The Sails Company

What The Sails Company does

The Sails Company is a privately-held Austin, Texas-based software firm founded in 2012 by Mike McNeil (originally as Balderdash) that maintains the Sails.js open-source framework and related tooling for Node.js. Its flagship product, Sails.js, is a realtime MVC framework built entirely in JavaScript that bundles the Waterline ORM for database abstraction (MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Redis), auto-generated REST APIs via Blueprints, Skipper for body parsing and file uploads, and native WebSocket integration through Socket.io. The ecosystem also includes Treeline, a drag-and-drop visual backend builder that compiles into Sails apps, and parasails, a Vue.js client wrapper.

The company operates a community-led go-to-market: the Sails.js framework is distributed free under the MIT License via npm and GitHub, with adoption driven by documentation, tutorials, community support channels (Gitter, Google Groups, Stack Overflow), and educational partnerships such as Platzi courses and a Visual Studio Code extension. Commercial revenue is generated through Flagship, a monthly subscription service offering direct access to the core Sails team for professional support and best practices guidance, with pricing negotiated per order form and not publicly disclosed.

The Sails Company serves web application developers, full-stack developers, and enterprise teams building custom Node.js applications - particularly those requiring data-driven APIs, realtime WebSocket functionality, and database-agnostic backends. The company employs 1-10 people, has no disclosed parent company, and is led by founder Mike McNeil alongside co-founder Irl Nathan. Total disclosed seed funding is approximately $785,000 raised in 2015, primarily from Y Combinator (W15 batch), GMO VenturePartners, Social Starts, and Zillionize.

Name

The Sails Company

Legal name

The Sails Company

Website

https://sailsjs.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Sails Company, founded 2012 in Austin, Texas, maintains the open-source Sails.js MVC framework for Node.js and monetizes via Flagship commercial support subscriptions. It serves JavaScript developers and enterprise teams building data-driven, realtime web applications with database-agnostic backends.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Austin

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Open Source Framework Distribution: The Sails.js framework is free and open-source under MIT License. Revenue is not generated directly from the framework but through complementary commercial services.
2. Flagship Commercial Support: Monthly subscription-based professional support service providing direct access to the core Sails team for technical assistance, debugging help, and best practices guidance. Fees are non-refundable and based on subscription term rather than usage.
3. Flagship Terms of Service: Flagship services consist of general support and do not include software development or coding. Subscription requires account creation with email as primary communication method.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The Sails Company develops and maintains Sails.js, a realtime MVC framework for Node.js released under the MIT License. The framework bundles Waterline ORM for database-agnostic data access, blueprint-generated REST APIs, Socket.io-based WebSocket support, and the Skipper body parser, and is distributed via npm and GitHub. The company monetises the open-source project primarily through Flagship, a paid monthly subscription providing direct access to the core Sails maintainers for professional support, debugging, and best-practice guidance.

Product overview

The Sails Company offers a comprehensive Node.js web application framework ecosystem. The primary offering is the Sails.js Framework—a realtime MVC framework for Node.js that bundles several integrated components: Waterline ORM for database abstraction across multiple databases (MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Redis), Blueprints for auto-generated REST APIs, Skipper for file uploads, and sails.io.js for WebSocket communication. The ecosystem includes Treeline (a visual drag-and-drop backend builder), Flagship commercial support service, official database adapters, the parasails Vue.js wrapper, and a VS Code extension. The framework is open-source under MIT license.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Waterline: A powerful ORM bundled with Sails.js that provides a simple data access layer supporting multiple databases.
• Treeline
• Flagship
• Node-Machine

Products and services

• Sails.js Framework A realtime MVC framework for Node.js that emulates the familiar MVC pattern of frameworks like Ruby on Rails while supporting modern app requirements including data-driven APIs with a scalable, service-oriented architecture. Bundles Waterline ORM, auto-generated REST APIs (blueprints), Socket.io-based WebSocket integration, and the Skipper body parser, and is intended for JavaScript and Node.js developers building custom enterprise-grade web applications.
• Waterline ORM A standalone database abstraction ORM distributed via npm that provides a simple data access layer working consistently across multiple databases including MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, and Redis through an adapter interface. Supports associations, validations, lifecycle callbacks, and a query language, and is bundled with Sails.js.
• sails.io.js Official Socket.IO client SDK for browser and Node.js environments that provides familiar .get(), .post(), .put(), and .delete() methods for communicating with Sails backends via WebSockets, maintaining compatibility with all HTTP routes.
• Skipper

Quantifiable outcome

• Build practical, production-ready Node.js apps in weeks, not months

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration13 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• BalderdashcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBalderdash was the original development studio (a web and mobile shop in Austin, TX) that created Sails.js in 2012. Mike McNeil founded Balderdash and developed Sails.js through the company. Balderdash is now the former website name, with operations now at sailsjs.com/studio.
• TreelinecoreTechnology or IntegrationTreeline is a drag-and-drop builder created by The Sails Company that works with Sails.js. Treeline CLI is open-source under MIT License. Apps compiled by Treeline are Sails apps.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• AdonisJS: AdonisJS is a Node.js MVC framework inspired by Laravel, providing batteries-included ORM, routing, and tooling. It competes with Sails.js for developers wanting Rails/Laravel-like conventions on Node.js.
• Hapi.js: Hapi is a Node.js framework focused on configuration-driven development and enterprise use cases. It overlaps with Sails.js on building production-grade Node.js APIs and services.
• LoopBack: LoopBack is a highly extensible Node.js framework for building APIs and microservices, originally created by IBM. It overlaps with Sails.js on data-driven API generation and enterprise connectivity.
• NestJS: NestJS is a progressive Node.js framework for building scalable server-side applications with TypeScript-first design. It targets the same enterprise-grade Node.js use cases as Sails.js and has become a leading alternative.
• Fastify: Fastify is a high-performance Node.js web framework focused on speed and low overhead. It competes with Sails.js for new Node.js backend projects where performance and modern features matter.
• Koa.js: Koa is a minimal Node.js web framework built by the Express team. While lower-level than Sails.js, it competes for the same Node.js backend developer mindshare.
• Feathers.js: Feathers is a lightweight Node.js framework for building real-time applications and REST APIs. It overlaps with Sails.js on WebSocket-first design and rapid backend development.
• Express.js: Express is the dominant Node.js web framework. Sails.js is built on top of Express and competes for the same Node.js developer audience with a more opinionated, Rails-like MVC experience.

Broad incumbents

• Meteor: Meteor is a full-stack JavaScript platform for building web and mobile apps. While broader in scope than Sails.js, it competes for the same full-stack JavaScript developer audience.

Emerging players

• Total.js: Total.js is a Node.js framework offering a full ecosystem including server, client, and low-code tools. It overlaps with Sails.js on the integrated/full-stack Node.js experience and low-code adjacency.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/sailsjs
• GitHubgithub.com/sailshq
• Facebookfacebook.com/sailsjs
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-sails-company

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors4 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Sails Company