Ruby on Rails vs Django: Which Framework to Choose in 2024?

Table of Contents

Ruby on Rails vs Django: Overview

As you know, Ruby on Rails is a server-side, open-source, full-stack web app programming language that can simplify web application development. Due to its impressive default structures concerning databases, web services, and applications, RoR is preferable for building high-speed web apps, MVPs, and quick prototyping for startups. In comparison, Python’s Django gives tough competition as it can create complex, highly secure, and database-driven websites. Using Django, working with advanced web apps involving Machine Learning and AI becomes rapid, smooth, and flexible. Understanding the critical differences between these two web frameworks in detail will help you clear the air around Ruby on Rails vs Django.

Features of Ruby on Rails and Django

Features matter when you want to analyze which framework should be beneficial to invest in for your web application development. A quick comparison of RoR vs Django features can offer a better idea about these two web technologies. Have a glance through the features listed below to know how they contribute to developing your next project requirements.

Features of Ruby on Rails

Features of Django

Similarities

Both RoR and Django are equally favorable for backend web app development and solutions. Not only do they share a wide range of functions, but also they hold a variety of similar features, including database support, robust security, and extensive support. Being open-source server-side backend frameworks, Django and Ruby on Rails complement each other in terms of performance as well as applications.
🟠 Communities
Community is a stronghold when it comes to Django vs Ruby on Rails. Both the frameworks and their respective languages share a vast active community. The community is also readily available to help detect bugs, unusual app behavior, performance or functional issues, and many other queries related to web frameworks.
🟠 Extensive Set of Libraries
Setting Ruby on Rails vs Django libraries side by side, we can deduce that both are open-source languages ​​with a comprehensive set of programming libraries. Ruby on Rails offers libraries, often called “Ruby gems,” which speed up the development process and improve app functionality. Moreover, it provides service class and library extension support. Similarly, Django offers many easy-to-import third-party libraries with free “packages” for extensions with almost similar installation and usage syntax as Ruby on Rails.
🟠 Language Version Management
Both the web frameworks, RoR and Django, have reliable language version management. Both the web frameworks can offer a multiple version manager using which you can save the hustle of version control. Python has pyenv, whereas Ruby has rvm and rbenv for version control. With effective language version management and environment control, you can run multiple projects simultaneously in Django and RoR.
🟠 Other Similarities
Apart from the earlier similarities, Django and Ruby on Rails web frameworks have several other similarities. They are as follows:

• Dynamic type
• Late binding
• Open-Source and Free
• Syntactic sugar
• General-purpose
• Easy Understandable Syntax

Django vs ROR: Quick Comparison

Here is the quick comparison table for Django versus Rails for you to select the right web app framework for your next project.

Ruby on Rails vs Django: In-Depth Comparison

When comparing Ruby on Rails with Django, you should know that both frameworks have a similar MVP approach to problem-solving. Despite having similarities between Django and Rails, such as an open-source platform, object-oriented, and supporting modern web app solutions, each caters to different project requirements.

Choosing Ruby on Rails will be a significant advantage over Django when developing scalable and high-performing projects involving MVPs, web applications, eCommerce, and metaprogramming. But when it’s about data-heavy applications, Django can be a good choice. We have covered an end-to-end comparison if you are wondering whether to go with RoR or Django for the backend web app development. The in-depth comparison highlights how Ruby on Rails and Django behave on these determining factors. Let’s get to know more about them.

Popularity and Statistics

Although both web frameworks are growing at their own pace, Django is currently more popular than Ruby on Rails looking at the number of users. Hence, it is an excellent choice for product owners to build highly secure web apps, advanced ML/AI features, and substantial database systems.

The reason behind the high popularity of Django is its simple and easy Python-based programming. Whereas Ruby on Rails also has considerable popularity and so you can easily get help from various resources for projects that require high-performing, scalable, and rapid web application development.

The traction of RoR and Django is expected to grow consistently in 2024 and elevate more opportunities for project owners. Check out the current Google trends comparing Django vs Rails popularity.

