Does Django Work With Railway?
Django deploys seamlessly on Railway with first-class support for Python apps, databases, and environment management.
Quick Facts
How Django Works With Railway
Django and Railway work together excellently because Railway is container-agnostic and provides native PostgreSQL, Redis, and other services that Django applications typically depend on. You push your Django code to Railway's Git integration or CLI, it auto-detects the Python project, installs dependencies from requirements.txt, runs migrations automatically (via release commands), and serves your app over HTTPS. Railway handles environment variables seamlessly—you define DATABASE_URL, SECRET_KEY, DEBUG, etc. in the Railway dashboard or .env file, and they're automatically injected into your Django settings. The developer experience is streamlined: commit code, Railway rebuilds and redeploys within seconds. Static files are handled via whitenoise or Railway's built-in static file serving. The main architectural benefit is Railway's native database provisioning—spin up PostgreSQL or MySQL directly in the dashboard and Railway provides a connection string that Django consumes immediately.
Best Use Cases
Django on Railway - Settings Configuration
pip install django whitenoise python-dotenv psycopg2-binary# settings.py
import os
from pathlib import Path
BASE_DIR = Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent
# Environment variables from Railway dashboard
SECRET_KEY = os.getenv('SECRET_KEY', 'dev-key-change-in-production')
DEBUG = os.getenv('DEBUG', 'False') == 'True'
ALLOWED_HOSTS = os.getenv('ALLOWED_HOSTS', 'localhost').split(',')
# Database from Railway PostgreSQL service
if os.getenv('DATABASE_URL'):
import dj_database_url
DATABASES = {
'default': dj_database_url.config(default=os.getenv('DATABASE_URL'))
}
else:
DATABASES = {
'default': {
'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.sqlite3',
'NAME': BASE_DIR / 'db.sqlite3',
}
}
INSTALLED_APPS = [
'django.contrib.staticfiles',
# ...
]
MIDDLEWARE = [
'whitenoise.middleware.WhiteNoiseMiddleware',
'django.middleware.security.SecurityMiddleware',
# ...
]
STATIC_URL = '/static/'
STATIC_ROOT = BASE_DIR / 'staticfiles'Known Issues & Gotchas
Static files not serving in production if whitenoise isn't configured
Fix: Install whitenoise via pip, add it to MIDDLEWARE before Django's middleware, and ensure STATIC_ROOT is set in settings.py
Database migrations fail on first deploy if release command isn't configured
Fix: Add a Procfile or railway.json with release command: 'python manage.py migrate' to run before app startup
SECRET_KEY hardcoded in settings.py gets committed to Git
Fix: Use environment variables: SECRET_KEY = os.getenv('SECRET_KEY') and set it in Railway dashboard, never commit actual keys
Local .env file conflicts with Railway's environment variables during development
Fix: Use python-dotenv to load .env locally, but ensure Railway env vars override it in production via proper precedence
Alternatives
- •Heroku + Django: More expensive but with longer track record; similar developer experience
- •AWS App Runner + Django + RDS: More control and scaling options but requires more configuration overhead
- •Render + Django: Direct Railway competitor with similar pricing and ease-of-use for Django deployments
Resources
Related Compatibility Guides
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