9 Best Ruby on Rails Hosting 2024 (with Cheap Plans)

Ruby on Rails, also simply known as RoR, is a popular framework for building web applications. The framework stems from the Ruby programming language. RoR requires lots of server resources, and that’s why you should only use the best ruby on rails hosting providers.

RoR is often reserved for more advanced hosting solutions like VPS, dedicated servers, and cloud hosting. However, it’s still possible to find shared hosting plans that can host RoR. This article covers the best ruby on rails hosting companies and gives you the preferred hosting type for RoR on these particular platforms. 

Many developers like using the RoR framework because of its simplicity. However, without a reliable RoR host, your web app may become slow and unreliable. 

Types of Ruby on Rails Hosting

Ruby on Rails hosting services fall into three main categories:

• Virtual Private Server hosting – VPS
• Platform as a Service – PaaS
• Shared Hosting

VPS is the most ideal for most Ruby on Rails projects. Many hosting companies have VPS as part of their hosting types. The alternative is PaaS which mostly adopts the pay-as-you-go architecture. With PaaS, you only pay as much as the number of resources your app uses. A good example of PaaS that will be covered in this article is Heroku. Shared hosting is the cheapest of the three options, but has various limitations that may make you think twice before using them – unless you’re running a small RoR app. 

Choosing the right hosting type for your RoR project depends on your specific needs. However, shared hosting should not be among your top choices because of the limited resources on shared servers. Virtual Private Server – VPS – hosting is highly recommended for your Ruby on Rails apps. 

VPS hosting is the most popular choice among RoR developers. This is because the hosting type has the resources required to effectively host RoR apps and is not expensive either – compared to other options like dedicated servers. Although most of the RoR hosting companies covered in this article offer various types of hosting, the focus will be on their VPS services. The 1 GB or 2GB RAM offered by most VPS hosting plans is good enough to get you started with your Ruby on Rails app. 

The Top 9 Best Ruby on Rails Hosting Services

Provider	Starting Price	Key Features	24/7 Support
Hostinger	$3.49 VPS	Free SSL Dedicated IP Multiple Data centers	✔
LiquidWeb	$25 VPS	Fast SSD storage DDoS protection 100% uptime	✔
Bluehost	$18.99 VPS	Free CDN Access control Root access	✔
DreamHost	$10.00 VPS	Unlimited traffic 100% uptime guarantee Free SSL	✔
Interserver	$6.00 VPS	99.9% uptime Ultra-fast speeds 30 day guarantee	✔
Hostgator	$23.95 VPS	Free SSL Unmetered bandwidth 45-day guarantee	✔
A2 Hosting	$4.99 VPS	99.9% uptime commitment Reinforced DDoS protection	✔
Heroku	$0.00	GitHub integration Automatic OS patching	✔
DigitalOcean	$4.00	14 global data centers 99.99% uptime SLA Built-in security	✔

1. Hostinger

Best for Cheap Ruby on Rails Hosting

Hostinger is one of the first picks because of one main reason – it offers some of the cheapest VPS hosting in the industry. Furthermore, the hosting provider offers many features that are critical for ruby on rails hosting. However, you cannot host RoR on Hostinger’s shared servers.

The VPS plans are semi-managed. This means that you’ll do your share of duties and leave the rest to the company. For example, the company takes care of hardware setup and server security while you can install software and do all configurations. This might not be beginner-friendly tasks, but you get access to the VPS control panel with web script and OS installers. In addition, you’re granted root access, allowing you to manage your VPS fully and freely.

Hostinger also offers technical support for beginners. You can also check out their knowledge base which has several articles on the subject.

Hostinger has multiple data centers across the globe. The data centers are located in Lithuania, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Netherlands. These data centers play a critical role in enhancing Hostinger’s performance.

The company guarantees 99.9% uptime, but actual tests put the uptime at 100%. You also get fast page loading speeds.

The company offers 24/7 customer support. You also get a 30-day money back guarantee. You can sample and test the hosting services for one month before fully committing to the company. 

Pricing

Although the company offers shared and VPS hosting, you’ll have to only consider their VPS plans for your ruby on rails hosting. 

VPS Hosting:

• VPS 1 at $3.49 per month
• VPS 2 at $4.99 per month
• VPS 3 at $7.99 per month
• VPS 4 at $9.99 per month
• VPS 5 at $23.95 per month
• VPS 6 at $38.99 per month
• VPS 7 at $57.99 per month
• VPS 8 at $77.99 per month

Cloud Hosting:

• Cloud Startup at $9.99 per month
• Cloud Professional at $14.99 per month
• Cloud Enterprise at $29.99 per month

Cloud hosting at Hostinger comes with a free domain, unlimited databases, 100 email accounts, and a 30-day money-back guarantee. 

