Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Sinatra VS Ruby on Rails

Compare Sinatra VS Ruby on Rails and see what are their differences

Sinatra logo Sinatra

Classy web-development dressed in a DSL

Ruby on Rails logo Ruby on Rails

Ruby on Rails is an open source full-stack web application framework for the Ruby programming...
  • Sinatra Landing page
    Landing page //
    2018-09-30
  • Ruby on Rails Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-23

We recommend LibHunt Ruby for discovery and comparisons of trending Ruby projects. Also, to find more open-source ruby alternatives, you can check out libhunt.com/r/rails

Sinatra features and specs

  • Lightweight
    Sinatra is a micro-framework, meaning it is minimalistic and lightweight, making it ideal for small applications and services.
  • Simplicity
    The framework is easy to understand and use, requiring less boilerplate code compared to more complex frameworks like Rails.
  • Quick to Set Up
    Sinatra allows for rapid application development as it can be quickly set up with minimal configuration.
  • Flexibility
    Sinatra provides flexibility to developers, allowing them to structure their application in any way they see fit, without enforcing strict conventions.
  • Performance
    Due to its minimalistic nature, Sinatra can sometimes offer better performance for smaller applications or specific use cases.
  • Middleware Integration
    Sinatra works well with Rack middleware, which allows developers to easily add additional functionality to the application.
  • Active Community
    Sinatra has an active community, providing developers with a wealth of plugins, resources, and support.

Possible disadvantages of Sinatra

  • Limited Built-In Functionality
    Sinatra does not come with many built-in features, requiring developers to implement or integrate additional functionality on their own.
  • Not Ideal for Large Applications
    Due to its simplicity and minimalistic nature, Sinatra may not be suitable for developing large-scale applications or complex systems.
  • Lack of Conventions
    While the flexibility of Sinatra is a pro, the lack of enforced conventions can lead to inconsistent code and architecture, especially in larger teams or projects.
  • Documentation
    While there is documentation available, it is not as extensive or comprehensive as that of larger frameworks like Rails.
  • Learning Curve
    For developers coming from more comprehensive frameworks, adapting to Sinatra's minimalistic approach may require some adjustment.
  • Ecosystem
    The ecosystem of plugins and extensions for Sinatra is smaller compared to more popular frameworks, potentially limiting the options available for developers.

Ruby on Rails features and specs

  • Rapid Development
    Ruby on Rails uses conventions over configurations which allows developers to build applications quickly. It comes with a wealth of built-in tools and libraries that streamline the development process.
  • Community Support
    Rails has a vibrant and active community. This means a lot of third-party libraries (gems) are available, and you can easily find help and resources.
  • Convention over Configuration
    Rails emphasizes convention over configuration, which reduces the number of decisions developers need to make. This can increase productivity and consistency across projects.
  • Built-in Testing
    Rails comes with a strong built-in testing framework, making it easier to test your application and ensure that it works as expected.
  • Scalability Options
    Although it has a reputation for not being the most scalable framework, Rails can be made scalable with good architecture and the right tools.
  • RESTful Design
    Rails promotes RESTful application design, which means that it aligns well with best practices in web development and makes it easier to build APIs.

Possible disadvantages of Ruby on Rails

  • Performance
    Ruby on Rails can be slower than some other frameworks, particularly for applications that require a lot of computation or have high traffic.
  • Learning Curve
    While Rails makes many things easier with its conventions, this can create a steep learning curve for newcomers who need to understand the 'Rails way' of doing things.
  • Scalability Concerns
    Due to its monolithic nature, scaling Rails can be challenging, requiring significant architectural changes and optimizations.
  • Lesser Flexibility
    The conventions that make Rails easy to use can also be limiting. When you need to do something outside the typical Rails flow, it may be harder to implement.
  • Runtime Speed
    Ruby, the language that Rails is built on, is generally slower in terms of execution speed compared to other languages like Java or C++.
  • Memory Consumption
    Rails applications can consume a lot of memory, which can be a concern for large-scale applications or those with limited resources.

