2024 Ruby on Rails Community Survey Results

The Results Are In!

We are thrilled to announce that over 2,700 developers from the Ruby on Rails community across 106 countries have shared their thoughts on the tools, frameworks, and workflows that shape their daily development lives. Through these valuable responses, we aim to understand where Rails stands as a framework in 2024.

This marks the eighth edition of our survey since we started back in 2009. For the past fifteen years, it has been one of the key ways our team at Planet Argon keeps a pulse on how the community has evolved.

Some of these questions date back to our very first survey, allowing us to track trends over time. Others are new additions, designed to explore what's fresh and emerging in our ecosystem.

Join us as we delve into the results and discover what will shape the future of Ruby on Rails development!

Demographics

Who are the developers who participated in the 2024 Ruby on Rails Community Survey? Let's delve into their locations, years of experience with Rails, and what their backgrounds say about the lively state of our community today.

Total Participants

2,709 Rails developers participated in this year.

Participant Location

Developers from 106 countries participated in this year's survey, with the bulk of participants coming from the United States 40%), followed by Germany (9%), United Kingdom (9%), Brazil (7%), France (6%), and Canada (6%).

Other countries:

SpainAustraliaJapanSwiss ConfederationItalySwedenMexicoPortugalArgentinaBelgiumNew ZealandCzech RepublicDenmarkIrelandUkraineChileRepublic of South AfricaAustriaCroatiaIndonesiaSingaporeRomaniaSerbiaColombiaUruguayNorwayHungaryGreeceKenyaMalaysiaNepalRussian FederationThailandTurkeyVietnamEstoniaMoldovaBangladeshGeorgiaIsraelPeruPakistanTaiwanUnited Arab EmiratesBulgariaNigeriaBosnia and HerzegovinaDominican RepublicEgyptLithuaniaMoroccoPanamaPhilippinesSaudi ArabiaUgandaChinaCyprusFinlandGhanaGuatemalaHong KongRepublic of KoreaLatviaMontenegroParaguaySlovakiaUnited Republic Of TanzaniaZambiaAnonymous ProxyAlbaniaArmeniaAzerbaijanBermudaBhutanBelarusCocos (Keeling) IslandsCubaAlgeriaEcuadorEthiopiaGambiaIcelandJordanKuwaitCayman IslandsSri LankaLuxembourgNorth MacedoniaNamibiaNew CaledoniaOccupied Palestinian Territory

Which one of the following applies to you?

How many years of experience do you have developing with Ruby on Rails?

How did you learn to code?

Other responses:

All of the aboveHigh SchoolApprenticeship

Community Insight

In the 2010s, the Rails community did not put much emphasis on credentials and degrees – if you can do the job, then you can get the job. But from 2018 to now we've seen tech roles heading the opposite direction of the broader market: degree requirements are becoming more common. In the survey data, I would bet that a majority of those who are self-taught or attended bootcamp programs already have a non-CS degree, which often gets them over that hurdle.

The continued trend in hiring is that experience is more important than credentials. Whether you have a CS degree, a bootcamp certificate, or teach yourself – getting that first job is tough right now. Once folks have about three years in the field, the next company is going to make hiring decisions based on that experience, not what learning came before it. Long term, I don't see developer careers being influenced by how they got started.

Jeff Casimir

Jeff has been teaching kids and adults to code for 20 years and serves as Executive Director at the Turing School.

Teams & Responsibilties

The survey was completed by developers from all kinds of backgrounds. Let's dive into the details about the development teams, their responsibilities, and the different types of applications that Rails developers are working on.

How many Rails applications is your team currently responsible for?

How big is the development team for your primary Rails applications?

Perhaps there is something to this "one-person framework." 😉

Do you work remotely?

We included this question in the survey in 2020, at the onset of the pandemic. It's fascinating (but not unexpected) to observe the consistent growth in the percentage of remote workers since then.

Who uses your application/s?

Has your development team grown or shrunk in the last two years?

18% of respondents reported that their development team size had decreased in the last two years, while 46% reported that their team had remained the same size. Teams are having to maintain their applications with less, which is a trend we've seen across the industry.