RoR Usage Statistics

• According to Built With, 638,562 live websites are using Ruby on Rails, and around 3,182,630 sites have been recorded using the technology in the past.
• Ruby on Rails is gradually growing, with 52.5K stars and 21K forks on GitHub.
• According to the latest Stack Overflow Developer Survey, RoR is among the Top 15 most commonly used web frameworks by product owners, with 5.83% of votes.

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Django usage Statistics

• According to the latest update from BuiltWith, 185,161 live websites use Django, and around 284,557 websites have previously used it.
• The Django community has 69.4K stars and 28.9 forks projects on GitHub.
• According to the latest Stack Overflow Developer Survey, Django is the 9th most commonly used web framework by product owners, with 14.65% of votes.

Performance

Both Django and Rails frameworks are excellent in their performance and are not comparable. They have their equivalent tools to optimize and aid the fast delivery of the project. Ruby on Rails is suitable for creating general-purpose and high-performance applications, whereas Django is advisable for specific-use applications.

When comparing Ruby on Rails vs Django performance, many users have experienced and observed that Rails is faster and better with respect to performance speed. The extensive set of libraries and plugins adds on to the execution process when using Ruby on Rails.

Performance Benchmarks

Every other blog post on the internet provides one or the other difference. But, none of them have clarified the performance benchmarks or a toe-to-toe comparison. So, referring to a renowned web framework benchmark by TechEmpower, look through the comparison of Ruby on Rails vs Django benchmark to obtain an insight into the technical performance of both frameworks.

Every other blog post on the internet provides one or the other difference. But, none of them have clarified the performance benchmarks or a toe-to-toe comparison. So, referring to a renowned web framework benchmark by TechEmpower, given below is the comparison for the same.

🟠 Plain Text
Requirements summary
In this test, the framework responds with the simplest of responses: a “Hello, World” message rendered as plain text. The response size is kept small so that gigabit Ethernet is not the limiting factor for all implementations. HTTP pipelining is enabled, and higher client-side concurrency levels are used for this test (see the “Data table” view).

Example response

Plaintext – Best (Bar Chart)

Plaintext – Latency

After reviewing the Plaintext performance of both frameworks, we can conclude that both in terms of Performance and Latency, RoR is better than Django in this head.

🟠 Single Query
Requirements summary

In this test, each request is processed by fetching a single row from a simple database table. That row is then serialized as a JSON response.
Example response

Single Query – Best (Bar Chart)

Single Query – Latency

Here, we saw that Django outperforms Rails in terms of Perforacne and Latency for Single Queries.

🟠 Multiple Queries
Requirements summary
In this test, each request is processed by fetching multiple rows from a simple database table and serializing these rows as a JSON response. The test is run multiple times, testing 1, 5, 10, 15, and 20 queries per request. All tests are run at 512 concurrencies.

Example response for 10 queries

Multiple Query – Best (Bar Chart)

Multiple Query – Latency
For multiple queries, we can infer that in terms of both Performance and Latency, Rails outperforms Django

In the end, we can conclude that Rails is somewhat faster than Django, as mentioned earlier, but still, it all depends on your use case and which of the two is a feasible choice for your project.

Development Speed

Django follows the rule, “Only one way to solve a problem,” where there could only be a specific manner in which developers can code. This convention makes development and debugging faster, but developers need to have the skill of the right decision making.

Meanwhile, Ruby on Rails consists of a rich repository of Ruby Gems (plug-ins & library), which enables the developers to choose whatever way they want to build a project. Along with faster development, RoR provides freedom of choice for programmers.

The real-time speed test experiment proves that Ruby on Rails is faster than Django by 0.7 percent. Although there is not much percentage difference between the development speed of Django and RoR, you can feel Rails to be much faster when working on these frameworks in the long run.

Language

Django and RoR, both web frameworks, are based on different programming languages. Ruby on Rails, as the name suggests, is based on the Ruby programming language, while Django is a Python-based web framework.

Django values clarity and readability of the code, while RoR is a considerable choice for offering flexibility, freedom of coding, and easy understanding of Syntax. Both languages are interpreted, object-oriented, and dynamic type to provide effective web application development.

