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Planet Argon is a software consultancy that gives Ruby on Rails applications a second act, helping organizations unlock new potential from the systems they’ve already built. Founded in 2002, they’ve been working with Rails since the beginning, long enough that their name is hardcoded into the Rails source code.
Over two decades, they’ve worked on hundreds of Rails applications across industries, for clients ranging from Nike, Disney, and Sequoia Capital to small family-run businesses you’ve probably never heard of. Their clients often maintain essential Rails applications that don’t require a full-time engineering team but still demand consistent support and expertise.
Planet Argon helps teams stabilize and modernize their Rails applications, from improving performance and reducing upgrade risk to integrating AI capabilities, extending the value of their existing Rails investment. Whether serving as a long-term technical partner or providing flexible augmentation alongside internal developers, they help teams avoid the risks of relying on limited in-house capacity and keep applications running smoothly.
Planet Argon supports teams already committed to Rails, whether helping them finally gain traction on upgrading that old Rails 3.1 app, introducing Hotwire, or integrating AI-powered features like agents and LLM-driven workflows into existing applications. After working on Rails apps across nearly every industry, they’ve seen each generation of tooling come and go, and they’ve watched Rails absorb each new wave.
Their engineers focus on making applications more sustainable, understandable, and resilient to future change. That often means improving deployment workflows, stabilizing test suites, and guiding teams through architectural transitions.
In 2023, Planet Argon became a contributing member of the Rails Foundation.
Ruby on Rails has long been regarded as an excellent tool for startups and makers. Our delightful clients benefit from the contributions of the Ruby on Rails community, which enables small teams to achieve big goals.
Robby Russell Founder & CEO
After learning about the Rails Foundation's goals and upcoming plans, we asked how we could join the mission. This investment is less an attempt to plant new seeds but rather to help improve the maintainability of an already flourishing garden.
We believe in a blossoming future for Ruby on Rails. All Aboard!
Planet Argon contributes back to the Rails ecosystem through mentorship, open source, and developer education. Robby Russell hosts the On Rails podcast, the official podcast of the Rails Foundation, featuring conversations with Rails core contributors, maintainers, and teams sharing stories about how Rails is part of their organization’s secret sauce.
They lead the Rails Community Survey, a biennial research project that has become one of the go-to sources for understanding tooling trends, team practices, and developer sentiment across the Rails ecosystem. Planet Argon produces the Maintainable Software Podcast, which has featured over 240 interviews on the challenges of maintaining and improving software systems.
For developers looking to improve their own Rails apps, Planet Argon created Maintainable Rails, a free email course used by thousands of Rails developers to reduce technical debt and build more maintainable applications.
Planet Argon is where Oh My Zsh was created, a widely adopted terminal customization tool now used by millions of developers worldwide.
They support events like Rails Girls, RubyConf Africa, Tropical.rb, and SF Ruby, and run a paid internship program that has helped launch the careers of many developers.
Robby speaks regularly at Ruby conferences on topics such as technical debt, legacy code, AI in Rails, and strategies for giving aging applications a second act. If you find yourself talking shop with him at an event, you’ll likely walk away with a sticker.