Ready to revamp your business or need a brand identity for your new venture? To cut through this thick-iced marketplace, you must have a web application developed with a high-end tech stack. Want to select a market-trending set of frameworks for your web app but with more than 90 web development frameworks out there? Choosing the one that’ll suit your project is similar to finding a needle in a haystack.

No worries, we know while it has been a gradual transition, physical businesses are increasingly becoming digital, giving rise to continuous technological innovations. Making it even more difficult for a novice to veteran users to select the top framework for their next big application.

In a series of comparing top tools and technologies to help you find the best of the best, today we have Django vs Ruby on Rails on the list. A battle between intelligibility and efficiency; it is a simple, understandable, and easy-to-use technology set against one that offers an expeditious development experience, its convenience against functionality — it’s Django vs Ruby on Rails.

Well, this discussion always ends upon preference and what use a particular technology will be put to. However, one should have all the details before making an informed decision. Head down to learn the key contrasts between top web frameworks, use cases of Django & ROR, and how you can utilize them to ensure robust backend development.

An Insight Into Top Rated Web Development Frameworks: History & Popularity

Although Ruby on Rails & Django has been on the market for almost two decades, the last one has gathered a larger community due to its simplicity.

StackOverflow survey revealed that nearly 14.2% of developers use Django, while only 7% prefer Ruby on Rails. But Django is loved by almost 55% of developers globally.

While the Github star ratings predict a clear winner in Django vs rails comparison. The Git ratings showed that Django is the second most-starred Server Side framework behind Laravel. In contrast, ROR is the 8th most starred framework for backend development.

When it comes to powerful web app development, both frontend and backend play equal roles in creating top-notch apps. However, your backend is the backbone of your application, as it has to help entertain many customers, deal with databases, and ensure that two ends meet smoothly.

Read more about the top 12 most promising web development technologies of 2023 and make wise decisions before stepping into an online marketplace.

Rails vs Django comparison is here to help you select the high-end framework out of them and develop a flawless application. But before that, clear the air about what Djang & ROR is, their positives and negatives, and use cases for Django and Ruby on rails.

What Is Django?

An MTV-based full-stack framework that was released in 2005 with Python as its core programming language. Django is handled by DSF (Django Software Foundation) & is not restricted to a particular coding style.

An open-source framework that handles database-heavy applications efficiently also helps create pragmatic and efficient designs in no time. In addition to that, a wide range of fundamental libraries aids in building rapid prototypes or Minimum Viable Products to secure clients.

A total of 81,421 websites have been built with Django so far.

Advantages of Django:

  • An open-source framework with a huge community worldwide.
  • Incredibly scalable, boosting its capacity to deliver enterprise-level applications.

  • It comes with a variety of plugins and built-in libraries.

  • Supports high-end customization.

  • Django allows leveraging (REST), which simplifies building Web APIs.
  • Adaptable to a plethora of operating systems and databases.

Disadvantages of Django:

  • Django can not handle multiple requests simultaneously.
  • Components are tightly coupled as it uses ORM.

Use Cases For Django

Being a full-stack framework, it offers a variety of use cases for product development. The following points will help you easily tick-mark the projects that you can handle embracing Django.

  • Easily handle databases extensive applications.
  • Offers scalability & flexibility in the development of large applications.
  • Recommended for scientific and mathematical programming.
  • You can consider it combining trending technologies like Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence to build high-quality websites.

Top Industry Players Leveraging Django

  • Disqus (A blog comment hosting service)
  • Spotify (A media service provider)
  • YouTube (An online video-sharing Platform)
  • Instagram (A photo/video-sharing social networking site)
  • Dropbox (A file hosting platform)

What Is Ruby On Rails?

Launched in 2005, Rail is a full-stack framework with Ruby as its core programming language. Based on two main rules, including “DRY(don’t repeat yourself)” & convention over configuration, the framework offers a time-saving and conventional platform for developers to write efficient code.

With simple, English-like syntax and 419,296 websites leveraging ROR, it is assumed that it is a highly established framework and one of the trusted choices for developers around the world.

Advantages of Rails:

  • An active ROR community.
  • Easy to modify.
  • Allows altering database structures & smooth migrations.
  • Prompt development due to the DRY rule.
  • Provides an incredible testing environment.
  • Comes with numerous tools and presets.

Disadvantages of Rails:

  • Not a good choice to create APIs.
  • Varying quality & standard of Rails Documentation.
  • Complex coding & hard to read.
  • Low Runtime Speed
  • Lacks flexibility
  • Comes with numerous tools and presets.

Use Cases of Ruby on Rails

ROR can be used in various ways. It is worth considering Ruby on Rails if your project meets the following requirements.