2. Liquid Web

Best for Ease of Use

Liquid Web’s VPS hosting plans have all the resources and features required for effective Ruby on Rails hosting. 

The company offers managed VPS hosting which is ideal for busy developers. The experts at Liquid Web take care of all critical maintenance and security issues. In addition, each of the VPS plans comes with DDoS protection, an integrated firewall, and advanced security. You also get proactive monitoring 24/7/365 as well as root access.

Developers looking for a ruby on rails hosting provider that can guarantee reliable performance should put Liquid Web as one of their preferred choices. The company offers a perfect 100% uptime guarantee. You also get reliable page loading speeds. 

Liquid Web allows users to choose one out of the three server locations that are in the East Coast, West Coast, and Europe. Developers targeting users in any of these regions have the advantage of further enhancing their app performance by selecting server locations that are near their target market. The integrated CloudFlare CDN makes it possible to achieve fast loading speeds regardless of a user’s geographic location.

This hosting provider also lets you install any version of Ruby. You can do this using the Ruby version manager – RVM. 

Pricing

VPS Hosting

• 2 GB RAM at $25 per month
• 4 GB RAM at $25 per month
• 8 GB RAM at $25 per month
• 16 GB RAM at $25 per month
• 2 GB Value Bundle at $40 per month
• 4 GB Value Bundle at $50 per month
• 8 GB Value Bundle at $65 per month
• 16 GB Value Bundle at $145 per month

Developers with apps that need tons of power and resources may also consider Liquid Web’s cloud-dedicated servers.

The VPS plans are cheaper options and don't need a lot of resources for typical apps. Cloud-dedicated servers are more expensive and are tailored for high-demand applications. 

3. Bluehost 

Best for Cheap Shared Hosting

Bluehost is one of the most popular web hosting companies. The company also supports ruby on rails hosting in all its packages. This means that you can host your RoR project on Bluehost’s shared hosting plans, unless it’s a big project that needs more server resources. 

The VPS plans at Bluehost are ideal for the typical ruby on rails project. The company offers fully managed VPS plans and you also get root access. Root access lets you manage your virtual server as you please. 

Although Bluehost does not have an uptime guarantee, tests indicate that the host delivers an impressive 99.99% uptime. However, Bluehost’s data centers are located in the United States only. 

Pricing

Managed VPS Hosting:

• Standard at $18.99 per month
• Enhanced at $29.99 per month
• Ultimate at $59.99 per month 

4. Dreamhost

Best for Small RoR Projects

Dreamhost is popular for its affordable WordPress hosting packages. It also comes with the right resources and features to host small ruby on rails projects. This might not be the ideal provider if you have a big RoR project with tons of resource demands, unless you use their more advanced offerings. However, one of the main advantages of this provider is that all the servers have Ruby pre-installed. 

Dreamhost supports RoR on its shared hosting plans, and this is why it's affordable to host your ruby projects on the platform. Due to the resource limitations on shared hosting plans, you should consider using their managed VPS plans for better performance of your web app. The company itself does not recommend hosting RoR on its shared plans. However, it’s up to you to choose your preferred hosting. 

Hosting with Dreamhost’s managed VPS hosting means that you delegate the tasks of taking care of all server issues to the team at Dreamhost. The provider also has a 100% uptime guarantee, a major attraction for developers who are big on high app performance. However, such great performance is exclusive to the US – the company’s data centers are only in the United States. 

You can contact the customer care team in case of any issues. The support team is available 24/7. The company also offers a 97-day money back guarantee, whether you are on the shared or VPS hosting plans. 

You can also read more about Dreamhost here: DreamHost Full Review 2023

Pricing

Managed VPS hosting:

• VPS Basic at $ 10.00 per month
• VPS Business at $ 20.00 per month
• VPS Professional at $ 40.00 per month
• VPS Enterprise at $ 80.00 per month

The VPS prices of these hosting plans do not change upon renewal. 

5. Interserver

Best for Affordable Month to Month RoR Hosting  

Interserver is another great hosting provider that offers RoR hosting on its shared plans, among other hosting types like VPS hosting. The prices are also very affordable, with the VPS hosting plans starting from $6 per month. 

Interserver differs from other hosting providers by enhancing the resources on their shared hosting services, almost matching the VPS services. This means that these shared plans are good enough to host your small to medium RoR projects. 

The company offers 99.9% uptime guarantee, putting it amongst the most reliable providers. However, its speed performance does not match its close competitors. All company servers are located in the United States. Users in the US can enjoy fast loading speeds. 

The company offers 16 VPS solutions, differentiated based on CPU cores – from 1 Core to 16 Cores. As expected, the price increases with an increase in the CPU Cores. You are free to choose the amount of resources you need and also have the flexibility to scale up or down.

