Having trouble deciding which tool to use for Ruby static analysis, or perhaps unsure whether you found the most common ones? Here's a small list that may be helpful.

This review was first written in 2015 and was updated in October 2026. The original three tools are all still actively maintained, but they have changed quite a bit, and a few newer tools (Standard, bundler-audit, and the Sorbet and Steep type checkers) have earned a place on the list.

1: RuboCop

Right out of the box, RuboCop enforces many of the guidelines outlined in the community Ruby Style Guide and, not only does it find problems for you, it can fix many of them automatically. It works both as a linter and as a code formatter.

The checks RuboCop performs are called cops , and they are grouped into departments.…