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Railway vs GitLab: Is EU's Security the Better Choice?

Discover why developers are considering GitLab from the Netherlands as a secure alternative to US-based Railway for enhanced data privacy.

Last updated: February 1, 2026โ€ขReviewed by Built in EU Team

Should You Switch to GitLab?

What You Gain

Gain GDPR compliance and better data protection with GitLab.

Privacy advantage
Trade-offs

Lose advanced deployment features; CI/CD focus is different.

Railway has more features
Bottom Line

Switch if privacy is a priority; stay if deployment features are crucial.

At a Glance

Data Location
๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธUS

US data laws

๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฑNL

GDPR protected

Pricing

Railway

freemium

GitLab

freemium

Migration
Medium difficulty~2-4 hours

Privacy & Compliance Comparison

Critical data sovereignty factors at a glance

CriteriaRailwayGitLab
Server Location
US (AWS)EU
GDPR Compliance
UnknownFull
Open Source
E2E Encryption
UnknownOptional
Data Portability
UnknownFull export

CLOUD Act Notice

Railway is a US company and must comply with CLOUD Act data requests, even for data stored in EU data centers. GitLab is not subject to US jurisdiction.

Switching from
Railway logo

Railway

๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ

Railway Corp

VS
Switching to
GitLab logo

GitLab

๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฑ

GitLab B.V.

US Data Storage

Data subject to US CLOUD Act and may be accessed by US authorities

EU Data Protection

Data protected under GDPR with EU-only data residency

Certifications & Compliance

No certifications listed

GDPR Compliant
EU-Based
ISO 27001
SOC 2
Open Source
Self-Hostable

Reasons to Switch

  • โœ“GitLab offers integrated CI/CD pipelines for automated deployments.
  • โœ“GitLab's issue tracking supports Agile methodologies with sprints.
  • โœ“GitLab is GDPR compliant, ensuring data protection for EU users.
  • โœ“Self-hosting option allows for full control over your code and data.

Things to Consider

  • !Migration from Railway may require data transfer and setup time.
  • !GitLab's learning curve may slow down teams used to Railway's UI.
  • !Some Railway features like one-click deploy may be less intuitive.
Migration difficulty:
Medium
~2-4 hours

Migration Overview

Full guide
Difficulty
Medium
Time Estimate
~2-4 hours

Depends on data size and complexity

Quick Steps

1

Create GitLab account and configure settings

2

Export and prepare data from Railway

3

Import data, test integrations, and migrate users

Note: GitLab provides a comprehensive DevOps platform with CI/CD capabilities, suitable for teams looking to manage code repositories and deployments.

Other alternatives to Railway

Ready to make the switch?

Start using GitLab today and take control of your data privacy.