An additional advantage that Interserver has over its competitors is the flexibility in VPS pricing. The company offers month-to-month payment options for its VPS plans. 

Pricing

VPS Hosting

The hosting prices are customized depending on CPU cores

• 1 Cores at $6.00 per month
• 4 Cores at $24.00 per month
• 8 Cores at $48.00 per month
• 12 Cores at $72.00 per month
• 16 Cores at $96.00 per month

6. Hostgator

Best for Performance Oriented Hosting for Small RoR Projects 

Hostgator is another great option for developers or business owners on a low budget yet seeking reliable RoR hosting services. The company supports RoR on all its hosting types and plans – shared, VPS, reseller, cloud, and dedicated servers. Therefore, Hostgator is a great option for RoR projects of all sizes.

You can host your small RoR projects on the shared hosting plans. The plans come with cPanel, making it easy for customizations and configurations. Although these shared hosting plans come with unlimited bandwidth and storage, the VPS plans pack more power and resources for your medium-size ruby on rails projects. You also get root access with the VPS plans. 

The hosting service also comes with some advertising credit from Microsoft and Google, which are great offerings for business owners interested in marketing their services or products online. Other great features on the platform include free SSL, DDoS protection, and firewall protection. 

This RoR hosting provider has an uptime of 99.99%. However, the company’s data centers are in one country – the United States. This means that only users in the US are guaranteed high page loading speeds. To cover for this limitation, Hostgator includes CloudFlare CDN in its plans that can save your content on 23 other data centers across the world. 

The customer support team is available 24/7 to respond to your questions or help you solve various issues. The company offers a 45-day money back guarantee.  

Pricing

• Snappy 2000 at $23.95 per month
• Snappy 4000 at $34.95 per month
• Snappy 8000 at $59.95 per month

7. A2 Hosting

Best for Cheap Unmanaged VPS Hosting for Experienced Users 

A2 Hosting gives you the option of managed and unmanaged VPS hosting. Depending on your developer skills and hosting experience, you can choose from the two options, with the managed hosting better suited for beginners. Both options effectively support RoR hosting. 

The shared servers at A2 hosting also support ruby on rails apps. However, the unmanaged VPS plans offer more resources than the shared servers, and are not any pricier than the shared hosting plans. If you are looking for an affordable and reliable solution for your RoR project, the unmanaged VPS hosting would be the best option. The price for unmanaged VPS starts from $4.99 per month.

This is a high-performance oriented provider and offers a 99.9% uptime guarantee and great speeds. You have the option of upgrading to one of the Supersonic plans if you find out that your app needs more power. The Supersonic plans have more resources and come with a turbo servers upgrade. You can choose your preferred data centers from the 4 options that include Arizona in the US, Michigan in the US, Singapore, and Amsterdam in the Netherlands.  

The unmanaged hosting, however, is ideal for individuals with the right technical knowledge to manage their servers. You get full root access which allows you to manage your servers entirely. Beginners or individuals without the required technical knowledge but want to enjoy VPS hosting should go for the managed VPS option. 

Pricing

Unmanaged VPS hosting:

• Runway 1 at $4.99 per month
• Runway 2 at $7.99 per month
• Runway 4 at $9.99 per month
• Runway 8 at $34.99 per month

Managed VPS hosting:

• Lift 4 at $39.99 per month
• Lift 8 at $54.99 per month
• Lift 16 at $67.99 per month
• Mach 8 at $59.99 per month

Turbo VPS hosting:

• Supersonic 8 at $34.99 per month
• Supersonic 16 at $54.99 per month
• Supersonic 32 at $74.99 per month

8. Heroku

Best for Enterprise-level RoR Apps

Heroku is a great platform that allows you to build, run, and scale your web apps easily. One of the reasons why you should consider using Heroku is because they have all the resources and features you need for the best performance of your RoR projects. Yukihiro Matsumoto, the creator of Ruby, is one of the staff at Heroku. 

Heroku was originally developed as an exclusively Ruby platform, but has now grown to support other programming languages like Scala, Node.js, Java, Go, Python, Clojure, and PHP. The platform is easy to use and has GitHub integration, making it even easier for you to update your apps. Updating the app is as simple as pushing a commit to your repository.

Your first web server instance on the platform is free of charge. However, for hosting large applications, Heroku can be pricey. This is why as a PaaS, Heroku is most preferred by entrepreneurs who have the budget to enjoy its resources and powers. 

Pricing

Pricing for hosting services is customized at various levels depending on the amount of resources required. You pay based on the ‘dynos’ you choose, which are lightweight Linux containers.

