Ruby on Rails development
Small, well-defined Rails work at a fixed price: a first version of a new application, one feature, a fix, or monthly maintenance.
What we build
- New Rails applications: a first version you can launch, then further work one fixed-price piece at a time
- Features in existing applications: payments, search, real-time chat, notifications, admin tools
- Hotwire front ends instead of a separate JavaScript application, so one team can own the whole product
- Mobile apps with Hotwire Native, sharing screens with the web application
- Multilingual sites, with proper hreflang, locale routing and translation workflows
How we work
We work in your repository and through your review process. You see every change as a pull request, with tests, before it is merged. We write down decisions that the next developer will need, and we stay with Rails conventions unless there is a reason not to, because conventions are what make an application cheap to hand over.
We are two engineers. You talk to the people who write the code, not to an account manager.
Proof
We build and run our own product on the same stack: Japan Voyage, a Rails 8.1 application that serves three sites in four languages from one codebase, with iOS and Android apps built on Hotwire Native. It runs in production on Ruby master.
Sampo Kuokkanen heads the Japan office of Evil Martians, contributes to Ruby, JRuby and Spinel, and has spoken at Kaigi on Rails, RubyWorld Conference, RubyConf Taiwan and COSCUP.
Pricing
Prices in US dollars, before tax. A price marked "from" is the minimum; we agree a fixed price before we start, and invoices in yen are fine.
Feature or fix
from $1,000
fixed quote
One well-defined piece of work: a feature, a performance problem, an integration with a payment provider or an external API.
Small application
from $5,000
fixed quote
A first version of a new application, sized to what you need to launch, with a fixed price agreed before we start.
Maintenance
from $500
per month
Security updates, small fixes and changes, and someone who knows the code when something breaks.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Do you build new applications or only work on existing ones?
- Both. For a new application we start with the smallest version that is useful to real users and build from there.
- Which stack do you use?
- Current Rails with Hotwire (Turbo and Stimulus), Tailwind CSS, PostgreSQL or SQLite, and Kamal for deployment. For mobile we use Hotwire Native, which wraps the Rails views in iOS and Android apps.
- Can you work with our in-house team?
- Yes. Most of our work is in a client's repository, through their pull request review, on their issue tracker. We are happy to pair with your developers.
- Do you work in Japanese?
- Yes. Specifications, meetings and documentation can be in Japanese or English, and we can work with a Japanese team and an overseas team on the same project.
Tell us about your project
Send a few lines about your application and what you need. We reply within two business days, in English or Japanese, with next steps and a rough estimate.
Other services
Rails and Ruby upgrades
Move an old Rails application to current Rails and Ruby step by step, without a rewrite and without stopping feature work. We start with a fixed-price roadmap.
Upgrade roadmap: $1,500
Code audit and second opinion
An outside review of your Rails codebase, or of a proposal you have been given, written up in plain language so you can decide what to do next.
Second opinion: $500
JRuby and Java integration
Run Rails on the JVM, call Java libraries from Ruby, or embed Ruby in a Java system. We contribute to JRuby itself, so we can fix the problem where it starts.
JRuby assessment: from $2,000
Spinel: compile Ruby to native binaries
Spinel is Matz's new ahead-of-time compiler: it turns a subset of Ruby into a standalone native binary. We contribute to it, and we can tell you whether your code fits.
Feasibility study: $2,000