Hence, depending on the project requirements, you can choose either Ruby on Rails for rapid development, high performance, and flexibility, or Django for its simple language architecture, readability, clarity, and versatility.

Scalability

Talking about scalability, Django inherits it from Python, the second most popular programming language. But still, Ruby on Rails outperforms Django in this segment. Thanks to the freedom and flexibility of code, RoR has the edge over Python’s Django.

Both are heavyweight frameworks; therefore, they are designed keeping scalability in mind. Still, you will want to prefer Ruby on Rails instead of Django when scalability is your primary focus when developing an exceptional web application.

Creating a web application with scalability in mind affects the application’s performance when dealing with high traffic or usage. Highly scalable websites or applications mean smoothness in handling an increased user base, upscaling the system, and customer satisfaction as well.

Architecture

The RoR developers have to follow the conventions of the predefined MVC (Model-View-Controller) architecture that can interpret the various database data effectively, such as posts, pictures, comments, and more. In comparison, Django follows the MVT (Model-View-Template) architecture that represents the database and illustrates the data structure.

Ruby on Rails pertains to a strict set of rules for the developers to follow. RoR follows a leading design pattern that not only distinguishes business logic from the database, queries, and UI/UX code components but also entails the data in an HTML template and sends it to the Controller, which ActiveView later handles.

Django leaves it upon developers to choose their custom approach for logically solving the problem. This way, developers can execute their maximum skills and build an outstanding web application. Unlike RoR, Django handles the controller part by itself once the data structure is defined, signified, and merged with DTL (Django Template Language).

Thus, whether you need to choose the MVC architecture of RoR or Django MVT architecture depends on the type of the project and its specific requirements.

Security

As you know, Python is well-known for its highly secure applications and functionalities, and Django is expected to have nothing less. However, Ruby on Rails is not much behind in the battle of offering extensive web applications at a decent security level.

With RoR, you will not have to worry about protecting your website or web application from SQL Injection, Cross-Site Scripting (XSS), and other security breaching attacks. But when it’s about building web applications with superior security, Django is a preferred choice for businesses.

Many reputed organizations use Django to enable various functional elements that require extensive reliability, including NASA, Instagram, National Geographic, and more. Meanwhile, Ruby on Rails can safeguard the data, which is why top companies like Shopify, Airbnb, Github, and many others rely on this web framework.

Documentation

In terms of documentation, Django and Ruby on Rails are similarly making it possible to find out answers and solutions to any questions or queries. Compared to RoR, Django has a lot of documentation, but the well-organized structure helps developers and individuals find everything quickly.

Django considers both the essential aspects, availability and quality of documentation for developers. For RoR, the documentation is hosted on the official Rail website for the users to find it quickly. Both web frameworks have precise, understandable, straightforward documentation that helps users navigate and perceive easily.

Although you will find comprehensive guides, tutorials, and API documentation on various terminologies for both web frameworks, Django is at the top of the game when discussing well-maintained documentation.

Libraries and Tools

Ruby on Rails has extensive libraries and tools that enable rapid prototyping, testing, and development. The useful libraries called “Ruby Gems” are designed to assist developers in adding new features and functionalities without going through complex coding.

When considering Django for your next project, it also has substantial libraries and tools that add to the efficiency and performance. Django web framework has a wide variety of packages and libraries that can offer you numerous options to support and back you up.

Ruby on Rails gems has something available for every function, from secure payment processing to authentication and improvisation. Rails gems like Pry, Devise, Sidekiq, RSpec, and more are available for specific tasks. For Django, you have some great libraries and tools, such as Django REST Framework (DRF), Tenants, Django Import Export, Celery, and other libraries.

Community

Ruby on Rails and Django both have a comprehensive and active community worldwide. Django is comparatively less popular than the Ruby on Rails framework. A wide and active community means persistent reliability, support, and assistance in terms of understanding and resolving simple to complex functionalities associated with the web framework.