Ruby & Rails Version Updates

How current is your app? Are you using the latest version of Ruby on Rails? What is your strategy for upgrades? Is your leadership supportive of allocating time for upgrades?

Find the answers to all your Ruby on Rails version-related questions in this section.

Of the Rails applications you work on, how many are updated to the most recent stable (Rails/Ruby) releases?

It's wonderful to see that despite team sizes remaining flat, we are seeing an uptick in survey participants indicating that most or all of their apps are updated to the most recent stable versions of Ruby and Rails.

If not all, why not?

Teams that are not updated may indicate that they are mostly struggling with non-technical issues.

Other responses:

Working on itLegacy and about to sunsetLegacy infrastructureBusiness constraints

How long has your Ruby on Rails application been in development?

Is your team using a dual-boot strategy for upgrades?

If not -- what are some barriers for you?

Too much legacy codeNever consideredTime and team capabilityComplexityThe test coverage is insuficcient

Which Ruby version manager are you using?

The Ruby community has a wide range of version managers available to help developers manage their environments. Currently, rbenv and asdf are the most popular, while rvm continues to decline in usage, despite being the most used tool a decade ago.

Do you think asdf will become the most popular version manager in 2026?

Other responses:

DockerNixfrummise

What versions of Rails are you using in your applications?

What versions of Ruby are you using in your applications?

Configuration

Honestly, we weren't sure what section to put these under...but they felt important to ask about.

What are you primarily working on?

The chart below illustrates the percentage of respondents primarily working on monolithic or microservices applications. The data indicates a steady increase in the percentage of monolithic apps since 2018.

Which Active Job adapters do you use to process background jobs?

While sidekiq maintains its position as the leading tool for processing background jobs, we are observing an increase in adoption of other tools such as solid_queue and good_job.

What third-party email services do your Rails integrate with?

Other responses:

MailjetResendMailersendMandrill

Legacy Applications

As Rails continues to thrive as a 20-year-old framework, many legacy applications have been developed over the years. However, new companies are actively choosing Rails for their web applications, resulting in a significant number of new, "greenfield" apps being built with Rails.

Data indicates that over half of Rails developers have deployed a new Rails app in the past two years, and more than half are working on mostly new applications rather than legacy ones.

How many of your apps are legacy apps, or code inherited from other developers?

Learning

We have added new questions to understand how Rails developers continue to learn. We want to know where they find content about Ruby on Rails and how they connect with the community. This information is valuable for content creators and educators who want to understand how to reach and educate the Rails developer community effectively.

What was your level of web programming expertise before learning Ruby on Rails?

In the first two years of learning Ruby on Rails, what methods did you use?

Of these methods of learning, which did you feel worked best for you?

What type(s) of educational content helps you learn the most effectively?

Community Insight

It's crucial to understand how new Rails devs are introduced to Rails, how experienced Rails devs stay up-to-date on the framework, and how the community prefers to learn. This data tells us that the Rails community is a ‘learn by watching and then building' crowd, which will help shape the Rails Foundation’s Education and Documentation strategies with more hands-on tutorials, more video content, more technical blog posts, and more updated Rails Guides touching on new topics as the framework continues to evolve. This is the direction we need to help us give Rails devs the tools they need to thrive, while also attracting new Rails devs to the framework.

Amanda Perino

Amanda is the Executive Director of the Rails Foundation, a non-profit set up to support the Rails community through improved documentation, education, events, and marketing efforts.

Have you been to a conference (regional or bigger) for Ruby and/or Rails in the last year?

Community Insight

Between 2008 and 2016, the Ruby community experienced a surge in regional conferences. On average, there were about 10-15 regional Ruby events per year during this period. This number includes a mix of well-known events like RubyConf and RailsConf and smaller, regionally-focused gatherings like Madison+ Ruby, Lone Star Ruby, and MountainWest.

