10+ Top Ruby Frameworks to Use in 2024

Ruby is an open-source programming language known for its dynamic, object-oriented, and reflective model used for web application development. Ruby first came into the picture in the year 1995. Since then, thousands of applications have been built on this language, including some top brands of Twitter, Airbnb, GitHub, Slideshare, Basecamp, and Twitch. The reason behind the commendation of Ruby is its simple yet rich syntax that enables Dedicated Ruby Developers to generate more with less need to write code.

Currently, ruby ranks 15th position on the TIOBE index and 16th on the PYPL list as the most important programming language in the world. Another intriguing aspect of Ruby is that it is free of cost, thus can easily be chosen by startups and small-budget companies.

Some frameworks are built to ease out middleware and request/response of the application, and some are made for REST APIs and others for web applications. Collecting the best ruby frameworks from across the globe, we will talk about some of the top Ruby frameworks in this post.

Framework vs. Microframework

One aspect of the Ruby framework to consider is whether a traditional or micro framework is more appropriate for your project.  Micro frameworks will allow you to mix and match different parts of your application, potentially providing a more optional solution for your need that handles most concerns. However, the overhead of integrating multiple smaller frameworks can add additional cost to the development process over the life of your application, such as having to tech developers new to the project how components fit together. Top Ruby frameworks generally fall into two categories: Web-facing frameworks and background job frameworks.

Web-facing frameworks and background job frameworks

Web frameworks respond to an incoming web request, such as an HTML page or a JSON request to an API. Background job frameworks execute outside of the traditional request-response cycle in which web frameworks operate. Background jobs are often used for procedures that cannot be completed within the time needed to respond to a web request or for operations that need to run regularly, such as with corn.

Best Ruby Frameworks

Allowing the framework to utilize its best capabilities, some of the best Ruby Frameworks have contributed significantly. Let’s have a look at some of the handpicked collection of  Ruby on rails frameworks that are sure to bring ease in overall Ruby on Rails Development Services :

1.  Ruby on Rails

Ruby on Rails is a Ruby backend framework that was first released in 2004. Because of its MVC structure, Ruby on Rails is one of the most popular RoR Frameworks. According to Builtwith, around 1,087,337 live websites are utilizing Ruby on Rails. This finest Ruby framework has significantly impacted web development structures and databases, web pages, and other web application management. Ruby on rails has a large plugin library called gems, which can be distributed and installed using Best Ruby Gems, a popular Ruby package manager.

Also Check: Why Startups Use Ruby on Rails?

Features of Ruby on Rails

• MVC Architecture
• Active Record
• Convention over Configuration
• Simple Testing Tool
• Automated Deployment
• Simple Programming Language

2. Sinatra

In contrast to Rails and Hanami, Sinatra is a microframework. It uses a basic Domain Specific Language (DSL) to match a web request path to Ruby code and block it. If your application doesn’t require the complexity of a larger framework, this is a perfect option. This popular Ruby framework uses the Rack webserver interface. It’s a wonderful choice for apps that will eventually migrate to a full-featured framework such as Rails.

Features of Sinatra

• Lightweight & Simple
• Unbiased
• Proficient
• Cross-Platform & Open-Source

3. Ramaze

Ramaze is yet another top ruby web framework in the competition to assist in producing amazing web development projects. Ramaze is speedier and has a flat learning curve due to its small weight. Ramaze is a fantastic solution to consider for ruby projects including JQuery, AJAX, ORM, Javascript, or some sort of template engine. Ramaze is well-known for being a “bug-free” framework. In comparison to Rails, Ramaze provides clean and light solutions.

Features of Ramaze

• Fast & Bug-Free
• Simple Interface
• Template Engines
• WEBrick
• ORM Compatibility

4. Hanami

Hanami is one of the top Ruby frameworks that has gained popularity as a Rails alternative because of its clean architectural design and primary object technique. Hanami’s design is “sorted,” It includes small files that can be used separately to build a project stack. Hanami is a lightweight Ruby framework that uses 60% less RAM than other popular Ruby frameworks. Hanami is built on the MVC framework and includes useful extras like CSRF protection, HTML escaping to prevent XSS, and adhering to the browser’s content security policy.

Features of Hanami

• Simple Design
• Less Memory Consumption
• Secure
• Simple & Easy Coding

5. NYNY

The main page for NYNY describes it as “ridiculously” small and one of the greatest ruby web frameworks. NYNY is ridiculously little in that it is written in only 300 lines, which is substantially smaller than other frameworks like Rack. To be honest, the bulk of plugins use more LOC than NYNY. The most notable feature of NYNY is that it contains all of the most common Ruby developer requirements. You can alter the framework and add your functionality on top of it if you want something more. Such changes will aid in the development of dependable and multi-functional middleware. The NYNY application works with Sinatra, Rails, and any other Rack-based framework.

