Railbase for Business Operations
Run company operations on one private platform where identity, documents and approvals are shared across available and planned modules.
Updated
You outgrew spreadsheets a while ago. Now approvals live in chat, the same customer exists three times across three SaaS tools, and no one can produce a single audit trail. Railbase is a self-hosted business operating platform for growing companies: more structured than spreadsheets, more integrated than SaaS sprawl, lighter than ERP.
One system, not another island
The value isn't any single module — it's the platform underneath them. Users, roles, documents and approvals are defined once and shared across everything you install. When you add a new business module, it reuses the same identity model and the same data instead of standing up yet another silo. A vendor you approve in procurement is the same vendor your ledger already knows.
Two capabilities are built into the free core, not sold as paid dependencies:
- Documents — file and document records with versions, an access log, legal hold and quotas, so every module writes to one document trail.
- Core Tasks / Authority — built-in approvals and a work inbox. Basic sign-offs are part of the platform, so your approvals stop living in chat threads.
Why the alternatives stall
- Spreadsheets are fast to start and impossible to control — no roles, no approval trail, no shared source of truth once more than a few people touch them.
- SaaS sprawl solves one function at a time, then leaves you with data islands, duplicated records and vendor lock-in across a dozen subscriptions.
- ERP promises integration but arrives as a heavy, months-long rollout that most growing companies can't justify. Railbase stays lighter than ERP: one binary, one Vault file for records, adopted gradually.
Grow into it, module by module
Start with the free core as your trust anchor — it's free to self-host, so there's no commitment to prove the model. Then adopt available commercial business modules as you need them, and follow the catalog for modules that are in beta, pilot, or coming soon: Finance (GL, AP, AR, FA), Operations (PTP, Inventory, Sales, Connector), Governance (Risk, Compliance) and more. Begin with one module, migrate one real process onto it, then expand as releases open.
Simple self-hosting
Railbase runs as one binary against a single Vault data file on your own server. Your data stays with you; railbase.app only handles the catalog, licenses and signed artifacts. It's simple self-hosting that works fine with your existing IT partner — not a fully managed service, and not another place your data lives without you.
FAQ
Do I have to buy modules to get started?
No. The core is free to self-host and includes shared identity, Documents and Core Tasks approvals. You add paid business modules only when a specific function needs them.
Is this an ERP replacement?
No — Railbase is lighter than ERP. It gives you one shared system for operations and finance without a heavy, months-long rollout, and you adopt only the modules you actually use.
Where does my data live?
On your own server, in a Vault file for records and a local storage directory for uploads. railbase.app never holds your operational data — it only serves the module catalog, licenses and signed artifacts.
How do modules stay in sync?
Every module reuses the platform's shared identity and data. Where modules integrate, they do it through the platform event bus — so records do not have to be duplicated across tools.
Ready to consolidate? Browse business modules or plan an implementation.