Django has got most of its popularity being a Python-based web framework, hence a wise choice to get assistance in specific functions or development areas. In contrast, Ruby on Rails has got a huge community of experienced developers to get technical support.

Talking about help and assistance, RoR is a better choice. Not only a dedicated RoR developer can assist you with almost all development tactics, but also the GitHub community shows more commits and contributors. While a Django developer can hardly help you with all your problems, as it is based on Python, which has a great pool of resources, making it hard to find guidance.

Syntax

The syntax of Ruby’s Rails is highly flexible than Django, even though the web framework performs under Python. Hence, when working with Ruby on Rails, achieving one feature in different ways can be possible.

For RoR, it will be beneficial to define a way to achieve a specific function for RoR to avoid confusion or conflict among teammates. Whereas Python has only one ideal way to do something, and that simplifies debugging and increases code readability.

All-inclusive, Ruby on Rails and Django are on a tie with respect to Syntax, so you should select the right web framework between the two while considering the needs and requirements of the project.

HTML Templating

Having HTML Templating as a core feature, Django and RoR can offer leverage to developers for creating high-quality functions with minimal programming and HTML skills. HTML Templating should be easy to read and understand, contributing to faster development.

In terms of HTML Templating, the Ruby on Rails backend web framework has a more complex templating language than Django. Contrary to the individual page templates that Rails offer, web development using Django’s simple templating language is more favorable.

Thanks to the feasible templating systems, Django and RoR can be integrated with various front-end frameworks, including Vue, React, and Angular. Additionally, both frameworks allow programmers to combine HTML templating with static files and scripting languages.

App Development

Well, app development differs in terms of performance, scalability, efficiency, rapid development, and functionality when you opt for web development using Ruby on Rails or Django framework. For immensely growing organizations, it is essential to differentiate between Ruby on Rails vs Django for large applications development.

It will be a wise choice for product owners to choose Ruby on Rails when they need web applications with flexibility, freedom of code, high scalability, high performance, and stability. At the same time, Django is considerable when it comes to developing highly secure, advanced ML and AI applications.

Regarding large-scale web apps for backend development, it requires scalability, and RoR outperforms Django in terms of scalability. But if you are planning to build a highly detailed app, Django is a sure-shot way to go.

Learning Curve

Ruby on Rails has a bit of a steep learning curve as it has its independent concepts. On the other hand, Django uses Python, one of the easiest-to-understand and learn programming languages that offer a simple syntax for app development. It would be comparatively easy to learn Django for Rails developers but it’s not the same for Django developers.

Although it depends on the developers’ experience and skills, Ruby on Rails learning curve is arduous and time-consuming. The learning curve matters when you need to complete any project in a short deadline.

Regarding the learning curve between Ruby on Rails and Django, both have free online and offline resources to make the development process more manageable by solving queries that might occur during development. Still, Django wins due to the usage of Python, as it brings high readability, simplicity, and adaptability.

Flexibility of Use

The flexibility of use with Ruby on Rails is excellent as it features reusing the code, adjusting/modifying the existing templates, and creating new innovative features specific to the project. You will get to explore different ways to execute a single function or component.

In the conflict, Django provides a single solution for any action, which makes it challenging to implement new features but effortless when working with multiple team members on a single project. Implementing unique functionality will take considerable time and does not offer advanced implementations.

In terms of flexibility, Ruby on Rails gets the undefeated title as there are many feasible options for the users to create a variety of components in the web application.

Stability

Finding common ground between creativity and stability has always been challenging, but Ruby on Rails has made it. Whenever you pick out to move forward with a new approach, there are high chances for you to face the challenge of the system’s stability and vice-versa.

Unlike Django, Ruby on Rails framework encourages developers to reuse the code; hence, developers are relieved of many things. On the other hand, the Django framework is based on Python, which encourages developers to pursue a conservative approach; i.e., developers can only follow one method to solve a problem.

RoR is the one to choose as it works with the Convention Over Configuration principle that ensures a smooth and stable development process, eliminating conservative code dependency.

