQL** — managed MySQL 9, the system of record for products and orders
- **Redis** — managed Redis 8, object cache via the Redis Object Cache plugin
- **Mailpit** — `axllent/mailpit:latest`, private SMTP on 1025 plus a protected inbox

### Environment Variables Reference

| Variable | Purpose |
|---|---|
| `WORDPRESS_ADMIN_USER` / `_PASSWORD` / `_EMAIL` | First administrator, read once at install |
| `WOOCOMMERCE_STORE_COUNTRY` / `_CITY` / `_ADDRESS` / `_POSTCODE` | Store address, for tax and shipping |
| `WOOCOMMERCE_CURRENCY` | Store currency, `USD` by default |
| `WOOCOMMERCE_SEED_SAMPLE_PRODUCTS` | Set `false` for an empty catalogue |
| `WORDPRESS_SMTP_HOST` / `_PORT` / `_USER` / `_PASSWORD` / `_SECURE` | Outbound mail; point at a real relay in production |

### Deployment Dependencies

Runtime is PHP 8.4 with Apache and `mod_php`, MySQL 9 and Redis 8. Sources: [github.com/woocommerce/woocommerce](https://github.com/woocommerce/woocommerce), [hub.docker.com/_/wordpress](https://hub.docker.com/_/wordpress), [github.com/axllent/mailpit](https://github.com/axllent/mailpit).

## Hardware Requirements for Self-Hosting WooCommerce

| Resource | Minimum | Recommended |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | 1 vCPU | 2 vCPU |
| RAM | 512 MB | 2 GB across all services |
| Storage | 5 GB volume | 10 GB or more with heavy product imagery |
| Runtime | PHP 8.1+, MySQL 8+ | PHP 8.4, MySQL 9, Redis 8 |

## Self-Hosting WooCommerce

Self-hosting WooCommerce means running WordPress and installing the plugin. The smallest setup is WordPress plus MySQL, which Docker does in two commands:

```
docker run -d --name wpdb -e MYSQL_DATABASE=wordpress \
  -e MYSQL_USER=wordpress -e MYSQL_PASSWORD=change-me \
  -e MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=change-me-too -v wpdb:/var/lib/mysql mysql:9

docker run -d --name wp --link wpdb:db -p 8080:80 \
  -e WORDPRESS_DB_HOST=db -e WORDPRESS_DB_NAME=wordpress \
  -e WORDPRESS_DB_USER=wordpress -e WORDPRESS_DB_PASSWORD=change-me \
  -v wp:/var/www/html wordpress:7.0-php8.4-apache
```

That serves WordPress at `http://localhost:8080`, where you still run the installer and add the plugin by hand. To skip both, use WP-CLI — what this template does on first boot:

```
wp core install --url=https://example.com --title="My Store" \
  --admin_user=storeadmin --admin_password=... --admin_email=you@example.com
wp plugin install woocommerce --activate
wp option update woocommerce_coming_soon no
```

That last line matters more than it looks: every new install is hidden behind a site-wide "coming soon" placeholder until the store is explicitly launched, and completing the onboarding profile does not clear it.

## Is WooCommerce Free?

WooCommerce is free and open source under the GPL, and so is WordPress. There are no licence fees, no per-store charges and no cut of your sales — WooCommerce earns from optional paid extensions and from WooPayments. Payment providers still charge processing fees, and on Railway you pay only for what the four services use.

## FAQ

**What is WooCommerce?**

An open-source e-commerce plugin that adds a product catalogue, cart, checkout, orders and customer accounts to a WordPress site. It is the most widely deployed e-commerce software online.

**What does this Railway template deploy?**

WordPress with WooCommerce activated on a persistent volume, a managed MySQL database, a managed Redis object cache, and Mailpit as an SMTP destination with a protected inbox. The store is trading when the deploy finishes.

**Why does the template include Redis and Mailpit?**

WooCommerce runs many option and meta queries per page, and a persistent object cache is the single biggest thing you can do about it. Mailpit exists because a container has no mail transfer agent, so without an SMTP destination every order confirmation is silently dropped. Repoint `WORDPRESS_SMTP_HOST` at a real relay before taking real orders.

**How do I accept real payments in self-hosted WooCommerce?**

The template enables cash on delivery so checkout works right away. For real payments, go to **WooCommerce → Payments**, install a gateway — WooPayments, Stripe, PayPal or a regional provider — and supply your own credentials.

**Can I use my own domain and theme?**

Yes. Add a custom domain in Railway's service settings; the store reads its canonical URL from the environment on every boot, so nothing in the database needs editing. Any WordPress theme works — WooCommerce ships block templates for shop, product, cart and checkout.

**Does WordPress update itself, and can I install plugins?**

Plugin and theme installation is enabled, and WordPress applies minor core updates automatically. Editing plugin and theme files from the browser is disabled — a deliberate hardening choice on a public store. The core version is held on a line WooCommerce has certified, so the admin may offer a newer major than the container ships.


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