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted regional Ruby conferences, leading to widespread cancellations and a shift to virtual events in 2020. This increased accessibility but reduced in-person networking. Financial challenges arose for organizers, and sponsorships became harder to secure. By 2022, in-person events began to return, often with hybrid models. An entire generation of Rubyists started their careers without a rich conference ecosystem.

Given the limited number of regional events, these numbers signal there is still a strong demand for unique, affordable local events. These gatherings can serve as an entry point, showing newer community members how accessible and welcoming the Ruby community truly is.

Jim Remsik

CEO of Flagrant, is a seasoned tech leader with deep roots in the Ruby community. A successful entrepreneur, he has founded multiple consultancies and delivered impactful software solutions. Jim’s genuine and empathetic approach makes him easy to trust and work with across a wide range of businesses.

What conference(s) are you hoping to attend in the coming year?

Top 10

Other mentions:

Helvetic Ruby

Baltic Ruby

What are some technical podcasts that you enjoy listening to?

Podcasts are a great way to stay connected to the Ruby on Rails community. There are some newcomers to the scene and a few of the classics are still going strong.

Top 10

Other mentions:

Railscasts

English

Code and the Coding Coders who Code it

Community Insight

2024 marks our 6th year for the Remote Ruby podcast. What started as just chats between friends has grown more than we could have ever imagined. We've had the chance to talk with many incredible developers over the years and do more than our fair share of ranting about nonsense. A huge thank you for listening. Here's to many more years to come! And most importantly: Bet.

Chris Oliver

Rails Luminary, creator of GoRails, and Co-Host of the Remote Ruby Podcast

What are some of your favorite Ruby/Rails blogs and newsletters?

20% of respondants indicated that blog posts are the most effective educational content. Which are their favorite blogs and newsletters in the Rails community?

Top 10

Other mentions:

Who are your favorite live coding streamers, especially Rails developers on YouTube or Twitch?

Top 10

Chris Oliver - Go Rails

English

Dean DeHart - Deanin

English

Aaron Patterson - Tenderlove

Other mentions:

If you attended a bootcamp and/or school for learning to code...which one?

Top 5

Other mentions:

Gems & Open Source

The open source world, along with the Rails community, are crucial for the long-term success of the framework. This includes how the community is involved in open source, as well as the favorite and least favorite gems among Rails developers. These are questions that fans always enjoy each year.

The data indicates that there is an opportunity for more developers to contribute to open source, but it's a challenge for many developers to prioritize this while also managing product or client work.

How often do you contribute to open source projects?

Which Ruby gems do you love?

When you look at the gems on this list and the following list of gems that are the most frustrating, you'll see some significant overlap. Devise, rubocop, rspec, and rails are some of the most helpful gems for developers, but aren't without their respective challenges as well.

Top 10

Other mentions:

Which Ruby gems frustrate you the most?

Love them or hate them, these are the Ruby Gems that frustrate Rails developers the most.

Top 10

Other mentions:

Community Insight

Tools like ActiveAdmin and similar tools can be incredibly valuable for launching your MVP. However, they often become deprecated with every few major Rails versions.

This cycle has happened too frequently. Teams find themselves in limbo, uncertain about the next migration steps.

Here's my advice: Remove them. Don't wait. Embrace some 'boring' Rails code. Rails is exceptionally suited for CRUD interfaces—it's a well-kept secret.

Robby Russell

CEO of Planet Argon, host of Maintainable.fm, and creator of Oh My Zsh.

JavaScript + Rails

Let's take a closer look at the JavaScript tools that developers are using alongside their Rails applications.

Which JavaScript libraries or frameworks do you use with Rails?

Stimulus.js (31%) has dethroned React (24%) as the most popular JavaScript library/framework used alongside Rails.

Other responses:

HTMXTurboInertia.js

What JavaScript testing frameworks are you using to write tests?

While 22% of respondents stated that they do not use any JavaScript testing frameworks, the majority of those who do are using either Jest or Cypress.

Other responses:

NoneNightwatchVitest

What tool(s) do you use to manage your JavaScript libraries?

