Rails has come a long way in the last few years, from the
preserve of a vocal minority of maverick developers, to one of the most
popular web frameworks around.
Its popularity is due to many things, but chief amongst them is the speed at which you can put together a site in Rails, as well as the intelligent and vibrant community that are involved in it.
Whilst there are some well known success stories using Ruby on Rails out there, the sheer number and diversity of Rails apps is astounding. In celebration of that, and partly to satisfy our own curiosity, we thought offer our round up of some of the best rails sites out there.
http://basecamphq.com/
An extremely popular, browser-based project collaboration tool.
http://twitter.com/
The ubiquitous social networking site.
http://www.scribd.com/
The world’s largest social publishing company.
http://www.fanpop.com/
A huge network of music, TV and movie fan clubs.
http://www.geni.com/
A great family tree building tool.
http://www.penny-arcade.com/
A webcomic, largely focused on video gaming.
http://pitchfork.com/
An online indie music mag.
http://crazyegg.com/
A heatmap tool that lets you visualize how users interact with your website.
http://www.shopify.com/
A popular e-commerce platform.
http://github.com/
A code hosting app with a strong social networking element.
http://www.hulu.com/
A TV channel streaming shows and movies from NBC, Fox, ABC and more.
http://backpackit.com/
From the makers of Basecamp, Backpack is an intranet for your business that lets you share anything and everything with your team.
http://www.assembla.com/
A collaboration tool ideal for small teams.
http://lighthouseapp.com/
A superb project management app.
http://www.wayfaring.com/
A tool for creating and sharing maps.
http://www.communitywalk.com/
Another map creating tool, which lets users incorporate photos and comments into maps they create.
http://www.insiderpages.com/
A place to find reviews of local businesses, from dentists to restaurants
http://www.rentometer.com/
Enter your address into this site to compare your rent with other local properties.
http://www.menuism.com/
A place to rate restaurants and read food reviews.
http://campfirenow.com/
An instant messaging tool designed for project specific groups.
http://www.podomatic.com/featured
A place to access a wealth of podcasts as well as event listings for many cities worldwide.
http://www.43things.com/
A straightforward site for setting personal goals and viewing the goals of others.
http://bigcartel.com/
A simple, but trendy e-commerce platform.
http://doodlekit.com/home
An uncomplicated and accessible website builder.
http://feed.informer.com/
An app for adding news and feed content to your website.
http://home.inklingmarkets.com/
A highly original site with a unique take on question asking and answering.
http://www.swivel.com/
A site for sharing data in charts, graphs and tables.
http://highrisehq.com/
High-tech customer relationship management software.
http://www.mypunchbowl.com/
A suite of party planning tools for creating invites, buying supplies and much more.
http://ohdontforget.com/
A great way to send bulk and scheduled SMS messages.
http://www.spiceworks.com/
A free, but professional quality solution for all things IT, from network management to software reporting.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/
An online dictionary for pretty much every slang term used in the English-speaking world.
http://www.whitepages.com/
An online directory for business and personal contact details.
http://www.xing.com/
A place to network and make business contacts.
http://www.justin.tv/#r=ytWUZNE
A site where users can produce and share videos through their own “channels”.
http://www.slideshare.net/
A place to share PowerPoint presentations, Word documents and Adobe PDF portfolios.
http://www.jango.com/
A free internet radio station.
http://www.aboutus.org/
A comprehensive wiki for the world’s best websites.
http://www.lumosity.com/
A suite of online games for brain development.
http://hub.guitarhero.com/
Website of the hugely successful computer game.
http://www.chow.com/
A recipe repository complete with restaurant listings and videos.
http://bleacherreport.com/
A magazine covering all aspects of American sport.
http://sortfolio.com/
A place to find the perfect web designer for your needs.
http://www.more.com/
A style magazine for women, with fashion and make-up tips.
http://www.howcast.com/
A place to find instructional, how-to videos.
http://www.mileyworld.com/community/home
The home of Miley Cyrus’s official fan club.
http://www.ilike.com/
A site that provides concert alerts, recommendations and playlists, based on your favorite music.
http://www.yardbarker.com/
One of the best places to find sports news, rumors and videos.
http://www.viewpoints.com/
Find reviews on absolutely everything.
http://tupalo.com/
A place to find contact details and reviews of local restaurants, cafes, salons and shops.
And that’s really just the tip of the iceberg. With the latest version(Rails 3) imminent it’s clear that it shows now sign of slowing down just yet; no doubt we can expect to see even more exciting and sophisticated websites and applications added to this list in the future.
Its popularity is due to many things, but chief amongst them is the speed at which you can put together a site in Rails, as well as the intelligent and vibrant community that are involved in it.
Whilst there are some well known success stories using Ruby on Rails out there, the sheer number and diversity of Rails apps is astounding. In celebration of that, and partly to satisfy our own curiosity, we thought offer our round up of some of the best rails sites out there.
1. Basecamp
http://basecamphq.com/
An extremely popular, browser-based project collaboration tool.
