Deploy guides

Deploy a Cursor app to Railway

Best when your project has a backend server or needs a database next to it.

Step by step

  1. Check your project type

    • Static / SPA (Vite, Astro, plain HTML): Build produces a folder of HTML/JS/CSS (dist/, build/, out/).
    • Next.js / SSR framework: next.config.* or a server adapter.
    • Long-running server (Express, FastAPI, bots, websockets): A start command like node server.js or uvicorn that must keep running.

  2. Get the code onto GitHub

    • Create a GitHub repo and push (Cursor's Source Control panel or git in the terminal).

  3. Create the project on Railway

    Go to railway.com/new → Deploy from GitHub repo, connect GitHub and choose the repository. Railway detects the build automatically.

  4. Check the build settings

    A Vite SPA is served as static files; a Node/Python server needs a start command and must listen on $PORT.

    For Cursor: build command Whatever package.json says (usually npm run build), output Depends on framework.

  5. Add environment variables before the first build

    In Railway: Service → Variables tab (frontend VITE_* values must be present at build time). Copy these from Cursor:

    • Everything in your local .env — never commit it; add each value in the host dashboard.

    Changed a value later? Rebuild. Vite bakes variables in at build time. Troubleshoot missing env vars

  6. Make page refreshes work (Vite / React Router single-page apps)

    Caddyfile (or serve -s dist) 
    :{$PORT:3000} {
    root * dist
    encode gzip
    file_server
    try_files {path} /index.html
}

    Server-rendered projects (TanStack Start, Next.js) don't need this. Railway docs (opens in a new tab)

  7. Update login redirect URLs

    Add your new Railway URL (and later your custom domain) to your auth provider's allowed URLs. Redirect troubleshooting

  8. Add your domain

    Service → Settings → Networking → + Custom Domain. Railway gives you a CNAME to add at your DNS provider and issues SSL automatically.

What it will cost

Limited free Free Trial: $5 one-time credit for 30 days; then Free plan with $1/month of usage. Paid from $5/mo: Hobby: $5/month including $5 of usage, 2 custom domains, 50 projects. Pro: $20/month per workspace. Checked 17 Oct 2026 on Railway's pricing page (opens in a new tab).

  • The Free plan can't attach a custom domain — budget for Hobby ($5/mo) if you want your own domain.

Other options for Cursor