Top Active Admin Alternatives for Your Ruby on Rails Application
Active Admin has long been a go-to administration framework for business-critical Ruby on Rails applications. It simplifies the creation of elegant interfaces for managing data, allowing developers to quickly implement beautiful UIs with minimal effort. However, while Active Admin is powerful, specific project requirements, preferences for different ecosystems, or the desire for alternative feature sets can lead developers to seek out an Active Admin alternative. This guide explores some of the best options available today.
Best Active Admin Alternatives
If you're looking to enhance your administrative dashboard or explore new possibilities beyond Active Admin, here's a curated list of top-tier alternatives that offer unique strengths and functionalities.
Forest Admin
Forest Admin is a universal admin interface designed to manage all your application data and business operations. It's a robust freemium platform that supports Web, Self-Hosted, Ruby on Rails, and expressJS environments. It offers a powerful and flexible solution for data management, making it an excellent Active Admin alternative for those needing extensive customization and business operation capabilities.
Jet Admin
Jet Admin provides an ultimate admin panel for managing business operations. It's a versatile solution available as Free and Open Source software, supporting Web, iPhone, Django, Software as a Service (SaaS), Ruby on Rails, Node.JS, and npm. Its broad platform support and open-source nature make it a compelling Active Admin alternative for developers seeking flexibility and community support.
Kuwinda
Kuwinda is a commercial, self-hosted admin interface that boasts a no-coding approach. It auto-discovers your database schema and allows you to build views with a drag-and-drop builder, making it perfect for SaaS businesses. Supporting Windows and Linux, and featuring Php and Python, Kuwinda is a strong Active Admin alternative for those who prefer visual development and minimal coding.
Thoughtbot Administrate
Thoughtbot Administrate is a free, open-source library specifically for Rails apps that automatically generates admin dashboards. As a self-hosted solution tailored for Ruby on Rails, it offers a streamlined and developer-friendly experience for creating administrative interfaces. It serves as an excellent, lightweight Active Admin alternative for those deeply embedded in the Rails ecosystem.
RailsAdmin
RailsAdmin is another fantastic free and open-source Rails engine that provides an easy-to-use interface for managing your data. It's a self-hosted solution designed for Ruby on Rails applications, offering comprehensive data management features right out of the box. Its ease of use and deep integration with Rails make it a popular and highly capable Active Admin alternative.
BlurAdmin
BlurAdmin is a beautiful, free, and open-source admin panel framework for AngularJS apps. It's a self-hosted solution that supports Bootstrap, providing a visually appealing and highly customizable frontend for your administrative needs. While not a direct Ruby on Rails engine like Active Admin, it's an excellent choice for projects leveraging AngularJS that need a robust admin UI.
MissionKontrol
MissionKontrol is a sleek, self-hosted, on-premise admin panel for transactional businesses. It offers all the flexibility and robustness of other admin panels, available as a free Software as a Service (SaaS). Its focus on transactional businesses and on-premise capabilities makes it a distinct and valuable Active Admin alternative for companies prioritizing data sovereignty and control.
Choosing the right administration framework depends on your specific project requirements, development stack, and preferences for customization, ease of use, and community support. We encourage you to explore these Active Admin alternative options to find the perfect fit for your application's administrative needs.