We are
Ruby-Experts

Ruby on Rails agency from Germany: We have been developing web applications exclusively on the basis of Ruby on Rails for more than 15 years. This focus as a Rails agency on a single technology has made us absolute RoR experts.

Ruby on Rails specialists in Europe

With the experience of over 200 successful projects, we help our customers with their Rails applications. We are the creators of Rails LTS and makandra cards and are an active part of the Ruby on Rails community. Among others, we maintain popular Ruby libraries like active_type, Spreewald, and Consul. If you need support with Ruby on Rails, you've come to the right place.

We develop Rails applications

We build a preliminary version of your application and create a solid code base on which to build. An expandable architecture and a stable test setup will get you through the following years of development. As a full-service agency, we are also pleased to support you with hosting, DevOps and UI/UX design.

Rails modernisation and further training

We teach your team efficient Rails development and test automation, or introduce better development processes. On request, we can review the status and viability of your current architecture and processes and improve them. Is your current Rails project on fire? Bring us in for support.

We are a member of the Rails Foundation

We are actively involved in maintaining the existing Rails ecosystem, as Rails will remain an essential part of the way we work in the future. Since 2024 we are the first German member of the Rails Foundation.

makandra is the smartest team of Rails developers I've worked with in my career. I was very impressed with how they were able to jump into an old, hairy codebase and immediately start improving our testing and reliability without much management from us. The business benefit we got from this was overwhelming.

Patrick McKenzie Founder of Starfighter and Appointment Reminder

makandra got our product on the road in 8 weeks and helped train our developers. This allowed us to launch months earlier.

Julian Hauck Founder & CTO von Distribusion

Services How we work with Ruby on Rails

Architecture
We have had experience with monolithic applications and microservice architectures in the past and know the advantages and disadvantages of both approaches. For small teams and medium-sized projects, we consider a well-structured monolith to be easier to maintain and operate than a collection of microservices. Large teams and projects have other trade-offs.
Databases
For data storage, we always use relational databases such as PostgreSQL or MySQL, which we operate in fault-tolerant clusters. We know exactly how these systems behave under load. If additional requirements arise for which relational databases are not the right tools, we use other technologies such as Redis or Elasticsearch.
Collaboration
Our developers can always fit into existing processes in your organisation. However, if you don't have a preference, we use our own Kanban-like process. We develop new features in feature branches. Implementations go through a code review before finding their way into the code base.
Testing
We believe 100% in the economic necessity of automated software testing. For full-stack integration tests, we drive a real browser with Capybara and Selenium. For unit tests we use RSpec (Ruby) and Jasmine (JavaScript).

Further services

Modernisation of your Rails application

Is your Rails project in trouble? With an application modernisation from makandra, the maintainability of your Rails application can be significantly improved and the development speed sustainably increased.

Automated tests

We create integration tests in which a simulated browser automatically clicks through your application. This lets you know at the touch of a button whether a new change will affect existing functions.

Refactoring of problematic code

We rework brittle and complex programme parts into readable and maintainable code with associated unit tests.

Review of the development process

We show pragmatic ways in which requirements for your project should be formulated, implemented and tested. This ensures that your development speed remains consistently high in the future.

Simplification of deployment

We automate your deployment so that new versions can be put online at the touch of a button. On request, we can also check your servers for security, performance and availability.

Support of old Rails versions with Rails LTS

We are the creators of Rails LTS, a globally used and popular software that provides security updates for old versions of Rails. If a Rails framework is no longer supported by the community, Rails LTS offers the option of continuing to use the framework safely. This allows you to decide for yourself if and when you want to switch to a new version. Find more information here.

FAQs Frequently asked questions about Ruby on Rails

Ruby on Rails, often referred to as Rails, is an open-source framework written in the programming language Ruby. It follows the Model-View-Controller (MVC) architectural principle and enables developers to create web applications quickly and efficiently by abstracting and automating common tasks such as database interactions, web service integration and application logic.

Ruby on Rails was first published in 2004 by David Heinemeier Hansson. An important component of Rails are the Gems: plugins written in Ruby that can be used by developers to extend the functionality of their applications.

An open source framework is a framework where the source code is openly available. This means that it is not distributed by a commercial provider. Instead, it is further developed by a community of developers on a voluntary basis. On the one hand, these are employees at large companies who use the respective framework and therefore have an interest in continuous development, and on the other hand, private individuals who contribute out of passion. First and foremost, this means that the framework can be used free of charge without license fees. At the same time, there is also no risk of a technology being taken off the market and having to look for another solution.

Working with Rails offers many advantages. Rails enables rapid development thanks to a large number of integrated tools and libraries. The "convention over configuration" principle relieves developers of a lot of work and makes the code clearer. A large and active community provides numerous gems and resources. Rails applications are easily scalable to meet growing requirements. Rails also promotes test-driven development (TDD), which leads to more robust and reliable applications. The clear and concise code in Ruby and Rails facilitates the maintenance and further development of projects. Finally, Rails offers many built-in security features that help to avoid common security vulnerabilities.

We at makandra attach great importance to test-driven development and maintainable code and have therefore relied on Ruby on Rails since the company was founded. Since all employees work with Rails on a daily basis, they are experts in this field. Our employees are never confronted with an unfamiliar programming language in projects. If a team member is absent due to vacation or illness, the customer will not notice, as someone from the team can easily step in. The uniform use of the same programming language and the same framework also promotes knowledge transfer.

The maturity level of a web framework can often be determined by how long it has been in use. If a framework such as Ruby on Rails has been used extensively and by a strong community for more than 20 years, many challenges have usually already been solved with it. Rails therefore offers a stable and high-quality solution. Many new and supposedly innovative web frameworks have not yet reached this level of maturity and therefore pose a greater risk in terms of susceptibility to errors and longevity.

Ruby on Rails is behind some well-known web applications. Among others, GitHub, Airbnb, Shopify, Basecamp, Hulu or Twitch are developed with Ruby on Rails.

Tests play a central role in Ruby on Rails, as the framework relies heavily on test-driven development (TDD). Tests help to ensure the functionality and reliability of applications, detect and correct errors at an early stage and keep the code maintainable and expandable in the long term. Rails offers integrated tools and libraries such as RSpec and Minitest, which facilitate and promote the writing and execution of tests.