Other responses:

importmapsesbuildvite

Code Integrity & Security

The topic of code quality and testing always sparks lively discussions in the Rails community. The responses to these questions have historically been widely varied, enlightening, and open to discussion.

Below are the top code quality tools, testing frameworks, and testing goals as reported by our survey participants.

What code quality tools do you use?

Community Insight

It's been a phenomenal couple of years for Standard Ruby as we've continued our quest to bring an end to pointless bike-shedding over linter and formatter settings. In 2023, we shipped a built-in language server (which Koichi Ito later upstreamed to RuboCop), a VS Code extension, the lint_roller plugin API, and plugins offering Standard configurations for both Rails and Sorbet. So far in 2024, we've rewritten our GitHub Action and become one of the first gems to ship with its own built-in Ruby LSP add-on. RuboCop itself has never been better maintained, either, which is great for everyone as Standard carves out its niche as the opinionated alternative.

Justin Searls

Justin is a co-founder at Test Double and the Chief Justin Officer of Searls LLC, where he posts all his latest work.

What testing frameworks are you using to test your Rails app(s)?

Despite not being the default option when running rails new, most teams still choose rspec for their automated tests.

What is your go-to Ruby debugger tool?

While pry remains a popular Ruby debugger, ruby/debug seems to be gaining the most traction. Robby insisted that we add puts "..." to this... because, let's be honest. We all use it.

What is your team's target code to test/spec ratio?

Teams that have a specific target code to test ratio typically aim for 80-100% coverage. However, it's important to note that not all teams have a specific target in place.

Other responses:

Coverage ratios are a lie

...and what is your ACTUAL code to test/spec ratio? 😜

If you're unsure about the answer and selected "Do not know", you can use the command rails stats to find the information you need.

Which tool(s) do you use for Error Monitoring in production?

This chart has been our favorite to watch over the years. It's fascinating to see the rise and fall of different tools.

Sentry (26%) has been the most popular error monitoring tool for the past four years, but we're seeing a tight race for the second place spot this year. Datadog (11%) is followed by New Relic (9%), Appsignal (9%), Rollbar (8%), and Honeybadger (8%).

Not that any of our apps have errors, right?

Community Insight

We're happy and honored to have been a rising star since 2016 and to have landed a spot in the top 5 in this 2024 survey. It recognizes the hard work our small team has been doing since 2012, and we're immensely thankful to the Ruby and Rails communities for believing in our vision: an amazing, developer-centric product that provides actionable insights without breaking the bank.

While we have since added full APM and Logging support for other languages and frameworks, Rails was our first love. The Ruby and Rails communities have given us so much, and we aim to give back as a member of the Rails Foundation, sponsor of many podcasts and newsletters, and sponsor of over twenty Ruby and Rails conferences in 2024 alone.

Roy Tomeij

Roy is a co-founder at AppSignal and has worked with Rails since version 0.12. When he's not shipping stroopwafels, he works with his Customer Success team to ensure customers enjoy AppSignal to the fullest.

Which tool(s) do you use for Performance Monitoring in production?

The latest data shows a shift in the preferences of the Rails community for monitoring and analytics tools. In 2018, New Relic held the #1 position with 46% community preference, but in 2024, Datadog and New Relic both captured 19% of the community's preference, with Datadog edging out New Relic. Following closely behind were Sentry (15%), Grafana (11%), and AppSignal (11%). Sentry experienced the largest increase in preference.

It will be interesting to see how these trends develop in the coming years as these services compete for a larger share of the Rails community.

Community Insight

Datadog's "all-in-one"-style of product is a compelling pitch: where RUM, APM, infrastructure and even incident response is combined into one mega-service. For larger organizations of 50+ engineers, it's really the best product out there. However, it still requires too much time investment for small teams. For those companies, New Relic or the newly-popular Sentry are probably still the best bet. While New Relic these days can feel like a poor DataDog imitation, Sentry's (new) performance monitoring product takes a lot of cues from its very successful error monitoring service.

Nate Berkopec

Nate Berkopec is the owner of Speedshop, a Ruby on Rails performance consultancy. He is the author of several books on Ruby and Rails performance.

