The Difference Between resource and resources in Rails

Rails provides two closely related routing helpers — resource and resources — and although they look similar, they serve different purposes. Understanding the distinction between them is essential for designing clean, intention-revealing routes in a Rails application.

What Are resource and resources?

Both helpers are used in config/routes.rb to generate RESTful routes. The key difference lies in whether the resource is singular or plural, and that directly affects the URLs and controller actions Rails creates for you.

resources: Plural Resources

resources is the most commonly used helper. It represents a collection of objects, where each item has its own identifier (usually an id).

Example:

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resources :articles

This generates the full set of RESTful routes:

You use resources when:

• There are many records
• Each record is accessed by an ID
• You need collection-level actions like index

Typical examples include posts, comments, products, and users.

resource: Singular Resources

resource (singular) represents a single object that does not need an ID in the URL. Rails assumes there is only one instance of that resource per context (often per user).

Example:

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resource :profile

This generates a smaller set of routes:

Notice what’s missing:

• No index route
• No :id segment in the URL

You use resource when:

• There is only one instance
• The resource is implicitly identified
• An id would be redundant

Common examples include user profiles, dashboards, shopping carts, or account settings.

Controller Naming Still Uses Plural

Even when using resource, Rails still expects a plural controller name:

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resource :profile
# maps to ProfilesController

This keeps controller naming consistent across the framework.

Choosing the Right One

A good rule of thumb:

• Use resources when you can say: “There are many of these.”
• Use resource when you can say: “There is only one of these per scope.”

For example:

• A user has many posts → resources :posts
• A user has one profile → resource :profile

Why This Matters

Choosing between resource and resources is more than syntax — it communicates intent. Singular routes make your URLs cleaner, your controllers simpler, and your application easier to reason about.