Sinatra videos

How Frank Sinatra Invented the Album

More videos:

  • Review - Jack Daniel's Sinatra Select
  • Review - Frank Sinatra - I've got you under my skin *first time listening* REACTION

Ruby on Rails videos

Ruby On Rails Biggest Waste Of Time In 2020 | Ruby on Rails Dead

More videos:

  • Tutorial - Ruby on Rails Tutorial | Build a Book Review App - Part 1

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Sinatra and Ruby on Rails)
Web Frameworks
15 15%
85% 85
Developer Tools
13 13%
87% 87
Ruby Web Framework
100 100%
0% 0
Python Web Framework
5 5%
95% 95

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Sinatra and Ruby on Rails

Sinatra Reviews

The 20 Best Laravel Alternatives for Web Development
Sinatra swings to its own tune, a Ruby framework for minimalist fans at heart. It’s about keeping it simple, just right for those times when all you need is a light, direct solution to serve and fly high.
Top 10 Phoenix Framework Alternatives
Sinatra is a free and open-source web app library that allows developers to build robust web apps using Ruby on top of the Rack web server.
10 Ruby on Rails Alternatives For Web Development in 2022
If you plan to avoid Ruby on Rails but still want to use the Ruby programming language you should consider Sinatra, - a domain-specific language developed by Blake Mizerany and released in 2007. Unlike RoR, which is a Full Stack Web Development Framework, Sinatra was aimed to be lightweight and agile. It provides the developer with minimum requirements and abstractions that...
Best Alternatives to FastAPI App Free for Windows (2021)
Sinatra is a free and open source software web application library and domain-specific language written in Ruby. It is an alternative to other Ruby web application…
Get Over Ruby on Rails — 3 Alternative Web Frameworks Worth Checking Out
Sinatra is one of the oldest web frameworks for Ruby. It was initially released in 2007 (Rails was released in 2004). Sinatra is a microframework that inspired a lot of other small frameworks the way Rails inspired full-stack frameworks. For example, the famous Express.js framework was inspired by Sinatra as well as some parts of Laravel.

Ruby on Rails Reviews

  1. Stan
    · Founder at SaaSHub ·
    The most productive web framework

    Yes, there are other more trending frameworks; however, nothing reaches the productivity of Rails. It's simply unbeatable if you have a small team.

    For example both SaaSHub and LibHunt were built on Rails.

    🏁 Competitors: Django, Laravel

Top 9 best Frameworks for web development
The best frameworks for web development include React, Angular, Vue.js, Django, Spring, Laravel, Ruby on Rails, Flask and Express.js. Each of these frameworks has its own advantages and distinctive features, so it is important to choose the framework that best suits the needs of your project.
Source: www.kiwop.com
Top 5 Laravel Alternatives
In terms of documentation, guidelines, and libraries, Ruby on Rails is the superior framework for smaller applications. Since it entered the online scene before Laravel, its community is larger and more well-liked among programmers. When compared to other Laravel alternatives, Ruby’s code is much simpler to understand and write.
Top 10 Phoenix Framework Alternatives
While modern frameworks try to minimize the tradeoffs to a limited extent, none of them has come closer to the implementation of the Phoenix Framework, which offers Ruby on Rails levels of productivity while being one of the fastest frameworks available in the market.
10 Ruby on Rails Alternatives For Web Development in 2022
Once a prolific web development technology, in 2021, both Ruby and Ruby on Rails are considered dying technologies. The data speaks for itself. In October 2021, Ruby lost 3 ranks in the Tiobe Index compared to October 2020 and became the 16th most searched programming language. The same decline in Ruby on Rails popularity is demonstrated by Google Trends. The language...
Get Over Ruby on Rails — 3 Alternative Web Frameworks Worth Checking Out
Disclaimer: I started working on this article before the big controversy about Basecamp happened. I don’t want to make any point about this in the article. Regardless of what DHH and others are saying on different topics, Ruby on Rails is still a great piece of software and will continue to be. But there are some great alternatives as well that I would like to highlight.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Ruby on Rails should be more popular than Sinatra. It has been mentiond 139 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Sinatra mentions (40)