What other 3rd-party tools do you use to keep an eye on your production systems?

Top 10

Heroku Metrics/Dashboard

Other mentions:

What tools are you using to track security vulnerabilities?

Deployment & DevOps

How frequently does your team push to production? What automation tools are in use? In 2024, there was a small decline in daily deployment frequency, though developers still favored continuous deployment through CI pipelines.

GitHub remained the leading source code host for Rails developers, with GitHub Actions continuing to be the preferred automation tool.

Below is the complete data on deployments and DevOps in the Rails community.

How often do you deploy your Rails applications to production?

Other responses:

2-3 times a yearRarely

Which automated deployment tools do you use?

Over the past few years, there hasn't been much activity on this subject. However, it's worth noting that approximately 2.4% of respondents reported using Kamal, which is set to become the default in Rails 8.

Will we see a migration over the next few years?

Which proxy / web servers do you use in production?

Which Rails Servers are you using in production?

Which Continuous Integration (CI) servers do you use?

Other responses:

Open Build Service

Where is your source code hosted?

What CDN(s) do you use? (select all that apply)

In recent years, CloudFlare's content delivery network (CDN) has become increasingly popular among Ruby on Rails teams. Currently, CloudFlare has taken the lead with a 35% market share, surpassing AWS CloudFront at 28%, while other competitors hold a market share of 4% or less.

In comparison, in 2022, AWS CloudFront held the top position with 46%, followed closely by CloudFlare at 41%, with Fastly trailing at 7%.

There has certainly been notable movement within this space.

If you have deployed applications using other languages/frameworks, would you say that it has been easier or harder to deploy Rails applications?

Databases

We have been monitoring database trends since our initial Rails survey in 2009. The data provides insights into the databases preferred by Rails developers and those they would like to use.

Which relational databases do you use in production?

Which database would you prefer to use in production?

The chart does not effectively convey the significant lead that PostgreSQL has within the Rails community. According to the survey, 86% of respondents prefer PostgreSQL, followed by MySQL at 8% and SQLite at 4%. Despite the relatively low percentage, there is considerable interest in SQLite within the community, indicating potential developments in the future.

Which nosql databases do you use in production?

To be honest, we didn't really crunch the number for PostgreSQL for JSON in previous years to see where it ranked but we did add it as an option this year. Redis leads with 49% and is followed by PostgreSQL (via JSONB/HStore) (21%), ElasticSearch (16%), MongoDB (6%), and DynamoDB (4%).

Other responses:

OpenSearchAWS Timestream

OS, Editors & Servers

What are Ruby on Rails developers doing their development work on these days?

Which operating system do you primarily develop your applications on?

Community Insight

Linux has had a solid foothold in the Rails developer camp for years. It's a great starting point for taking adoption to the next level. Between projects like Omakub and hardware vendors like Framework, I see a bright future for Linux among Rails developers! I've been running that combo for half the year, and you're not getting me back on a MacBook. Linux + Rails is an amazing combo.

David Heinemeier Hansson

DHH, is the creator of Ruby on Rails and Co-owner & CTO of 37signals

What is your preferred code editor?

Visual Studio Code remains the most popular choice among respondents, with 44% of the vote. Vim-based editors have risen to second place with 20%, surpassing RubyMine, which now holds 19%. Sublime Text has experienced a decrease in popularity, dropping from 11% to 7%.

What are you using for containerization?

Other responses:

Podman

Are you using Docker for local development?

The Future of Rails

Last year, Rails marked its 20th anniversary, signifying its ongoing growth and development as a framework. We reached out to developers to gather their insights on the future direction of Rails, whether they still endorse its use, and other related perspectives.

I feel the Rails core team is shepherding the project in the right direction.

Rails is still relevant in 2024

I feel confident security vulnerabilities are being addressed in new Rails releases

Is Ruby on Rails your server side framework of choice?

What are a few things you'd like to see happen in the Ruby on Rails community?