User Interface

From the user interface point of view, both these frameworks are reliable and have built web-centered applications delivering remarkable experiences. Ruby on Rails and Django both have equally great potential for building extraordinary User Interfaces.

In order to meet user expectations and beautifully showcase your web application’s practical functionality and extensive features, it is essential to have a modern user interface. With a well-developed interface, your web application can interact efficiently with the end user.

Both technologies are mature, stable, and well-developed. So, building an app or solution with a good UI depends on the developers’ ability, regardless of using Ruby on Rails or Django web framework.

Installation

Django has a straightforward installation process in place and it takes only a few minutes to install the system completely. However, when you are installing Ruby on Rails, it will take more time comparatively.

RoR installation requires you to understand and install its Bundle and Gems prior to installing the web framework version. After installing all the required Ruby Bundle and Gems, run Command Gem to begin the installation of the latest RoR version.

Whereas, for the Django web framework, the installation process is very easy and quick with using pip. The user will have to enter the command “pip install django” in the command prompt to download and install the Django framework. You can also verify it by executing “django-admin –version” in the command line.

Web Servers

The web servers that Ruby on Rails uses primarily include NGINX, Puma, Apache, and Mongrel. The Ruby standard library also offers WEBrick web servers by default. Additionally, the database servers for the Rails framework are PostgreSQL and MySQL.

Django uses NGINX, Apache, Gunicorn, and WSGI (Python’s standard web server) as the main web servers. Similar to RoR, Django also features PostgreSQL and MySQL along with SQLite and Oracle for database servers.

Both Ruby on Rails and Django frameworks need a web server to execute the operations and programs smoothly. It would be best to choose the respective web servers for the web framework you plan to use to develop a web application.

Ruby on Rails vs Django Use Cases

Analyzing and comparing these two web frameworks, it looks like Ruby on Rails and Django are at the peak of their characteristics and categories. But when you need to create a highly-detailed application, considering Django will be beneficial. However, if it’s about rapid web app development and meeting short deadlines, Ruby on Rails works best to offer scalable web applications, APIs, and web server development.

To ease the stiff competition between Django and RoR, here is the bifurcation that helps you decide whether to choose Ruby on Rails web framework or Django for web application development.

When To Use Ruby on Rails?

It will be a wise decision to choose the Ruby on Rails web framework for the below project requirements:

• Rapid development for meeting short deadlines
• Secure, Scalable, and high-performance web applications
• Develop MVPs, quick prototyping, and eCommerce projects
• Complex and unique features with cutting-edge functionalities
• Real-time advancement flexibility and stability

When To Use Django?

Django is proven to be worth investing in when your project has the following needs:

• Developing database-driven websites
• Highly secure and straightforward web applications
• Creating REST APIs and complex structure
• Dynamic solutions with AI and ML features
• Simple installation and well documentation

Companies using Django vs Ruby on Rails

Both the web frameworks, Ruby on Rails and Django, are popular choices that many well-known brands and companies have adopted. Below are a few references that can help you decide which framework suits you well.

Django Use Cases

Ruby on Rails Use Cases

Conclusion

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Is Django faster than Rails?

In the comparison between Django vs Ruby on Rails, Ruby on Rails is 0.7% quicker than Django. One of the key reasons behind the speed is its rich repository of plugins and libraries that improves overall speed.

Django and Ruby on Rails, which is better for complex web apps?

Both frameworks are highly compatible for developing complex heavy-weight applications. As both are highly flexible and offer rapid app development. However, Ruby on Rails brings more scalability in the process of development in comparison to Django.

Which web framework has a more promising future: Django or Ruby on Rails?

According to a Statista survey, 7.95% of business owners and developers have preferred Django over Ruby on Rails for their product development. This showcases that Django has a more promising future than Ruby on Rails.

Will switching to Ruby on Rails make you develop faster compared to Django?

Switching framework from Ruby on Rails to Django for fast development is not an ideal solution. Ruby on Rails is faster than Django and offers better and more scalable performance compared to Django. Therefore, Just for the rapid development, it is not recommended to switch to Django.