Many businesses run on a Rails application that was built years ago and has not kept up. We bring those applications up to date without disrupting the people who use them every day, then keep them that way.
Overview
An application that quietly does its job is easy to leave alone. Then a few years pass, the Ruby and Rails versions it depends on stop receiving security fixes, hosting providers retire the old stack, and every small change takes longer than it should because nothing around it is current.
Upgrading is the most reliable way out, and it is one of the things we do most often. We have maintained and modernized Rails applications for well over a decade, including a client application we first built in 2012 and most recently brought up to Rails 8 on Ruby 4.
We upgrade in small, tested steps, one version at a time, so your team keeps working the whole way through and there is never a risky all-at-once cutover.
Sound familiar?
Rails 4, 5, or 6 applications that feel too far gone to upgrade are usually very recoverable with a methodical plan.
Dependency alerts, end-of-life notices, or a failed security review are telling you the stack needs attention.
Old Ruby versions and legacy hosting platforms eventually stop being supported, often on a deadline you do not control.
We regularly adopt applications that someone else built and become the team that knows them inside and out.
What's included
How it works
We review the codebase, dependencies, tests, and hosting, and identify the risks before touching anything.
We add tests around critical paths and set up continuous integration so every step is verified.
We move through Ruby and Rails versions one at a time, shipping each step to production as it is ready.
We keep dependencies current and security patches applied so you never fall this far behind again.
Experience
We built this company's web application in 2012 and have maintained it ever since, carrying it through many Ruby and Rails releases to Rails 8 on Ruby 4. It includes a public website, content management, an online hiring application, and support ticketing.
We maintain this Rails gem, which signs out idle users automatically, and have kept it compatible with every major Rails release through Rails 8.
auto-session-timeout on GitHubQuestions
Have a question that is not answered here? Get in touch and we will give you a straight answer.
It depends on how far behind the application is, how large it is, and how much test coverage it has. A single minor version jump can take days, while moving across several major versions is usually a project measured in weeks. Our assessment gives you a specific estimate before any upgrade work begins.
No. We upgrade in small steps and release each one to production separately, so your team keeps using the application normally throughout. Any planned maintenance windows, such as for a database migration, are scheduled with you in advance.
Yes. We start by adding tests around the most important parts of the application, like sign-in, payments, and core workflows, so we can confirm each upgrade step keeps them working.
Upgrading is almost always cheaper and less risky than a rewrite, because it preserves years of business logic and bug fixes. We will tell you honestly if we think a rebuild makes more sense for your situation.
Yes. Most upgrade clients move to a monthly maintenance retainer that covers security updates, dependency upgrades, monitoring, and small improvements.
Related services
Tailored Ruby on Rails applications that fit the way your business actually works, from customer portals to internal tools.
Custom web applicationsCode reviews, architecture guidance, and a second opinion before you commit to a big technical decision.
Technical advisingShipping carriers, freight, payments, and third-party APIs, wired together reliably so orders flow without manual work.
E-commerce and integrationsTell us which versions of Ruby and Rails you are running today. We will follow up with next steps for an upgrade assessment.