Ruby on Rails

37signals, Chicago, Illinois, United States

Ruby on Rails is a full-stack web application framework that provides the tools needed to build database-driven applications using the Model-View-Controller (MVC) pattern.

It emphasizes a standardized project structure and naming, follows DRY ("don't repeat yourself") and "convention over configuration" principles, includes the Active Record ORM for database interaction, a built-in asset pipeline for managing CSS and JavaScript, and an integrated testing framework.

Ruby on Rails gained widespread adoption in the late 2000s and has been used to build platforms such as Shopify, Airbnb, Zendesk, GitHub, and GitLab.

According to our data, Ruby on Rails is the second most popular backend framework on the web.
It has 23.1% of the backend framework market share and is detected on 3.5% of all websites.

It appears on 7.4% of all websites in Australia, 7.2% in Canada, and 7.1% in the United States.

Statistics based on 4M+ analyzed websites. About this data

💸 Pricing

Ruby on Rails is available for free.

Free ✔️ Open source

📊 Rankings and Market Share

🏆 Ruby On Rails Awards

⚡ Sites Built With Ruby On Rails

We have data on 140,255 websites that use the Ruby on Rails backend framework. Here is a list of some of the top ranked ones.

The highest rated site using Ruby on Rails is github.com.

#WebsiteRankCountryLanguage
1 github.com #14 United States English
2 shopify.com #29 Canada English
3 gov.uk #82 United Kingdom English
4 goodreads.com #186 United States English
5 gitlab.com #245 United States American English
6 academia.edu #311 United States English
7 tabelog.com #367 Japan Japanese
8 gob.pe #448 Peru Spanish
9 zendesk.com #550 United States American English
10 airbnb.com #558 United States English
11 archiveofourown.org #610 English
12 zearn.org #655 United States American English
13 mechacomic.jp #765 Japan Japanese
14 tabor.ru #792 Russia Russian
15 e621.net #838 United States English
16 booth.pm #1,085 Saint Pierre and Miquelon Japanese
17 istockphoto.com #1,110 English
18 gumroad.com #1,121 United States English
19 padlet.com #1,236 United States English
20 gettyimages.com #1,279 American English

📈 Usage Statistics

Most of the sites that use Ruby on Rails:

Most of the sites using Ruby on Rails are from the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia.

  • United States 38.9%
  • United Kingdom 9.4%
  • Australia 5.2%
  • Canada 4.7%
  • Germany 4.2%
  • India 3.9%
  • Japan 3.9%
  • France 2.6%
  • Netherlands 2.3%
  • Other 24.9%

Most Ruby on Rails users speak English, German, or Spanish.

  • English 78.8%
  • German 3.4%
  • Spanish 3.3%
  • Japanese 3.1%
  • French 2.6%
  • Italian 1.1%
  • Portuguese 1%
  • Dutch 1%
  • Chinese 0.8%
  • Other 4.9%

The Ruby on Rails backend framework is especially popular on .com top-level domains.

  • .com 62.1%
  • .org 3.5%
  • .co.uk 3.5%
  • .com.au 3.1%
  • .de 2.1%
  • .net 1.5%
  • .ca 1.5%
  • .jp 1.2%
  • .co 1.2%
  • Other 20.3%

The primary market segments for websites utilizing Ruby on Rails include online shopping, marketing and merchandising, and fashion and beauty.

  • Online Shopping 37.3%
  • Marketing/Merchandising 11.8%
  • Fashion/Beauty 11.6%
  • Business 8.1%
  • Education/Reference 4.6%
  • Sports 2.5%
  • Entertainment 2.4%
  • Blogs/Wiki 2.3%
  • Internet Services 2.2%
  • Other 17.2%

🕵️ Similar Technologies

These are some of the best Ruby on Rails alternatives.

RankName
4
Laravel
New York, United States

An open-source PHP backend framework that provides all features needed to build modern web applications such as routing, input validation, caching, queues, and file storage.

FreeOpen source
5
ASP.NET Core
Redmond, Washington, United States

An open-source, cross-platform web framework and the successor to ASP.NET that enables development of web apps and APIs using .NET on Windows, macOS, or Linux.

FreeOpen source
7
Express
San Francisco, California, United States

A minimal and flexible Node.js web framework that lets developers build web apps and APIs using routing, middleware, template engines, and support for serving static assets.

FreeOpen source
14
Django
Huntersville, North Carolina, United States

A high-level Python web framework that encourages rapid development and clean, pragmatic design while following the Model-View-Template architectural pattern and the "don't repeat yourself" principle.

FreeOpen source
21
Rack
Munich, Germany

A minimal, modular interface and invocation convention that operates between Ruby web servers and web applications to standardize how HTTP requests and responses are exchanged.

FreeOpen source

🆚 Compare Alternatives

Compare Ruby on Rails to…

💬 Frequently Asked Questions

What is the company behind Ruby on Rails?

Ruby on Rails is owned by 37signals LLC, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, United States.

Can I use Ruby on Rails for free?

Yes, it is a free backend framework.
It is also an open-source solution, and you can find its source code on GitHub.

Which country uses Ruby on Rails the most?

The majority of Ruby on Rails users are from the United States.

Who uses Ruby on Rails?

According to our data, Ruby on Rails is used on thousands of sites, including such established ones as github.com, shopify.com, and gov.uk.

Is Ruby on Rails used on government websites?

In total, we found Ruby on Rails on 25 government sites in the United States.

Do academic institutions use Ruby on Rails?

Yes, quite a few! The most prominent of these is academia.edu. Overall, we know of 155 academic websites in the United States that use Ruby on Rails.

How does Ruby on Rails compare to the competition?

Ruby on Rails is one of the most popular backend frameworks, second only to ASP.NET.

What are the alternatives to Ruby on Rails?

Alternatives and possible competitors to Ruby on Rails may include Laravel, ASP.NET Core, and Express.

👉 See Also

🗃️ About This Data