How to Deploy a Node.js App for Free

Prepare Your Project

Before deploying, make sure your package.json has:

{
    "name": "my-api",
    "version": "1.0.0",
    "type": "module",
    "scripts": {
        "start": "node server.js",
        "dev": "nodemon server.js"
    },
    "engines": {
        "node": ">=20.0.0"
    }
}

• start script — the host runs this to start your app
• engines.node — tells the host which Node version to use
• PORT env variable — use process.env.PORT, not hardcoded

Use process.env.PORT

Every host assigns a port. Your app must listen on it:

const PORT = process.env.PORT || 3000;

app.listen(PORT, () => {
    console.log(`Server on port ${PORT}`);
});

Push to GitHub

git init
git add .
git commit -m "Ready to deploy"
git branch -M main
git remote add origin https://github.com/USERNAME/REPO.git
git push -u origin main

Make sure .env and node_modules are in .gitignore.

Deploy on Render (Recommended)

1. Go to render.com and sign up with GitHub
2. Click New → Web Service
3. Connect your GitHub repo
4. Render auto-detects Node.js — keep default settings
5. Add environment variables (see Step 5)
6. Click Deploy Web Service

First deploy takes 2–5 minutes. Subsequent deploys are faster.

Add Environment Variables

In your host's dashboard, add every variable from your .env:

DATABASE_URL=postgres://...
JWT_SECRET=your-production-secret
NODE_ENV=production
OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...

Add a Database (Render / Railway)

Both Render and Railway offer free PostgreSQL:

1. Render: New → PostgreSQL → Free tier
2. Copy the Internal Database URL
3. Add it as DATABASE_URL to your web service
4. Redeploy — your app connects automatically

The internal URL only works from services inside the same host — never expose the external URL publicly.

Deploy Updates

Push to your main branch:

git add .
git commit -m "Fix bug"
git push

The host auto-deploys within 1–2 minutes. Pull requests get preview URLs on Render and Railway.