2. Twitter
http://twitter.com/
The ubiquitous social networking site.
3. Scribd
http://www.scribd.com/
The world’s largest social publishing company.
4. Fanpop
http://www.fanpop.com/
A huge network of music, TV and movie fan clubs.
5. Geni
http://www.geni.com/
A great family tree building tool.
6. Penny Arcade
http://www.penny-arcade.com/
A webcomic, largely focused on video gaming.
7. Pitchfork
http://pitchfork.com/
An online indie music mag.
8. Crazy Egg
http://crazyegg.com/
A heatmap tool that lets you visualize how users interact with your website.
9. Shopify
http://www.shopify.com/
A popular e-commerce platform.
10. Github
http://github.com/
A code hosting app with a strong social networking element.
11. Hulu
http://www.hulu.com/
A TV channel streaming shows and movies from NBC, Fox, ABC and more.
12. Backpack
http://backpackit.com/
From the makers of Basecamp, Backpack is an intranet for your business that lets you share anything and everything with your team.
13. Assembla
http://www.assembla.com/
A collaboration tool ideal for small teams.
14. Lighthouse
http://lighthouseapp.com/
A superb project management app.
15. Wayfaring
http://www.wayfaring.com/
A tool for creating and sharing maps.
16. CommunityWalk
http://www.communitywalk.com/
Another map creating tool, which lets users incorporate photos and comments into maps they create.
17. Insiderpages
http://www.insiderpages.com/
A place to find reviews of local businesses, from dentists to restaurants
18. Rentometer
http://www.rentometer.com/
Enter your address into this site to compare your rent with other local properties.
19. Menuism
http://www.menuism.com/
A place to rate restaurants and read food reviews.
20. Campfire
http://campfirenow.com/
An instant messaging tool designed for project specific groups.
22. Podomatic
http://www.podomatic.com/featured
A place to access a wealth of podcasts as well as event listings for many cities worldwide.
22. 43 Things
http://www.43things.com/
A straightforward site for setting personal goals and viewing the goals of others.
23. Big Cartel
http://bigcartel.com/
A simple, but trendy e-commerce platform.
24. DoodleKit
http://doodlekit.com/home
An uncomplicated and accessible website builder.
25. feed.informer
http://feed.informer.com/
An app for adding news and feed content to your website.
26. Inkling Markets
http://home.inklingmarkets.com/
A highly original site with a unique take on question asking and answering.
27. Swivel
http://www.swivel.com/
A site for sharing data in charts, graphs and tables.
28. Highrise
http://highrisehq.com/
High-tech customer relationship management software.
29. Mypunchbowl
http://www.mypunchbowl.com/
A suite of party planning tools for creating invites, buying supplies and much more.
30. oh, don’t forget…
http://ohdontforget.com/
A great way to send bulk and scheduled SMS messages.
31. Spiceworks
http://www.spiceworks.com/
A free, but professional quality solution for all things IT, from network management to software reporting.
32. Urban Dictionary
http://www.urbandictionary.com/
An online dictionary for pretty much every slang term used in the English-speaking world.
33. White Pages
http://www.whitepages.com/
An online directory for business and personal contact details.
34. XING
http://www.xing.com/
A place to network and make business contacts.
35. Justin.TV
http://www.justin.tv/#r=ytWUZNE
A site where users can produce and share videos through their own “channels”.
36. Slideshare
http://www.slideshare.net/
A place to share PowerPoint presentations, Word documents and Adobe PDF portfolios.
37. Jango
http://www.jango.com/
A free internet radio station.
38. AboutUs
http://www.aboutus.org/
A comprehensive wiki for the world’s best websites.
39. Luminosity
http://www.lumosity.com/
A suite of online games for brain development.
40. Guitar Hero
http://hub.guitarhero.com/
Website of the hugely successful computer game.
41. Chow
http://www.chow.com/
A recipe repository complete with restaurant listings and videos.
42. Bleacher Report
http://bleacherreport.com/
A magazine covering all aspects of American sport.
43. Sortfolio
http://sortfolio.com/
A place to find the perfect web designer for your needs.
44. More
http://www.more.com/
A style magazine for women, with fashion and make-up tips.
45. Howcast
http://www.howcast.com/
A place to find instructional, how-to videos.
46. Miley World
http://www.mileyworld.com/community/home
The home of Miley Cyrus’s official fan club.
47. iLike
http://www.ilike.com/
A site that provides concert alerts, recommendations and playlists, based on your favorite music.
48. Yardbarker
http://www.yardbarker.com/
One of the best places to find sports news, rumors and videos.
49. Viewpoints
http://www.viewpoints.com/
Find reviews on absolutely everything.
50. Tupalo
http://tupalo.com/
A place to find contact details and reviews of local restaurants, cafes, salons and shops.
And that’s really just the tip of the iceberg. With the latest version(Rails 3) imminent it’s clear that it shows now sign of slowing down just yet; no doubt we can expect to see even more exciting and sophisticated websites and applications added to this list in the future.