Grails vs. Lift Framework vs. Yii

Grails is a framework used to build web applications with the Groovy programming language. The core framework is very extensible and there are numerous plugins available that provide easy integration of add-on features.

Lift creates abstractions that allow easier expression of business logic and then maps those abstractions to HTTP and HTML. This approach differs from traditional web frameworks which build abstractions on top of HTTP and HTML and require the developer to bridge between common business logic patterns and the underlying protocol.

Yii comes with: MVC, DAO/ActiveRecord, I18N/L10N, caching, authentication and role-based access control, scaffolding, testing, etc. It can reduce your development time significantly.