Railway Account Setup

Before you can put apps on Railway, you need an account. In this lesson you'll make one, hook it up to GitHub, and take a lil tour of the dashboard.

Creating Your Railway Account#

Signing up is simple. You can use your GitHub login, which means one less password to forget.

Step 1. Go to Railway#

Open your web browser and head to railway.com. You'll land on Railway's homepage with a "Start a New Project" button.

Step 2. Click Login or Start a New Project#

Click the "Login" button in the top right corner, or click "Start a New Project." Either one takes you to the sign-up page.

Step 3. Sign Up with GitHub#

Click "Login with GitHub." It's the easiest option because it connects your GitHub account automatically.

Step 4. Authorize Railway#

GitHub will ask if you want to let Railway into your account. Click "Authorize Railway."

Don't stress about the permissions. Railway only needs to see your repositories so it can deploy them. It won't change your code or dig through private information.

Step 5. Verify Your Email#

Railway may ask you to verify your email address. Check your inbox for a confirmation email and click the link inside.

Understanding the Free Trial#

Railway gives you a free trial to start with. Here's the deal as of October 2026.

• A one-time $5 credit that lasts up to 30 days
• No credit card needed to start the trial
• Smaller limits on how much memory and CPU each service gets

When the 30 days are up (or the $5 runs out, whichever comes first) your account drops to the Free plan, which only gives you $1 of usage credit a month. That's enough to poke around, but not enough to keep a real app running all month. For that you'll want the Hobby plan, which costs $5 a month and includes $5 of usage.

These numbers change, so check railway.com/pricing before you count on them.

Tour of the Dashboard#

Once you sign in, you'll see the Railway dashboard. Let's poke around.

The Main Screen#

The first time you log in, you'll see an empty canvas. This is where your projects will show up. It looks pretty bare, and that's on purpose. Railway likes things clean.

Projects#

A project in Railway is a container for related services. A web app project might hold these.

• Your web application
• A database
• A background worker

Each project gets its own spot on the dashboard.

The New Project Button#

Up in the top right corner there's a button for creating new projects. This is where ALL the action starts, and we'll use it next lesson.

The Navigation Menu#

On the left side you'll see a few menu options.

• Home. Your main dashboard with all projects
• Settings. Your account settings
• Usage. See how much of your credit you've used

Project View#

Click into a project and you'll see these.

• Services. The apps and databases in your project
• Variables. Environment variables (we'll get to these later)
• Settings. Project-specific settings
• Deployments. History of all deploys

Connecting GitHub (If Not Already Connected)#

If you signed up with GitHub, you're already connected. If you used email or need to reconnect, here's how.

Step 1. Go to Account Settings#

Click "Settings" in the left menu, or click your profile picture and pick "Settings."

Step 2. Find Connected Accounts#

Look for a section called "Connected Accounts" or "Integrations."

Step 3. Connect GitHub#

Click the button to connect GitHub. You'll get bounced over to GitHub to authorize the connection.

Step 4. Choose Repository Access#

GitHub will ask which repositories Railway can see. You've got two choices.

• All repositories. Railway can deploy any of your repos
• Select repositories. Only the specific repos you pick

For learning, "All repositories" is fine. You can change it later.

Common Setup Issues#

"I can't see my repositories"#

If Railway isn't showing your GitHub repositories, try this.

1. Go to GitHub.com
2. Click your profile picture, then "Settings"
3. Find "Applications" in the left menu
4. Look for Railway and make sure it has access
5. Click "Configure" to add more repositories

"My email verification link expired"#

If the verification link doesn't work, here's the fix.

1. Go to railway.com and try to log in
2. Railway should offer to resend the verification email
3. Check your spam folder if you don't see it

"I signed up with email but want to use GitHub"#

You can connect GitHub to the account you already have.

1. Log into Railway with your email
2. Go to Settings
3. Connect your GitHub account
4. Now you can deploy from GitHub

Checking Your Setup#

Let's make sure everything's ready for the next lesson.

TL;DR#

• Sign up for Railway with your GitHub account for the easiest setup
• Railway's free trial gives you a one-time $5 credit for up to 30 days, and after that you'll want the Hobby plan for anything that runs all month
• The dashboard is where you manage all your projects
• Each project can hold multiple services (apps, databases, etc.)
• GitHub integration lets Railway deploy your code automatically

What's Next?#

Your account is ready to roll. Next lesson, you'll deploy your first app to Railway, and it's easier than you probably think. We'll go through every step together...