Why I chose Phoenix LiveView over Rails, Laravel, and Next.js
First things first: why do we code? To solve problems in the best way we can.
For me, the number one factor is speed, both application speed and development speed. That’s exactly what led me to Phoenix LiveView.
If I had chosen React or Next.js with Laravel, or even Inertia.js with Laravel, I would have had to maintain both sides of the stack, frontend and backend. As a solo developer, I didn’t have time to manage state in two different places. I needed a solid monolithic solution that could handle everything together.
So I looked into Laravel Livewire and Rails Hotwire. Both are great tools that simplify frontend work without leaning too heavily on JavaScript. I even considered going full JavaScript with Next.js, but I’ve never been a big fan of JS on the backend.
Rails Hotwire really caught my attention, especially because of how fast you can build an MVP with Rails. But I still needed background jobs, real-time updates, and two-way communication that just works. All of that is possible in Rails and Laravel, but it takes more effort to set up.
Then I came across Elixir and its web framework, Phoenix. It had all the elegance of Ruby on Rails, with far better performance. It came with background jobs through Oban, a familiar and clean syntax, and something truly special called LiveView.
LiveView strikes the perfect balance between traditional server-rendered apps and frontend-heavy frameworks, and to me it’s well ahead of both Rails Hotwire and Laravel Livewire. LiveView communicates over WebSockets, so you get real-time, two-way updates without sending a new request every time something changes. You can still use Alpine.js, or any JavaScript library you like, through hooks when you need to.
Phoenix also integrates easily with Oban for background jobs. Jobs are simple to declare, and when one fails, it restarts automatically without bringing down the app. That’s the beauty of Elixir. It’s a compiled language that runs on the Erlang VM, the same foundation behind highly concurrent systems like WhatsApp and Discord.
What sealed it for me
- I can build fast.
- I can handle high concurrency if I need to.
- I write almost everything in one language.
- I can write clean, readable code.
- The compiler catches most bugs before they reach production.
- The app is fault tolerant and rarely goes down.
I’m not saying Phoenix is better than Laravel, Rails, or Next.js. They’re all excellent frameworks, and I’ve personally used them to build applications. Phoenix simply turned out to be the best fit for my use case. You can see what I built with it at Hyperzoned.com.
I don’t know who needs to hear this, but try exploring beyond what you already know. You might find a better, more efficient way to solve your next problem. After all, the learning never stops.
Thanks for reading. You can find me on X/@akarshcp.