Introduction

Hello to all small teams developing web apps using Rails! We often seek information to improve development, but there seems to be little targeted towards small teams. Hence, I decided to write a series recommending development tools for small Rails teams.

For the first part, let's focus on APM (Application Performance Monitoring) and introduce "Skylight," a relatively new tool that could be an excellent choice for small Rails teams. I’ll explain why.

What is Skylight?

Skylight is an APM tool for monitoring and analyzing web app performance, specifically optimized for Ruby on Rails. It features an easy setup and an intuitive interface.

Why Skylight is Recommended for Small Teams

1. Simple Setup

Small teams often can’t afford to spend much time on complex configurations or infrastructure setup. Skylight has an incredibly simple setup:

# Add to Gemfile
gem 'skylight'

# Run these commands
bundle install
bundle exec skylight setup <setup token>

That’s it—basic monitoring begins instantly. It requires almost no additional settings after setup.

2. Low Cost

Cost is always a key factor for small teams. Skylight is much more affordable than other major APM tools, with free plans available for small projects.

In my company, our business app runs within a budget of just a few dozen dollars. For hobby apps, the free plan may suffice.

When compared with Datadog, a widely used APM in large companies, Skylight's cost advantage becomes clear. For instance, Datadog costs $18.75 per host per month, and with multiple web servers, the costs increase accordingly. Logs also add costs. In contrast, Skylight can operate at around $20–40.

3. Rails-Specific Display Features

Skylight is tailored for Rails applications. For example, it provides excellent ActiveRecord query analysis.

# Sample query
users = User.where(status: 'active').includes(:posts).limit(10)

# Skylight automatically provides the following information:
# - Query execution time
# - Index usage
# - Detection of N+1 problems
# - Optimization suggestions (e.g., counter cache usage)

This info is visually presented on the dashboard, making it easy to spot performance bottlenecks quickly.

4. Intuitive UI

Not everyone in a small team needs to be a performance expert. Skylight's intuitive UI allows all team members to understand and utilize performance data, regardless of their technical expertise.

In comparison, while New Relic is excellent for power users, Skylight’s simplicity makes it more accessible for small teams. There’s no need to explain how to use it—just log in and see slow requests at a glance.

Conclusion

For small Rails development teams, Skylight is an attractive APM tool. Its easy setup, low cost, Rails-focused features, and intuitive UI offer many advantages.

Performance monitoring is essential to maintain app quality and improve user experience. Skylight allows small teams to efficiently monitor and optimize performance.

An interesting note: when I contacted Skylight, I learned that they are also a small team, which may explain their reasonable pricing. When small teams build tools, they often fit the needs of other small teams quite well.

Finally, here’s my referral link:

https://www.skylight.io/r/egzcaZi6HRcn