  • Want fast MVP
  • If you want secure web application development
  • For real-time and scalable web app development
  • Supports rapid prototype development

Top ROR Apps

  • GitHub
  • Airbnb
  • Shopify
  • Twitch
  • Basecamp
  • HEY

Rails vs. Django: Key Contrasts

No doubt both Django & Ruby on Rails are excellent frameworks for cutting-edge web app development. Still, there exist cases when you must make an intelligent decision when choosing only one. Probe through this brief comparison of Django vs. ROR, and finalize your app’s tech stack with a comprehensive backend framework.

Architecture

  • Django is based on MVT (Model-View-Template) Model. Interprets databases that have data structures & developers can enjoy automated control-related functions.
  • Ruby on Rails is based on MVC (Model-View-Controller) architecture. Represents the data like pictures, posts, etc. RoR architecture effortlessly separates business logic from DB queries & UI/UX code.

User Interface

When it comes to Django vs. Ruby on Rails UI comparison, there are notable differences between both frameworks.

  • Django is a simple & straightforward framework, offering quick response time and device responsiveness with a cutting-edge interface.
  • RoR, on the other hand, is more adjustable to modern solutions & can be used to create market-leading web apps with intuitive & flawless user interfaces.

Speed and Performance

While comparing the top two frameworks, we had the following results.

  • Speed test experiment revealed that Ruby on Rails has a slight edge over Django. It is 0.7% faster in speed, putting nearly no difference in productivity.
  • Still, ROR is faster than Django is a bitter reality and hard to accept for Django developers.

Security

Security is paramount for any application, be it a web or a mobile. With security as the next key component to test both frameworks. Here are the results-driven from it.

  • Django security level can be determined by the fact that the World’s best sites of NASA use this framework.
  • It comes with tools to protect your site from various attacks like SQL injections, different malware attacks, & cross-site scripting.
  • Ruby on Rails can also protect your site from many attacks and provide a decent level of security.

Language & Syntax

Rails is based on Ruby, and Django is based on Python, meaning both languages possess distinct features and syntax. However, one common thing is that they are object-oriented, interpreted, & dynamically typed languages.

Language

  • Python is a general-purpose language that promotes clarity, readability and imitates human language. It is the easiest language out for beginner-level programmers to experts.
  • Ruby is widely known for its flexibility & freedom and is the most fun to write language for programmers.

Syntax

  • Using Ruby means you can have several solutions to solve a problem. At times, this can create a problem.
  • Codes written in Django are easier to debug and are highly readable.

Implementing an API

  • Django is your go-to platform for building complex API architectures due to its REST framework.
  • Building APIs with Ruby on Rails can be a nightmare. Since it doesn’t have a REST framework like Django.

Installation

  • Django is super easy to install, you might not believe it, but it only takes about a minute.
  • RoR installation is pretty painful for an average user. To install Rails, one must be familiar with bundles, gems, etc.

Learning Curve

  • Django is an easy-to-learn framework as it is based on Python. Which has the largest developers community for the language. This makes it a leading option for big data projects of all sizes.
  • ROR complies with modern development patterns. Getting started with RoR requires some effort since you have to understand Ruby at a basic level to use it.

Community and Support

According to slintel.com, Django currently has 33813 customers, while Ruby on Rails has 30442 customers worldwide. Django owns a 31.65% market share in the Web framework category, while Ruby on Rails has a 28.50% market share in the same space.

Regarding having a strong community, Django is at the top of the list with more than 11000 members & 4000 ready-made code packages contributed by expert developers. RoR community is gearing up gradually and has more than 5,000 people & hundreds of contributed gems with reusable codes.

Still Not Sure Which Framework to Choose?

You might not be able to make a final decision about Django or Ruby on Rails based on overwhelming information. Now let’s quickly examine both frameworks’ potential to determine whether it is a right fit for your website.

ROR framework is based on Convention Over Configuration principle & it works better for early-stage startups and small organizations. Therefore, if your project requires a quick & simple web application – Rails can be a thing!

Django is based on the “Explicit is better than implicit” principle & it will be a perfect fit for large companies that are searching for a standardized, large-scale web development solution. A simple, powerful & quite straightforward technology, which makes it an ideal fit for e-commerce app development or projects dealing with big data.

Closing Thoughts

Choosing the right web framework can significantly impact your project’s entire development process. The final answer to Django vs Ruby on Rails winner depends on your project specifications, business goals, and expectations set. Considering the factors above will help you determine the most functional and efficient framework for your next big idea!

Backed by years of experience, CodesOrbit has helped thousands of clients achieve their goals with intuitive, robust, and tailor-made applications. Get in touch with us today to find out which one is best for your upcoming project: Django or Ruby on Rails.