Try both (Ruby,PHP). Find out about frameworks in php (cakephp, codeigniter) and in ruby (sinatra, rails, etc) And not just read the docs and say "i dont want t

Try both (Ruby,PHP). Find out about frameworks in php (cakephp, codeigniter) and in ruby (sinatra, rails, etc) And not just read the docs and say "i dont want this thing". Try this: develop a user login and signup system in both. see which one is easier. Quick facts: 1.) It's easier to find php hosting for cheap. low cost to get started. 2.) It's easier to develop a prototype in Rails quickly, especially if your app has some CRUD stuff, you can get it up and running in no time, but this interface would just be for testing. Its called scaffolding. 3.) You can do the same scaffolding in php frameworks like cakephp. 4.) With ruby you get a lot of well-built libraries which are called "gems". they are handy and are centralized, so you can update to a new version easily. 5.) With php you can get a lot of cheap man power to work on you app if it requires some complex plugins. 6.) If you are going to use ruby, I suggest getting familiar with linux commands. That way you can find cheap vps to host the app (but not as cheap as the php hosts you'll find). Or develop it on heroku's free plan. 7.) Now that you know these, go develop the app on whichever language you find easy. P.S: If you are seriously out of money, and can spend only in single digits ($x), you should seriously consider doing the app in php. The same applies if the app is too simple