• Free and Hobbyy – free
• Production at $25 and up per month
• Advanced at $250 and up per month
• Enterprise at customized pricing 

Read more: Best Heroku Alternatives

9. Digital Ocean

Best for Affordable VPS Hosting

Digital Ocean is one of the best hosting providers for web applications, including ruby on rails projects. It is also an affordable VPS hosting service provider. The company’s VPS solution, known as Droplets, only costs $4 per month. The provider allows you to create and operate the server with its features. 

Popular Digital Ocean clients include Slack, Splunk, and Docker. Digital Ocean’s data center locations include Amsterdam, London, Singapore, and the United States.

Pricing

Pricing at Digital Ocean depends on the specific cloud solutions that you want. The company applies the pay-as-you-go pricing system where you only pay for what you use. 

• Droplets at $4.00 per month
• Kubernetes at $12.00 per month
• App platform at $0.00 per month

Droplets allows you to deploy your project in seconds, while the Kuberentes package gives you access to simple, managed kubernetes. The App Platform allows you to build, deploy, and scale apps quickly. The App Platform is a fully managed solution.

Other solutions include:

• Functions at $0.00 per month: Focus on building apps and only pay for what you use
• Databases – fully managed – at $15 per month: Managed Redis, MySQL, PostgreSQL, and MongoDB
• Spaces at $5 per month: S-3 compatible storage that is highly scalable and has built in CDN
• Load Balancers at $12 per month: Improves performance, availability, and scalability
• Support Plan at $0 per month: Find answers to common questions and development guidelines curated by experts. Get free email support
• Container Registry at $0 per month: Easily store and manage private container images

Factors to Consider for Ruby on Rails Hosting

You want a host that will provide optimum performance for your app. Not all hosts can guarantee you this, and that's why you must be diligent when searching for the perfect host for your app.

Some of the key factors to consider include: 

• Version Support: The host should be able to support the latest versions of the framework. The minimum requirement should be version 1.8.7 of the Ruby programming language pre-installed on the servers. Higher versions should be given preference.  
• Control Panel: The control panel gives you the freedom to perform various tasks necessary for smooth deployment and management of your app on the servers. 
• Updates: It is not enough that the host supports the latest version of Ruby or RoR, it should also accommodate updates of the programming language and the framework. 
• Database Engines: Give preference to RoR hosting companies that offer additional support for MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQLite databases. 
• Scalability: If you have plans to grow or scale your app, choose a provider and hosting plan that can grow with it. 
• Security: Important features to look for include SSL certificate, firewall, and DDoS protection. The company should also have a data backup system to prevent loss of data. The minimum preferred encryption for data security is 128-bit data encryption. 
• Technical Support: Choose platforms that provide 24/7/365 multilingual support. 

How to Choose the Best RoR Hosting

The best Ruby on Rails hosting service should be one that is capable of meeting your expectations. This means that you choose the ideal host based on your specific requirements or expectations. 

A reliable RoR host should support the latest versions of Ruby on Rails. In addition, the company should offer the specific server hardware resources and hosting type that you’re looking for in a host. For example, if you’re only interested in cloud hosting because of the resources it offers, you should rule out companies that do not offer cloud hosting. 

You also choose the hosting service based on the functions the web app will serve. Are you building an eCommerce platform, a SaaS platform, or just a visually appealing website. These are different types of projects with different types of needs. 

An additional key factor to consider is the price. Developers or business owners building platforms for long term needs will have to consider pricing in the long term. Different companies have different pricing structures and billing cycles. For example, some companies are flexible enough to charge you per hour, while others only charge you based on the resources used. You may want to choose companies with flexible payment structures that allow you to comfortably scale up and down without incurring additional expenditures. 

You may also have to calculate the server resources your app will need before choosing the host that meets the requirement. Remember, for every RoR project, you need the Ruby programming language and the Ruby on Rails framework. These two can be resource hungry. Apps that need to accommodate large traffics may require as much as 32 GB of RAM. Small projects can function effectively with 2 GB RAM. Therefore, one of the important resource factors to consider when choosing a host includes RAM. The others are CPUs and storage space.

The minimum Ruby on Rails requirements for applications with components such as databases are as follows:

• RAM: 2 GB – 4 GB
• Storage: 25 GB – 50 GB
• CPU or vCPU: 2 – 4 Cores

SSDs are the most preferred medium for storage. The specified requirements above might be overwhelming for small-scale projects. However, a vast majority of RoR apps require even more power.

Ruby on Rails Hosting FAQs

Conclusion

You can use any of the hosts listed in this article based on the specific needs of your apps. In addition, you can choose the type of hosting based on your hosting experience. The best option for beginners would be managed VPS hosting where technical experts of the hosting companies help you to manage your servers.

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