Launch MERN E-Commerce on Free Hosts

When building a startup project, one of the biggest questions after development is: where do I host it without burning a hole in my pocket?

Recently, I worked on a MERN stack e-commerce application and wanted to deploy it for real-world usage. The project is in its early stage, with light traffic (~400–500 monthly visitors), and integrates services like:

MongoDB Atlas → database (free tier)
Cloudinary → for storing images (free tier)
Razorpay → for payment gateway integration

Since the backend isn’t doing heavy lifting (like storing media or processing large datasets), I explored different free/low-cost hosting platforms. Here’s what I learned.

🔹 My Deployment Setup

I went with this combination:

Frontend → Vercel (React app deployment)
Backend → Railway (Node.js/Express APIs)
Database → MongoDB Atlas free tier (500MB storage, plenty for now)
Media Storage → Cloudinary free tier (10GB storage)

This architecture keeps the project modular, scalable, and free at my current traffic level.

🔹 Why Vercel for Frontend?

Vercel turned out to be the best choice for the frontend because:

🚀 Global CDN → ensures fast React app delivery.
🔧 Zero-config Deployment → just connect GitHub and deploy.
🔒 Free SSL & custom domain support.
📈 Scales seamlessly if traffic grows.
🛠 Perfect for React/Next.js → built-in optimizations.

For a lightweight frontend, it’s practically a no-brainer.

🔹 Why Railway for Backend?

Railway is a great option for small backend services:

✅ Super simple deployment of Node.js/Express apps.
✅ Built-in monitoring & logs.
✅ Environment variable management → securely handle secrets (Razorpay keys, DB URI, Cloudinary API).
✅ $5 in free credits every month (~500 hours runtime).
✅ Can stay online 24/7 if the backend isn’t too resource-heavy.

🔹 My Previous Deployment Experience on Render

Before shifting to Railway, I had deployed my backend on Render. Render does provide a good free plan, but I faced a significant issue:

After 15 minutes of inactivity, the backend service would go to sleep.
When a new request came in, it triggered a cold start, and the server took 20–30 seconds to wake up.
This delay was unacceptable for an e-commerce site where users expect instant responses, especially during checkout or payments.

While Render was stable and easy to set up, this cold start issue made it unsuitable for my use case. That’s why I started exploring alternatives like Railway, which (on free credits) can keep the backend running more reliably 24/7.

🔹 But What About Limits?

Of course, free tiers come with trade-offs:

Railway

$5 free credit means if your backend is too heavy on CPU/RAM, it may shut down before the month ends.
For a small Express backend (auth, CRUD, Razorpay calls), memory usage ~200–300MB is typical → this should fit in the free limit.
If usage grows, you’ll need to upgrade (~$7–$10/month).

Vercel

Free tier has build size limits (~50MB).
Serverless functions aren’t a good fit for persistent backend logic (but I’m not using them since Railway handles backend).

🔹 Alternatives I Explored

While Vercel + Railway works well, I also compared alternatives:

Render

✅ Backend doesn’t sleep on free plan.
✅ All-in-one platform (frontend + backend).
❌ Free tier limited to 750 hours/month.
❌ No built-in MongoDB → still need Atlas.

Netlify

✅ Great for frontend hosting.
❌ Not as optimized as Vercel for React/Next.js.
❌ Backend still needs Railway/Render.

Heroku

❌ Free tier discontinued (since 2022).
✅ Paid plan starts ~$7/month, simple Git push deployments.
✅ Good for hobby projects, but not cost-effective at small scale.

🔑 My Key Takeaways

Vercel + Railway + Atlas + Cloudinary is a great free and modular setup for early-stage startups.
For light backend usage, Railway’s free $5 credits can keep your app running 24/7 without downtime.
If traffic scales beyond ~5,000–10,000 visitors/month, or if backend uptime is critical (like payments), upgrading Railway or moving backend to Render is a safe option.
Keeping DB (MongoDB Atlas) and media (Cloudinary) offloaded reduces backend load drastically.

🏁 Conclusion

For my startup’s e-commerce project, this architecture strikes the right balance:

⚡ Frontend on Vercel → fast, reliable, free.
⚡ Backend on Railway → lightweight API hosting with $5 credits.
⚡ Database on Atlas → secure and scalable.
⚡ Images on Cloudinary → avoids storing media in DB or backend.

This setup proves that you can launch a production-ready MERN project with almost zero cost while testing your startup idea. As the project grows, upgrading selectively (backend first) keeps things cost-efficient.

✍️ I’m documenting this so anyone trying to launch their MERN stack project for the first time can avoid confusion and start with a solid free setup.

Deploying a MERN Stack E-Commerce Project on Free Hosting Platforms