  • Show HN: Dumbo – Hono inspired framework for PHP
    Yeah, I believe Sinatra https://sinatrarb.com/ or Padrino https://padrinorb.com/ inspired Hono. So you are back to Ruby ;). - Source: Hacker News / 6 months ago
  • Using meta-programming in Ruby to build a REST API from a JSON file
    Now because we are using Sinatra as our server, we would need a way to dynamically define new endpoints from the file. Sinatra is a DSL for quickly creating web applications in Ruby with minimal effort. - Source: dev.to / 6 months ago
  • Rust needs a web framework for lazy developers
    Something like https://sinatrarb.com/ for rust would be cool. - Source: Hacker News / 7 months ago
  • Even more Opentelemetry!
    While Ruby is not this famous anymore, I still wanted the stack in my architecture. I eschewed Ruby on Rails in favor of the leaner Sinatra framework. I use sequel for database access. The dynamic nature of the language was a bit of a hurdle, which is why it took me more time to develop my service than with Go. - Source: dev.to / 11 months ago
  • Building a Sinatra app in Ruby
    Sinatra is a lightweight web application framework written in Ruby. It provides a simple and easy-to-use syntax for building web applications. The framework focuses on being minimalistic, allowing developers to quickly create web applications without having to deal with a lot of the boilerplate code and relatively rigid way of doing things that accompany larger and more popular frameworks like Rails. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
View more

Ruby on Rails mentions (139)

  • Charybdis ORM: Building High-Performance Distributed Rust Backends with ScyllaDB
    Ruby on Rails (RoR) is one of the most renowned web frameworks. When combined with SQL databases, RoR transforms into a powerhouse for developing back-end (or even full-stack) applications. It resolves numerous issues out of the box, sometimes without developers even realizing it. For example, with the right callbacks, complex business logic for a single API action is automatically wrapped within a transaction,... - Source: dev.to / 7 days ago
  • Ask HN: What's the ideal stack for a solo dev in 2025
    As it's just you I'd stick with Ruby on Rails 8[1] as you already know it and I think it could realistically easily achieve what you're proposing. There's lots of libraries to for calling out external AI services. e.g. Something like FastMCP[2] From the sound of it that's all you need. I'd use Hotwire[3] for the frontend and Hotwire Native if you want to rollout an app version quickly. I'd back it with... - Source: Hacker News / about 1 month ago
  • Open Source: A Goldmine for Indie Hackers – Unleashing Creativity and Collaboration
    One of the standout benefits of open source software is its cost-effectiveness. Indie hackers can leverage robust tools such as MySQL and Python, which eliminate the financial barrier to high-quality software solutions. Frameworks like Django and Ruby on Rails enable swift development cycles, reducing the time-to-market for innovative ideas. This low-cost, high-efficiency approach allows entrepreneurs to focus on... - Source: dev.to / about 2 months ago
  • Indie Hacking with Open Source Tools: Innovating on a Budget
    Frameworks such as Django and Ruby on Rails simplify web development, while tools like Docker ensure consistency across environments. - Source: dev.to / about 2 months ago
  • Loco 0.14 on Cathyos: Getting started
    Loco is a relatively new Rust web framework which first appeared around 2021. It is strongly inspired by Ruby on Rails, and designed to bring developers productivity as various functionality on routing, middlewares, and request handling. They aim to provide a modern and intuitive development experience. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Sinatra and Ruby on Rails, you can also consider the following products

ASP.NET - ASP.NET is a free web framework for building great Web sites and Web applications using HTML, CSS and JavaScript.

Laravel - A PHP Framework For Web Artisans

Flask - a microframework for Python based on Werkzeug, Jinja 2 and good intentions.

Django - The Web framework for perfectionists with deadlines

ExpressJS - Sinatra inspired web development framework for node.js -- insanely fast, flexible, and simple

Hanami - Hanami is a modern web framework for Ruby.