# Set up Crewtavo on Railway

> Create a free Railway account, approve the setup, and Crewtavo deploys into your own account and opens in a few minutes.

Crewtavo runs in your own account at Railway, a hosting company, so your business data stays yours. The guided setup at [crewtavo.com/start](https://crewtavo.com/start/) signs you in to Railway (or creates your account), sets up Crewtavo there and opens it when it's ready. It usually takes a few minutes, and there's nothing to install.

## Before you start

- An email address or a Google account for Railway.
- Nothing to pay yet. Railway's free trial covers the first 30 days or $5 of usage, whichever comes first. To keep Crewtavo running after that, it needs Railway's Hobby plan: $5 a month, including $5 of usage. See [What Railway costs](https://crewtavo.com/docs/hosting/railway-costs/).

## Set it up

1. Open [Get started](https://crewtavo.com/start/) and choose **Continue with Railway**.
2. On Railway's page, choose **Log in using email**, then choose Google or type your email. If you're new to Railway, this creates your account.
3. Pick the workspace to put Crewtavo in, then choose **Authorize**.
4. Keep the **Setting up your Crewtavo** tab open. It ticks off each step: creating your Crewtavo in Railway, starting its database, sign-ins and file storage, then starting Crewtavo and preparing your database.
5. When it says **Your Crewtavo is ready**, bookmark the address it shows. It's where you and your team sign in, and it looks like `crewtavo-production-1a2b.up.railway.app`.

Your Crewtavo then opens on its own, on the screen where you [create your owner account](https://crewtavo.com/docs/getting-started/first-sign-in/).

:::note[What the setup keeps]
Nothing. The setup uses your Railway sign-in only to deploy Crewtavo. That access lasts one hour, stays in an encrypted cookie in your browser, and is cleared as soon as your Crewtavo is ready. Your business data never passes through crewtavo.com.
:::

## What it creates

A Railway project called **Crewtavo**, with five services. Every password and key is generated for you, so there's nothing to fill in.

| Service | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| `crewtavo` | The app itself, its background tasks (reminders, automations, recurring visits), and the only part the internet can reach |
| `db` | Your database (Postgres) |
| `auth` | Sign-in, invitations and password resets |
| `rest` | The data API the app reads and writes through |
| `storage` | Photos, receipts and documents |

## Already use Railway?

You can skip the guided setup and deploy the [Crewtavo template](https://railway.com/deploy/crewtavo?referralCode=pQ_v0d) from Railway's own page: press **Deploy**, wait a few minutes, then open the address shown on the **crewtavo** service.

## If something goes wrong

- The setup stops with a message: see [The guided setup didn't finish](https://crewtavo.com/docs/troubleshooting/setup-did-not-finish/).
- You closed the tab or lost the address: see [Find your Crewtavo's address](https://crewtavo.com/docs/troubleshooting/find-your-address/).
- The address shows **Crewtavo is starting up** or **Finish setting up Crewtavo**: see [Finish setting up Crewtavo](https://crewtavo.com/docs/troubleshooting/finish-setting-up/).

Source: https://crewtavo.com/docs/getting-started/set-up-on-railway/ (last updated 2026-10-18)