Features of NYNY

• Smooth Development
• Small Applications
• Feature Rich
• Easy to Interact
• Faster Routing

6. Hobbit

Hobbit is a microframework for web applications based on the idea of “don’t repeat yourself.” Hobbit is a lightweight Ruby framework that outperforms other microframeworks in terms of performance. The Hobbit ruby framework is built on top of Rack, and Sinatra inspires the DSL. With no additional logic, the hobbit code may be modified with various other rack classes and modules. Hobbit is the perfect solution for designing web apps that leverage functionality with minimal setup.

Features of Hobbit

• Sinatra inspired DSL.
• Extensible with standard ruby classes and modules, with no extra logic.
• Zero configuration.

7. Roda

Roda is yet another dependable Ruby framework with a scalable app development structure and diverse APIs. It uses less memory and provides the user with routing tree web tools. Because it uses less starting memory than Rails, Sinatra, and Hanami, it is a fast Ruby web-centric framework. In comparison to other Ruby frameworks, it also handles more requests per second. Unfortunately, it is not as well-known among Ruby developers as other frameworks like Rails, Camping, and Sinatra.

Features of Roda

• Built on Rack
• Flexible Architecture
• Readable APIs & Plugins
• Security
• Streaming Views & Assets
• Simplicity
• Usability

8. Camping

Another excellent Ruby web framework is Camping. The camping framework’s source code is under 4KB, making it the smallest Ruby framework on the internet (with equal capabilities). Apart from its size, camping has been increasingly popular after an unidentified programmer vanished in August 2009. The programmer, who goes by the moniker “Why the Lucky Stiff,” has left the project, and it has since become an open-source framework with a large community. Camping is a RubyGem on GitHub that requires Rack to work on the projects. Converting the entire web application into a single file and structuring it into an MVC framework is a fantastic and powerful camping feature.

Features of Camping

9. Goliath

It’s the Ruby web framework’s non-blocking version. By providing middleware support and the Rack API, Goliath reduces the complexity of web app development. Simple setups, asynchronous processing, bare–metal performance testing, and writing legible and maintainable code were all goals of this framework. The use of Ruby fibers to disentangle the complicated callback-based code into a recognizable structure is a big advantage of Goliath.

Features of Goliath

• Individual Servers
• Simple Routing
• Dedicated Request Channel
• Easy Code Understanding
• Secure

10. Padrino

It’s time to return to the full-fledged framework with Padrino after covering so many minimalist frameworks. Sinatra is at the heart of this framework. According to the site, Padrino was built to make it enjoyable and easy to code more complicated web apps while maintaining the ethos that makes Sinatra wonderful. While Padrino is a comprehensive framework, in essence, closer to rails than Grape, Cuba, or other microframeworks, it also aims to be as tiny, fast, and light as possible. Padrino’s agnosticism is perhaps one of its most distinguishing characteristics. It doesn’t come with pre-installed libraries for javascript, testing, mocking, and ORM. Instead, it lets developers pick and select from various available libraries based on their own needs and preferences.

Features of Padrino

• Simple Development
• One of the Fastest Frameworks
• Reliable
• Functionally Rich
• Design Capabilities

11. Resque

Resque is a Ruby background job framework powered by the Redis in-memory data store, created by GitHub co-founder and CEO Chris Wanstrath. DelayedJob provides a lot of motivation. Resque::Web accompanies Resque is a basic web interface for monitoring and inspecting job queues from a browser. Resque is a tried-and-true option for a job framework in the background.

Features of Resque

• Fast Interface
• Capable
• Agile and Reactive
• Failure Module
• Easy Configuration

12. Nancy

Nancy is the last on the list of best Ruby Frameworks on our list. Nancy is a microframework for web development that was inspired by other frameworks like Cuba and Sinatra. Nancy was influenced by Sinatra down to the framework’s name. Nancy Sinatra is the daughter of Frank Sinatra. According to its Github repo, Nancy’s major characteristics are its speed, support for Sinatra-like routes, the ability to pause execution at any moment using Ruby’s native throw/catch mechanism, and, last but not least, thread safety.

Features of Nancy

• Very fast
• Supports Sinatra-like routes
• Template rendering and caching through Tilt or ERB from stdlib
• Set basic filters/callbacks with the before/after methods
• Include middlewares with the use method
• Mount rack apps with the map method
• Sessions through Rack::Session
• Halt execution at any point using Ruby’s throw/catch mechanism
• Thread-safe

Wrapping up!

In this article, we discussed some of the most popular Ruby Frameworks on the market. Some are well-known, while others aren’t. However, you have a variety of excellent Ruby Frameworks to choose from, with Ruby-on-Rails being the most prominent of them all. If it meets your requirements, go for it; you have several other options to consider if it does not. Ruby Frameworks, of course, aren’t the only thing utilized in development. There are numerous handy ruby tools and libraries at your disposal that will increase team productivity and output.