Building and scaling a Rails app can sometimes feel like navigating a maze blindfolded. There’s always something to fix, something to build, something to speed up.
The good news is that you don’t have to do it all from scratch. That’s the magic of Ruby gems. They’re like little superpowers for your app, saving you time, headaches, and a whole lot of reinventing the wheel.
We, Railsfactory, have been around the Rails block for a while (18+ years of journey with ruby on rails), and if there’s one thing we’ve learned is that the right gems can save your sanity and keep your code from turning into a maze of hacks and quick fixes.
So, here’s the laid-back list of gems that I and a whole lot of Rails devs love to use as they’re practical, reliable, and make life a lot easier.
1. Pry: Debugging Without the Tears
Tired of dropping puts statements all over your code just to figure out what’s going wrong? Pry makes debugging smoother by letting you pause your app exactly where you need to and explore what’s happening in real time. With a simple binding.pry, you can check variables, step through methods, and test fixes on the fly, without restarting your app over and over.
It turns debugging into a more controlled, thoughtful process instead of a frustrating guessing game. Once you start using Pry, it quickly becomes one of those tools you won’t want to code without.
2. Devise: Auth Without the Hassle
User authentication is one of those things every app needs, but no one really wants to build. It’s repetitive, tricky, and easy to get wrong.
However, with Devise, all the nitty-gritties such as logins, sign-ups, password resets, account confirmations, even multi-factor authentication are taken care of for you. It’s also flexible enough to customize when you have special requirements, and reliable enough to just work out of the box.
With Devise handling the heavy lifting, you can spend more time building the features that actually matter to your users, instead of stressing over the basics.
3. RSpec: Because Untested Code Is Stressful
We’ve all pushed code thinking, “What could go wrong?, but only to regret it hours later.
Even the best-written code breaks eventually and without tests, tracking down the problem gets messy fast. With RSpec giving you a structured, readable way to write tests that actually make sense, you can catch issues early and ship with confidence.
Its clean, human-friendly syntax makes it easy to get started, even if you’re not deep into test-driven development. And when you pair it with gems like FactoryBot for test data and Capybara for simulating user interactions, you end up with a rock-solid safety net.
RSpec doesn’t just save time, it saves your sanity when things (inevitably) break.
4. RuboCop: Your Code, But Cleaner
We all have our quirks when it comes to writing code. Maybe you forget to add that space after a comma, or your method names get a little too… creative. That’s where RuboCop comes in. RuboCop is like that friend who gently reminds you when your code is getting messy.
RuboCop checks your code against Ruby style guidelines, points out issues, and can even fix many of them automatically. It helps you write code that’s not only prettier but also more consistent and readable.
And it’s not just about looking good. Clean and uniform code makes collaboration smoother, reviews faster, and maintenance less painful down the line.
5. Pundit: Clean, Simple Authorization
Although authorization isn’t the most exciting part of building an app, it’s one of those things you absolutely have to get right. Without proper access control, even the best features can open the door to serious problems.
With Pundit by your side, you can keep your authorization logic clean, simple, and right where it belongs. Instead of scattering permission checks across controllers and views, you write easy-to-read policy classes in plain Ruby. That makes it much easier to test, audit, and update as your app grows.
It’s the kind of structure that quietly saves you from those awkward “Wait, how did this user manage to delete everything?” moments in the future.
6. Sidekiq: Background Jobs Done Right
If your app is freezing because it’s too busy sending emails or crunching numbers, Sidekiq is the fix. It pushes heavy tasks to the background so your users aren’t stuck waiting.
It’s fast, memory-friendly, and can handle thousands of jobs without breaking a sweat. If you’ve got anything that doesn’t need to happen right this second, Sidekiq’s your best friend.
It plays nicely with Rails and has a simple, intuitive dashboard to help you keep an eye on what’s running. Plus, scaling Sidekiq as your app grows is smooth and hassle-free.
7. Kaminari: Easy Pagination, No Fuss
Endless lists of users, products, or posts aren’t ideal for both your users who have to scroll forever, and for your app performance.
Kaminari helps you break things into manageable pages or even build infinite scrolling if that’s more your style. Whether you need classic page-by-page navigation or slick infinite scroll, it gives you the tools without the hassle. It’s flexible, easy to style, and integrates seamlessly with Rails and popular front-end setups.
As your app grows, Kaminari scales right along with it, keeping things fast, efficient, and easy to manage without extra effort. It’s one of those gems you’ll end up using in almost every project.
Final Thoughts: The Right Gems Make All the Difference
At the end of the day, the right Ruby gems don’t just save you time but make your codebase cleaner, your app faster, and your life as a developer easier.
The gems listed in this article are the ones I (and our team of rails developers) keep coming back to because they’ve stood the test of time in real-world projects. Of course, gems are only part of the story. The other half is having the right mindset, clean coding habits, and sometimes, the right team to back you up.
If you ever need a hand with your Rails project, whether it’s scaling, upgrading, or just getting unstuck, feel free to reach out to our team at Railsfactory. We’re always up for a good challenge.
Top comments (2)
GOOD
Thank you!