Rails World has quickly established itself as a must-attend event for Rails developers, combining technical talks, live demos, workshops, and keynotes with plenty of opportunities to meet fellow engineers, maintainers, and community leaders.
What Is Rails World?
Rails World is an annual, two-day, two-track community conference dedicated entirely to Ruby on Rails. It brings together developers from around the world to share ideas, explore new features, and learn best practices directly from people building and maintaining Rails applications at scale.
If you followed last year’s event, you’ll know that many of the announcements and ideas discussed at Rails World feed directly into the framework itself - something we saw clearly with updates like Rails 8 and Rails 8.1, both of which were first unveiled and discussed in depth during Rails World 2025.
If you followed last year’s event, you’ll know that many of the announcements and ideas discussed at Rails World feed directly into the framework itself - something we saw clearly with updates like Rails 8 and Rails 8.1, both of which were first unveiled and discussed in depth during Rails World 2025.
Dates and Location
Here are the confirmed details for Rails World 2026:
- Dates: Wednesday & Thursday, September 23–24, 2026
- Location: Palmer Event Center, Austin, Texas
- City: Austin, TX
Austin is a fitting choice. It has a strong developer community, excellent transport links, and a long history of hosting technical conferences. The Palmer Event Center’s central location also makes it easier for attendees to explore the city between sessions - something many enjoyed during previous Rails World events.
Attendance and Scale
Rails World 2026 will be the largest Rails World to date, with space for 1,200 attendees. That’s a meaningful increase from previous years and a clear sign that interest in Rails, and in Rails World specifically, continues to grow.
If you missed out on tickets in the past, this expanded capacity should help, though demand is still expected to be high.
If you missed out on tickets in the past, this expanded capacity should help, though demand is still expected to be high.
Tickets: What to Expect
Tickets are expected to go on sale in Q2 2026, using the same tiered approach as previous years.
Ticket types include:
Ticket types include:
- Corporate Tickets: released first, aimed at teams attending via company learning budgets or organisations looking to support the event more directly.
- General Admission Tickets: heavily subsidised by the Rails Foundation and released later, intended to keep the conference accessible to individuals paying out of pocket.
Pricing has not yet been finalised. As this is the first US-based Rails World, production costs are higher, and a modest increase from previous years is expected. That said, organisers have reiterated their commitment to affordability.
As in previous years, letters of invitation will be available for attendees who need them for travel or visa purposes.
As in previous years, letters of invitation will be available for attendees who need them for travel or visa purposes.
Call for Proposals (CFP)
The Rails World 2026 CFP is expected to open in Q2 or early spring 2026.
If you’re considering submitting a talk, it’s worth noting that Rails World CFPs tend to favour real-world experience, lessons learned from production systems, scaling challenges, and practical insights rather than purely theoretical talks.
If you’re considering submitting a talk, it’s worth noting that Rails World CFPs tend to favour real-world experience, lessons learned from production systems, scaling challenges, and practical insights rather than purely theoretical talks.
Rails at Scale Summit - Returning in 2026
The Rails at Scale Summit will return in 2026 after a successful first edition last year.
- Date: September 22, 2026
- Format: Invite-only, application-based
- Tickets: Separate from Rails World
- Focus: Scaling high-traffic, high-performance Rails applications
The summit is aimed at engineers working on large or complex Rails systems and provides a more discussion-driven format than the main conference. It will once again have its own CFP specifically for summit talks.
What This Means for the Rails Community
Rails World 2026 continuing, and expanding, is a strong signal about the health of the Rails ecosystem. A larger venue, a US location, and the return of the Rails at Scale Summit all point to a framework that’s still evolving, still widely used, and still investing in its community.
For teams running Rails in production, Rails World remains one of the best opportunities to step back from day-to-day work, learn from others solving similar problems, and get a sense of where the framework is heading next.
For teams running Rails in production, Rails World remains one of the best opportunities to step back from day-to-day work, learn from others solving similar problems, and get a sense of where the framework is heading next.
Planning Ahead: What You Should Know
If Rails World 2026 is on your conference wishlist, a few things are worth planning early:
- Block September 23-24, 2026 (plus September 22 if you’re interested in Rails at Scale)
- Watch for ticket announcements in Q2 2026
- Consider corporate tickets if attending with colleagues
- Start preparing CFP ideas now
- Budget early for US-based travel if attending internationally
The official Rails World website and mailing list will be launching soon, and we’ll continue to share updates as they’re announced.
Looking Ahead
Rails World 2026 is shaping up to be a landmark event, larger, more international, and more ambitious than ever. As details emerge around speakers, schedules, ticket pricing, and sponsorships, we’ll continue covering updates here on RailsPortal.