Does FastAPI Work With Railway?
FastAPI and Railway work seamlessly together; Railway can deploy FastAPI applications with minimal configuration and automatic scaling.
Quick Facts
How FastAPI Works With Railway
FastAPI deploys on Railway as a standard Python web service. Railway detects the Python environment, installs dependencies from requirements.txt or pyproject.toml, and runs your FastAPI app via a Procfile or by inferring the start command. Railway automatically handles scaling, environment variables, and HTTPS—you simply push your code and it deploys. The developer experience is smooth: connect your GitHub repo, set environment variables in the Railway dashboard, and Railway rebuilds and redeploys on every push. For databases, Railway offers integrated PostgreSQL, MySQL, and MongoDB services that you can link to your FastAPI instance via connection strings. The main architectural consideration is ensuring your FastAPI app binds to 0.0.0.0 and reads the PORT environment variable, which Railway sets automatically. This is the standard for any containerized deployment.
Best Use Cases
Quick Setup
pip install fastapi uvicorn# main.py
from fastapi import FastAPI
from fastapi.middleware.cors import CORSMiddleware
import os
app = FastAPI(title="My API")
app.add_middleware(
CORSMiddleware,
allow_origins=["*"],
allow_credentials=True,
allow_methods=["*"],
allow_headers=["*"],
)
@app.get("/")
async def root():
return {"message": "Hello from Railway"}
@app.get("/health")
async def health():
return {"status": "ok"}
if __name__ == "__main__":
import uvicorn
port = int(os.getenv("PORT", 8000))
uvicorn.run(app, host="0.0.0.0", port=port)Known Issues & Gotchas
FastAPI app doesn't bind to the correct port or address
Fix: Ensure your app runs with uvicorn on 0.0.0.0 and reads the PORT env var: uvicorn main:app --host 0.0.0.0 --port $PORT
Cold starts can cause timeouts on first request after deployment
Fix: Use Railway's health checks and configure appropriate startup grace periods; consider keeping at least one instance warm
Missing dependencies cause deployment failures silently
Fix: Always maintain an updated requirements.txt or use Poetry/Pipenv; test locally with pip install -r requirements.txt before pushing
Static files and async database connections need explicit configuration
Fix: Serve static files from a CDN or use FastAPI's StaticFiles mount; use async drivers like asyncpg for PostgreSQL
Alternatives
- •Flask with Railway - simpler framework but less built-in tooling for APIs
- •Django with Railway - more batteries-included but heavier for API-only projects
- •Vercel with FastAPI (via serverless functions) - better for edge computing but less suitable for long-running processes
Resources
Related Compatibility Guides
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