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A2 Hosting vs Railway
A2 Hosting
Railway
Side-by-side comparison of features, pricing, and performance to help you choose the right hosting provider.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | A2 Hosting | Railway |
|---|---|---|
| Rating | N/A | N/A |
| Price | $2.99/mo | N/A |
| Renewal Price | $11.99/mo | N/A |
| Storage | 15 GB NVMe SSD | 0.5 GB |
| Bandwidth | Unlimited | Usage-based ($0.05/GB egress) |
| Websites | 1 | Unlimited |
| CPU | 2 vCPU | Up to 1 vCPU (2 during trial) |
| RAM | 2 GB | Up to 0.5 GB (1 GB during trial) |
| Free Domain | ||
| Free SSL | ||
| Server Locations | ||
| Regions | 4 | 4 |
| Locations | US East, Michigan US West, Arizona Western Europe, Amsterdam Southeast Asia, Singapore | US West, Portland, Oregon US East, Virginia Western Europe Southeast Asia |
| Plan Details | ||
| Limited plan details available | Limited plan details available | |
| Support | Community | |
| Email Accounts | ||
Features | ||
CMS & Platforms (7) | ||
Languages & Frameworks (9) | ||
Databases (4) | ||
Developer Tools (8) | ||
Performance & CDN (4) | ||
| Caching | ||
| CDN | ||
| LiteSpeed | ||
| SSD Storage | ||
Security (6) | ||
| 2FA | ||
| Backups | ||
| DDoS Protection | ||
| Malware Scan | ||
| SSL | ||
| WAF | ||
Support (4) | ||
Extras & Guarantees (5) | ||
| Slight discrepancies are possible. We recommend verifying details on the provider's website. | ||
| Visit A2 Hosting | Visit Railway | |
Pricing & Plans
A2 Hosting Plans
Railway Plans
Pros & Cons
A2 Hosting
Pros
- LiteSpeed web server on all plans
- NVMe SSD storage for fast performance
- Free website migration
- 24/7/365 expert support
- Wide range of hosting types (shared, VPS, reseller, WordPress)
Cons
- Recent rebrand from A2 Hosting to hosting.com may cause confusion
- No public dedicated server pricing (contact sales)
- WordPress plans show $1/mo promo but renewal is significantly higher
- VDS plans have no public pricing
Railway
Pros
- Instant deployments from GitHub with zero configuration
- Usage-based pricing — pay only for what you use
- Supports any language/framework via Nixpacks auto-detection
- Built-in databases (PostgreSQL, MySQL, Redis, MongoDB)
- Automatic SSL certificates on all services
- Private networking between services
- Generous $5/month included credits on Hobby plan
- Simple and transparent per-second billing
- Easy horizontal scaling with replicas
Cons
- No traditional shared hosting features (no cPanel, FTP, email hosting)
- Usage-based pricing can be unpredictable for high-traffic apps
- Free tier is very limited (1 project, no custom domains after trial)
- No phone support — community and ticket-based only
- No managed WordPress hosting
- No money-back guarantee — usage-based billing
- Limited to 2 custom domains on Hobby plan
- Enterprise features require high monthly minimums ($200-$10,000)
Frequently Asked Questions
A2 Hosting
What is web hosting?
It’s the service that stores your website's files and makes them available for the world to see on the internet.
Do I need web hosting for my website?
Yes. If you want a website, you need a place for it to live online. A hosting plan provides that secure space on our servers.
What is shared hosting?
It’s the most cost-effective way to get online. Your site shares server resources with others, which keeps the price low. It's perfect for personal sites, blogs, and small businesses.
What's the difference between shared hosting and a managed server?
Shared hosting puts your site in its own isolated container on a managed, shared server — you get dedicated CPU and RAM, and we run everything. A managed server gives you the whole box: all the resources are yours, still fully managed by us. Most sites start on shared and move up when they outgrow it — same platform, same team, no re-platforming.
Can I upgrade my hosting plan later?
Yes — our plans are built to grow with you. You can upgrade easily and without downtime, all the way from shared hosting to a managed server of your own.
Do I get email with my hosting plan?
Yes, all plans come with our integrated cPanel email solution, so you can create professional addresses using your domain name.
Is technical knowledge required to use web hosting?
No. The control panel is intuitive, and Orbi plus our in-house team are on hand 24/7. Developers can still reach advanced tools like SSH, Git integration and custom cron jobs.
Is web hosting secure?