Improved documentation and guides

More local/regional conferences and meetups

More opportunities for junior developers

Official case studies and success stories

Move away from Service Objects and other over-engineering

Better integration with front-end technologies

Performance improvements and concurrency support

More mentorship for newcomers

More visibility into roadmap

More efforts to modernize and innovate within the framework

More inclusivity and diversity efforts (especially hosting conferences in languages besides English)

Community Insight

Just taking a look at what people want to see happen in the Rails, it's great to see that a lot of the work I know about in the community is moving in the right direction. Some of these issues are already being addressed, but it seems like not everyone knows about these efforts. In my opinion, communication channels have definitely gotten better in recent years, but there's still work to be done.

Robby Russell

CEO of Planet Argon, host of Maintainable.fm, and creator of Oh My Zsh.

In Conclusion

Ruby on Rails seems to be entering a new era of growth and enthusiasm. This year's survey saw the highest number of responses we've ever received!

Since our last survey in 2022, The Rails Foundation was launched, backed by influential companies like Doximity, Shopify, GitHub, Fleetio, Procore, Intercom, 37signals, and more.

Inspired by the renewed momentum, Planet Argon became a contributing member of the foundation in early 2023 (read more here).

We've also been heartened by the rise of new conferences, nonprofits, and regional events that are fostering Rails communities around the world.

At Planet Argon, we remain steadfast in our belief that Ruby on Rails is an exceptional platform to invest in, and we're excited to continue supporting its growth in the years to come.

Thank you to every Rails developer who took the time to share their insights with us. We look forward to connecting with you again when we revisit the landscape in two years!

2024Ruby on Rails Community Survey Results

Demographics

Total Participants

Participant Location

Other countries:

Which one of the following applies to you?

How many years of experience do you have developing with Ruby on Rails?

How did you learn to code?

Other responses:

Community Insight

Jeff Casimir

Teams & Responsibilties

How many Rails applications is your team currently responsible for?

How big is the development team for your primary Rails applications?

Do you work remotely?

Who uses your application/s?

Has your development team grown or shrunk in the last two years?

Ruby & Rails Version Updates

Of the Rails applications you work on, how many are updated to the most recent stable (Rails/Ruby) releases?

If not all, why not?

Other responses:

How long has your Ruby on Rails application been in development?

Is your team using a dual-boot strategy for upgrades?

If not -- what are some barriers for you?

Which Ruby version manager are you using?

Other responses:

What versions of Rails are you using in your applications?

What versions of Ruby are you using in your applications?

Configuration

What are you primarily working on?

Which Active Job adapters do you use to process background jobs?

What third-party email services do your Rails integrate with?

Other responses:

Legacy Applications

How many of your apps are legacy apps, or code inherited from other developers?

Learning

What was your level of web programming expertise before learning Ruby on Rails?

In the first two years of learning Ruby on Rails, what methods did you use?

Of these methods of learning, which did you feel worked best for you?

What type(s) of educational content helps you learn the most effectively?

Community Insight

Amanda Perino

What Rails-related books do you recommend others read?

Top 10

Other mentions:

Have you been to a conference (regional or bigger) for Ruby and/or Rails in the last year?

Community Insight

Jim Remsik

What conference(s) are you hoping to attend in the coming year?

Top 10

Other mentions:

Do you participate in local in-person user groups related to Ruby/Rails development?

Community Insight

Irina Nazarova

Do you participate in online user groups related to Ruby/Rails development?

What are some technical podcasts that you enjoy listening to?

Top 10

Other mentions:

Community Insight

Chris Oliver

What are some of your favorite Ruby/Rails blogs and newsletters?

Top 10

Other mentions:

Who are your favorite live coding streamers, especially Rails developers on YouTube or Twitch?

Top 10

Other mentions:

If you attended a bootcamp and/or school for learning to code...which one?

Top 5

Other mentions:

Gems & Open Source

How often do you contribute to open source projects?

Which Ruby gems do you love?

Top 10

Other mentions:

Which Ruby gems frustrate you the most?

Top 10

Other mentions:

Community Insight

Robby Russell

JavaScript + Rails