About Laravel Herd
Laravel Herd is a local development environment for PHP and Laravel projects. It installs the tools the framework needs and runs them natively on your machine, without containers.
What it does
Herd sets up PHP, nginx, DNS, Node, Composer and the Laravel installer in one package. Each site can have its own URL, PHP version and HTTPS setting, and you can add services such as a database, queue and cache. The app lists your recent projects and lets you switch PHP versions for each one. It can also share a herd.yml file, so a whole team keeps the same project configuration.
Key features
- Native PHP and Laravel stack
- Secure local sites with HTTPS
- Switch PHP versions for each project
- Shared herd.yml project configuration
- Services for databases, queues and caching
Who it's for
Laravel developers who work on several projects at once and want a fast local setup. Teams that want the same settings across every project will also find it useful.
Pricing and good to know
Herd can be downloaded for macOS, and a Windows version is also offered. A paid Herd Pro edition is available as well. Because the tool installs system-level software directly on your machine, check that it fits your setup and existing PHP installations before you install it.
Highlights
- Native PHP and Laravel stack
- Secure local sites with HTTPS
- Switch PHP versions for each project
- Share project setup through herd.yml
- Services for databases, queues and caching
