Is it a good idea to learn Ruby(On Rails) for launching a lot of MVPs if I'm a fullstack JS dev?

Solo founder with 11 years of Ruby on Rails experience here.
The best advice I can give you:
Learn how to do Marketing.

I think you are falling into a trap. Rather than spending time learning a new framework you should spend time building product and talking to potential customers. Don't fall into the trap where you think the grass is greener in RoR and decide to learn that framework. Then when it isn't the magical panacea that allows you to build a beautiful full fledged product in 30 minutes you will go and learn the next framework. When really you should have spent that time building product.

This "learn a new framework" or "learn a new language" trap is especially insidious because it gives you the illusion of progress. Learning and reading books on technical things feels productive but you are actually making 0 progress towards your actual goals.

If you know fullstack js you have the skills you need to build product. Don't waste time learning more frameworks.

I find it a bit slow to make MVPs with JS

If it's slow with JS, it's going to be even slower using Ruby. There's tons of frameworks out there for Javascript that can help you with faster development. And a lot of npm packages that you can re-use to avoid building everything from scratch.

I personally use next.js and vercel for Javascript projects (very fast iteration).

TLDR; If you want to move fast do it in with the tools you're most comfortable with!

Longer version:

I would say NO! If you are already proficient In JS or even better Typescript than imho no, don't go the route of learning rails! From the tech perspective you can combine TS with Express + some good MVC patterns and a TypedORM or off the bat with an MVC framework if MVC is what you are looking for and you should be good to go! The type system itself will save you a lot of headaches in the long run that ruby or rails won't! If it's the philosophy of rails you're after you can add it bit by bit to Express (or other) as well and use that time you're saving both from not having to learn a new language/framework and the one the compiler will give you back to do other things.

Like: marketing, sales, relationships, becoming a leader, public speaking, probably a bit of design and/or branding, finance, etc. This list could literally go on and on and this is the lesson I've been learning for the past year since I started my company: Chessroulette.

Which btw, is built fully in JS/TS and I gotta tell you there are some perks of having the same language both on the frontend and the backend!

If you have years of experience in Node.js/React/Vue already, that might be a bad idea, otherwise Laravel/Rails are worth a try! I'd recommend reading https://reviewbunny.app/blog/dont-make-me-think-or-why-i-switched-to-rails-from-javascript-spas

Yes, I can absolutely recommend it. I'm working with both these days, Rails for my personal projects and JS/TS/Node.js for client work, and I would choose Rails every single time. I like the Rails philosophy and am much more productive in Rails than in any Node.js/TS project I've ever worked on.

My friend and fellow IH @nikodunk wrote a nice piece about moving from JS to Rails, if you're interested: https://nikodunk.com/a-node-js-developer-discovers-rails/

Why not learn a nodejs framework that is heavily influenced by rails instead? Here are a few:

https://blitzjs.com

https://redwoodjs.com/

https://sailsjs.com/

I think there's a lot of value in coding everything in one language. Plus you already it very well. From experience, while programming Rails is very pleasant, deployment and the devops related stuff isn't so nice.

If you already have a decent toolset knowledge to build things fast, then no, not worth it, learning something while trying to make a product and earn money is probably the worst idea ever. You don’t want to be caught into a constant process of choosing the right stack, this is somewhere near procrastination.

If you want to widen and empower your toolset with Ruby on Rails and have time to learn it, at least a spare month, the yes, totally worth it, you can google anything about it, find an answer from 2014 and it will most certainly fit current version.

If you already have an experience with Node.js frameworks and Typescript, then I would recommend AdonisJS, it is like Laravel or Rails, they are very similar.

I used Rails for quite some time and decided to stick with Node.js and Typescript, without latter I would stick with Rails.

Maybe, just maybe, no experience here, the best way right now is to make fast and dirty prototypes with No-Code tools, the strategy being you get traction first and build to last next.

Frameworks like RoR and Laravel have you covered if your MVP needs security, database, authorization etc.
Since everything is baked in and optimized, you can easily get an MVP up and running in as little as 3 days.

Solo-founder of Testkit here - Yes, it's worth it. You're just extremely fast with it and a lot of things are handled for you - auth, routing, database orm, all of it. Integrating new functionality is extremely easy and quickly done.

It's worth it. It's a different world from the js ecosystem.

Of course, it goes without saying that you have to do some marketing and especially - talk to potential customers too.

So I think using whatever you know to build your product is not good advice because there are many languages/frameworks which aren't very good fit for startups.

E.g. if you've been an enterprise Java developer, prob not the best idea to use Java for your projects.

But in your case, since you're already a JS developer, using React + NodeJS I think is a great combo to get you started!

I'd say just build everything with JS and try to bet on product and self-promotion.

Yes, it’s definitely worth it if you plan to stay on the dev side. My flat-mate was a full stack JS dev with YEARS of full time experience when he learned rails. It took him about two weeks to get to where he was already more productive with rails than his favorite JS stack. After another couple of months the difference was pretty big.

There are some rails clones in other languages, but most of those languages (like JS or python) aren’t flexible enough to make DSLs like ruby can.

As other have said, use what you already know.

But there’s a case to be made for refining your stack within the JS ecosystem. For example, building MVPs with plain React and NodeJS with minimal libraries will be a lot slower than using a NextJS and Supabase boilerplate.

JavaScript is the best for MVP! You have react for both web and mobile. Just double down on JavaScript

The rule is always use the tools you're familiar with. And I say that as someone who thinks Rails is a terrific framework to build out a bootstrapped business.

If you want to learn Rails for other reasons, go ahead. But... if anything the first version of your product should be something you knock up quickly in a toolchain you are fast in, or a "services glued together with Zapier" vibe.

Another vote for sticking with JS / sticking with what you know

I would recommend looking into https://nestjs.com/ or https://keystonejs.com/

I haven't tried Ruby on Rails. But I also agree with the general sentiment of stick with what you know. It's very likely that your users aren't going to care about the tech stack you use, just if the product is good. So no point spending time in building the same thing with a different tool, but instead improving the product quickly and validating features asap

Stick with what you know. Write your own or find a boilerplate code with authentication, payments and other default components. Implement your custom code for MVP and release. Rinse and repeat.

Stick with what you know so you can build something quickly, unless you know there is a specific reason why you think you building in RoR. Its better to write in what you know, especially if your project idea does take off you will know how to fix things a lot quicker, and your users aren't going to care what you built the project in.

Look into Remix.js and Supabase.

That stack is dangerous, can ship MVPs so quickly with little maintenance and if you need interactivity React is miles ahead of other frameworks.