ShakaCode open source

Ship modern React in Rails — fast, and prove it.

ShakaStack is four open-source projects from ShakaCode that take your Rails + React app from idea to proven-fast in production — build, deploy, and prove — without the frontend chaos.

4open-source projects
2013shipping React in Rails since
RSCReact 19 & Server Components
the_shaka_stack.rb▟ build → prove
BuildReact on Rails01
BundleShakapacker02
DeployControl Plane Flow03
ProveShakaPerf04
The problem

Modern React on Rails is harder than it should be.

You picked Rails because it’s productive and joyful. Then the frontend got complicated — and somewhere along the way your app got slow, your config got fragile, and your bills went up.

01

Bolting React onto Rails

Webpacker’s deprecated, SSR is fiddly, and React 19 / RSC feel out of reach. You’re duct-taping a frontend instead of shipping features.

02

Pages that lost their speed

Slow LCP and hydration drag down SEO and conversions — and you’ve no rigorous way to measure it or prove a fix actually worked.

03

The infra & config tax

Heroku bills climb, build configs rot, and every upgrade is a gamble. The stack fights you instead of working for you.

You shouldn’t have to choose between the joy of Rails and a fast, modern React frontend.

Your guide

We’ve shipped React in Rails since 2013.

ShakaCode has been a performance-obsessed consultancy since 2011 — and we felt every one of these pains first-hand. So we built, open-sourced, and still maintain the tools that fix them, from our home base in Paia, Hawai‘i. We make slow web apps fast.

2013 Shipping React in Rails since
Only Rails framework with React Server Components
80–90% Faster pages for clients like HVMN & Popmenu
Paia, HI Open-source maintainers — not a faceless vendor
The plan

Build → deploy → prove.

Three phases, four open-source projects — because bundling is part of building. Tap a layer to see how it moves your app forward.

01BuildRender React in Rails, then bundle the assets.
02DeployShip it to production.
03ProveProve every page is faster.
Build

React on Rails

Render React inside Rails — SSR, hydration, and RSC.

Rails-first ReactRender components from views & controllers. Keep Rails routes, conventions, and your team.
Production SSRServer rendering, hydration, and streaming paths built for mature Rails deployments.
OSS → Pro pathStart free. Add Pro for RSC, higher SSR throughput, and guided support when you need it.
The projects

Each layer, up close.

Open source, production-tested, and maintained by the ShakaCode team. Use one, use all four.

Build · 01

React on Rails

Render React inside Rails — SSR, hydration, and RSC.

Mount React components straight from Rails views and controllers. Server-side rendering, hydration, streaming, and React Server Components — without splitting your product into a separate frontend app.

Rails-first React

Render components from views & controllers. Keep Rails routes, conventions, and your team.

Production SSR

Server rendering, hydration, and streaming paths built for mature Rails deployments.

OSS → Pro path

Start free. Add Pro for RSC, higher SSR throughput, and guided support when you need it.

React on Rails logo / screenshot
reactonrails.com — terminal
$bundle exec rails generate react_on_rails:install
$npx create-react-on-rails-app@latest my-app
websitedocsgithub
Build · Bundle · 02

Shakapacker

Webpack, the Rails way. The maintained successor to Webpacker.

Use webpack to bundle JavaScript and CSS with Rails conventions intact. Shakapacker picks up where rails/webpacker left off — actively maintained, modern defaults, and a smooth upgrade path.

Rails-native bundling

Asset compilation that follows Rails conventions — manifests, fingerprinting, and the asset pipeline.

Modern webpack

Up-to-date webpack with sensible defaults so you configure less and ship more.

Easy migration

A clear, supported path off the deprecated rails/webpacker.

Shakapacker logo / screenshot
shakapacker.com — terminal
$bundle add shakapacker --strict
$bin/rails shakapacker:install
websitedocsgithub
Deploy · 03

Control Plane Flow

A Heroku-style workflow on Control Plane infrastructure.

cpflow brings a Heroku-like developer experience — review apps, one-off tasks, releases, and scaling — to Control Plane. Migrate off Heroku without throwing away the workflow your team already knows.

Heroku-like commands

Familiar deploy, run, and scale commands plus review apps for every pull request.

Control Plane power

Run on flexible, cost-efficient infrastructure with room to scale well past Heroku.

Migrate, don't rewrite

Keep your release flow. Move the runtime underneath it with minimal disruption.

Control Plane Flow logo / screenshot
controlplaneflow.com — terminal
$gem install cpflow
$cpflow setup-app -a my-app
websitedocsgithub
Prove · 04

ShakaPerf

ShakaCode’s own framework for proving performance — rigorously.

Containerize your app, run control-vs-experiment A/B tests, and let ShakaPerf prove which changes actually make pages faster — across desktop and mobile, with regressions caught automatically.

Rigorous A/B testing

Real control-vs-experiment perf testing across screen types — not flaky one-off Lighthouse runs.

Automatic regression detection

Catches performance regressions and visual changes on your main branch before users do.

Stack agnostic

Works with any web stack, with accessibility and SEO checks built in.

ShakaPerf logo / screenshot
shakaperf.com — terminal
$# Bring rigorous perf testing to your app
$# Get started at shakaperf.com
websitedocsgithub
See it running

Live demos & starters, with source.

Every example links to a running deployment and its repository. Evaluate the stack, compare approaches, or fork a starter.

FlagshipMarketplacescreenshot placeholder

Marketplace

A marketplace performance demo for React on Rails Pro, React 19, and React Server Components.

React on Rails ProReact 19RSC
FlagshipHacker Newsscreenshot placeholder

Hacker News

A Hacker News reader built on React on Rails Pro with React 19 and React Server Components.

React on Rails ProReact 19RSC
FlagshipGumroadscreenshot placeholder

Gumroad

A Gumroad-style creator dashboard comparing Inertia and React on Rails Pro with React 19 and RSC.

React on Rails ProInertiaRSC
StarterTanStack Starterscreenshot placeholder

TanStack Starter

A minimal React on Rails + TanStack starter template to build your next app from.

React on RailsTanStackStarter
ProductionLegacy Tutorial Appscreenshot placeholder

Legacy Tutorial App

The original full-app React on Rails tutorial demo — running in production for years on Shakapacker.

React on RailsShakapackerSSR

More React on Rails demos at reactonrails.com/examples →

What’s at stake

The difference the stack makes.

Without ShakaStack

  • A frontend you dread touching
  • Guessing whether a change made things faster
  • Rising infra bills and brittle build config
  • Quietly falling behind on React (RSC, React 19)
🤙

With ShakaStack

  • Modern React, rendered the Rails way
  • Performance you can prove, run after run
  • Lower infra cost with a Heroku-style flow
  • A stack the maintainers stand behind
Trusted in production

Shipping for teams large and small.

PopmenuHVMNPrintivitySimply BusinessUser InterviewsJewlrAirRobeSkyVergeDatacenters.comThe Information
React on Rails lets us run React at scale inside Rails without the complexity of a separate frontend deployment — 97% Good LCP scores and 80% faster hydration across our platform.
Justis Blasco · Popmenu
Built by ShakaCode

Talk to the maintainers.

ShakaCode builds and maintains every project in the stack — and helps teams ship with SSR, RSC, bundling, deploys, and performance. Book a free 30-minute call.