Delayed Job is a background processor that stores jobs in the application database via ActiveRecord, making it easy to deploy without additional services.
It is particularly approachable for smaller projects or teams that prefer to avoid Redis while keeping infrastructure minimal.
Setup requires adding the gem, running the migration to create the jobs table, and enqueuing work using the `.delay` syntax or explicit job classes.
Delayed Job supports Rails 6, 7 and 8 on Ruby 3+ and continues to be maintained for compatibility and reliability.
Its simplicity and low operational overhead make it stand out, however, its weaknesses are lower performance at scale and limited concurrency compared to Redis or Postgres-backed alternatives.
Alternatives include GoodJob and Que for more modern database-backed performance or Sidekiq for high throughput.
It is particularly approachable for smaller projects or teams that prefer to avoid Redis while keeping infrastructure minimal.
Setup requires adding the gem, running the migration to create the jobs table, and enqueuing work using the `.delay` syntax or explicit job classes.
Delayed Job supports Rails 6, 7 and 8 on Ruby 3+ and continues to be maintained for compatibility and reliability.
Its simplicity and low operational overhead make it stand out, however, its weaknesses are lower performance at scale and limited concurrency compared to Redis or Postgres-backed alternatives.
Alternatives include GoodJob and Que for more modern database-backed performance or Sidekiq for high throughput.