Does Ruby on Rails Work With Render?

Fully CompatibleLast verified: 2026-02-20

Ruby on Rails deploys seamlessly to Render with first-class support, native PostgreSQL integration, and zero configuration needed for basic apps.

Quick Facts

Compatibility

full

Setup Difficulty

Trivial

Official Integration

Yes ✓

Confidence

high

Minimum Versions

Ruby on Rails: 5.2

How Ruby on Rails Works With Render

Render is purpose-built for Rails deployments. You connect your GitHub repository, and Render automatically detects your Rails app, installs dependencies via Bundler, runs migrations, and serves your app with zero configuration. The platform provides managed PostgreSQL databases that integrate directly with Rails' DATABASE_URL environment variable, eliminating manual configuration. Render handles SSL certificates automatically, scales horizontally via their dashboard, and supports background jobs through Sidekiq or DelayedJob. The developer experience is exceptional—deploy with a git push, view logs in real-time, and manage environment variables through their UI. For most Rails apps, deployment is literally connecting your repo and waiting 2-3 minutes. Render's free tier supports small projects, making it ideal for prototypes and learning. Architecture-wise, Rails runs as a web service on Render's infrastructure, with optional Redis services for caching and job queues, making it suitable for monoliths and service-oriented architectures alike.

Best Use Cases

→Deploying traditional Rails monoliths with minimal DevOps overhead

→Building SaaS applications with integrated PostgreSQL and free SSL certificates

→Running Rails APIs alongside background job processing with Sidekiq

→Prototyping and deploying Rails side projects without infrastructure management

Quick Setup with render.yaml

bash

# No installation needed. Create render.yaml in your Rails root directory.

bash

# render.yaml - place in Rails project root
services:
  - type: web
    name: rails-app
    env: ruby
    buildCommand: bundle install && bundle exec rake assets:precompile && bundle exec rake db:migrate
    startCommand: bundle exec puma -t 5:5 -w 1
    plan: free
    envVars:
      - key: DATABASE_URL
        fromDatabase:
          name: postgres-db
          property: connectionString
      - key: RAILS_MASTER_KEY
        sync: false
      - key: RAILS_ENV
        value: production

databases:
  - name: postgres-db
    plan: free

Known Issues & Gotchas

warning

Database seeding doesn't run automatically on first deploy

Fix: Run `render exec rails db:seed` after first deployment or add a post-deploy hook in render.yaml

info

Asset precompilation can timeout on slower connections with large assets

Fix: Precompile assets locally before pushing or configure build timeout in render.yaml

warning

Free tier services spin down after 15 minutes of inactivity, causing slow first requests

Fix: Upgrade to paid tier for production apps or accept initial startup latency

critical

Rails secret_key_base must be set as environment variable, not in credentials file alone

Fix: Set RAILS_MASTER_KEY environment variable in Render dashboard or use Secret Files feature

Alternatives

•Heroku + Rails: More expensive but includes add-ons marketplace and built-in review apps
•AWS Elastic Beanstalk + Rails: More control and scaling options but requires infrastructure knowledge
•DigitalOcean App Platform + Rails: Mid-range pricing with Docker support and more customization

Resources

docsRender Rails Deployment Guide docsRender Environment Variables and Secrets docsRuby on Rails Official Guides githubRender Community: Rails Deployment Examples

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