Yes. All our plans include robust security features like SSL certificates, DDoS protection, and automated backups to keep your site safe.
Can I host multiple websites on one plan?
Some of our plans do. Just check the features of each plan to see which one fits your needs. check plan specs for the site limit.
Do I get root access?
These are fully managed servers, which means we take care of all the patching, security updates and server management for you. You'll access everything through cPanel, so you can focus on running your site without worrying about what's happening behind the scenes. And if you ever decide you'd like full root access and direct OS control, our unmanaged dedicated or cloud options would be a perfect fit for that.
What's the difference between this and shared hosting?
On shared hosting, resources are spread across many customers on the same server, so performance can vary depending on what everyone else is doing. With a Managed cPanel Server, all the RAM, CPU and NVMe storage are dedicated entirely to you. You'll still get the same familiar cPanel interface, but with the added benefit of full isolation, predictable performance and resources that are yours alone.
How many websites can I run?
There's no limit on addon domains or websites within a single cPanel account, so you can host as many sites as you need. If you'd prefer separate cPanel logins for different clients or projects, whether that's for isolation, independent quotas or white labelling, you can easily add extra cPanel accounts through autoscale licensing. These are charged at the transparent cPanel pass through rate, so no markups or surprises.
What exactly does "fully managed" include?
We take care of everything on the server side for you, including initial provisioning and configuration, OS and software patching (cPanel, CloudLinux, Monarx and more), firewall setup and maintenance, 24/7 server level monitoring, daily backup configuration and website migrations. Essentially, we keep the engine running smoothly so you can focus on your sites. Things like application code, CMS plugin updates and content are yours to manage through cPanel, giving you full control over the stuff t
What happens when I need to scale up?
You can upgrade to a larger plan whenever you need to, and we'll handle the entire move for you. No migration headaches on your end.
What Is VPS Hosting?
VPS is an abbreviation for “virtual private server”. A VPS works by dividing a physical server into separate virtual machines. Each of these virtual machines, or virtual private servers, operate completely independently from one another. In other words, each VPS has its own operating system as well as allocation of resources like RAM, CPU and disk space. This provides you with an environment that closely mimics that of a Dedicated Server, without the costs associated with it.
Railway
Which plan is right for me?
Hobby is for indie hackers and developers to build and deploy personal projects. Pro is for professional developers and their teams shipping to production. Enterprise is for dev teams building and deploying production applications with large replica size, SLA, and/or compliance needs.
How do I get started with the free Trial?
If you do not already have a Railway account, you can sign up for a free Trial by clicking Login on railway.com.
How does the Trial work?
When you sign up for the free Trial, you will receive a one-time grant of $5 in credits that you can use to try out Railway. The credits will be applied towards any usage on the platform and expire in 30 days. If you upgrade to a plan while you still have a credit balance from the trial, the remaining balance will carry over to your new plan.
How does the Hobby plan included usage work?
Your Hobby plan subscription includes $5 of usage per month. If your total usage at the end of your billing period is $5 or less, you will not be charged extra for usage. If your total usage exceeds $5 in any given billing period, you will be charged total usage.
Does included usage on Hobby accumulate?
Included usage is reset at the end of every billing cycle and does not accumulate over time.
How can I get a receipt?
When you make a payment, you will receive an email with your invoice and receipt attached. You can also find your billing history in Account > Billing.
How to add company details on my invoice?
Head to Account > Billing and click 'Manage Subscription'. From there, you can update your billing information, including billing address and Tax ID.
What payment methods are accepted?
Railway accepts credit cards for plan subscriptions and usage. We support invoice payments for customers on the Enterprise plan.
Can I try Railway without a credit card?
Yes. As a new Railway user, you can sign up for a free Trial. You will receive a one-time grant of $5 to use on resources.
Can I upgrade or downgrade at any time?
You can upgrade any time, and when you do, you will get to the features of your new plan, as well as access to more powerful resources, immediately. When you downgrade, the changes will take effect at the beginning of your next billing cycle.
What happens when I cancel my subscription?
When you cancel your subscription, if you're on Hobby or Pro, your plan will remain active through the end of your current billing period, and any usage will be charged at the end of the period. If you are on the Hobby plan and using prepaid credits as your payment method, your subscription will be canceled immediately and any credit balance you may have will be forfeited.
Ready to Choose?
Both providers offer great features. Visit their websites to see the latest deals and pricing.
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US East, Michigan
Western Europe, Amsterdam
Southeast Asia, Singapore
Western Europe